Posts By Julian Titus
Ryan & Jeff & Brad & Vinny
It's a somber week for video games, as we have lost a titan. Ryan Davis, host of the Giant Bombcast has passed away, and Julian and Patrick start this episode of Nerds Without Pants by talking about how important Ryan was, and how much he's influenced NWP.
If a ninja chops off my arm with his sword, I'm probably just going to run away instead of going all suicide bomber on him.
Sometimes, you’ll come across a game series that people adore, but you just don’t get why. Oh, you’ll try, of course. You’ll read the glowing reviews, check out gameplay videos, and listen to people rave about it on podcasts. Yet try as you might, you just don’t click with it, and you feel like you’re missing out. That’s the way I’ve always felt about the modern Ninja Gaiden games. Still, as beloved as this franchise is, after playing Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge I just have to wonder if I’m really missing something here, or do diehard fans see how messed up this game is?
Let's go old school with a magazine-style three man review!
(Editor's Note: Since Fire Emblem: Awakening was translated by many ex-EGM reviewers courtesy of 8-4, I thought it would be cool to do a classic three man review. Since the PixlBit system only accepts one score per game, we're going with Julian's score, since it was based on an entire playthrough from start to finish. Enjoy!)
Hail to the Chief, baby!
It’s been a long, hazardous road from Saints Row the Third to the fourth entry in the series. As Volition began work on a final (and massive) piece of DLC for the third game, THQ was collapsing around it. Realizing that Saints Row was one of the company’s last best chances for survival, then-CEO Jason Rubin got the team working on a proper Saints Row sequel, using the DLC as a springboard for the new game. While this news rubbed some fans the wrong way, it seemed like it wouldn’t matter, as THQ indeed shut down, its major IPs and studios sold off to the highest bidders. Thankfully, Volition survived intact, and from what I’ve seen of Saints Row IV, fans have a lot to look forward to.
Sit by the fire and listen to Sound in Action.
Welcome! Please come in and make yourselves comfortable. It's all about that down home feeling this week, and Julian has a wonderful selection of songs that should make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
I said a flip, flop, the flippy the flippy to the flip flip flop...
Hi, we’re Nerds Without Pants, and we would like to bring you this podcast that you can never share with anyone you know, and for the low, low price of 499.99. If you don’t like that, you can listen to the radio. Actually, never mind. Feel free to share this with anyone and everyone. We’re sorry. (In case you didn’t figure it out, this week is all about the Xbox One.)
Deep down, we're all just animals.
Since finishing The Last of Us, I’ve been sitting at my desk agonizing over this review. Thinking over my time with the game, I’m filled with conflicting emotions that I now have to distill into something cohesive for you fine readers. To say that this is the most impactful game I’ve played so far this year would be a grotesque understatement, but The Last of Us is not without its faults, and to gloss over them would be disingenuous. I call this “The Reviewer’s Lament”: having to fight the urge to gush for a thousand words and instead give a proper account of my experience with this game. My hope is that, even if it reads a little rough around the edges, it will still be entertaining, which is The Last of Us in a nutshell, really.
It's the crossover, sorry, x-over, of the century!
If you’ve ever sat around fantasizing about what the next Capcom “versus” game should be, or you’ve dabbled in the Mugen mods for fighting games, Project x Zone may be your holy grail. This is a strategy/RPG that brings together characters from Capcom, Namco-Bandai, and Sega in a story that can’t possibly make sense, but who cares? This one is all about the fan service, and if the recent playable demo is anything to go by, Project x Zone is bringing the fan service by the truckload.
These are memories frozen in time, people!
They say that 1998 was the greatest year for gaming, and it's hard to argue that point! Julian certainly doesn't try, as he highlights some music from some of the biggest games of that fabled year. Enjoy this episode of Sound in Action, and let us know some of the songs and games you think of from 1998.
There's a lot of Final Fantasy on the way, but is it the Final Fantasy people want?
Final Fantasy. Just saying the name conjures up all manner of conflicting thoughts these days. Square Enix is not the company it once was, and its flagship RPG series has encountered a lot of negativity and lukewarm receptions in recent years. Don’t count this legendary franchise out just yet though; there are plenty of interesting developments for the series coming from E3, including more than one mea culpa from the development side of the equation. With games coming down the pipeline from FF X to XV, I think it’s best that we tackle them in Roman numerical order, don’t you?
