Issue 12 November 9th 2019

Just For Laughs

Meet Sacramento Stu, the unluckiest cowboy in Red Dead Online

PC Gamer will occasionally write articles about an unfortunate adventure in a video game, normally in a role play fashion. This article is one of the best that I've read. Take a few minutes and give it a read, or just watch the videos included . Enjoy!

Image credit: This very article

Death Stranding Has Arrived

Welcome back to another edition of Load Save! This week marks the release of the highly anticipated Death Stranding by Hideo Kojima. I'm about three hours in and you can see my thoughts on it if you scroll down a bit! If you want to see how much the world has changed since it was first announced in 2016, check out the Load Save Facebook page! Other than DS, we have a lot of community-based articles and a few regarding Fallout. As we approach the end of the year and the end of a decade, you can expect to see some articles about gaming over the past ten years. If you're a fan of Load Save, send it to some of your friends! Remember, you can also respond to this email or tweet me @SethMcMorris if you have any comments or feedback on the newsletter or articles.

Enjoy the read!

Reviews

My Take On Death Stranding

I thought I would do a quick review on my experience with Death Stranding so far! I'm about three hours in, and I'm loving it. The gameplay is different from what you'd expect and there's only been one exhilarating moment thus far that I've been in control. The majority of gameplay is walking from one point to another while taking in the beautiful scenery. The challenge of this walking is balancing the items that you're delivering on your back. With this in mind, this is the most realistic walking game I've ever played. If you walk on some rocky terrain, you'll probably have to keep your balance by holding R2 or L2. If you're going down a steep slope and gaining speed, you'll need to keep your balance by holding R2+L2. This can be a little repetitive, but it keeps you involved in the game. These walking experiences are reminiscent of one of my favorite parts of Red Dead Redemption 2, when you're riding down a trail and an original song plays in the background, perfectly matching the mood. If you loved those parts of RDR2, you'll enjoy this aspect of Death Stranding. The cutscenes are the most incredible things I've seen in gaming, only rivaled by God of War. In the three or so hours I've played, I would estimate that 70% of it was cutscenes. This doesn't bother me, as it was what I was expecting. The story is incredibly interesting, and I'm excited to see how things play out. If you want to know more about Death Stranding, reply to this email and let me know! I'll leave a short add-on to this review next week when I'm further in the game.

Image credit: Kojima Productions Twitter

Deals!

Target Is Selling Highly Acclaimed Games For $15

I normally don't link deals here, but this is too good to pass up. If you're new to the Switch or you haven't gotten around to the flagship titles, like Super Mario Odyssey and Breath of the Wild, now is the time to jump in. You could pick up BotW and it could keep you entertained until next Christmas. Outside of Nintendo, you have the chance to catch up on some of 2019's biggest hits like Borderlands 3 and Control for $35 and $25 dollars, respectively. Don't put your wallet down yet, there are over 100 games under $15, including the highly acclaimed Resident Evil 2: Remake. I'm using every bone in my body to not blow my entire Christmas budget on these deals. These deals start on November 28, so be ready!

Sidenote: if you like hearing about deals, let me know and I can put some more in!

Community

Looking Ahead To Red Dead Redemption 2 Role-Play Adventures

It's a time to celebrate and be glad because Red Dead Redemption 2 is now on PC! A whole new audience will be able to enjoy one of the best stories of this generation. Hopefully, the bugs and issues will be cleared up relatively quickly. Other than the great story, we have a whole slew of Role-Playing to look forward to in RDR2 Online. There's already an active group on consoles that have been RP for a while, but we know that PC is the biggest RP community. The opening of this article has a great story of RDR RP, and I'm excited to see countless articles and videos of other Wild West adventures in the future! Did you pick up RDR2 on PC? Let me know if you did!

Image credit: Rockstar Games

Upset FIFA Fans Take Video Games Too Seriously

It's one thing to be upset about a game, it's another to repeatedly threaten game devs, hack their Twitter accounts, and use vulgar language to encourage self-harm. Imagine being so upset about a game that you state that "a revolution is on the way." How crazy do you have to be to want to start a revolution because a game has made you upset? This is absolutely insane. I would ignore this article and avoid discussing something so ridiculous, but it's important to bring issues like these to light so that we can stop them from being so common. There's no reason for people to tell someone to kill themselves. These people need to learn to vote with their money; if they don't like the game, don't buy it! It's not that difficult. I get fired up in these situations because it's so wrong to act this way. Let me know your thoughts on this, I'm interested to see it from someone else's perspective.

Image credit: EA

Fallout First Subscribers Band Together To Create The Upper-Class

I nearly put this under "Just For Laughs," but it seems this has more under the hood than it appears. If you're just now stopping by, you can check out here to see what's going on in the Wasteland (hint: scroll down until you see the Fallout Boy graphic). There have been some laughs from this terrible Bethesda decision, like falloutfirst.com and the anti-subscription players griefing subscribers. But now, the "upper-class" subscribers are make a move. At first, it makes you laugh. When you read the article, you see the reasoning behind it. And the possible dangers. I'm partly joking, but I am interested to see where the player base takes this. It leaves me to wonder: if I log on, will I be attacked by the aristocracy? Stay tuned to find out.

Image credit: Fallout Twitter

Ninja Speaks On Another Popular Streamer's Ban, Calls Fortnite Players "Piece of sh*t kids"

If you're confused on what's going on, here's a quick recap: a popular Fortnite streamer named Faze Jarvis (referred to as Jarvis) was recently banned permanently from Fornite because of a video showing him using an auto-aim cheat in the game. This cheat wasn't used to fool viewers into believing that he's a talented player, he was just messing around. After this news, Ninja was discussing the issue on his Fortnite stream and, after many minutes of being inarticulate, said that it's different for a streamer who's job is to play Fortnite being banned than it is for someone who plays Fortnite for fun and uses cheats (you can see it at 5:55 in the video). I agree that a permanent ban is a tough decision for a streamer who plays Fortnite professionally. It's essentially firing him from his job. However, Ninja's "piece of sh*t" statement adds more vitriol to this discussion that isn't needed. Regardless of your opinion on hackers, there's no need to call a group such a demeaning term. Such a recognizable name in gaming should not building walls between player bases like this. Can't we all just enjoy games together?

Image credit: Ninja Twitter

Long Read

Looking Back At Fallout Over The Past Ten Years

You may be asking yourself, "why does this guy write so much about Fallout when 76 just makes him upset? Well, avid Load Save reader, I write about it because deep down, I love the Fallout franchise. I remember my first Fallout experience with New Vegas. The opening cinematic is still one of my favorite in any video game. The echoing "Blue Moon" ringing in the back of a dilapidated casino quickly pans to reveal a run-down yet lively place called "New Vegas." In a minute and a half, I'm completely drawn in. You can see the world of New Vegas, the disgusting, post-apocalyptic land overrun by people who have no good-intentions. Now that it's grabbed your attention, the classic "War. War never changes" begins to lay down the exposition of the Fallout world. The excitement from this opening didn't die down once the game began. After creating my character, I quickly discovered the radio stations. The juxtaposition of the happy-go-lucky tunes of the 1940s and 50s with the barren Wasteland blew my mind. My love for the world and feel of Fallout was cemented. That's why I'm so disappointed with the current condition of Fallout 76. It's like you've fallen in love with a TV show, but suddenly it's taken a twist and has become something totally different from what you first fell in love with. You continue to watch, hoping that it will eventually returns to its roots, but every episode lets you down more and more. This is my plight with Fallout. But hopefully, one day we can return to the Wasteland we all know and love.

Image credit: Fallout Twitter

PlayStation's CEO Discusses PlayStation Power Shuffle and The Future Of The Platform

There's been some big news about PlayStation on the backend of this week. First, Shuhei Yoshida, the previous president of Sony Worldwide Studios, has transitioned into working more closely with indie dev teams and Herman Hulst has become the Head of Worldwide Studios. If you want to know more about that, you can click here. Shortly after this, PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan gave an in-depth interview with gamesindustry.biz regarding the future of PlayStation and a little insight into the reasoning behind the power shuffle. A major reason for this is to push PlayStation to be more global. This looks like marketing campaigns that are streamlined across the world instead of individualized campaigns that fit into the culture that's being marketed to. While this initially sounds like a great idea in the name of unity, it sounds a little sticky from a marketing point of view. It's impossible to connect with a global audience as effectively as a regional audience because of differing cultural beliefs. One message could be humorous in the States and offensive in Japan. This globalisation will likely lead to less effective, more generic marketing campaigns that don't connect with their audience as well as they have in the past. Unfortunately, This probably means no more Kevin Butler-style commercials. Other than globalisation, Ryan also discusses the future of PlayStation in light of Game Pass and Stadia, so give it a read to know more about the state of PlayStation

Before You Go

Next Week: Become Jedi

Next week is a treasure trove of Star Wars content. First, there's the release of Disney+ and The Mandalorian(along with a basically everything else Star Wars). Next, we have the release of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. I won't be able to grab it on day one, but I'll be sure to link some reviews! Other than that, we're winding down on the year. Keep an eye out for those hot Black Friday Sales, and I'll see you next time!

Thanks for stopping by!