Videogame Round Up

As most of you know, I play lots of videogames. And yet, I have only talked about games a couple of times in this blog, both back near its very beginnings. As such, I'm going to go through a quick back-log of the various games I've played for the last several months (maybe ranging back past the year mark). I tend to do pretty thorough research before committing to buying or playing a game, so it's safe to say that all of these are quality titles. Because of this, I'm not going to give any sort of elaborate review so much as a quick run down.

Wii/Gamecube:
For the two years previous to the current year, I was fortunate enough to have roommates who owned Wiis. I took ready advantage of this to get in some quality gaming time on the console.

Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

I started this game in December of 2007, played it and enjoyed it thoroughly for the better part of a month, and then wound up putting it down when life got busy. I picked it back up and finished it in September/October of '08, and I have to say: it ranks among my favorite Zelda titles. I know this is a controversial statement, but the entire game was just fun. Sailing never got too tedious for me (I collected all of the sea charts while I was chilling with people and never paying too much attention), and the vibrancy of the animation was just captivating. I loved simply watching this game, which made controlling it a treat. There weren't terribly many dungeons, but after the "meh"-fest that was Twilight Princess and its bevy of single-purpose items, I didn't really care. Also, as much as I cussed out Zelda for stealing my bow (which is and always will be my favorite item), the final Ganon fight was probably the best in the entire series. Also: Splüsh.

Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask

I hit this one up over the summer on the Wii's virtual console. It seems that everybody either adored the game or couldn't stand the 3-day contrivance. I can honestly say that I'm not in either camp. There were only a couple of times that the 3-day thing proved to be a hindrance, and only one of them was in a dungeon (and that was entirely the result of me being OCD and needing to collect faeries). In general, I loved the way the game played -- *when I was Link*. Link seemed to move more naturally than in Ocarina, and the bunny hood made things even better. The problem was with the alternate link forms. Deku link worked fine, even if he was a bit powerless. Goron Link and Zora Link, however, were seriously lacking in precision when rolling and swimming respectively. I can appreciate rolling Goro-Link being unresponsive. It makes sense with the nature of the movement. But if you're going to do that, don't require precision in navigating certain dungeon features. The crap-shoot movement of Zora-Link, though, was unacceptable, and made the entire 3rd dungeon a way bigger chore than it had any cause to be. The end game was also completely unfulfilling. Maybe that's because we never had any meaningful interaction with the final villain (a la way too many Final Fantasy titles), but not only did I have no clue who I was fighting, I didn't really care when the game was over. I'm not even going to get started on how useless Epona (who was the whole reason for the adventure) was. It's a game that's worth playing, but definitely more on the Zelda 2/Twilight Princess end of the spectrum rather than the OoT/LttP end.

Paper Mario and The Thousand Year Door:

I took this one on over the summer, too. Just a straight-up enjoyable time. Not terribly difficult, but not overly easy, either. The game constantly threw you in new situations and kept me grinning with its humor even if I didn't laugh out loud at much of it. There's not much to compare it to other than the first Paper Mario or the GBA/DS Mario and Luigi titles. Turn based battles with some minor real time elements to keep things interesting. Environmental puzzle solving with a bit of simple platforming. Lots of great Nintendo humor.

Super Paper Mario:

I actually got to this one right after I finished Wind Waker. A very different game from the previous Paper Mario games in that the emphasis is much more strongly on the environmental aspects and the turn based battles have been done away with. This game actually did have moments that made me laugh aloud (the World 3 "boss battle" comes to mind), but the more active nature of the normal gameplay eliminated a lot of the constant stream of light humor from its predecessors. Being able to swap characters was a lot of fun, but I wish they'd done more to make Mario useful outside of "flipping". Bowser's fire breath, Luigi's super jump, and Peach's impenetrable umbrella all kept me from playing as Mario except when I needed to.

Mario Kart Wii:

This game served as an apartment OCD outlet as we finished unlocking everything. While my multi-player experience is limited, I'm comfortable saying that it's a solid Mario Kart experience. I was skeptical of the addition of motorcycles at first, but when I started playing, I changed my mind. The reason? Kart handling between Mario Kart 64 and Double Dash changed significantly, and Motorcycles basically handle like the 64 karts (with which I am infinitely more familiar). Track design seemed good, and I *adore* playing Sherbet Land (one of my favorite tracks of all time) with the wider lanes.

Smash Bros Brawl:

As much as I enjoy the game, it ultimately receives a resounding "meh" from me. I find that, even though Ness (my favorite character) is much improved in Brawl, I prefer Melee in nearly every way. It's faster, more technical, and less random. Brawl is most certainly the better party game, but it will never touch Melee for sheer 1v1 fighting quality. For lots of people, this isn't an issue, but it's entirely what had me addicted to Smash for nearly 2 and a half years.

PS2:
I've owned my PS2 since launch day, and it has served me well ever since. For the last couple of years, though, my play time on it has been rapidly diminishing. While I occasionally grab a used PS2 or PS1 game on the cheap intending to give it my full attention, I haven't actually finished a new game since...oh...Okami? FFXII, Rogue Galaxy, and Disgaea are all on the list of games that I've begun, enjoyed, and ultimately left by the wayside for something shiny and new. Sadface.

Xbox 360:
I finally gave in to peer pressure in late August and bought myself a new console. Hooray for sizable tax returns. While my game library is still fairly small, I've been mightily impressed by what I've played so far.

Shadow Complex:

The best Metroidvania style game since either Super Metroid or Symphony of the Night. Take your pick. Shadow Complex was a delight and, at $15, possibly the best gaming investment I've made in years. As implied above, it's and action/adventure game in the style of Metroid and the "more recent" 2D Castlevania games (i.e. PlayStation era on). You run around shooting fools, find new equipment that lets your revisit old areas in new ways, and shoot more fools. It's not terribly long (maybe 7 or so hours to get 100% completion on your first run through and 3-5 after that), but it's good enough that I played through the main game at least 4 times. "Sequence breaks" abound as well, especially as you unlock new perks for leveling up (unlimited foam? yes, please). It's even possible to beat the game with only 4% of the items (my minimum was somewhere around 11%). If you have a 360 and $15 lying around, which I know most of you do, I can't recommend this game enough.

Mass Effect:

Simply put, one of the best RPG experiences I've had. Most of the cast is incredibly interesting (unfortunately, the two possible love interests are the chief exceptions); the combat is fun once you adapt to it (though not without its challenges); and the plot actually had me going "oh shit, oh shit, fuck, shit, reapers, gotta stop the reapers" come the end. The game has a few hitches (crappy squad A.I., texture load, boring planetary exploration), but the overall arc of the game is absolutely excellent. Being an old-ish game, you can grab it new for $20, and the sequel is dropping in late January making now an excellent time to check it out if you haven't already.

BlazBlue:

I wish I had somebody to play this game with. From what I've played, it's an outstanding free-form 2D fighter. Everybody in the small cast plays incredibly differently, even if the fundamental controls are the same fire-ball and shoryuken motions those of us weaned on Street Fighter have known for years. I spent a good week just fiddling around in training mode, learning what cancels into what and I still find new ways to mix things up every time I go in. Please, please, please, somebody pick up this game so I have an excuse to pop it back in.

Team Fortress 2:

I would list the entire Orange Box, but I played through Half Life 2 years ago and I've tackled Portal more times than I care to count. Both are stellar experiences. TF2 is where I've sunk most of my time on my 360 copy of Orange Box. It's been a lot of fun, but I can't help feeling let down when I know how gimped the 360 version is compared to the PC. No new maps. No new game types. No new alternate equipment or hats. Valve says they're waiting until they've done all of the class updates so they can provide it as a single batch of DLC; but who knows when that will be. If I knew more people playing this on the PC (and if I had a mouse and a proper gaming surface), I'd probably be online on a regular basis.

Borderlands:

This is where the bulk of my last month has disappeared to. Celebrated game designer Cliff Bleszinski has called it "Diablo for the generation raised on FPS", and I can't agree more. The cooperative mob grinding, shoot & loot experience is both incredibly nostalgic and fundamentally new. The best fun, by far, comes from playing with others, but I've still sunk in plenty of time by myself. My level 50 hunter now has maxed out sniper rifle proficiency and is getting close with pistols and SMGs making most of the game a joke, but I still find myself booting up to run through the same old areas hoping that maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to improve on my current equipment. I can't wait for the "Zombie Island of Dr. Ned" DLC pack to drop so I have new places to pillage with the horde of friends who picked this up with me.

DS:
The little handheld that can, I have spurts where I'll play my DS more than any other system.

Prof. Layton and the Curious Village:

A great puzzle game with a remarkably thorough story. I mostly figured out the plot before the end, but it was still a fun ride; and a couple of the puzzles really made me think. Some of them even did so because they were actually clever and not just kind of stupid! I really enjoyed the ambiance of the game and plan to pick up the second game as soon as I find it for a reasonable price.

Scribblenauts:

Another puzzle game, but with an incredible fresh conceit. Scribblenauts is a game where you enter in words and the object appears in reality for you to interact with and solve the task at hand. I actually haven't played this one as much as I probably should have, but that's because my roommates became immediately obsessed with it after I got it. I'll have to bring it with me on vacation for de-stressing. I will say that I have had few videogame experiences more thrilling than seeing a ledge too high for me to reach, typing in the word "kangaroo", and riding on a kangaroo as it jumped up the ledge.

Dragon Quest IV:

A great entry in a great game series. Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen doesn't do much to differentiate itself from other games in the series. It doesn't have the spectacular plot of DQV or the class system of DQVI. It doesn't have the pseudo time-travelling aspects of DQVII or the gorgeous, immersive world of DQVIII. What it does have is a solid balance of characters with unique, playable back stories and some very interesting subplots (which, as always, are the driving force of the moment to moment gameplay). Being a DQ game, it's got some pretty tough bits, but it's a fun ride overall.

Final Fantasy IV:

Holy shit. I've played lots of incarnations of FFIV. I played it on the SNES. I played it on the PS1. I played it on the GBA. I played roms of the Japanese SNES original. This is, by far, the most difficult iteration of FFIV ever put to game code. Enemies have been toughened. Equipment options have been changed (Cecil can no longer use bows? Edge can no longer use claws?). This version of the game has forced me to use spells and abilities that, in previous versions, I always looked at as simple novelty. Blink (and Edge's Mirage) quickly became my favorite spell in the whole game. And even still, there will be times when you arrive at a new area and you will have no choice but to accept that, if you run into a certain enemy mob, you will die. Despite all this, though, it's still Final Fantasy IV. It's one of the best stories in the whole Final Fantasy series, and the new translation and presentation only make it stronger. Pick it up.



Okay, I think that about covers it. Hopefully some people found this interesting. If nothing else, I enjoyed having the diversion.