Super Mario 3D Land

Mario CAN turn to stone in 3D Land!

Date played: January 29th
Platform: 3DS
Time played: 90 minutes
Session fun rating: 10/10

I played a whole bunch of Super Mario 3D Land and got a great big surprise! I played through worlds 7 and 8, beat Bowser's ass in an amazing chase sequence then saw the credits. To my surprise though, there is a whole set of 8 additional worlds that was unlocked.

As far as I can tell, the special worlds are just as complete and fun as the regular worlds but now they are more difficult. I'm really enjoying the game now that it's a little bit tougher. I can now also use the new Tanooki suit to turn to stone just like in Super Mario Bros 3.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

One of the few denizens of  the Markath jail

Date played: January 29th
Platform: PS3
Time played: 140 minutes
Session fun rating: 9/10

Oh my God, what a blur. I spent some time making potions and after that, I completed a whole set of side quests. I gathered a segment of a weapon for the companions, I met with Daedric Princes who had weird requests and I set the Forsworn on Markath.

The Forsworn quest line was really cool. I was imprisoned for a while having to do small jobs for the prisoners and it's leaders. I  should also mention that I am now level 46 so I am quite strong at this point. 

Soul Calibur IV

Date played: January 30th
Platform: PS3
Time played: 15 minutes
Session fun rating: 7/10

My daughter was very interested in my PS3 controllers yesterday so I figured I would give her a chance to use it. After looking at my games, I stopped at Soul Calibur. What better than a fighting game to mash buttons? At first, she didn't get it but it didn't take long before she was kicking and slashing. She wasn't moving much and she accidentally grabbed me with L2 quite a few times but it was really fun to play with her, even if she doesn't really get it yet.

Renegade Ops

The shield is good but situational

Date played: January 27th
Platform: PS3
Time played: 60 minutes
Session fun rating: 9/10

I played Renegade Ops online for the first time! All thanks to my friend who liked playing the game with me in split screen who then bought the game himself. I used the tank character for the first time. He has a strong shield as his ability. It seems useful against strong vehicles and bosses but it's not great for grunts, trucks and APC's. My friend used the EMP van.

We tried the first level on hardcore twice. Both times we got to the last section with the helicopters and the ship but we couldn't kill the boss. We then switched to level 3 on normal difficulty and smashed the shit out of everyone in there. It was a lot of fun as usual!

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Sanguine

Date played: January 26th
Platform: PS3
Time played: 60 minutes
Session fun rating: 8/10

I played a bit of Skyrim again today and completed a couple of miscellaneous quests and one side quest. I met with a demon called Sanguine who gave me a staff that lets me summon a minion. I'm gonna go play more Skyrim.

Blur

I love the weapons in Blur!

Date played: January 23rd
Platform: PS3
Time played: 45 minutes
Session fun rating: 10/10

I got the urge to play some Blur last night and luckily, my friend that loves the game was online. We played a few races together in a lobby. We both did pretty well. We each had one third place finish and were in the top 8 every race. We even had a race where we fought for third and fourth place, that was fun as hell.

Again, this is a game that I can't understand why it isn't a hit. This game has it all, great online play, leveling up, good racing physics, crazy items and 20 person lobbies. Bizarre Creations deserved better.

NHL 12

Wild vs Sens

Date played: January 23rd
Platform: PS3
Time played: 20 minutes
Session fun rating: 6/10

I played a single game of NHL 12 online against a random opponent. He played the Wild and I played the Sens as usual. I was clearly better than he was but again, I was unable to score. Story of my life.

I lost 2-0 and I feel like I could have won this game. Too bad right?

Wipeout HD/Fury

Date played: January 22nd
Platform: PS3
Time played: 60 minutes
Session fun rating: 10/10

I'm not quite sure what happened but I really felt like playing Wipeout last night and since there few players, I settled for a tournament at Flash speeds. I didn't notice it right away but it was a 12 race tournament. It was the first time I did one and it was quite long and grueling. We started with five players but only four stayed for the whole game.

I feel like buying a Vita for 2048

I did pretty well for someone who hasn't played this game in a while. I ended the tournament in second place even with a few last place finishes and a few wins. There was one guy who was clearly better than the rest of us so he was locked in first place the whole time. The other two gave me quite a challenge but I managed to get enough points to hold on to second. I almost want to buy a Vita for Wipeout 2048 but buying a system for one game would be stupid. Right?

Mario Kart 7

Date played: January 22nd
Platform: 3DS
Time played: 20 minutes
Session fun rating: 7/10

I just played a few games of Mario Kart 7 online to pass the time. I did pretty well but didn't win once in the four or five races I played. I placed 8th once but otherwise I was 2nd. I think I do well when I have more open tracks as I can use Donkey Kong's speed to my advantage. Mario Kart 7 is great at wasting a few minutes.

Bastion

Date played: January 22nd
Platform: Xbox 360
Time played: 120 minutes
Session fun rating: 9/10

Well this is a first. I finished Bastion and started a new game+ right away! This is the first time I jump back in a game right after finishing it in a very long time. It speaks to how good Bastion is and how much fun I've had with it.

This was my ending and it was great!

The last few levels were as great as ever. It even throws in a new weapon, the battering ram, at the very end to surprise the player. There are also two cool choices to make at the very end which affect the ending. I then played through more than half the game right away using my powerful weapons and abilities.

Bastion was fucking awesome and I recommend it to anyone that likes action RPG's. 

Civilization V

Date played: January 21st
Platform: PC
Time played: 90 minutes
Session fun rating: 8/10

Alexander the Great

I don't know what got into me but I was desperate to play some Civ V yesterday. Maybe it's all the XCOM news? Maybe the New Year is a great time to give birth to a civilization? In either case, it ends in sleepless nights and constant power struggles.

I randomized most of the game setup and ended up on a Pangaea playing as Alexander the Great for Greece. I started out with Athens on the northern shore of my starting area. I quickly expanded to a second city, Sparta but took a bit more time to get my third city, Carthage.

On regular difficulty, the AI can be a bitch sometimes. I am now at war with Cesar and Montezuma. Montezuma is a hot blooded idiot with no resources, I can handle him with my hoplite soldiers. Cesar is another story, he usually goes to war well prepared. Thankfully, I am allied with two other powerful nations who will surely help if I am in trouble.

Final Fantasy XIII-2 demo

Date played: January 21st
Platform: PS3
Time played: 45 minutes
Session fun rating: 8/10

I kind of liked FFXIII but my hard drive broke when I was playing it and after putting in 40 hours, I didn't feel like starting over. From the demo I've played, XIII-2 seems like it takes what was good about FFXIII and tried to fix what wasn't. That means the combat system is very similar but now there are quick time events, side quests and a the third party member is replaced by a monster.

I love the logo!

The quick time events are fine and fit nicely without feeling forced. The best addition is the monster system though. The monsters you fight can sometimes join the party and be the third party member. They level up like characters and all have one role they can fill like a ravager, commando or healer.

The demo had a lot of random fights, two boss fights and lots of weird Japanese stuff. The story also seems to be complete non sense as usual but it still feels like a good JRPG. It does feel a bit outdated after playing Skyrim for dozens of hours but it was still fun for the short period I played.

Bastion

Date played: January 19th
Platform: Xbox 360
Time played: 60 minutes
Session fun rating: 9/10

I am about to finish this game, I can feel it. I have all weapons, the newest addition being a slow but powerful mortar. I have restored all the buildings in the Bastion. I have unlocked most of the memories from the monument. I have upgraded the weapons I use almost fully, the shotgun and the spear. In sum, I've done most of what the game is asking of me.

The underground dragon unicorn thing in all it's glory!

There was a very cool level that had a lot of foliage, it was so thick that enemies could hide in it, turning combat into a game of hide and seek. I also had to defend the Bastion from attackers, minions of Zulf, the Kid's rival. That was cool, fighting in the Bastion. I had the help of the three or four creatures that live there including the bull, the crow and the underground dragon unicorn thing. I also did a few challenge rooms for the weapons but there a few that still elude me. The Hammer, the Machete and the Dueling Pistols. I think I'll just give up on them, it's not worth the trouble.

Nintendo Entertainment System testing session

Date played: January 18th
Platform: NES
Time played: 20 minutes
Session fun rating: 6/10

Well, I got a NES on Ebay this week. It's a nice addition to my retro collection sitting in my basement. It now proudly sits next to a SNES and N64, opposite Genesis, Sega CD and Dreamcast. I played a few of the games that came with the package but as I was expecting, results are iffy at best. I had to blow on the cartridge and inside the console multiple times before I got a game to run.

I played Super Mario Bros 1 & 3, The Little Mermaid (she shoots bubbles bitch!), Jackal and Ghosts n Goblins. I have more games to try but I just wanted to make sure the machine worked first.

Bastion

The crew of the Bastion

Date played: January 16th
Platform: Xbox 360
Time played: 75 minutes
Session fun rating: 9/10

I played a bunch of Bastion yesterday after listening to the Giant Bombcast. They put it in their top ten of the year and it reminded me of how much I love that game but never completed it. I spent a good amount of time just playing the challenge rooms, some of which I can't seem to complete.

I also played through a good portion of the story, rebuilt all the buildings in the Bastion and even started upgrading some of them. I feel like I'm getting close to the end but it's a little bit unclear. I unlocked new weapons and upgrades too including a flame thrower, dual pistols and my favorite, a spear. The spear is awesome because it is powerful and has good range. It can also be thrown. Right now, I'm running with the shotgun and the spear, shotgun for mobs of enemies and the spear for single enemies and long range. I also rescued "The Singer" who sang beautiful songs in the level I found her. She is now in the Bastion but unfortunately, she doesn't lend her voice to it.

NHL 12

The Price is wrong

Date played: January 15th and 16th
Platform: PS3
Time played: 80 minutes
Session fun rating: 9/10

I played two games against my brother and his friend, I picked the Sens as usual and they picked the Habs as usual. I got creamed in the first game but only lost 1-0. In the second game though, I fought like a dying man and still lost 1-0. I outshot, outplayed and outworked their team but they took advantage of a decent chance and I couldn't slip one past Carey Price.

I also played at my friend's place and we teamed up against online players. He's ranked pretty high so the other players are pretty good but we got destroyed. We played well but only got one goal in the two games we played. That is just not enough to win.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Boo!

Date played: January 12th
Platform: PS3
Time played: 90 minutes
Session fun rating: 8/10

I played a bit of Skyrim, doing some one off quests mostly, killing a couple dragons along the way. I found this cool quest that had me investigate a house fire in a small town. I met with the ghost of one of the victims, a young girl, who put me on the trail of a gang of murderous vampires.

Of course, I had to clear out a large dungeon to get to the master vampire. He was actually a bit tougher than most other enemies because he used a lot of frost magic that slows my walking speed. Being somewhat of a tank with no range, this fight was a bit frustrating but I eventually caught up to him and killed him, derailing the vampire's schemes to take over the town. Hail Dovahkiin, the hero!

Renegade Ops

Date played: January 10th
Platform: PS3
Time played: 70 minutes
Session fun rating: 8/10

I finished Renegade Ops and what a fun ride it was! The last level was by far the most difficult. It was long and hard as she would say. I ran out of lives twice and had to restart but thankfully, I killed the last boss on my third try. The worst part is that I lost most of my lives in one very specific area. The problem is that there were three rocket towers and a tank in a sort of basement area that forced me to go down there. It's a confined area and it's swarming with rockets. I dropped my air strike in there but it wasn't enough, there just wasn't enough wiggle room.

After a few tries, I got through with hit and run tactics and completed the level. There was a cool gauntlet section where I was going up an elevator. Then I finally fought the boss who drove a huge wheeled vehicle. He wasn't very hard as long as I kept my distance and refilled my health by destroying his helicopter minions. There was a cool twist at the end that I won't spoil but let's just say that someone called someone else a bitch and there was some punching. I then tried to play online but there was no one else playing unfortunately. Too bad...

Furck you Inferno, fuck you.

In the end, I truly enjoyed playing this game and I might just buy the DLC mission, it has three missions for 5$, pretty reasonable. This is easily the best twin stick shooter I've played outside of Geometry Wars 2.

Super Mario 3D Land

Big Boo!

Date played: January 9th
Platform: 3DS
Time played: 15 minutes
Session fun rating: 8/10

I played two quick levels of 3D Land in World 6 while watching my daughter eat supper. The first was a sand level where I moved through tight rooms full of dangerous things while fighting the spiky yellow dudes that have been showing up in Mario games since Super Mario Bros 3.

The second level was cooler as it was a ghost house! It was a new kind of level that had a sort of hub section and I had to clear all three sections of it before I could finish the level. So far, I prefer the level structure in this game compared to the Galaxy games, I just prefer getting to the end of a level as opposed to collecting a bunch of stars in it.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Date played: January 8th
Platform: PS3
Time played: 60 minutes
Session fun rating: 9/10

I did a few miscellaneous quests including one that taught me a word of power that "calls wild animals to your aid". I have yet to try it but it sounds kind of cool... I then spent the rest of my time doing a quest for Meridia, a daedric princess who saw fit to lift me hundreds of feet into the air to talk to me instead of doing that at sea level like normal quest givers.

Meridia is cool, except for the holding me hundreds of feet in the air thing

I just had to clear out her dungeon and retrieve an artifact for her. The dungeon had some interesting things going like a new enemy and some light puzzles to progress. The new enemy is just a ghost soldier thing but they looked really cool which was refreshing. At the end of the quest, the princess gave me a cool looking sword that I'm never going to use.

Uncharted 3

Date played: January 7th
Platform: PS3
Time played: 60 minutes
Session fun rating: 9/10

I played through chapters 8 and 9 of Uncharted 3 today. Chapter 8 is all about The Citadel and chapter 9 is The Middle Way. The Citadel is a large castle-like complex that was riddled with opportunities for stealth, gun shootin' and rope swinging fun!

Pyro granny FTW

Cutter, the new character that joined our crew, was shot in the neck with a weird chemical solution and that made him attack Nate. I beat his ass up and he woke up from the spell... We eventually found a secret passage, The Middle Way, where we found a puzzle involving throwing torches to disperse giant ants, opening up waterways and spinning a giant globe. It revealed the second piece of the thingy we were looking for which was promptly stolen by the villain lady.

After all that, Nate and Sully needed Elena's help for...something, I forget the details. I'm really happy to see Elena again, she is a great character. IT seems like we will be pretending to be journalists in order to get the thing we need. I like this game a lot so far, I can't wait to see the desert.

Resistance 3 demo

Date played: January 7th
Platform: PS3
Time played: 20 minutes
Session fun rating: 8/10

The leap in graphics between Resistance 2 and Resistance 3 is astonishing! I played through the first two games in this franchise and while I enjoyed them, I wasn't amazed. The third game in the series seems to be a lot better than the last game from the short demo I played.

Aiming is tighter, reticules are easier to use, weapons now level up, graphics are fucking impressive and there are new enemies. The demo is really just a defense mission, having me fight off hordes of Chimera. Resistance 3 plays well, looks good and seems fun, what else can a gamer ask for?

Goldeneye 007: Reloaded demo

Date played: January 7th
Platform: PS3
Time played: 10 minutes
Session fun rating: 3/10

Generic shooter n.3786.

That's the best way I can describe this very short demo. It starts off exactly the same way Goldeneye on N64 started but replaces Pierce Brosnan with Daniel Craig. It didn't take long before the game starts to feel like a cheap Call of Duty rip off. Lots and lots of scripted sequences, enemies that know exactly where you are at all times and boring weapons. It does look like it's well made but I've played too many games that feel like this to give a fuck.

Trine 2 demo

Date played: January 7th
Platform: PS3
Time played: 20 minutes
Session fun rating: 7/10

I played the short Trine 2 demo that is available on PSN and having played the first game recently, it's obvious that it's very similar in terms of mechanics. However, the characters now speak a lot more often, the camera moves around a bit more and the graphics are much improved.

Trine 2 is beautiful, even on PS3

The puzzles seemed relatively simple but it was also the beginning of the game. There are now cooler enemies that look like goblins. I also made some colorful plants grow by moving gutters so that water fell on their roots. The grown plants then turn into platforms for the Wizard, Knight and Thief to jump on and progress. Also, giant slug.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Broken Oar Grotto, home the Argonian traitor

Date played: January 5th
Platform: PS3
Time played: 90 minutes
Session fun rating: 9/10

I decided that since J'zargo died, I would roll with Lydia again. Being a ranged fighter, she doesn't get in my way when I'm slicing up fools. I gave her random equipment I found but I have to start working on making her some stuff. I made myself a Daedric bow too which I don't really need but I have lots of money to burn so I might as well right?

I did a cool mission where a fellow Argonian asked me to put out a fire at a lighthouse in order to wreck a ship and loot it. I obliged and then went to the wreck to get my loot. To my surprise, the Argonian's wife attacked me instead of giving me my share so I cut her fucking head off and headed to their hideout to punish the male. It was a cool quest with a nice twist but the enemies were really low level, wearing fur and such.

You Don't Know Jack

Date played: January 4th and 5th
Platform: PS3
Time played: 100 minutes
Session fun rating: 8/10

Happy Birthday blog!

On January 4th 2011, I started this blog because I was interested in seeing what I would play throughout a year. Today, it's been a full year and I've posted about all games I've played on an almost daily basis. It's amazing to look back at all the great fun I've had!

To celebrate, I played You Don't Know Jack two days in a row with my girlfriend. It had been a while since I played it and it's still as fun as ever. Me and my girlfriend were really close for most of the matches but I think I won a few more! The questions are still great and I have played about half of the episodes that are on the disc.

I wish we had four players though, that always makes things more interesting. 

Renegade Ops

My friend loved the helicopter

Date played: January 3rd
Platform: PS3
Time played: 90 minutes
Session fun rating: 10/10

I had an amazing time playing Renegade Ops last night. I started off playing the first two missions with a friend of mine who was visiting. During our first try, he died and sucked but on the second try, he was determined to succeed and thankfully, it worked out! He as using the air strike girl and I was rocking the gunner again. He's really fun to use, very powerful against single units and his big gun recharges in a reasonable amount of time. My friend seemed to really enjoy the helicopter sections.

Then when he left, I played through missions 5 through 8 and attempted mission 9 but died. There were canyons, deserts, factories, jungles, runaway trains, giant tanks and an amazing little sequence that had me drive through a crumbling bridge. There was also a surprising twist where one of the major characters dies... I did not expect that in the least. I fucking love Renegade Ops and more people should play it.

Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit

Date played: January 2nd
Platform: PS3
Time played: 45 minutes
Session fun rating: 7/10

I'm not quite sure what happened but I really felt like playing a racing game online. I almost played Dirt 3 but then I saw the box for Hot Pursuit and I just could not resist it. I played a few Hot Pursuit events as both racer and cop but quickly realized that my skills were rusty and that the people still playing are pretty hardcore at this game.

I lost pretty badly and only managed to wreck one person in my time with the game. I also only completed one race, in last position no less. The weird part is, I still had a lot of fun!

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Date played: January 2nd
Platform: PS3
Time played: 150 minutes
Session fun rating: 9/10

I think I played through an important part of the main quest since I deciphered the lexicon that was given to me by the weird hermit who lives up north AND I picked up an Elder Scroll. In fact, I had no idea before this quest that Elder Scrolls were actually a thing and not just an old video game name.

I went through a gigantic underground city full of glowing mushrooms, dwarven ruins, Falmer and a rare flower called Crimson Ninroot. My quest was simple. Reach a weird device, put the lexicon in, press a few buttons and retrieve the Scroll. The hard part was a quest I picked in the depths of Blackreach which asked me to pick up 30 Crimson Ninroot. Now, Blackreach is a big place and it took me a solid hour to find all of them. It was a sucky quest, thankfully it's also the first of it's kind after 70+ hours.

Blackreach, now forever known as Follower Murderin' City

There was another important event that happened while I was down there. To my great sadness, J'zargo died. I'm not quite sure how it happened and I didn't notice he was gone until I was done collecting those darn plants. That means I didn't want to reload because I would have had to redo almost the entire dungeon. He was all decked out in Dragonbone armor too...

He was a great companion and will be remembered. RIP J'zargo, you were the best follower a Dragonborn could ask for.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Date played: December 31st and January 1st
Platform: PS3
Time played: 75 minutes
Session fun rating: 7/10

I've been working on the main quest lately and I did a bunch of fetch quests to move it along. I talked to some dudes at Winterhold and found a new Dwarven dungeon to go through. I started exploring it but I kind of got lost and stopped playing, I think I was way too tired for this shit.

NHL 12

Goalies have fancy moves in NHL 12

Date played: December 30th
Platform: PS3
Time played: 60 minutes
Session fun rating: 8/10

I played three matches of online NHL 12 but this time, I was playing with a friend. We immediately clicked and dominated the rink in out first two games, winning them 2-0 and 1-0 respectively. The third match was a bit more difficult simply because the guy playing was much better than us. We lost 3-1 but put up a good fight!

We also won a match in shootouts but for the first time, I was controlling the goalie. Not knowing what I was doing, I just positioned the goalie in smart ways and the other guy didn't score. I'm sure I could have been fancier but it worked!

Renegade Ops

Date played: December 30th
Platform: PS3
Time played: 60 minutes
Session fun rating: 9/10

I played through two more missions and am now ready to take on mission 6. The game is more of the same but it's still damn fun. It really takes advantage of it's nice graphics and physics system. Shit blows up in Renegade Ops and it looks great doing it.

The split screen mode is really fun!

More interestingly, I played the first mission in co-op with a friend who was visiting. We had lots of fun but he lost all his lives just before getting into the helicopters. It's a bit lame that I couldn't give him some of my lives or something but it was still cool. I let him use the air strike girl and I tried the jeep dude who has a heavy gun. It's not as overpowered as the air strike, mainly because you have to stay immobile when using it but it's still powerful and useful. I should also mention that I love the way split screen is handled, it changes perspectives depending on how close you are to the other player.