Call of Duty: Black Ops 2

I should play the campaign...

Date played: February 27th
Platform: PS3
Session fun rating: 8/10

I was all set to continue one of my single player games today but saw one of my friends online and asked her if she wanted to play Black Ops 2. We played some Team Deathmatch and Domination. I did pretty well but nothing crazy. I was positive in every game at least. I'm not sure why but I took the time to look at the environments of the maps a bit more than usual and I really like the look of this game, it made me want to play the single player campaign.

FTL

Date played: February 24th
Platform: PC
Session fun rating: 9/10

I finally played FTL and loved it so much, I made three runs in a row. This is a weird game in every sense of the word. I guess it's a spaceship simulator... Our ship is being chased through the galaxy by a rebel fleet of some sort and we must reach the last sector to take out the mothership.

The ship has many rooms, each with their own functions. For example, the shield room powers the ship's shields while the med bay heals any crew members in it. Each area has a probability that you will be forced to dogfight an enemy ship. Combat is governed by the weapons on board, cool down timers, ammo, power consumption, the weapon room and it's crew as well as shields. All that is housed in a real-time/turn-based hybrid system that works really well and is completely addicting.

My first run I was learning the systems but still managed to reach the end boss sector on Easy. Unfortunately, I was so low on money, I couldn't afford fuel anymore and my crew drifted through space until the end of time. It was quite dramatic.

Quick, put out that fire in the oxygen room!

I somehow unlocked another model of ship for my second run, this one more focused on drones instead of guns. I liked this ship better honestly. I was able to disable the enemy ship's shields with an ion cannon then damaged it slowly with my drones. I ran into damage output problems though, I should have bought some better guns earlier. I eventually lost because I wasn't able to do enough damage and got overwhelmed. My ship survived but my crew was eaten alive by mantis people.

My last run was horrible. I went back to the first ship, thinking I would have a better handle on things the second time around only to lose horribly due to funding problems. I ran out of money to buy ammo and was out of options. Eventually, my ship was destroyed before my warp drive was able to boot up.

I found this game to be very addictive and fun, yet complex. It's also really fucking hard, even on easy. I'm not sure I will play it again though, I feel like I've seen the gist of what the game has to offer, though I would like to see other ships.

GTA IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony

Date played: February 23rd
Platform: PC
Session fun rating: 9/10

I finished The Ballad of Gay Tony. I think it's the best of the three GTA IV stories. I played through many missions, some for Bulgarin, a Russian mobster who got me to shoot cops until he revealed that the diamonds belonged to him in the first place.

There was a last, completely epic and crazy mission for Yussuf, the arabic bling obsessed gansgter. He had me steal a fucking train... I rode the train on it's roof until I reached the front. The catch is that I was being attacked by half a dozen helicopters! I shot them down in three to five shots with the overpowered explosive shotgun until Yusuf air lifted the damn thing with a specialized helicopter... This was one of the best missions in the game.

Luis chases a jet....in style!

I did a few missions for Tony too but that was regular GTA fare, shooting dudes and such. There was another mission that had me chase a jet as it was lifting off to jump in and shoot everyone inside... then jumping off the damn plane and parachuting down to safety. In the end, we lost the diamonds to a pick pocket hobo and left town.  Ballad of Gay Tony was pretty awesome and now I'm ready for GTA V!

Fire Emblem: Awakening

Date played: February 23rd
Platform: 3DS
Session fun rating: 8/10

I played through Chapter 9 and Paralogue 4 (I think). I think I've found my tactical groove, I've come to use certain combinations more than others. For example, I tend to pair Vaike, a fighter, with Cordelia, a pegasus knight. Cordelia can help him travel far and can fight against sword users while Vaike does the tanking duties and attacks with his axes. I've been using the two shapeshifters together a lot, the melee rat with the ranged dragon. Stuff like that.

Emmeryn has it rough in Chapter 9

Chapter 9 was pretty huge in terms of story but I won't bother with the details of it here. The fight itself was interesting. It was a desert battle involving a lot of units. I picked up two new team members along the way. One is a very feminine man who heals and fights at the same time, the other is a dark mage. I don't think I'll end up using either of them. Our team was stuck in a pincer between four wyverns and tons of regular units as well as one heavily armored boss. As usual, I took my time and felled the enemy relatively easily.

The side mission was more like just a big fucking battle in the middle of a field. I had 12 units on the field though so it required some patience and planning. I picked up a new team member, another chest opening person. 

Couch potato edition

Date played: February 22nd
Platform: PS3
Session fun rating: 9/10

My buddy came over to visit and hang out. We spent most of our time playing some 2 players games on the couch. We started with three matches of NBA Jam. While I did end up winning all the games, they were all really close. I also saw the "On Fire" animations for the first time. King James was on fire more than once which allowed him to make some gigantic dunks and boost forever. It may sound dumb, but it feels really good!

We then played some Super Street Fighter IV. My friend isn't a Street Fighter veteran or anything so he had a hard time at first but by the time we were done, he was launching shoryukens, hadokens and even a couple of Ultra combos with Abel and Seth.

We ended the night with an online NHL 13 match playing as the Habs against the Lightning. We lost 1-0 but I feel like we were completely robbed by their goalie. Me and my buddy have pretty good chemistry on the virtual ice. 

Call of Duty Black Ops 2

Date played: February 22nd
Platform: PS3
Session fun rating: 6/10

I didn't really know what to play. I didn't want to go into something too big, I just wanted to play quickly so Black Ops 2 seemed like a good choice. I was rusty for sure but after one match, I was back in business. I played pretty well in a few Domination matches but struggled in Team Deathmatch. I also reached the maximum level in multiplayer and am making my way to prestige. 

Gran Turismo 5

Date played: February 20th
Platform: PS3
Session fun rating: 4/10

Fuck, I really need a good racing game. While GT5 is really good once on the track, all the awful menu navigation is fucking killing me. I decided to play one of the early events that requires a French car to complete. I bought a nice little Peugeot 207 GTI and pimped it out.

Now here's the problem with this, all this took a solid 20 minutes due to the awful mess of a UI and menu system. Then I raced on Circuit de la Sarthe and won easily. The actual racing is the only really good part of this absurd game. I raced for 5 minutes and I had fun. However, in order to take the picture in this post, it took me another 15 minutes since every time I want to see my picture, it's a 3 minute load period. I completed the second event, won a shitty car and took out the disc.

I think I'm really desperate for some good racing action and have no where to go. I played through the newest Need for Speed. Dirt Showdown is less about racing and more about other modes and I really don't want to turn on my Xbox for Forza Horizon which I don't even own. That makes me very pumped to play Grid 2...

F-Zero

Date played: February 20th
Platform: Wii U
Session fun rating: 8/10

The original game still holds up and is definitely worth the 30 cents that Nintendo is asking for it. In fact, playing it on the Gamepad was one of the better experiences I've had with the console. It's colorful, it works well with the dpad and the screen is just about the right size for a game like this. I only played three races and used the green ship. I love the crazy graphics and fast driving, even if it's ultimately a very simple game.

Mega Man Maverick Hunter X

Date played: February 20th
Platform: Vita
Session fun rating: 8/10

Playstation Plus delivers a good game again. This time, it's the PSP remake of Mega Man X. I have played the original when it was new on SNES and absolutely loved it, though my memory of it is sort of faded. I didn't really remember any details such as bosses, levels and weapons.

RIP Chill Penguin

I played through the short intro and met Zero. I also managed to play through the (recommended) first level, Chill Penguin's stage. The graphics and voice acting are the first obvious changes. I like the polygonal look, though honestly, I don't know if I prefer it. There's that special something about 16 bit pixel art that just doesn't translate to 3D. The voice acting is fucking awful though and the cut scenes, while cool, are completely useless for a game like this.

Chill Penguin's stage is not too hard. I made my way through and only had to restart once before reaching the boss. There were a few tricky jumps and tight battles but nothing out of the ordinary. Then I reached Chill Penguin himself. The fight is pretty cool (lol...) and he killed me the first time but as soon as I learned his pattern, he was very easy to kill. I don't think I even got hit on my second attempt. I got the ice shotgun and headed to Spark Mandrill's stage but got my ass beat by the lightning balls that clutter the level. Maybe I'll try another level next time.

Civilization V

Date played: February 17th and 18th
Platform: PC
Session fun rating: 10/10

As usual, 15 minutes of Civ V turns into a multi hour epic. I played a game as the Aztecs, led by Montezuma. We took control of our west coast early. I soon had three cities spread out fairly thing. I Built them up a bit then expanded again until I had a full 7 city continent ready to go.

My early set up, right after I destroyed Catherine

My continental rivals were Isabella of Spain and Catherine of Russia. Catherine was feeling that I was expanding too much so she declared war. At that point, she only had her capital of Moscow and a six unit army. It was risky, but I managed to push her off with my trusty Jaguars. I then built a small army of  pikemen and horsemen and took her over completely.

Then came a long, prosperous time for my people. Sebology was created and spread. Wonders were built in Technotitlan and it's surroundings. Workers improved every single space of land. It came to a point where I was clearly in the lead, but had no clear objective in sight. I was close to a culture win, far from a science win. A conquest victory was within reach though, if I was willing to just go all out, which I did.

What followed was the creation of my biggest army yet. I started by taking over a nearby city state, then took over Isabella swiftly. Attacking the remaining players on the other continents was a bigger task. This was probably a 75+ turn battle. 1890-1937 is the approximate length for this takeover, and ultimately, my conquest win. I used units such as Marines, Infantry, Landships, Cruisers, Battleship, Mobile Artillery, Bomber and even a couple of Anti-Tanks. This would have played a lot differently if units had to be carried on ships instead of on their own...

Either way, I won, it was epic and lots of fun as usual.

Mario Kart 7

Date played: February 17th
Platform: 3DS
Session fun rating: 9/10

I played some Mario Kart 7 with my brother using the download play feature of the 3DS. We played about 6 races or so, both using Shy Guy to keep things fair. He really gave me a good run for my money considering it was his first time playing it. I won all of them but he was really close to me, more than I expected. He really enjoyed the flying parts as well as some of the more creative track design. It's pretty cool having two 3DS's in the same house!

Wipeout 2048

Feisar has my favorite speed ship so far

Date played: February 17th
Platform: Vita
Session fun rating: 8/10

I played through two events today, including a Zone event, those are always fun. The other event was a battle, but I had to use a speed ship while the others were using fighter ships. I actually lost all my health twice in the same event but still managed to get enough points for a pass. That's all I had time to play.

Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch

Date played: February 17th
Platform: PS3
Session fun rating: 7/10

I made my way to the insides of the Fairy matriarch and fought off some enemies to help the baby fairies. Soon enough, I was in an epic boss fight against a large jelly fish. I had a really hard time at first and died on my first attempt. I soon figured out that I had to defend a bit more using my new "all out defend" ability. It helped spawn some golden glibs which helped deal some heavy damage.

This was a pretty tough boss

After a while, the jelly fish spawned a ton of baby jelly fish which I killed with a well timed golden glib Dumbelemur attack. I then kept damaging, healing and blocking until he went down. I got a bunch of new spells from the mother of fairies and made my way back to the Sea Cow. It was repaired so I went to complete a side mission in Golden Grove. I killed three powerful boars then saved a fairy from a last, ultra strong fire breathing boar. 

Fire Emblem: Awakening

The Taguel are cool rat-rabbit people

Date played: February 16th
Platform: 3DS
Session fun rating: 9/10

I played through to chapter 9 and a few side missions, as well as some Streetpass battles. One story mission had us fight to protect the Queen. Also, Marth is a woman. I played kind of a lot so I forget the details. I've been focusing more and more on the pure mechanics than the story and characters. I turned off all animations and now play entirely in grid view. It makes things go faster and still communicates all the info I need.

My team seems to be stabilizing, though I'm not sure how long that will last. I picked up new units, two of which are shape shifters. One can transform into a giant rat and the other into a ranged dragon. I also have a new Pegasus Knight who performs better than the first. I also changed my player character's class to be a sort of dark mage. The Streetpass fights are cool since the enemy leaders can be recruited if the battle is won. I'm in the thick of it now and I just love the gameplay here. 

Dead Space 3

Date played: February 14th
Platform: PS3
Session fun rating: 8/10

I played through Chapter 4 which was actually pretty short in itself. All I did was explore a bit of outer space around the debris of the ships to find a little shuttle that is still operational. I have to say, the space sequences are just fucking amazing. It tickles my sci-fi itch like no other game does.

*drool*

Most of my time was spent playing through my first side mission. These are new to the series and I think it's a good idea. As soon as I was in outer space, I picked up a radio signal coming from one of the nearby ships floating in the debris. Ellie suggested we investigate so I went in there. I restored power, cutting my way though tons of necromoprhs. After restoring power, shit got a little crazy as parts of the floor were destabilized and became hazards I had to avoid. I gathered some info on Tau Volantis, the nearby planet and got some good equipment out of the trek. I modified my weapons with the new parts so that my plasma cutter doesn't rotate anymore but has a submachine gun attached so that I can keep firing if I run out of ammo and don't have time to reload. It works well so far. I reached my next destination and will start Chapter 5 soon.

Fire Emblem: Awakening

Strategy porn

Date played: February 13th
Platform: 3DS
Session fun rating: 7/10

I did it again, I underestimated an enemy and failed. I played a side mission that had me rush to go save a lady warrior and a village, while taking out some bandits roaming the area. The lady started in a corner of the map and I started at the other so the challenge was getting to her before she gets chopped up by the many enemies rushing her.

The first time I played the map, I moved way too slowly and she died just as I was getting close. The second time around, I grabbed my pegasus unit, loaded her up with a strong melee warrior and flew to her almost directly. It was risky since my unit was also very vulnerable, but I made it to her and fought off the enemies. Unfortunately, I also saved the village which gave me a great item. The remainder of my crew was left to attack the bandit chief in another part of the map. I was careless and my player character was killed by him...

Third time is the charm I guess! The third time, I was well prepared and fearless, yet careful. I sent my flying/warrior unit out to save the lady, which worked fine. This time though, I lost the village as bandits managed to reach it before I could. I kept going though and slowly picked at the boss and his minions until he died. I starting to get a good feel for the mechanics now and find good pairing opportunities more than before. I found that speed was a really important stat since it allows for two attacks in one turn if the circumstances are good. This game is deep and it feels like it's just getting started. 

Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch

Shadar is a bitch.

Date played: February 12th
Platform: PS3
Session fun rating: 10/10

I made my way to the other continent but we were intercepted by Shadar, the evil wizard man. We actually got to fight him for a bit. My Dumbelemur got a golden glib and hit him for a nice 290 damage, dumb luck that got me through the fight easily. Before being truly defeated, Shadar retreated and made our ship crash into a small island.

It turns out that this island houses the Fairyground, Drippy's home town. Before heading to town, I tried out a new ability, all out defense and all out attack. It's used at the push of a button so it seems really useful so far. This is the first time my team mates will be able to defend. About fucking time.

Next, I found out that Drippy's mountain-sized mother has some belly problems. Her babies won't come out as normal! She asked that we go clean it up (ewwwww!). To do that, it seems we need the assistance of two comedians who are broken arted. Drippy insists that this is different than broken-heartedness. I had to gather 10 art pieces from residents of the town by casting the correct spell to help them with their little problems. It was cute but it was really just text. I imagine the dungeon is next.

Fire Emblem: Awakening

Date played: February 11th
Platform: 3DS
Session fun rating: 9/10

I played through one mission where we had to rescue Maribelle, a cute but bitchy lady. This was a very interesting map because it was set on a cliff side where only a few areas had foot soldier access and the enemy had a few flying units. I got control of both Maribelle, a mounted healer, and a new mage who were stuck in another section of the map and under heavy fire.

Lon'Qu is strong but uncomfortable around women

I think I played this pretty smart. I sent my flying unit to support the two for the first few turns while taking out enemies in the main area with the rest of the crew. I had to occupy the forts when I could since they seem to respawn enemies. Lissa, my main healer, picked up a nice staff that allows her to rescue a unit from a distance and bring it close to her. I moved her close enough to Maribelle and the mage. Those two were paired up and counted as one unit, so I used the staff to bring them in and moved my flying unit out of there. It was quite satisfying.

I then fought my way to the top of the cliff, taking over the forts as I went along. I used wind magic and bows to take out the roaming dragons and eventually made my way to the boss. 

Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch

Date played: February 10th
Platform: PS3
Session fun rating: 8/10

I rode my Sea Cow until she was dripping wet! I spent some time completing side quests with my newly acquired ship. I kind of moved my team around a bit. Oliver still has Purrloiner, now evolved into a Catpurrse. Little Big Horn and Seed Sprite are still 2nd and 3rd spot. Esther has a new familiar, a water based seal-like thing called Splisher. She still has her trusty Drongo and Duncecap. Swaine is set up with a Monolith, an Impaler and my favorite, Dumbelemur.

I completed three bounty missions and one fetch quest. One of the bounties was a piece of cake but two of them were really tough. One was a large stone guy with very high defense. Thankfully, he didn't hit all that hard but it took forever to take him down. The other was a big sea monster which really pushed our team hard. Swaine almost died while I struggled to find good spells and familiars to use against it.

Rayman Origins

Date played: February 10th
Platform: PS3
Session fun rating: 9/10

I finished Rayman Origins. Man, this game got real hard towards the end... I finished off the water based world and beat the giant water dragon Murray for the second time, who is actually a cute shrimp. This second visit to the world was easier than some of the other ones actually.

Rayman Origins, best 2D platformer on PS3.

The next and last world is where shit got real baby! The last world has a mechanical theme, filled with buzz saws, steam engines and other wacky yet deadly machinery. One of the levels stuck out in particular because it was so fucking well designed, yet so ridiculously hard. I had to just jump my way through a series of platforms really, but it's the way the game pushes you forward and the just perfect placement of the platforms that makes it such genius.

The last level had me fight mechanical versions of two of the previous bosses and culminated in an amazing chase sequence through falling debris. Again, the perfection of the timing required is what it fun. There's not much else to say but that I absolutely loved this game and can't wait for Rayman Legends which was unfortunately delayed to September. 

Dead Space 3

Date played: February 9th
Platform: PS3
Session fun rating: 10/10

"MOTHERFUCKER!"

Shouts Isaac Clarke as he stomps a necromorph chomping at his ankles.

This is Dead Space 3. I am a HUGE fan of this series and am really happy to be playing the third game. It all started with the animated comics, then Dead Space 1, Dead Space Downfall, Dead Space Extraction, Dead Space Salvage, Dead Space Ignition, Dead Space Aftermath, Dead Space 2, Dead Space Martyr and now, Dead Space 3. There's still some stuff out there that I haven't read, I think at least one book and a couple of graphic novels but let's just say that I am really into this universe.

The game starts 200 years in the past on Tau, an ice planet where I led a young soldier to his brutal death. It's all a bit unclear but basically, he retrieved a data pad that had crucial information on it about a marker. The guy has an assault rifle, a first for the series, and takes down a few necromorphs aboard a crashed ship. After getting the pad, he rappels down a nearby cliff as the ship he was in comes crashing down around him. When he reaches the ground, he is met with his commanding officer who ruthlessly shoots him in the head, deletes the data on the pad and shoots himself in the mouth.

Enter Isaac Clarke. After all the shit he's been through, I'm surprised he hasn't committed suicide yet. Apparently, he is hiding on a lunar base somewhere, drinking his worries away. Soon enough, shit hits the fan. Two guys barge into Isaac's house and ask him to come help destroy some markers around the galaxy, it seems they were sent by Ellie, the girl from Dead Space 2.

It's quickly apparent that Unitology has become more than a church as they have now started military action, taking down most of Earth Gov's forces. Isaac has to shoot his way through the city and reach a shuttle to escape the Unitology army. This part felt like a cyber-punk third person shooter. I was fighting human enemies who were wielding regular ass guns. Thankfully, the game controls so well that fire fights felt natural and were fun to play. Eventually, I reached a train and used kinetic powers to prep it for departure. In a cool shootout sequence, Isaac finally gets off the lunar colony and joins the two dudes on the shuttle.

We warped to the area where Ellie was last seen but the ship got hit by debris and was mostly destroyed so we had to make our way to a nearby ship which was still sending out a distress signal after being disabled for 200 years. This was the first (of many I hope) zero gravity sequences and it felt awesome. We made our way to the derelict ship and rested a bit. Isaac went ahead and explored the ship to restore it's power.

Zero gravity gameplay is better than ever

As expected, the ship was taken over by necromorphs. I shot my way through using my trusty plasma cutter until I found a work bench. Weapon crafting seems like it will be an important part of Dead Space 3. I had a few weapons included in my pre-order which I quickly dismantled to get parts. The system seems cool. I made an upgraded plasma cutter and an assault rifle/line gun combination. I found Ellie and a few other survivors and restored power then stopped playing as I started chapter 4.

The game seems amazing so far. The graphics in particular are really stunning. If all games looked this good, I wouldn't want a new generation of hardware. It also sounds really good, as the first two games did. I'm really excited to see where this game goes and hope it keeps being as good as the first few chapters were.

Fire Emblem: Awakening

Date played: February 8th
Platform: 3DS
Session fun rating: 9/10

I played through my first side mission and one main mission. The side mission had us rescue a small village from bandits. There was a young boy there who joined the fight and eventually joined our team as well. The way this works is that the new guy had to level up at least once during the fight to join. I actually restarted twice in the beginning of the fight since I was being way too aggressive with him to get him EXP. I eventually just paired Frederick with him and his defense became high enough to survive and fight enough to level up.

Come at me bro!

The main mission was simpler and shorter. Basically, in order to gain support from the country in the north, I was asked to fight in a tournament and it turns out, the guy leading the other team was Marth himself! I played this one very defensively since it was an open map with no choke points. I just kind of huddled in a corner and picked off the enemies as they approached. It worked well and I was able to take down Marth easily by surrounding him at the end. I gained a new hero from the whole thing and the next mission set opened up.

Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch

Date played: February 8th
Platform: PS3
Session fun rating: 8/10

I found a boat, but it wasn't as easy as just asking. It turns out that to get a letter of passage, which the captain of the ship wanted, I had to ask the queen of Al Mamoon, a big cow of a woman. Cowlifa, as she is known, was broken hearted because she doesn't have enough restraint. It made her a glutton for cheese as it turns out. Once I found that out, I made her some cheese with a magic spell, using the fountains of milk in Al Mamoon and was granted an audience with her.

Cheese, your Moojesty

After a quick restraint transfer, our little team had a letter of passage and a picture of the sage we are trying to find on the other continent. I also got a new spell that lets Oliver communicate with animals. A few animal-related side quests later, we were back in Castaway Cove, ready for a trip when another problem slowed us down.

The thief from earlier pick-pocketed our letter and picture. When we found him and confronted him, he was kind of a fucking dick about it. It turns out, he was dealing with a nightmare of his own, which we fought and killed. The fight wasn't too hard but he almost killed Oliver a few times since he hit pretty hard. After the fight, the thief, named Swaine, said he was sorry and that he would join us in our fight against Shadar. Swaine has a familiar of his own and can open distant chests with a weird pistol device. 

Fire Emblem: Awakening

Date played: February 5th
Platform: 3DS
Session fun rating: 5/10

Well, chapter 3 handed me ass on a silver platter. The group reached the kingdom border and it seems like the border guards didn't believe we were official emissaries so a battle began. I have two new characters too, a large dude that is focused on defense and a little lady who rides a Pegasus. I've also learned how to "pair" units, which essentially boosts one units stats but makes the other unit unplayable.

Hard was too much for me, even Frederick, the super powerful knight, was killed. I decided that for me to enjoy the game, I had to restart on normal. The second time around, it was a lot faster since I skipped all the dialogue. It quickly became clear that this was going to be a lot easier and more manageable. There are fewer enemies and my units take less damage than before. It's still challenging but I can afford a mistake or two and it won't result in the death of a unit. After clearing chapter 3, I was given access to two new areas on the map and to shops.

Wipeout 2D

Date played: February 5th
Platform: Vita
Session fun rating: 4/10

I was surprised to see that there was a new Wipeout game and that I wasn't aware of it! However, it turns out it's really more of a mini-game than anything and it's really not Wipeout at all. This is basically a simple top-down racing game with no weapons. All the teams are there as well as four tracks and features air brakes and speed pads. The weird thing is that there are no weapons at all, which seems weird. I played a race on three of the tracks and was kind of bored. It's too bad, this isn't a bad idea but it's sloppy execution. At least it was free...

Fire Emblem: Awakening

Date played: February 4th
Platform: 3DS
Session fun rating: 9/10

One of the reasons I got a 3DS XL when I did is because Fire Emblem released this week. I absolutely love tactical games. Last year, XCOM Enemy Unknown was my favorite game of the year and in 2011, I spent a lot of time with Ghost Recon Shadow Wars. It only took a couple of Youtube videos to convince me to play Fire Emblem: Awakening. Amazingly, I have never played the series!

I was surprised to start the game with a character creation screen, but I made a relatively buff guy with flowing grey hair and a big scar in his face. I selected to play on Hard mode Classic, which means my characters die permanently. The first level was set in a sort of dream and acted as a simple tutorial. This isn't my first strategy game so I just went with it and won easily. I have to say, the visuals are very impressive. There are amazing CG cut scenes, cinematic battles and great 3D-enhanced tactical views.

After the dream sequence, my character woke up in little town being attacked by bandits. He was welcomed by two guys and a lady who needed an extra hand in fighting off the bandits. The game plays like most other games of it's type, placing an emphasis on unit range, position and type of weapon. My guy has magic that can hit at range and a sword. Frederick is a very powerful knight-type. Chrom seems to be the main character and uses swords. Lissa is a cute little lady who heals with a staff. I won the battle but I quickly realized that it's very easy to get overwhelmed.

Apparently, I didn't learn my lesson properly as I got my ass kicked in the next mission. It all starts when the group is ambushed by demons while resting at camp. Lissa was rescued by a mysterious masked dude who later reveals himself as Marth of Smash Bros fame. Either way, when the battle started, we were joined by Sully, a cavalier, and Virion, an archer. One of the cooler features of combat is that units can be assisted by units in an adjacent tile, it makes the attacking unit stronger and the assisting unit has a chance of dealing damage as well. There are also forts on the map that provide defense, avoidance and health.

Basically, I had to play this map three times in a row before winning it without losing my archer. He's weak and has to be protected by other units so the third time I played, I was a lot more defensive. After the battle, I found out that Chrom and Lissa are prince and princess of the kingdom! I can't wait to play more of this game.

Mario Kart 7

Date played: February 3rd
Platform: 3DS
Session fun rating: 8/10

Well, I finally caved and got myself a 3DS XL. That means I now have two 3DS's in the house so when my brother came over to watch hockey and the Superbowl, I saw it as a great opportunity to try the damn thing by playing a bit of Mario Kart. Sharing the game with one cart has to be one of the single best features of the 3DS, even if I don't use it often and it doesn't work with all games.

Either way, we played about 6 or 7 races and I won all of them. Granted, he has never played Mario Kart 7 nor the 3DS and it's been years since he played the series. However, he still gave me a good run for my money. I picked the Shy Guy and the same kart and parts as him to keep it fair. I have to say, the XL is a lot more comfortable to hold and the bigger screen looks amazing in 3D. Now I just have to wait for Fire Emblem to finish downloading...

Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch

I finally caught the little bastard

Date played: February 2nd
Platform: PS3
Session fun rating: 7/10

Grind, grind, grind. Even though I played a long time, I have made almost no progress in the story, save a bathing suit in the coastal town. Instead, I started by completing a fun side quest that asked that I kill three Fleurets, a small desert enemy, but that the final blow be delivered by my ice spell. I also bought a bunch of new gear and made new items using alchemy.

The bulk of my play time was spent trying to tame a Little Big Horn. The little guy seemed like the perfect familiar to replace Mite, who I was getting tired of. Little Big Horn has high defense, decent attack and more importantly, a physical resistance which makes him almost invincible to non-magic attacks. Also, he looks fucking awesome.

The problem was capturing him. I spent over 90 minutes fighting groups of random enemies in and near Old Smoky. I even managed to capture almost every other species in there before I saw the elusive hearts appear above a Little Big Horn's head. On the bright side, I made quite a few levels and made some decent money. I have also retired the Mite...at least for now. I also went back to the talking tree in Deep Dark Wood since my brother told me he gives items after main story events. This time, he gave me three Phoenix feathers, the item that revives in battle.

NBA Jam: On Fire Edition

Date played: February 2nd
Platform: PS3
Session fun rating: 7/10

I played a quick match in NBA Jam with my brother between during an intermission of the hockey game on TV. I picked the Heat because... LEBRON. He played as the Celtics. What was great about playing with him is that he can actually hold his own in a fuckin' video game. I still won as he had to learn the controls for the first few minutes but he was blocking dunks, stealing balls and doing crazy jump passes in minutes. This game is really great at killing 10 minutes.

Rayman Origins

Dragon Chef

Date played: February 2nd
Platform: PS3
Session fun rating: 8/10

I played through the third boss's second world. The first part of his world was food themed and filled with sausages, forks and fire. The second part was still food themed but this time it was icy, focusing more on drinks and other frozen treats. The levels themselves were a bit trickier since they were often very slippery. Many of them required multiple attempts. In the end, I took on the giant pink Dragon Chef, but this was no traditional boss fight. Rayman was swallowed whole and had to damage the nasty stuff found in the large belly.

I also played two treasure chest levels. One of them was very reasonable and I got through in about 6 attempts. The other one though...that one was a total bitch. It was surprisingly short but required an almost perfect run. After 20+ attempts, I finally made it through!

Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch

Date played: January 31st and February 1st
Platform: PS3
Session fun rating: 9/10

The Temple of trials was a very interesting sort of mini dungeon. It had three sections, the tests of friendship, of wits and or strength. The test of wits was full of simple puzzles revolving around using my spells. The test of friendship was the most interesting, it was actually a lot like a platformer, except that I had to control both characters at the same time. It was quite tricky actually... Last but not least was a cool boss fight against a large Samurai looking guy. After all that, the great sage showed us how to capture familiars.

We then noticed the nearby volcano, Old Smokey, was about to blow! Naturally, we headed out to fix the problem. This is the same dungeon that was in the demo but this time, I had my own familiars and I was comfortable with the combat system so I managed to kill the boss without too much trouble, though I did have to use a revive item on Esther. That bitch is real dumb on the battlefield.

The volcano's boss

I completed a bunch of little side quests. Some of the hunts are as tough as the bosses sometimes, it's kind of crazy really. I actually spent a ton of time just fighting monsters, trying to catch as many as I can.  Right now, my familiars are a mite, monkey, fat bird, fairy, cat and mushroom. The mite deals damage and blocks, the monkey attacks and evades, the bird heals and casts spells (I kind of want to replace him), the fairy heals and casts, the cat attacks and the mushroom heals and casts status ailments. It works but could be better. I also managed to evolve some of my monsters to level 2.

I finally headed to the nearby coastal town to find a boat and meet the other sages. When I got there though, I was given a mystical alchemy pot by a merchant. I was surprised by a difficult fight against the genie that lived inside. Esther died again but I just kept blocking at the right time to get some healing gems and wither him down. I can now mix ingredients in a pot to make new shit... I'll look into that later.

Wipeout 2048

Date played: January 31st
Platform: Vita
Session fun rating: 9/10

I played a couple of events, a time trial and a Zone mode. The time trial was fairly easy to pass, I got it on the second try, however, the Elite pass was a lot tougher and I would have had to try multiple times to get it. The Zone events are starting to really ramp up now where even the passing grade requires a good amount of concentration and track knowledge. I don't even consider trying to get Elite here.

Zone mode!

As the difficulty is increasing, I find myself trying new tactics and teams. This is something I have never really done in all my years of playing Wipeout, all the way back to Wipeout XL. In the past, I would always just pick one ship and stick to it for most of the game. In 2048, I'm using all sorts of ships from race to race. In fact, I had a really hard time in this Zone event until I switched over to the AG-Systems agility ship, the Auricom agility just wasn't cutting it at higher speeds. On the other hand, for the time trial, I switched from the Feisar speed to the Auricom agility when I struggled. Maybe this will make me better at Wipeout HD...