Calling all bloggers!

_{[LaTerry calls upon Destructoid's community of bloggers to answer the call in this month's Band of Bloggers. Check out the details of July 2021's topic below - Moyse]}

In April of 2008, a game was released on the DS called The World Ends With You. It was critically praised upon release but didn't do insane numbers like other games released by the same company, Square Enix. Most important to this story, I bought it and adored it. I was obsessed with the game for a long time. I played through it a few times to try and see everything the game had to offer, and when I finally put it down I felt confident that Square wou??ld make another one. After all, it's Square, their franchises always get multiple entries...?????????????????????????? right? Right!?

Four years later, we did get something new... a mobile port. Hooray! Just what I wanted, a way to play the game, but worse in every way when compared to the DS original. This version of the game though had a new character and hinted at more to come, and that was exciti??ng. Were they setting up for a sequel? I wonder what it'll be like. Surely I won't have to wait that long!

Six years later, in 2018 we got The World Ends With You: Final Remix. Another port, this time for Switch. Also, a port that plays wors??e than the DS original, but at least it looks and sounds a lot better. Once again, the exciting thing here was that there was a new scenario that once again teased more to come. How exciting. The problem was that the Switch port, as previously mentioned, wasn't very good. Playing with a Joy-Con wasn't fun or accurate, and playing handheld was a bit tiring. The poor reception for the game probably didn't help it sell all that well.

To me, this was TWEWY's last chance, and Squeenix messed it up by making the game control so poorly. I thought that this game was the final nail in the coffin for any hope of a new game. TWEWY was dead.

So imagine my surprise when Squeenix announced the sequel, NEO: The World Ends With You, late last year. I couldn't believe it, a ?sequel that had been teased for almost a decade was actually happening. Somehow the team behind the games had convinced upper management at Squeenix to allow them to make the sequel that had been festering for so long. The series had been revived.

The theme for Band of Bloggers for the month of July this year is Revival.

There are so many game franchises out there that seem dead. F-Zero, Dead Space, Jak and Daxter, Legend of Dragoon, etc. Some of them might be dead because the developer went bankrupt and had to shut down, oth??ers simply because the publisher isn't interested in releasing a new game. Some of them we just haven't seen or heard a word about those games in so long that there doesn't seem to be any hope of them ever coming back.

My example with The World Ends With You wasn't even that bad, as Squeenix brought the game up often with remakes and cameos, so you might even say that it wasn't really dead. There are game series that have been waiting much longer for any kind of news, with almost no hope?? left.

There can always be hope though. Recently, a lot of series have seen a revival, to the delight and shock of many fans. Pokemon Snap finally got a sequel more than two decades later earlier this year. Half-Life: Alyx recently released for VR, a game no one was expecting. At E3, Nintendo brought back Advance Wars with Advance Wars 1+2: Reboot Camp, something that no one saw coming.

What games are in need of a revival? Or, what games were successful revivals? Have you played any games that were a revival for a franchise? Well, hit up our Cblog Section, and share your thoughts on the subject with us. Make sure to put "Band of Bloggers" or "BoB" in the title of your blog so we can see it. We're looking forward t??o seei?ng what revivals you hold dear.

The post Band of Bloggers July 2021 Theme: Game Revivals appeared first on Destructoid.

'When there's no more room in hell...'

Octo?ber is upon us! The month of spooky usernames and avatars, horror movie marathons, and the sc?ariest holiday of them all: Halloween.

Of equal importance is that it's a new month, and with a new month comes a new Band of Bloggers theme. Last month, dephoenix delighted us with the theme of Leading Ladies. I hope th??at you all enjoyed reading, blogging, and playing games with a girl protagonist. This ?month, however, things will be getting a little scary... October's theme will be "The Undead".

The dead will rise again to terrorize the living in a jealous and hungry rage. While decaying zombies roam the streets, ghosts rise through the air, chilling the skin and freezing the hearts of their victims. Bones rattle together as once dorman?t skeletons burst free from their tombs, a sinister glow in their eyes as they seek to bring the world under their heel. Fear reigns as the dreaded vampire hunts through the night, quenching its thirst with the blood of its victims. Ancient mummies rise from their sarcophagi, bringing a curse with them. Behind it all, the necromancer weaves his magic, bringing new, corrupted life to those once thought dead, giving power to his liches so they may command his army of the undead.

Spooky.

Video games ha??ve never shied away from the undead. Zombie games once flooded the market, with many games still sporting a zombie mode. As you prepare for Halloween, play a game with some sort of undead monstrosity, then return to Destructoid and write a blog about your experiences. There are many games to choose from this month, but here are a few suggestions.

Resident Evil:

Resident Evil is what immediately comes to mind when you think? of a zombie?? game. While there are varying levels of quality when it comes to these games, you'll always find something undead to shoot.

Most RPGs:

Most RPGs will have some type of zombie or ghost enemy. The games usually aren't themed around the undead, but will have a graveyard where you can fight ghosts or something like that. You might have a hard time finding something undead in a sci-fi RPG, but things like Parasite Eve will still give you undead enemies to hunt down.

Dark Souls and Bloodborne:

Everything in Dark Souls is undead. Everything. Most things are undead in Bloodborne.

Diablo:

Diablo 3 has an expansion called Rise of the Necromancer where you can play a necromancer and command the undead. As I understand it, this was also present in Diablo 2, and I'm assuming that the first Diablo also has some sort of undead shenanigans.

Yo-Kai Watch:

What? This is a game about gho?sts. All the yo-kai you collect are?? spirits that possess people and objects. They "enspirit" their victims, affecting how they behave. Yes, it's lacking anything spooky, but it still counts.

What undead terrors are you planning to have ha??unt your game systems this month? Comment below and l?et us know what you'll be playing, or perhaps give even more suggestions for finding the undead in video games. 

The post Band of Bloggers – October 2018 Edition appeared first on Destructoid.

Promoted from our community blogs

_{[Dragon's Dogma has always been the game that seems like it would be up my alley but I always play its contemporary counter-part. So really it should be interesting to see someone else talk and recommend it. ~Marcel Hoang]}

Greetings my fellow Dtoiders, gather round the fire and let me spin ya a yarn of this month's Band of Bloggers sponsored by Boxman214, the theme centering on which game we fell in love with over a summer, my choice of game being Dragon's Dogma.

2014 was a weird year for me. I recently started at my current job, I was going on 24, and I was getting ready to be a big brother for the first time, after growing up as an only child. The one constant was my PS3, so that summer I picked up a game called Dragon's Dogma. After hearing so many good things about it, I decided to give it a whirl. I booted up the game...and then never got past the loading screen, the disc having apparently been scratched up by a drunken wildcat. So I returned it to GameStop who were kind enough to give me a Dark Arisen disc for no extra cost. Once again I booted up the game which began a Summer romance so strong it pulled me away from the Mass Effect ori?ginal trilogy I spent literally almost two years playing non-stop.

You are the Arisen. A man/woman destined to slay the dragon what stole your heart. You'll explore the land, slay bandits and majestic beasts and - if you're a male charac?ter - dress up as a woman to win the trust of an all female band of...bandits. (Yes you read that right, you even get a trop?hy for doing it)

For my journey I chose a female strider with a female warrior pawn. On our journey, we encountered hydras, cockatrices, griffons, the undead, chi??meras, all of which were felled by our hand. We raided bandit bases, dealt with a rebellion, chased a mad sorcerer, uncovered a plot by a crazy cult to unleash skeletons on the world, saved a witch from being stoned, and helped a guy get a magic tome. But the one highlight of the game wasn't what I killed, what I earned or even what I found, rather it was who I met.

Her necklace is teal for those taking a closer look.

Madeleine. The wandering peddler whose love of gold is surpassed only ??by the Dragon's love of hearts. I started out by escorting her to a military base, all the while watching as she bounced around from here to there picking up gold off the ground. Just like that I found my new waifu, yeah her mannerisms were really exaggerated but underneath all that personality was a golden beating heart, which was why it was hard saying goodbye when her questline ended. I did get a pleasant surprise at the end of the game when she re-appeared though it wasn't under ideal circumstances and by the real end of the game I effectively abandoned her. Though I suppose that's how Summer romances work: Fun while it lasts. But damn did I love watching her run. Is it getting hot in here? Or is it just me? Anyway, back to the game.

Where was I? Oh right, the game, I swear I wasn't staring at Madeleine. Anyway, when I wasn't out monster slaying, I was exploring the land. Gransys has some beautiful vistas from which you can just stare out into the horizon and then go back to monster slaying because that vista you're standing on is also home to a dragon. True story, I was exploring the area around the Shadow Fortress and stumbled onto a drake, which then proceeded to burn my face off. And my arms. And legs. And torso. You get the idea, I got my ass handed to me. But that's part of the game's charm, there's no long drawn out tutorial section, you're cast into the world and left to figure out where the big nasties are and how to kill them. Shadow of the Colossus was an obvious inspiration for the game, you can't just beat up on a beast's leg until it's HP reaches zero. You have to climb up on it, hit the weak spot and watch your stamina doesn??'t drain down. Bad things happen when you run out of stamina.

Kill it with fire

You're gonna struggle with the game when you start out. Maybe a particular group of bandits might be too strong for you, maybe you fall off a griffon and die for being too high off the ground, maybe you're done in by a confused pawn, maybe you're exploring the rooftops of Gran Soren and wrongly time a jump ??(??Ahem). This game wants respect, it wants you to plan, it's not going to hold your hand and it doesn't have an easy mode for you to just explore the game. And it's not going to rid itself of escort missions (No matter how much I resent them) Once you do get a grip on the game, monsters and humans alike will fall by your hand, the people will sing your praise, even the Dragon what stole your heart won't stand a chance and you'll feel utterly invincible.

But what if I told you about a place with monsters so powerful they make the main game's beasties look like k??ittens? Where killing beasts only attracted more beasts? Whose pits scream of despair and stink of decay? Where the feeling of fore??boding becomes your only feeling? Where darkness becomes an old friend? Where the comfort of Madeleine will be torn from your grasp. I am of course talking about...

Bitterblack Isle

Looking for the ultimate challenge? Disappointed by the final boss? Weren't punished enough by your parents as a kid? Try your hand at Bitterblack Isle. In a previous blog, I mentioned how hellish this place is and I stand by that. You're brought to the island by a woman who wants to solve the mysteries of the labyrinth underneath. Naturally, this place is hard, more often than not, kill a beast and a monster that feeds on it will appea??r for a meal which means you'll have another fight on your hands. The strongest monsters are found on this island, but also the best gear can be found here. But the story of the expansion is what really ??speaks to me.

The title Dark Arisen refers to is an actual Arisen ?from an age long past who was turned into a monster by the woman who raised him and has spent a long time brooding, plotting a way to break the chain of Arisen and Dragon. It's a pretty sad tale once you dive into it and the ending of it provides closure for these tragic individuals. But it's also at this point where the island gets a whole? lot tougher, new beasts are introduced, the final boss has an ugly surprising twist and you'll most likely curse out the loot drops you get, because you already found it or don't need it.

This game not only took up my summer but it also reinvigorated my love of Japan-made RPGs, the PS3 generation of games I had were mostly western action RPGs (Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, Batman, Mass Effect and Dragon Age) and shooters (Modern Warfare). It soon became a month of Dragon's Dogma to the entire summer, my waking moments were filled with strategies on how to deal with a choke point, I experimented with other vocations (The Dragon's Dogma ?way of saying classes) and romanced other characters. Or tried to anyway, Madeleine somehow made that impossible for me.

Have any of you played this game? Who was your true waifu? Feel free to share in the comments. Until next time, I can't wait to see more BoB blogs. The Actual Charlton Heston already shared his. Give it a read, it's really good. Especially if you like DoA's Kasumi.

The post Band of Bloggers: The Romantic Summer of Dragon’s Dogma appeared first on Destructoid.

Hot and heavy

_{[I have a special place in my heart for the  Dead Or Alive series, and I see I'm not the only one to have eyes for the ladies of this surprisingly long-running fighting game series, featuring beautiful people bashing each other in the face. For the record, Charlton Heston picks Kasumi, but my girl is Lei Fang. ~Marcel]}

Howdy! I'm writing this in response to the Band of Bloggers prompt. You can read this, if you want. I promise to be gentle. If it's your first time, we can just snuggle. I am nothing if not a gentleman. If you want to leave, that's cool, too; I won't hold it against you in the slightest. Not everyone enjoys?? the touch of my tanned, leathery hands.

Are you still here? Okay. Whew. Thought I may have scared you off with that whole, "tanned, leathery hands" bit. So, Boxman214 has provided this month's BoB prompt. I don't want to speak for him, but I think he might enjoy ?the touch of my tanned, leathery hands; a tale for another?? time. Perhaps one involving alcohol and velvet furnishings.

I digress. He has asked us which game we have fallen in love with over the course of a summer, and I'm here to answer his heralding. While I did fall in love with Russian Roulette one summer in Tunisia, this will be strictly about a video game. That video game? It's called Dead or Alive 2, and it saw me through one of my darkest hours.

You're taunting me; I love it when you taunt me, you kinky, Oriental lady

I've been told by other folks who've played this game that it is about fighting. That may be true, but I submit that there is far more to gain from this game than sublimating your primal desire to beat the shit out of another human being. Friends - all of you dear to me - this game allows for so much more. Not only can you whale on a digital person to the point that an actual one would be maimed and possibly brain-dead for life, it also allows you... well, a picture is? worth so much more than words:

To find love again

I remember my first love. She was short, with dark hair and doe eyes. Her form, supple. Her touch, so sweet. But before we were to leave on our summer trip to Cancun, she left me for a young Spanish boy (he was of age, but what did he have that I didn't). I was devastated. I whiled a?way the month of June in an opium den, far away fro?m the sunshine of Cancun and the vice-like grip of my love's thighs.

Eventually, I grew tired of the sweet kiss of opium. It could not ameliorate my broken soul. As I stumbled out of that opium den, friends, I saw a vision. It was on a poster on display at a local shop, that sold something called Manga. I hadn't the foggiest idea what a "manga" was, and frankly, I didn't care. I burst into that shop with all of the fury of a d?etoxing Zeus. After I released my grip on the shopkeeper's windpipe, he informed me who the angel displayed on the poster was.

Her name was Kasumi, and I was on the rebound.

Her eyes gave me great comfort in my time of need; the rest of her form supplied me with raunchy times that will go down as some of the raunchiest to ever raunch

We took it slow, at first. I learned how to control her, how to make my will her own. Soon, my fist became as hers. It was not long before we were in sync, she and I, a whirling dervish of fists and absolute domination. We were unstoppable. We conquered all who came before us. I could sometimes see her panties. We were destined for one another. We stood upon the summit, and all that lay before us from atop that peak was ours for the taking.

Break it! Break it, my love! Daddy's so close! YES!

I wish I could say that it worked out between us. That she and I rode off into the sunset, her voluptuous form pressed against my back, gripping me like a vice. Just like... just like my former lover used to do. But as often happens in life, we went our separate ways. Eventually, the ??game's disc broke. I won't say it was because I often tried to stick my penis in the center hole in an effort to get clo??ser to my Kasumi. That would be churlish of me. But the disc did break, and we parted. I still remember that summer fondly, despite how deeply it rent my soul. I can still smell the sweet smoke of opium. I can still picture the first time I saw her.

Summer love, so sweet; so nubile and pure

Tre?asure all of the love you have in your life, friends. Keep it close, and love it back tenfold.

You never know when it's going ??to leave you to fuck a young Spanish boy.

The post Band?? of Bloggers: Dead or Alive 2, and the passion of a su??mmer romance appeared first on Destructoid.

Mother may I?

Welcome to yet another installment?? of the newly revived Band of Bloggers. This time I, dephoenix, shall be your humble host.

Last month my fellow Band of Bloggers-er Greenhornet214 blessed us with the theme of A Walk Through the Woods, a very novel concept that resulted in some very f?ine blogs. But it's a new month, which ?means a new theme. And that theme is...

Parents. Without them, none of us would be here. Literally. Think about it. Bu?t not too hard, or you’ll end up with an image in your brain that no amount of bleach can remove. We don’t want that now, do we?

Yes, this month's theme is parents/parenthood. What does that mean exactly? Well that is up to interpretation. However, what this basically means is that for this month I want you to play and/or write about a game where parents or the idea of parenthood/parenti?ng play a major role. It could be a game about rescuing a parent. Or a game in which you play as a parent. Or just a game where parenthood is a major theme. Or you could even just write about a video game parent or parents that you like a lot. Or hate a lot. It can be about both parents, or just one. Games about single mommies or daddies are fine. There are so many options it's almost overwhelming! Much like the crushing w??eight of responsibility that comes with parenthood.

In fact, the amount of options is so vast, I thought I'd help you out with a few sugge??????????????????????????stions of games with parental themes to check out. You don't have to play any of these specific ones, they're just here in case you need some help choos??ing a game.

God of War (PS4)

I’m sure that for most of you, you’ve already played this if you were going to. But if not, definitely consider the new God of War. It’s a very good action game with an overarching theme of father?hood througho?ut it. It’s a game I can not recommend enough. Bloody enjoyable -- pun intended.

The Last of Us (PS3/PS4)

This game is about a crusty old man (Joel) who develops a father figure relationship with his teenage girl companion (Ellie). It’s not without its faults, I won’t lie, but The Last of Us is worth playing in my opinion for this narrative el??ement alone. At first Ellie is just another game character. But by the end of the game she becomes more; she becomes your daughter.

Horizon: Zero Dawn (PS4)

The idea of mothers plays a big part in Horizon Zero Dawn’s story. Without spoiling too much, having and/or being a mom is a big thing to protagonist Aloy’s tribe. Which sucks, because Aloy doesn’t have one, and is therefore considered a freak. And this whole "not having a mom" thing is a pretty big driving force behind Aloy’s character and her journey through the world of Horizon. I absolutely love? this game and highly recommend? it.

Devil May Cry/DmC (PS2/PS3/PS4/360/XBONE/PC)

No. I’m not joking. Dante’s parents are a definitive part of this series. His dad is a demon, and his mom a human (or angel if you are playing DmC). And it’s partly because of who his parents are that he gets into the hijinks? he does. So you know what? It counts. Plus he does what he does in the first game because Trish looks like his mom, so there. Close enough.

Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction and/or A Crack in Time (PS3)

Both of these games involve plot points surrounding both titular characters' parents. Tools of Destruction involves the mysterious fate of the Lombaxes, including Ratchet's parents. And A Crack in Time largely focu??ses on Clank’s father. And both games are quite fun and unique. Really you can’t go wrong either way.

Dream Daddy (PC)

This is a game about a dad who dates other dads. Not everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s?? ??there for those who are interested. The game made some waves when it first came out, but has since kind of slipped back under the radar. Still, it got some good reviews when it came out, so if this interests you maybe consider trying it out.

Super Metroid (SNES/Wii/WiiU/SNES Classic)

This one is probably the biggest stretch in this list, but hear me out. The basis for this game is that the Space Pirates have taken the “last” Metroid in the hopes of raising a new army of the monsters. This last parasite is the same one that at the end of Metroid 2, which saw Samus as its mother. And so the game is kind of about Samus going on a k??ick-ass mission to save her child. Sort of. Maybe if you squint at it hard enough.

For this month’s theme, I have chosen to play Venetica, an action RPG about Scarlett, the daughter of Death. The plot revolves around Scarlett going on a mission to defeat a group of necromancers who have managed to escape Death's reach. Throughout the game, Scarlett will unleash the powers of her father for herself. I bought Venetica years ago on a whim and it has sat on my backlog ever since. But this month, I will finally dig into it and get it off my accu??rsed backlog.

I’m sure there are many other games themed around parenthood that I have missed, so feel free to shout them out in the comments. Let me know what you’ll be playing for this month’s theme if you are so inclined. I hope you’ll join this Band of Bloggers ?on our quest to play more games and write about said games. If you do, remember to preface your blog title with either Band of Bloggers or BoB. Either way I hope you enjoyed this month's theme. Also maybe call your parents (if applicable). I'm sure they'd appreciate it.

The post Band of Bloggers – June 2018 Edition appeared first on Destructoid.

May the forest be with you

Hello dear friends! It's time for a new theme for Band of Bloggers! Last month's theme of Dragons went remar??kably well. We had some phenomenal blogs written as a ??result and I couldn't be more excited to see where Band of Bloggers goes in the future! Of course, it's still not too late to write about last month's theme as well.

As I pondered what our theme might be for May, I considered many things. I thought about Spring and how it makes me actually want to go outdoors for once (then I go outdoors and I'm allergic to everything). I thought of trees, greenery and fresh air. I envisioned going for: A Walk in the Woods.

I really like the phrase "A Walk in the Woods." I find it evocative, I hope you do as well! Maybe this similarly titled piece of music, from Halo, will give you some inspiration.

"What does this mean to me?" you ask. I would respond, "What does it mean to you?"

Perhaps you think of a game that takes place inside of a forest, or possibly just a particular forest level within? a game. Write about that game. Maybe your mind is drawn specifically to the "walk" portion of the the?me. Write about a walking simulator. The world is your burrito!

The idea is just to use this as a jumping-off point. Find a game that relates (no matter how remotely) to this theme and write about it. It would be great if you discover a new game and play it for the first time, but that is by no means a requirement?.

Write about a game you once loved or even about how much you hate forest le??vels in game?s! Go (tree) nuts! When you've written your blog, be sure to throw "Band of Bloggers" in the title, or "BoB" if you want to shorten it, and we'll have a lovely month discussing these games together!

The post Band of Bloggers – May Edition appeared first on Destructoid.

Band of Bloggers returns!

_{[When Fenriff left Destructoid for Syfy Games after TheScholarlyGamer, the fate of Band of Bloggers fell into question. Last week, I put out a call to see if anyone wanted to take up Fenriff's mantle and Retrofraction answered! Let's keep this homegrown community feature going! - Pixie]}

This month, we are reviving Band of Bloggers -- a CBlog prompt formerly led by TheScholarlyGamer and Fenriff, who now write for Syfy Games. To help ensure that th??e series ??continues, I will be stepping in for a while. If you want to do next month's topic, please message me

So what the Duck is Band of Bloggers?

Basically, it is a monthly book club for video games. Except instead of going over to someone’s house, drinking too much wine, a?nd destroying their house, you play and write about certain games instead.

(But if drinking is your?? thing, feel free to have one. It’s on me.)

In collaboration with James Internet Ego and n0signal, it was decided the theme for August will be Hideo Kojima's games, as the long-awaited Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is just around the corner.

Hideo Kojima is a master storyteller and? developer. He made the jump from 2D to 3D look easy. He loves to toy with the expectations of players, e?mploy noir tropes, and helped inspire many giants of the gaming industry, such as Kenji Eno.

Starting August 1st, participants can venture into the mind of Hideo Kojima by playing one of his games and writing about it. The Metal Gear series, Policenauts, Boktai, Snatcher, Zone of the Enders, and anyth??ing else Kojima has touched are fair g??ame.

You can write just about any facet of Kojima's games you want, be it the wonderful or not-so-wonderful experience you had! The deadline for blog submissions will be August 28th and hopefully I ca??n hav??e a recap blog posted on the 31st.

The post Band of Bloggers: Hideo Games appeared first on Destructoid.