PS5 or Xbox Series X: Which one am I going to get and why.

Hey everyone!

We are at that exciting, but sad time of every console generation. As we say goodbye to the PS4/Xbox One era, we are preparing ourselves for the potential of future gaming with the PlayStation 5 & The Xbox Series X.

The marketing strategies from both companies have been very interesting so far, very much a contrast of the cut throat approaches in 2013 from Sony in response to Microsoft’s original DRM concept for the Xbox One. Both companies are taking almost polar opposite approaches, Microsoft hitting the headlines daily with Xbox news that is primarily focused on games and how incredibly powerful and gamer focused this machine is. Whilst Sony is standing on the sidelines, observing and if I’m honest making people nervous for what they have to show. Especially with all of the media scaremongering that Sony is under powered and unprepared.  But now, after the official PS5 reveal and games showcase, both companies are now getting the gloves out ready to gain the consumers attention on either side in a world where big industry events cannot take place.

My verdict on which console I’m going to purchase seems obvious when you see my branding and previous posts. However, there is a lot reasoning to my decision and my mantra as the flexible budget gamer should fall in line with this.

At this current time, I’ll be purchasing the PlayStation 5. Why? One simple thing. The exclusives, promise and cost. Let’s break it down.

Exclusives

One thing that I love about PlayStation, it’s their library of exclusive games. The PS4 mustered an amazing line up of top quality titles that you could only get on the PS5! Bloodborne, Spider-Man, Horizon, God of War, Persona 5, The Last of Us Part II and many more! Sony put out this games showcase to highlight to the fans that this will continue into the next generation.

I can’t wait to play Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Ratchet and Clank and other big AAA titles. But it was also the indie games that they highlighted as well that really were there to show that this platform is where you can get all the games Xbox will have, but with the addition of smaller games with huge AAA titles coming in instalments. The launch line up is a great apology for the lack luster launch library on PS4 and it looks to be a great first year.

Promise

The promise of any brand is always important, it’s why there was such a PR mess with the Xbox One and it’s original concept. Xbox had to rebuild that gamer trust, no one felt that they could trust Microsoft. Sony earned the gamer’s trust in PS4, this was a crucial lesson they learnt after the PS3. They are continuing that message with consumers onto PS5, “Play Has No Limits”. This felt like a response to the media statements that PS5 will be limited due to it’s lesser power than the Series X. Sony is promising the gamer that they will be given an experience that cannot be beaten through better graphics or frame rates, they are showing the gamer that they were aware this one of the draws of the PS4 in that it was more powerful than the original Xbox One. Instead of doubling down on that strategy for PS5, they have learnt again that the games are where it is at. The stories and experiences from their exclusives. They are promising to the gamer that no matter how over or under powered their machine is, they will provide a limitless string of different experiences through the power of their first party teams and their creativity.

No brand ever fully lives up to their promise, but Sony has made me feel confident that I am purchasing a console that will give me years of unique experiences for the rest of the generation like the PS4.

Price

Many of you are reading this and are probably thinking, “But they haven’t announced the price yet?”. Yes, you are correct. But as the Flexible Budget Gamer, it’s important that I begin to estimate the costs before they are officially announced, in order to save the empty vessel that is my bank account.

Based on power alone, I feel that the Xbox Series X is going to be very expensive. I could be wrong, but this machine prides its self on it’s power. How is Microsoft going to justify the manufacture costs? By having a big price, having the Kinect bundled alone with the original Xbox One is why it was that extra $100. As well as the fact that Microsoft is only offering this base model.

PlayStation might be less powerful, but it has a more enticing library as mentioned above. If I can buy a cheaper console with more games, then of course I’ll get that one. But Sony is listening and watching the developing games industry, they have took note than many gamer’s have been going digital in the past generation. Offering the option of a digital only PS5 is a fantastic consumer option, that I predict will be cheaper than the base disc drive model. If this console is possibly cheaper than Xbox Series X and then goes further to already give the consumer options on different models, then Sony is wanting to make a consumer, focused product that meets the PlayStation promise of giving you the experiences you want at an affordable measure. A hard lesson they learnt after the disastrous PS3 price.

 

So yeah, those are my current reasons. These may change, PS5 might be £2000 and requires me to sacrifice a relative, the games may all get delayed, the upcoming Xbox Series X Games showcase might be amazing. But at this current time, I’m going to purchase the PlayStation 5. Microsoft have really turned it around on this generation launch build, after the initial PR disaster of the original Xbox One concept they have turned it around due to Phil Spencer and the rest of the brilliant team at Xbox. I am not a “Xbox Hater”, I just feel that PlayStation is making all the right moves so far.

Stick around the page for when I post my reaction after the Xbox Series X Games Showcase on July 23rd at 5 pm BST

 

 

Thank you!

Flexible Budget Gaming.

Flexible Budget Gaming’s Top 5 Games of 2019

2019 was a strange year for gaming, we bask in the twilight years of the PS4/XBONE generation with some of the best, entertaining and downright weird titles that I have ever played. Before we get started, let’s get this out the way. I have an extremely time consuming job, I didn’t get to play everything that come out in 2019. But there was some good ones in there that I can’t wait to talk about. PS: I decided to cut this down to 5 games, I had a lot more to talk about with these 5 in particular and didn’t want to bore you all.

5: Luigi’s Mansion 3

If you have read my past posts, you know I’m a big fan of this hilariously brilliant and unique Nintendo franchise. Of course I was excited when this was announced, after playing the original countless times on my trusty GameCube, I have become a die hard Luigi’s Mansion fan. I will admit that I had my reservations after what I felt was a good but slightly disappointing sequel with Dark Moon. However, once I put this game into my Switch and began my ghost hunting journey, those reservations were put to rest (That pun was unintentional)

This game was a delight, Nintendo really pulled out all the stops with the animations of Luigi with this charming and extremely fun game. The game play was reworked in such subtle ways to make the ghost hunting much more engaging and varied. Nothing was more satisfying that pummelling those incredibly annoying boos with the new slam move when capturing ghosts. The puzzle solving in this game, whilst simple was so fun to play through. But I was overall just so happy that they kept this to one location with the hotel, as well as bringing back the charm of those boss ghosts from the original and how it was sorely missed from Dark Moon.

4: Kingdom Hearts 3

Anyone that knows me is aware that I am quite a big Disney fan. Kingdom Hearts is something that I have a love/hate relationship with. I bought the PS4 collection back in 2017 or 2018 and felt that I was missing out on such a beloved JR-PG. After enjoying KH1 a ton that summer, I was extremely excited to play KH2………..well. I wasn’t a fan. But for some reason the awkward, cringey nature of Kingdom Hearts always had a unique charm that I couldn’t help but just enjoy. I was willing to give KH3 a shot as the game play looked like it was really well refined and just a blast to play. The worlds that were being introduced were also some of my Disney favourites, i.e Toy Story and Monsters Inc.

I was so pleased to start playing this and have it click straight away. The combat was so smooth and so engaging, with amazing looking finishers with the new Disney attraction special moves. The whole game is just beautiful to watch. From start to finish this game was a Disney nostalgia filled blast. Kingdom Heart’s infamously mental story line is something that I don’t play the series for, so I just found the awkward scenes amusing and although I didn’t fully understand the context of some scenes, I still had a blast with this game.

3 Crash Team Racing: Nitro Fuelled

I prefer this over Mario Kart 8. There I said it! Crash Team Racing is a childhood classic of mine, competing with my brother and uncle when we stayed at his are fond memories of mine. Seeing this be remade was something I didn’t expect at all, what I also didn’t expect was the amount of content and love that was put into this modern take on the chaos which was CTR. Beenox nailed that adrenaline boosting, chaotic feeling off the original but with even further crunch and bite to the driving, every race is a complete thrill!

The amount of customisation options for your kart and the amount of unlockables that were included was mind boggling. CTR’s reward system that was placed in initially was so engaging, I wanted to race constantly in my free time to unlock more rewards. It made it even better that the racing was perfected so well and re imagined by the team at Beenox. My only gripe is how they later included micro transactions, but I honestly thought the initial reward system was too good to be true. Also, that blue vortex can do one.

2: Resident Evil 2 REMAKE

Survival horror is one of my favourite genres since my early teens. Due to being born in 1995, I was much too young to experience the classic PS1 horrors till much later in life. Resident Evil 2, however is one that I could never get into purely cause of the controls. After playing The Evil Within 1/2, I was curious to get into the games that those games were trying to emulate, especially with Shiji Mikami leading the first game.

Upon watching E3 2018 and seeing this game be revealed finally after it’s announcement in 2015, I knew that I had to play this game. This is true survival horror at it’s finest. Visually this game is stunning, reinventing those static backgrounds, creating this dreary, tense atmosphere that never lets up. This game made zombies scary again. I never felt safe throughout the entire game, the team over at Capcom reinvented this classic into the modern era and brought in so many new fans. There is few games which feel like they are so passionately created, you could tell the team crafted this with such precision and delicacy. Although guys, Mr. X. That guy was a nightmare, but I’m so happy with what you did with him.

and our number 1 goes to…………

1: Death Stranding

You know when you experience something and you don’t know what to expect? But then realised it was something you truly needed? This was my experience with Death Stranding. My friends and family know that I’ve had a significantly hard time from August 2019 till the end of the year. This was due to family loss, family being rushed into hospital, job stress, strain on relationships. I felt the need to switch off and enjoy the ambience of what Death Stranding offered in its atmospheric and deeply rich game play of travelling from one place to another with proper item management.

What I didn’t expect was to begin crying at multiple points of this game. I won’t be spoiling anything here, but the message of our bonds as humans, the concept of life & death and how keeping connected is what drives us forward and keeps us human was incredible touching. The relationship between the characters was something I shared with some of these family members that I had lost or came close to losing. It made me appreciate the people around me more and in the game play, I felt a new appreciation for simply travelling in an atmospheric plain, with deeply incredible music from the band “Low Roar” and being alone with your thoughts. This was the game I needed but didn’t know I needed in 2019 and this is why Death Stranding is my game of the year.

Thank you for reading!

 

Flexible Budget Gaming. 

Update: The Next Review

Hi guys

Sorry for the lack of activity lately, unfortunately the last few weeks at work have been hectic. I haven’t had time to write a review for the games that I’ve been playing recently (although I’ve barely had time to play them as it is). My job takes a lot of my time away but I make sure to keep this blog going cause I just love to write about video games and talk about what I think of the games I’m playing currently. I’ve got one more week till everything calms down a bit again so expect to see the next review on the week of the 12th.

I’ll give you a hint, its a very nostalgic game series for me and I can’t wait to replay these childhood gems in it’s remastered form.

Thank you for your patience.

Flexible Budget Gaming

Luigi’s Mansion (2001) Nintendo GameCube RETRO REVIEW

After placing this on my last top 10, I couldn’t resist going back to this game and felt I had more to say about it then my initial top 10 so let’s begin.

As many Nintendo fans know, every time the beloved company releases a new console its expected that it will be accompanied by a brand-new Mario game at launch. However, back in 2001 as we all anticipated the Nintendo GameCube: Nintendo decided to throw all tradition out the window and give green Mario a turn in the spotlight. What we got was “Luigi’s Mansion”, a hauntingly fun adventure that overflows with charm and boasts unique game mechanics that makes it stand out among Nintendo’s vast library of first party games. Although “Luigi’s Mansion” fails to escape some issues that hold it back. So, let’s grab our vacuum and Game boy horror and go more in depth with Luigi’s journey into the mysterious mansion.

One aspect that will be familiar for Nintendo fans is the story, Luigi has won a mansion in a contest he didn’t even enter (Sounds legit) and has set off the meet Mario to claim their prize. Unfortunately, Mario got there early and has been kidnapped by the ghostly residents. Luigi meets Professor E.Gadd who supplies you with the polturgust 3000 (love it) so that you could suck up all the ghosts that had escaped from his portrait collection and return them to the gallery so you can then save Mario. A basic Nintendo Mario plot placed into a more unique scenario, but very charming either way.

Nintendo always puts gameplay first and this clear in this game, it’s extremely satisfying to capture all the ghosts in the mansion. Working your way through rooms is very exciting as you don’t know what ghosts will appear and you just feel awesome when you manage to capture multiple ghosts at once. You capture ghosts by stunning them with your flashlight to expose their heart, once revealed the player can then begin to use the polturgust to capture them by pulling them with the analogue stick towards you till their health reaches zero. An incredibly fun mechanic, but not all ghosts can simply be caught in this method. Occasionally as you work your way though the mansion you will come across the portrait ghosts, these acts as mini bosses or area bosses and is where much of the charm that the game oozes comes from. Each portrait ghost has a puzzle for you to solve to expose their heart, this can be as simple as waiting for the ghost to make the appropriate animation such as yawning or manipulating parts of the environment with your poltergust: This thing can shoot fire, ice and water so use it wisely. I adore this part of the game; each portrait ghost has a unique character about them and offer a different experience in every battle. Your Game boy horror offers a brief description of them after they are captured, and their designs are all unique and charming, whenever I look back on this game I always remember the portrait ghosts before anything else. The element of discovery is great in this game, some of the portrait ghosts can be ignored completely if you choose not to venture further into the mansion as well as all the precious treasure that can be found by checking every nook in the rooms. Make sure you find everything you can as the game will inform you of how well you did in quite a fun way at the end.

Unfortunately, there is a fair few elements that hold this game back from being amazing. A big factor is the length of the game, Luigi’s Mansion is a very fun but extremely short game especially if you blast through mansion ignoring the optional portrait ghosts and secrets. It also suffers from frustrating mechanics in the form of capturing boo’s, once you release these annoying fools you must backtrack through the entire mansion to find 50 of them. This is my least favourite part of the game and the way you must capture them is not fun in my opinion, the boos can move from room to room as you try to capture them and occasionally the boo’s love to jump from room to room several times just to be annoying. It’s even worse when they go through a wall that leads to a room in a totally different area which leads to going through a large portion of the mansion to get to them, when it’s entirely possible they will just go back to the previous room the second you go in.

However, I fully believe this is when Luigi became a distinct character and evolved from being simply left as “Player 2” to becoming the cowardly brother who is still determined to face his fears and save the day. I love this game and it’s a childhood favourite of mine and as much as it as many frustrating drawbacks, I still love to go back occasionally and play through this again. I’m very excited for the 3DS remake coming out next week (UK release date) and hope the younger generation love it as much as I did when I first played it. As a budget gamer, if you wanted to play the original GameCube version you’ll probably be paying £40 for it used. I would avoid paying that much just to play the original and wait for the 3DS version which is a bit cheaper. It’s a great game but if you are on a budget I would wait a bit to see if it comes down in price unless you are a big Nintendo fan.

 

A Flexible Budget Gaming Review

 

Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom (2018) PlayStation 4 REVIEW

When it comes to JRPG’s, I have to admit I’m fairly new to the genre. I’ve always been a big RPG fan but I’ve never really ventured this deep. I played Final Fantasy XV back in 2016 and that was my first step into a JRPG, I loved it: For how mixed that entry into the series was for many people, I will admit I loved it. This sparked an interest to delve into some deeper cuts of the genre. That’s when Ni No Kuni 2 caught my eye,during its trailer at PSX 2016. I never heard of this series before but like many others I was blown away by the beautiful visuals that echoes the marvellous animation of studio ghibli (Who sadly did not return in their involvement from the first game). Although it took me a while to get to it, I knew I wanted to give this game a go. Unfortunately I have not played the first game and I am aware that the combat is much different, however after hearing that this game was not related to the first in story I thought it was okay to jump in from here.

Let’s just get it out the way, this game is gorgeous. Every reviewer is saying this and you cannot deny the beauty of the visuals in this game. All the characters pop within the vast landscape of colour that is the world of Ni No Kuni 2, with each of them having their own unique design that is memorable as well as every town you visit leaving a visual imprint on your memory. The story is wonderfully charming, albeit a bit cheesy at times but you can’t help but smile at certain plot points in this game: Although it may make some gamers cringe a bit at times. I didn’t expect so much humour in the game as well, the story has its dark moments but they are well balanced with moments of levity. Characters develop very well throughout the game, particularly in Evan as he gradually learns what it means to be a king and rule a nation. However, there is one chapter in this game towards the end that seems a bit unnecessary and odd, it came off as a cheap way for the group to attain something they needed.

Now for the game play, this is where the game truly shined for me……most of the time. The combat in Ni No Kuni 2 is now more hack and slash than the original, of course with RPG elements such as magic, items to aid in battle and having equipment that can be attained from exploring or completing quests that you can swap between: Each having their own attributes that help against certain foes. All of this worked great and I loved every battle that I got into, I enjoy making my character as strong as possible you see,before the final battle. The game really does a fantastic job at making you want to engage in random encounters that you face, especially with the incentive of good loot. One of my favourite mechanics in this game is the ability to turn a battle you are struggling with potentially in your favour using the “tactics tweaker”. This feature allows you to invest battle points so you can select whether you do more damage to certain types of enemies, have further resistance to different elements and in general aid you in each fight. You can even choose whether you want to earn more loot or more EXP from fights also, this feature really gives the player a ton of freedom especially if they are struggling.

In the nature of most RPG games, the developers tend to force the player to engage in all mechanics within the game.Sometimes this is a really good thing if all the mechanics are fun to play and you are happy to play more of it, although if there is mechanics that are not fun and become more of a hindrance then the game overall suffers for that fact. Ni No Kuni 2’s pace comes to a screeching halt when it prevents progress as it is compulsory of you to take part in skirmishes and kingdom building. I sadly did not enjoy the skirmishes, this rock paper scissors type combat wasn’t really that fun to engage in and I would have much rather had it just be the polished hack and slash combat that they already did so well. I was even more gutted when one of the coolest bosses visually in the game is nothing more than a skirmish battle. The kingdom building I enjoyed more, however at certain points the game stops you from progressing on with the story until your kingdom is a certain level. If you weren’t developing this as you went then prepare for the pace to slow down immediately for a while. The only redeeming quality of this was that it was very satisfying to see your kingdom fully built and side quests to recruit citizens could be fun, but I think forcing the player to engage in all mechanics of the game can sometimes halt the experience if its not fun to do in the first place.

Whilst I was complaining a fair bit there, Ni No Kuni 2 is still a fun time just for the battle game play, stunning visuals and charming story. I’m really glad I picked this one up and its one of those games that gets better as you level up your party. The devs really made this world fun to explore and you could tell they had a blast making this game. However, if there is a Ni No Kuni 3 then I hope that they put stuff like skirmishes and kingdom building to the side as an optional feature. Halting progress in the story did not help the pacing of this game and it became a little tedious at times. Overall though, I would very much recommend Ni No Kuni 2 to newcomers to the JRPG world like myself and I believe hardcore fans can find a lot to love in this charming game. In regards to the budget gamers out there, I consider this game a one to give a try especially if you want to get a lot of content out of a less expensive game. At the minute this goes for £20-£25 in the UK and for how much there is to do you will certainly get more than your money’s worth with this one. This game holds a lot more content than most AAA games that are double the price so its certainly worth the spend.

 

Flexible Budget Gaming

Welcome!

Welcome to Flexible Budget Gaming!

A blog that’s all about video games, whether it be game reviews (modern/retro), Top 10 lists, my thoughts on news within the gaming industry such as announcements and press conferences or just general rambling about something I want to talk about in gaming. I may invite some friends along to chat with also.

You may be wondering, what is the deal with the name “Flexible Budget Gaming”? Well, let me explain. I have been an avid gamer all my life, however my passion for the industry and games really flourished when I was at university studying a music degree. Instead of spending my free time during my studies clubbing and drinking like an absolute LAD (cringe), I was in my student house playing games. After receiving a 3DS for Christmas, I was once again hooked on the world of gaming. Shortly in the new year I saved up money for a PS4 (I was brought up on PlayStation and Nintendo) and was smacked across the face with the palm that was the next generation of gaming. So……..back to the blog name, As a student, I didn’t have much money to spend on myself as it went to rent and food etc. I was always waiting for the latest games to go down in price and I was usually on some form of budget, but I made sure to play as many games as possible on my limited budget. Always trying to balance things and be “flexible” so I could pay for what I needed and be able to buy games as much as possible.

This flexibility was needed further once I graduated, as I struggled to find work for a while and it led to me replaying a lot of games (old and modern), so when I decided to fully embrace my video games and start this blog I wanted a name that kind of suited the way I’ve had to balance things to ensure I could still get into gaming as much as possible. I believe many other gamers can relate to it too, we are all in different situations but finding a way to be able to still have fun and play video games. I mostly really want to help my readers decide what games they should spend their limited budget on when they are able to, many gaming YouTubers such as Caddicarus, Somecallmejohnny etc did the same for me. It’s also a catchy name.

My content will feature all console platforms such as PS4, Nintendo Switch, 3ds and Xbox One. I’ve grew up with PlayStation and Nintendo but I hold no bias (but PlayStation is still my bae).

So once again, welcome! Watch this space for upcoming content, the blog will be getting updated as I go to make it easier to get around once more content is uploaded. If you like my stuff I would love to see some comments and engage with any readers who want to share feedback or their own views.

Thank you

-Flexible Budget Gaming