Justin Pyfrom's Blog, page 37

Uncommon Treasure in Cyberpunk Games

Name: Watch Dogs

Platform: Varies (Played it on the PlayStation 4)

Style: Action/Adventure

Publisher(s): Ubisoft Montreal

Developer(s): Ubisoft

Release Date: May 27, 2014

Date of Completion: March 20, 2018

When the cyberpunk genre of science fiction is intertwined in the realm of video games, the product usually comes out great. Deus EX, Fear Effect, and Final Fantasy VII are the examples of the perfect balance between the two completely different realms. Now, we can add another game to that list: Watch Dogs.

Loosely based off the event of the Northeast Blackout of 2003, Watch Dogs allows the player to control Aiden Pearce, a grey hat hacker, and vigilante, who roams the cyberpunk version of Chicago with a smartphone as his primary weapon. This is where the gameplay’s foundation comes into play. Most of this game is based upon hacking into various electronics to make the chosen missions a little easier and more entertaining. Combining that with the stealth and parkour feature that is implemented, and Watch Dogs comes a very technical game with little room for error and a lot of opportunities to earn extra money.

Taking cues from a few sandbox games, Watch Dogs has a variety of unconventional methods to earn money and increase your notoriety (reputation). A particularly popular method of gaining notoriety is taking out criminals while in the process of a crime netting experience and notoriety among the public allowing you to commit more indecent actions without worrying about prying eyes. While it ranges from hacking someone’s phone with their bank account open to completing a fixer’s contract job, the player is immediately immersed in the cyberpunk world. This makes the actual storyline, when the player finally gets around to it, that much more pleasant to watch.

Without giving too much away, the player is thrust into both a political and criminal conspiracy that took the life of the Aiden’s niece thus creating the vigilante that the player now controls. The structure of the main storyline, like most sandbox games, is broken up into Acts that the player engages in through missions. This allows the player to take breaks from the main storyline to embark on personal errands. As for the story, itself, it has a very suspenseful and dark tone with a catch of light humor. And while politics is something that most gamers try to avoid, Watch Dogs manages to weave it in seamlessly into the story effortlessly.

Adding the online multiplayer feature that allows you to sabotage, or join other players, Watch Dogs can have anybody immersed for many hours at a time. The only problem that it has is the driving mechanics and the zero tolerances for errors. One mistake can cost you a mission – or even your life. This can make it a little less entertaining, depending on how sensitive the mission presents itself. I’ve found myself restarting a mission more times than I can count.

Overall, I highly recommend this game for the science fiction and action game fans. I give Watch Dogs a 9 out of 10 only because of the side missions that really – and I do mean REALLY – put an emphasis on the term “small margin of error”.

Platform Game That Plays “Black Betty”

Name: Rayman Legends

Platform: Varies (Played it on the PlayStation 4)

Style: Platform

Publisher(s): Ubisoft

Developer(s): Ubisoft Montpellier

Release Date: February 18, 2014

Date of Completion: May 23, 2018

Platformers are a genre that can grow stall in my mind if I’m encountering the same atmosphere in each game of that area. Rayman Legends is NOT one of those games. This is another game I got for free with my Playstation Plus membership, but I would have happily paid full price because it was absolutely marvelous game. What makes it so marvelous? Well, …let’s start with the level design.

Much like any other platforming game, each level that’s displayed as portraits in each room that follows a particular theme. But, as an added bonus, each world has a musical stage that involves you to trek the stage to the beat of the song. Let me tell you something, I have played the first musical stage so many times because it has my favorite Pearl Jam’s “Black Betty”.

Standard replay value comes into play with the player working to complete EVERY stage and collecting EVERY teenies thus creating more opportunities for exploring MORE stages and unlocking MORE creatures for other players to play as. Oh…right! I forgot to mention, this game is multiplayer. Up to four people can work together to get complete a stage making it easier to collect everything on your first run through.

I don’t have any real issues with this game other than the usual platforming game issues such as short playtime. But, that’s because I’m usually playing RPGs and such. So, Rayman Legends a 9 out of 10.

From Brothers With Love

My brothers and I have always had the greatest conversation when it comes down to the finer points of family value. Sure, I love talking to my Grandma and Mother but I’ve always been close to my little brother, Antonio, and my older brother, Carlton. Those two are the main reason why I have a phone; you know, besides work (begrudging) and other nonsense. But this past week’s conversation was particularly interesting.

Last week, I witness the termination of a manager from my friend’s company. The argument, if you could believe it, was over a fact over anime. That’s right…an argument occurred because of a wanker refuse to admit that he was wrong about an anime and proceed to insult EVERYBODY, including our boss and his wife while making the claim that he’s only standing up for himself.

So, to recap, he’s refusing to admit being wrong is his way of “sticking up for himself” since the previous manager uses to bully him. Then, he uses the same platform to claim that anybody who disagrees with him would be labeled as bullies, as well. Finally, he made it clear that, as an act of protest, he was going to do the opposite to teach them a lesson. You know…do drugs, party hard and despise with saving. Now, you could imagine how I wanted to approach the jackass but my brothers had a different idea in mind.

See, my brothers made it clear that I’m a man of words – not actions. Sensing that I was annoyed by that statement, my younger brother explained that I’ve always been able to rip a person to shreds with my words alone. I never had to put my hands on everybody because my words, alone, can cripple or raise people. When I expressed that I’m not that bad, both of brothers reminded me of numerous times on both occasions. Of course, laughter and painful realization surface my face.

Afterward, being referred to having Papa Pope level of anger, I realized that I’m not properly equipped to deal with an insufferable twat. I know that I was going to verbally dismantle the arrogant twat and, in the long run, would have made everything worse. Not everybody can handle my way of counsel and my powers of wordplay need to be controlled better. Some things are better off the way they are, there are just some people that just don’t want to be helped. Just something I have to accept.

I better get my day started. Please, don’t forget to follow me on my social media platforms (Twitter, Instagram, and Goodreads) which are on the right side of my web page. Also, I do love hearing suggestions of what books to read outside of my norm (Science fiction and fantasy) as I am a part of the Goodreads’ reading challenge for 2018.

Walking the Golden Route

Life is an interesting mistress. She comes up with new and inventive ways to keep me entertained and smiling. However, her most recent adventure that she has in store for me involving me moving to San Francisco to finally spend some time with my aunt. However, the events leading up to the adventure were, for a lack of a better word, unorthodox.

To make a long story, I made a mistake involving trusting upper management with my papers. See, normally, I micromanage everything I do so I was persuaded by them to “leave it to them” and you can imagine what happened next.

Yep, you guessed it…they mucked everything up. My new boss was a colossal twat who didn’t want to give me work because I didn’t have a car (illegal, I know). And the way he voiced his decision would end up being a classic “his word against mine” if I was to bring him to court so, after three months of this nonsense, I was forced to look for a new job.

Unfortunately, by the time I got a well-paying job, I was already too far behind so, not surprising, I was politely asked to move out. People say I should be mad and I had to ask, “Why? I made a mistake, I tried to fix, and I made it worse. I would have evicted me, too, after a while. Maybe sooner knowing me.”

But, my aunt comes to the rescue and offered me a lifeline: Come to San Francisco and start over. I have to learn to fall sometimes. That it’s okay to mess up as long as I keep getting up and learning from them. She also reminds me that I’ve gotten so used to things going my way i.e. accomplishments that I tend to forget that I’m not immune to setbacks.

So, now, I’m going to be in San Francisco, CA for a good tick. Maybe I’ll return to Ohio, maybe not. But, I know that I won’t be down for long. My mother had a saying, “Vent for a little bit, dust yourself off and come back charging. The world is already reminding you of your obstacles; you don’t have to remind yourself.” And that’s exactly what I’m doing: Vent to you, dust myself and come back with a comeback plan.

Time to prepare for my interesting transition. Please, don’t forget to follow me on my social media platforms (Twitter, Instagram, and Goodreads) which are on the right side of my web page. Also, I do love hearing suggestions of what books to read outside of my norm (Science fiction and fantasy) as I am a part of the Goodreads’ reading challenge for 2018.

My Beautiful Escapism From Rudeness

I have the most annoying unmotivating wanker I have ever encounter…he’s my boss. He’s quick to disregard accomplishments and tear down people in an attempt to “make them better”. Not everybody is a fan of this bloke and, to be honest, neither am I. It’s really bad, too, because I never found someone sooo annoying in a professional setting. Luckily, for me, I have waaay more people in my life – especially my gaming buddies.

For the last week, I have been working on his company’s debut game which he’s allowing me to talk about it – but only slightly because we’re still working out the gameplay mechanics.

I’m in charge of the story and characters of this Tactical RPG. Of course, I approach my best mate’s project like any other business project on my end: I ask a lot of questions. The main question I always ask if a particular theme is to be explored. If my client can’t answer that one question, then we have business talking. Luckily, he explained to me that he wanted to the explore the dynamics of family, which was easy for me since I already had a story in mind – just needed some revisions.

The story only took me a few weeks to write it out and, grammatical errors aside, my buddy loved it. So, now, I have to finish up the characters and create the lore of the world and city which my client/mate is really happy about; I’ll be paying homage to our ancestral land (He’s Irish and I’m British on my father’s side).

Finally, once everything’s done. I have to double that on the story skeleton and create the screen script for the game’s MAIN storyline before SIDE storylines including character-driven. And I’m going to have SOOOO much fun with the script.

Now, I need to get back to working on my buddy’s gaming project. Please, don’t forget to follow me on my social media platforms (Twitter, Instagram, and Goodreads) which are on the right side of my web page. Also, I do love hearing suggestions of what books to read outside of my norm (Science fiction and fantasy) as I am a part of the Goodreads’ reading challenge for 2018.

I’m Working With The REAL Thinker

It is at this point in the week that I have acquired everything I need to write my crime novel series. Well…the first installment of it, anyway. Two notebooks that won’t bend (don’t know the name of them), four types of index cards (storyboarding for the books’ particular format), markers and a host of new pens (G2 .05, of course). Wish I had a whiteboard, but a wall will have to suffice, for now. But, as I was shopping at Office Max, something hilarious occurred to me.

Over the past three months, I haven’t had a chance to read any of my Kindle, yet. It’s funny…I have over twenty books on there (mostly sci-fi series) and I haven’t gotten the opportunity to any of them. Why? Because I’m at Barnes & Noble collecting reference books for my buddies’ projects. Adding to that, my colleague, who I lovingly call DeVoe gave me two more books to read about NLP (Neuro-linguistics Programming) and Conversational Hypnosis for work and research.

Speaking of my colleague, let me explain something about him. This man has two Masters, a Ph.D., a 210 IQ and is practically the male version of Amanda Waller or even Clifford DeVoe (hence the nickname) with the skillset that he has. Slowly, he has been teaching me to apply what I’ve learned to the field and, after learning that I’m a writer, to my work. Best part…he’s a wife who was a cheerleader. You CAN’T tell me there isn’t a God. Haha!!

Additionally, I get to joint down notes and observations for my book and journal, respectively, so I’m never actually bored while I’m in the slow parts of the day. You have no idea how many short story ideas I have concocted in my little journal at this length of the job. Plus, I can’t get in trouble for it because “It makes me look busy”. God, I love loopholes. Haha!!

Speaking of which, I need to get ready for work. Please, don’t forget to follow me on my social media platforms (Twitter, Instagram, and Goodreads) which are on the right side of my web page. Also, I do love hearing suggestions of what books to read outside of my norm (Science fiction and fantasy) as I am a part of the Goodreads’ reading challenge for 2018.

My Mind is Heavy but My Heart is Lifted…And Happy

So, I haven’t posted last week because I was waaaay too busy to do any kind of formal writing. Training from this new job has been something crazy and even more. But it’s a good type of crazy since I’m learning so much and applying it for both my job and writing career. Promoting and marketing are two essential skills to have in the business side of book writing.

With this week, I managed to get a lot more writing done for my buddy’s video game project. Actually, I’m almost done with it all characters, so I just need to write the lore and such for the world and regions before the long part comes into play: the script. I mean, seriously, I have to write the script for EVERY segment of the game which is going to a bitch but SOOOO much fun; I’m going to see if I can convince him to hire video actors. He might say no but it’s still worth a shot.

Additionally, I finally found an editor that’s willing to proofread the first AND second installment of my Dimensions series and any series here after that at a pretty decent price. He’s even thinking about making it into an additional career path along with writing poetry; as we speak, his first book of poems is currently in the works.

Finally…I saw Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War and I’m still feeling the effects of the ending. The story was so well put together and the action flowed quite nicely. I just wasn’t prepared for that ending; I don’t think ANYBODY was prepared for that ending. BUT, if you think about it, what happens after the Infinity Gauntlet storyline would bring the MCU in full circle. At least…that’s what I’m banking on. I’m so going to see that movie, again.

Now, I have to start my day with a meeting from my day job. Please, don’t forget to follow me on my social media platforms (Twitter, Instagram, and Goodreads) which are on the right side of my web page. Also, I do love hearing suggestions of what books to read outside of my norm (Science fiction and fantasy) as I am a part of the Goodreads’ reading challenge for 2018.

“You have to be…what…”

This week has been extremely trying for me – on both fronts. It feels like I’m stretching myself out too thin with so many responsibilities and I’m losing my mind. What’s worse? I know I can’t really remove any of them because, well, they’re MY responsibilities. Truth be told, I don’t want to since one really compliments the other; stuck between a rock and a hard place, right? Ha ha ha.

So, for starters, most of my headache is coming from my new job as a promoter. I thought it was going to be an easy transition being a former Oculus Brand Ambassador. Unfortunately, I was wrong and now I’m working twice as hard while playing catch up and it’s siphoning into my other projects. So, again, I’m playing catching up with everything AND wearing myself thin because of it.

Here’s the thing, though, I can’t complain about it as much as I like because of two things: my sexual orientation and my African American heritage. From a very early age, I’ve always been taught that no one is going to be sympathetic towards someone of my upbringing. To put it simply (and in the words of Eli Pope from Scandal): “You have to be twice as good as them to get half of what they have.” I don’t get the real luxury of dwelling on my woes because I already have people/grievers doing that for me.

That is why I’m going to do what I always do: Swallow my pain, refocus my core and start fresh in the morning. The faster I complete my homework/tasks for my job, the faster I can create more time for myself and my book series. It’s in a matter of time management.

Now, I have to start my day with homework I need to complete in regards to my job. Please, don’t forget to follow me on my social media platforms (Twitter, Instagram, and Goodreads) which are on the right side of my web page. Also, I do love hearing suggestions of what books to read outside of my norm (Science fiction and fantasy) as I am a part of the Goodreads’ reading challenge for 2018.

There’s Inspiration All Around You

I’m really enjoying my new job as a full-time promoter and Brand Ambassador. I don’t have to really sell anything per say, which makes it a lot less stressful; the product really sells itself. But, it also gives me time to come up with even more ideas for stories – both short and long. That’s what I love about being a writer…

There’s always a story to tell. There’s always something – or someone – to give a voice to. There’s always – and I do mean always – a POV (point of view) to consider and explore. I managed to jot down around five on my first two days in the field; one of which is a splendid idea for a potential novel series…or, maybe, a TV series.

That’s the thing to remember: bring my journal with me EVERYWHERE. Because one will never know where inspiration will pop up and readiness must become second nature to the artistic minds. On a side note, I bought another journal to keep track of what I like – and didn’t like – about TV shows. But this is just for kicks.

On another slightly unrelated note, I still debating if I want to buy Rosetta Stone to better teach myself Portuguese or not. Google Translator is okay but always accurate, YouTube can only go but so far and I need to make the love interest of my main character as authentic as possible. Which means…I need to learn Portuguese. That, and learn more about the Brazilian culture and sexual attitude.

You know what, I’m going to start my day with making a list of EVERYTHING I need for my LGBT series; it’s becoming a pretty long list and I love it. Please, don’t forget to follow me on my social media platforms (Twitter, Instagram, and Goodreads) which are on the right side of my web page. Also, I do love hearing suggestions of what books to read outside of my norm (Science fiction and fantasy) as I am a part of the Goodreads’ reading challenge for 2018.

Learn About The Deadly Game Everybody Is Playing

Game of Thrones Psychology: The Mind is Dark and Full of Terrors by Travis Langley

2013 was a year I will never forget anytime soon. I got to go to Chicago to help out at Wizard World. That, alone, was fantastic but a convention is just another convention and doesn’t interest me. People. That’s why I go to these events. I like meeting with people that are not celebrities. Get to know them. Understand them. Harmonize with them. And that’s where I met the coolest psychologist ever.

After a brief conversation with that cool psychologist, I bought Travis Langley’s FIRST book. Within a week after finishing that book, I became a fan and a supporter. Now…I’ve read a small chunk of his books including my most recent: Game of Thrones Psychology.

Let me start off by saying that Travis Langley isn’t your typical psychologist. Though wielding a Ph.D. in Psychology, he’s a nerd through and through and applies that to pop culture. This time around he focused his attention on the hit HBO show, Game of Thrones. And, with that, he takes the readers on the wild ride of the psyche of every nook and cranny that encompass that marvelous show.

Now, every book that has written at this point has followed a similar, yet effective, formula. After breaking the topic down into various points and topics, Travis collaborates with other like-minded individuals (psychologist and such) who was specialist in that given topic of their choice. This is important because of what I’ve been told about psychology: “Psychology is a subject that works better among groups.”

I can’t say enough good things about this book or this series. Each chapter explored a small section of Game of Thrones and made it relatable to the reader. From the psyche of psychopaths to the role of feminist in Westeros, every topic was explored and laid out for future decision.

Three books down, six to go with two more books on the horizon. You have to check out this series. Personally, I would also suggest checking Travis out at one of the panels if he’s coming to a convention near you. Trust me…you won’t regret it.

Grade: A

If you want to purchase the book, you can do so at this link: https://goo.gl/qMuaRJ

And, if you want to view the author’s page(s), they are listed as followed:

http://www.travislangley.info

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5876521.Travis_Langley