Ziko's Realm

Elena's face when she watched my most recent stylish playthrough on God Hard difficulty. '' Your suit is performing at nominal levels Sam.'' 😄

2 weeks ago (edited) | [YT] | 72

Ziko's Realm

Big up and thanks to all my friends, followers, fellow Vanquish fans and passer-by's for your continued interest and support. I enjoy all the little convo's and interactions I'm able to have with other fans on a continuous basis through the use of my YouTube channel. It's been nothing but positive vibes and I'm humbled to also be able to give something of value back to a community and fanbase for something I'm passionate about.

I'm following in the footsteps and paying my respects to all the great Vanquish players who shared their findings and paved the way long before I started sharing gameplay. You're all legends to me, and I will happily continue to share my knowledge and findings to help current and future players who might someday aspire to become masters at Vanquish themselves. Would love to see more people experiment and push the limits, and see a bigger community around the game in general, but I'm perfectly fine if that day never comes.

Massive thanks to everybody who celebrated the 15th anniversary with me. It means a lot to me and I don't take my audience for granted. Was really cool to see a lot of fellow Vanquish fans coming out of the woodworks to reminisce on the game and it's legacy.

I tend to value quality over quantity so in some ways,
I'm not much of a numbers kinda guy,
but the numbers don't lie;

my channel reached 1k subs last month.

This weekend, I'll release a special video to celebrate this milestone,
dedicated to my friends, fans and followers,
featuring all new high stakes freestyle footage on God Hard difficulty.

Thanks for tagging along on this journey with me,

❤️ Ziko 🙏

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 71

Ziko's Realm

Four years ago on this very date,
I shared my first Vanquish freestyle and combo montage on YouTube.
A major milestone in the history of the game is just around the corner now;

Vanquish is celebrating it's 15th anniversary tomorrow!

Similar to last year,
I took the opportunity to commemorate the occasion
with my fellow Vanquish fans by releasing one of the biggest
stylish gameplay montages I've ever made.
But contrary to last year's anniversary MAD,
this time all footage was recorded on God Hard difficulty.

A tribute to one of the greatest games of all time;

''The G.O.A.T.''

Coming to a screen near you tomorrow, on October 19, 2025.

Thanks for reading and have a good one!

Ziko 🙏

4 weeks ago | [YT] | 95

Ziko's Realm

''Guess it's time for the real thing''

I released a gameplay trailer to generate some hype and give you all a glimpse into the project I'm working on to celebrate the 15th Anniversary of Vanquish. The video is premiering on October 19, 2025.

https://youtu.be/BbyTcOPjLzM

Have a good one,

Ziko ✌️

2 months ago | [YT] | 21

Ziko's Realm

Celebrating and reflecting on 15 Years of Vanquish.

Back in 2010, Vanquish lovingly and rightfully so got dubbed the future of third-person shooters.
That statement held true in a way but not like many of it's fans were hoping.
Instead of spawning a whole new subgenre of tps/action hybrids that would build upon its base,
the popularity of cover shooters had passed its peak, but it went out with a bang,
when our beloved Vanquish ushered in the end of an era instead.
Late to the party or ahead of its time perhaps?

While some perceived Vanquish to be not much more then an offbeat experiment
from ⁨‪@SEGA‬ and ⁨‪@PlatinumGames_j‬ under the helm of Shinji Mikami,
the development team was very much aware of the type of beast they created and unleashed upon the world. Eventhough the devs communicated what Vanquish was all about and there was a lot of praise from the start, some early high profile reviews basically compared it to Gears of War with a slow-motion button,
which is understandable from a beginner's perspective and casual point of view, and its how I and many others began engaging with it's mechanics. It's just the nature of the beast that games with a lot of depth fall victim to being sold short by early reviews. The in-game tutorial only teaches the absolute basics but the player-base discovered lots of useful tricks and techniques over the years which add a lot of depth to an already extensive game. Even through the lens of a beginner, there was just something special about Vanquish from the get-go, it felt like an instant classic to me. A highly replayable and intense adrenaline rush with a big fun factor, boasting spectacular visuals, visceral sound effects and intense music, topped off with flawless controls and interesting mechanics, which offered an unprecedented sense of speed and level of freedom for an action game with a shooter at its core.

Fast forward 15 years and Vanquish is much less misunderstood nowadays.
Player reviews praising the game and enticing others to give it a spin are still popping up regularly,
but it never really got the level of popularity or long term committed player-base I like to think it deserves.
Realistically, I know the arcade genre, as well as the other genres Vanquish incorporates elements from have been in a niche for years if not decades, but still. Because untill this day, there's still nothing remotely like it.
A stylish action game by heart, Vanquish is an intense third-person shooter with elements of the beat 'em up and bullet hell genres, and a fast paced and highly replayable arcade game at it's core.
Like many masterpieces before and after, Vanquish is universally lauded enough by critics, fans and it's playerbase,
so that it will forever live on in history with it's rightfully attained status as a cult classic.

Eventhough Vanquish is an absolute blast to play casually and it can be approached with a more traditional and conservative way of playing, it's mechanical depth supports a couple of different playstyles almost equally as well, and there's a lot to explore for players who strive to hone their skills.
Whether you're just in it for the ride or enjoy playing for speed and efficiency,
maybe prefer a more methodical playstyle focussed on high scores,
or just want to blow up some robots with style,
Vanquish has got you covered.

While it might seem counter-intuitive for newcomers, Vanquish is designed to be played fast and efficiently.
In practice this means constantly being on the move, weaving in and out of cover and strafing in front of or alongside enemy fire by alternating between slides and dodges while triggering slow-motion in bursts,
aiming for weakspots, while making risky approaches safe with EMP or by delivering hitstun through other means. And by swapping weapons on the fly to play them like trump cards according to the enemy types or situations you're facing.

And eventhough there's a lot of freedom to combine movement, melee, slow-motion and shooting mechanics, Vanquish also has more restrictions in place then your typical shooter or action game.
On the higher difficulty levels in particular, Sam is the definition of a glass cannon
and with elements like meter management, limited resources,
and most melee attacks and advanced movement mechanics,
on top of the player's health system being tied to overheating the suit,
players are forced to strategize, calculate their actions by thinking at least one step ahead and,
to take risks and make tactical split second decisions in the heat of the moment.

Since movement is paramount to survival, and a lot of the most useful tricks in Vanquish drain the AR bar,
Becoming proficient at and efficient with meter management is probably the most important element to master for players who are looking to push the AR suit to it's very limits.

The limitations on the melee system are divisive even amongst it's fans, but in my opinion it perfectly vibes with the tactical playstyle and high stakes adrenaline inducing experience Vanquish is aiming to achieve.
Whether it's allowing for acces to devastating attacks, advanced movement techniques,
fast reload cancels, or just an additional way to trigger slow-motion,
the melee system does come in to play quite often at higher levels of play.
And while there are some usefull exceptions like the Disk Launcher or some enemy specific and weapon dependant interactions, melee attacks aren't designed to be thrown around willy nilly, but rather knowing how and when to use them safely and effectively, or whether it's better to save stamina for slow-motion or movement related shenanigans instead, requires some consideration and general knowledge of the game, spawn points and timings, enemy weaknesses, behaviour and AI.

Unintended overheating of the suit increases the chances for a break of pace or checkpoint restart at any level of play, but it's one of those things that keeps you at the very edge of your seat.
Pushing your luck just enough to reach behind enemy lines without ever slowing down your pace,
with just enough stamina left to deliver a devastating melee attack on the final or big bad enemy in the room, while proceeding to stunlock them through other means,
that right there is your reward for careful meter management, good judgement, taking risks, and sometimes a little bit of luck. In part, it's what's supplying that constant adrenaline rush that Vanquish is perhaps best known for amongst it's many fans.

TO BE CONTINUED

Thanks for reading and hope to see you around for the 15th anniversary of Vanquish on October 19, 2025.

Have a good one,

Ziko

[COPYRIGHT: © 2025 Ziko's Realm]

2 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 24

Ziko's Realm

What's good Vanquish community?

Some of you may know that Saturday October 19th marks the 14th anniversary of Vanquish.
Inspired by the various anniversary celebrations from other action game players and communities,
I wanted Vanquish to join in on the fun and decided to cook up a little something to celebrate this year's anniversary. Been working on this for a while so I'm happy to announce the current version is final, tested, and coming to a screen near you this Saturday. ✌️😁

1 year ago (edited) | [YT] | 35