Pikmin 3

Date played: August 31st
Platform: Wii U
Session fun rating: 10/10

I beat up a giant sand larva! After exploring through a day (I found a kiwi!), I went after the sand larva that held the cell phone in it's glut. It was a tough fight, the damn thing dug giant holes in the ground that would suck in any stray Pikmin... After we beat it, my little plants gloriously brought him back to the ship, along with the cell phone and a half digested watermelon!

FOR PIKMIN GLORY!

This opened up a completely new area. I explored it a bit, building the first bridge required to move on. I saw in the distance that a new flying Pikmin would be made available in this level. I can't wait to give them a shot. I just love the way this plays and it's easy to play "Just one more day".

Call of Duty Black Ops 2

Shotguns are fun!

Date played: August 30th and 31st
Platform: PS3
Session fun rating: 9/10

I played about 4 or 5 rounds of Team Deathmatch, where I did very well considering how rusty I've become. I was always positive except for one match where I got dropped in at the end of it. I had an interesting run with a shotgun. There was another team that was very aggressive, so I decided to try a faster weapon. I lost a few fights with the pistol at range though, the shotgun couldn't make it that far. Inside buildings though, it was very successful for me.

Civilization V

Date played: August 30th
Platform: PC
Session fun rating: 7/10

I started a Civ V game on Chieftain (normal) difficulty, on a tiny jungle world on small continents. Really, I was just there to try out a new mod that I found. It adds all of the civs from Mass Effect into the game! For myself, I chose the science focused Salarians, headed by Mordin Solus. For my opponents, I chose the Alliance, the Asari and the trading Volus. I started near Earth, but they haven't managed the tech required to be a problem. The Asari declared war on me though, but I kept them at bay with my strong fleet of ranged ships. The Volus are my best allies, providing research agreements and luxury trade. I'm focusing on a science win, but I might try for a diplomatic victory as well.

The cultured Asari aren't afraid to go to war

The Salarians have an interesting bonus for jungles tiles. I've played the game a bit differently than usual to take advantage of the jungle focus. My civ spans 2 continents and 5 cities. I've built the Pyramids and the Hanging Gardens. That's another thing, growth has been more difficult than usual since I don't cut down the abundant jungles. That means more granaries and aqueducts. I've just unlocked the Salarian special building, a science lab, but haven't built one yet.

The Sims 3

Date played: August 30th
Platform: PC
Session fun rating: 8/10

I played a bit more with my scientist lady. She now has a girlfriend, an old lady. She came over and they hung out on the couch, spending lots of time cuddling, kissing and making out. At the end of the evening, we headed to the bedroom where we had hot lesbian woohoo!

Woohoo!

I also spent some time and money making the house better. I replaced all the shitty doors with funky colored glass doors. I also put in some big windows and reorganized the kitchen a bit. I've also mastered cooking.

Mario and Luigi: Dream Team

Cool beans

Date played: August 29th
Platform: 3DS
Session fun rating: 6/10

I didn't really progress today, I just spent about 30 minutes going around Mushrise park to find stuff I missed and dig up more beans. I found a few secret paths that I missed my first time through the area which makes me wonder if there's any value in revisiting the dream sequences. I also scored a powerful hammer from the elder pillow man for rescuing his buddies. 

The Wonderful 101 demo

Date played: August 29th
Platform: Wii U
Session fun rating: 8/10

The Wonderful 101 plays like nothing I've ever played before. At it's core, it's really just a brawler, but Platinum games twisted the genre around so that it's almost unrecognizable. The whole idea, as the title indicates, is to control up to 101 heroes at once, fighting some sort of robot alien invasion in their city. The graphics are very colorful and inviting and it looks pretty good in general, with a nice framerate and awesome animations.

Fighting this tank thing was quite a challenge

The controls are a bit to get used to though. I don't know if it's because the demo is a little bit further into the game but it took me a while to get comfortable. There's a double jump, a dash, a throw attack (throws your followers), a weird sort of block and most importantly, combo attacks. The combo attacks are the main way to damage enemies. There is a punch, a sword and a gun. To perform these, you can either draw a specific pattern on the touch pad or use the right analog stick. It works well but it took me quite a while to get it right. Also, the bigger the pattern, the more of your dudes are used to attack, the more damage enemies take.

I fought giant robots of all kinds in quick succession. It seems that every 5 minutes, there is a new boss to beat, all of them cooler looking than the last. I played on normal difficulty but the deafult was easy. That might be why I died twice. As you can imagine, there is a shit ton of stuff going on at the same time, which can make combat a bit confusing. Overall, I liked that I played but I feel like the learning curve should have been a bit smoother.

Nano Assault Neo

Date played: August 27th
Platform: Wii U
Session fun rating: 8/10

I've had my eye on this game since the first day I got my Wii U. This week, it was on sale so that was enough to convince me. This is a dual stick shooter set inside some living organism of some sort. The little ship has to eliminate enemies from the surface of a cell to "cure" the subject. In the end, it's really just a game about shooting though. It feels a LOT like Super Stardust HD. I didn't have much time to play, but I was able to play the first two levels of the first area. The game plays really well, is extremely responsive and has a cool upgrade mechanic driven by some in game currency. I equipped some satellites to my ship which grants and extra attack type, bought some shields and changed up my weapon.

One more thing, this game's graphics are fucking jaw-dropping. I mean, it runs at a perfect frame rate, has amazing depth of field effects and is very detailed. I think this is the best looking Wii U game I've played yet. Granted, it's not like this is a game the size of Assassin's Creed or GTA but it impressed me either way. There was also a fun, simple bonus level that played as a sort of tube racer. The goal is to pick up currency while avoiding obstacles. There's a two player mode too which I hope to try out sometime soon. 

Mario and Luigi: Dream Team

Date played: August 26th
Platform: 3DS
Session fun rating: 9/10

I played through a bit of the next area, a desert. After buying the bros some better equipment, I fought some sand worms and other odd creatures. The mechanics in combat are definitely getting more complicated. The enemies have pretty complicated attack patterns that are fun to learn and require some pretty good precision, a welcome challenge. After a bit, we found a couple of dudes that taught us some new moves.

One of the moves has Luigi hit Mario on the head with a hammer to make him smaller, so that he can crawl through small openings. The other is the same but Mario goes underground and can move around hidden from view. He can then pop out in marked spots to win some beans that offer permanent stat upgrades. Yay!

The new Tower move is really cool 

We then found a new pillow and with it, a new dream sequence. Luigi learned a new Luiginary move that creates a bunch of copies of him that then stack into a huge Luigi tower. This can be used to defeat enemies, turn on switches that are high in the air. It looks amazing and is really fun to use.

Mario and Luigi: Dream Team

Bowser is really obsessed with that woman...

Date played: August 25th
Platform: 3DS
Session fun rating: 10/10

Bowser finally showed up! Deep in Luigi's dream, we found Princess Peach. In the meantime, Bowser, found out Peach was missing, but it wasn't because of him! Frustrated, he jumps into Luigi's dream and finds our heroes. This is where Antasma, the weird bat from the introduction, came back into the picture. He makes a deal with Bowser... Basically, Antasma will make Bowser more powerful in exchange for his help with a world conquest. Great, two evil bad guys are now teamed up.

Then there was a huge boss fight against the new Bowser/Antasma duo. This was easily the best battle in the game so far. There was a ton of different attacks, including a bunch of bats swooping down on Mario, dynamic fireball dodging and another one of those chase sequences. I had to heal up a few times but I took him down slowly. Once that was done, we jumped back out of the dream and are now back in the hub world. We are now heading to a desert to find... something, I forget.

LittleBigPlanet PSVita

Date played: August 24th
Platform: Vita
Session fun rating: 8/10

I picked this up used for 15$. I had played the demo a while back and loved it but the 40$ sticker price kept me away until now. Unfortunately, what I didn't know is that the game has a 10$ online pass. That means that I don't get any created levels, multiplayer or leaderboards and that's kind of a big fucking bummer. Now, if I finish this game's single player, I will see if I'm still interested in playing online and might buy the damn pass.

I played through the first world, mostly tutorial stuff, as well as a few from the second. As when I played the demo, I'm really enjoying this game. I played the two first games on PS3 and it's kind of surprising that the Vita version feels the best. I think it uses the Vita's features really well. For example, the touch screen functions are fun to use and don't feel tacked on. There were puzzles that had me push platforms back and forth using my fingers on the touch screen and back touch, depending on if I'm pushing in or out. The minigames unlocked through the story mode feel straight out of a mobile game, which is perfect for a portable system like this.

My little Craft Punk sack man beats up a marionette

I beat my first boss, a simple battle but one that required that I touch the screen to defeat him, all while controlling Sackboy with the joystick. The second world is themed after mechanical things and had me moving gears and mechanisms around. There was also a water level, which I understand was DLC for LBP2 but I never had a chance to try it. So far, it feels good enough and adds a few new puzzle types. I'm loving this game, I just wish I wasn't held hostage by an online pass.

Gravity Rush

Fuck this tower

Date played: August 23rd
Platform: Vita
Session fun rating: 4/10

Well, I've played the worst level in the game so far, that's for sure. I was tasked with fixing the third piece of the second neighbourhood by the weird creator guy again, only this time, my cat ate something weird which handicapped Kat's gravity shifting abilities to the point where I was completely fucking frustrated. It wouldn't have been much of a problem if the level had been just about fighting or something, but the focus here was on platforming. Without Kat's gravity shifting abilities in full force, it became really difficult to navigate. The on foot controls for this game are pretty fucking awful and made it much harder to complete the section than it should have been.

The area was full of giant mushrooms that I had to climb, eventually fighting a boss that rests on a large tower. The problem is that I fell off many times and had to spend the next 5 minutes making my way back the boss. Once I beat him, I had to beat him again in the regular world. This was a lot more fun since my abilities were back to normal. I've also completed a couple of challenges and opened up the fourth section of the city, though I haven't visited it yet.

Bioshock Infinite

Date played: August 23rd
Platform: PS3
Session fun rating: 9/10

I finished Bioshock Infinite.

Boy, what a crazy story... The last third of the game was really exciting. The Vox, now equipped with strong weapons, is waging war on Columbia. Everything is on fire, people are freaking out and Songbird is still out there trying to catch Elizabeth. She eventually let herself be captured to save Booker's life. There was also the whole thing with Lady Comstock. I ended up fighting her ghost about three times while trying to make our way to Comstock house to confront the Prophet. She was actually pretty hard to kill as she summons minions indefinitely. Eventually, I learned to just take pot shots at her with the carbine and shotgun.

Making our way through the area, we eventually made our way to Comstock house proper, a huge floating fortress towering over Columbia. I encountered a new enemy type, a weird dude with a freaky helmet that acts as a security camera of sorts. If spotted, he would send a dozen strong enemies after me. I quickly learned to avoid their line of sight.

After a ton of small tasks to open doors and such, we made our way to Comstock flagship, the Hand of the Prophet, a majestic Zeppelin. Of course, we had to fight tons of enemies here. I've taken a liking to the Ram ability as it helps close distance with enemies, is pretty damaging and once upgraded, recharges Booker's shield. I used it more as an "Oh shit" button than anything else. Combined with a few Bucking Broncos to stop fast enemies in their tracks and possession to take out a strong enemy or two, it was pretty rare for me to have any issues in combat.... except once. This was a battle against a Handyman, a large mechanical warrior that can electrocute skylines. While I normally didn't have any problems fighting them, the battle area was very tight and I got stuck on geometry more than once. Since the Handyman is a melee unit, I died a few times. Plus, I respawned right in front of him most of the time. The last big combat sequence had me defend the Zeppelin from the Vox. I nan incredible twist, I was able to call in the Songbird to assist me every 30 seconds or so. He took out enemy gunships and Zeppelins with style.

Songbird is amazing

Eventually, we made it to Comstock's room in the Hand of the Prophet. I don't want to spoil everything, but let's just say that Comstock died without much resistance... The game unravels quickly in terms of story. There's a ton of stuff about travelling to other dimensions, dilating time, those weird fucking twins that show up all the time and the relationship between Comstock, Booker and Elizabeth. There's also a fantastic cameo surprise in the last chapter. The ending was real complicated and seems full of plot holes but the general idea is still really good.

I truly enjoyed my time with Bioshock Infinite, though it's weird habits still bug me such as the stupid voice recordings, the loud speaker conversations, the constant looting and the awful music. Still, the combat was really fun, varied and satisfying, Columbia is a great place to host a video game and the story was interesting, if a bit too convoluted. 

Endless Space

Date played: August 22nd
Platform: PC
Session fun rating: 7/10

Here's a game that's been sitting in my Steam library untouched for a few months. I love space and sci-fi, and I love Civ, so I thought Endless Space would be a good fit. At first glance, it's really a lot like Civ. Manage resources, explore, expand, build units and improvements, etc.

Endless Space replaces cities with solar systems, complete with many planets each which can or cannot be colonized, depending on their atmosphere and composition. There's also a really deep unit creation mode, similar to what was in Alpha Centauri back in the day. I started a game as the Sowers, a race of machines built to make as many planets as possible into liveable planets. There are tons of other cool races and factions but I picked the Sowers for their cool image and construction focused gameplay.

The faction selection screen is fun to read

Unfortunately, as with any game this complicated, it's gonna take me a few attempts to get things right. It wasn't long before my system was no longer sustainable. I will definitely lower the difficulty from Normal to something easier, but also, I have to just learn the systems here. I spent money on a hero, a unit that can garrisoned on a fleet or system to provide bonuses. It has an upkeep that put me in the red and kind of destroyed my early empire. I will try again though, this game seems really relevant to my interests...

Mario and Luigi: Dream Team

This was a fun boss fight!

Date played: August 22nd
Platform: 3DS
Session fun rating: 7/10

I didn't play a lot, in fact, I only really beat a boss and started a new area. The boss, Grobot, was pretty cool. He has a bunch of regular attacks, like a water cannon, but he also had a few crazy looking attacks that looked amazing in 3D. He sometimes chases our heroes from a chase cam, where Mario and Luigi face the camera and run away from the boss while dodging projectiles. It's the kind of action camera that is very rare in RPG's and it makes the game feel a lot cooler. I also played through a bit of the next segment, a dream level where I am supposed to find the Elder little pillow man that will help me find Peach.

Civilization V

Date played: August 22nd
Platform: PC
Session fun rating: 6/10

I tried out a scenario I had never played before, themed around steam power. There are tons of new units in this thing, most notably steam airships. Now, I decided to play this one as normally as possible, which turned out to be a huge mistake. The problem is that I didn't quite read the objectives. It turns out, the scenario is about achieving a balance between military production, culture, economy, etc. The first player to fulfil three out of six conditions wins.

Airships are really good units

Now, I was busy fighting a war against a nearby city-state, then got attacked by another nation. While I had good resources and tech, I was not spending my production towards things that would help the game objectives. After establishing a nice, 4 city civilization, I was defeated by a far away neighbor who won by having a lot of the latest airships, tons of money, good culture and one more that I forget.

Bioshock Infinite

Date played: August 21st
Platform: PS3
Session fun rating: 8/10

I've played through a ton of this game. The story has progressed a lot and is interesting. There's a lot going on with alternate dimensions and shit, it's pretty cool. The environments have all been completely amazing, the fighting is actually fun and the whole thing is inviting to play. I think I may be about 2/3 through the game, but it's a bit hard to say. I got tons of new spells, including a battering ram ability that I really like. I've been gearing for melee a bit which has been useful. I rely on the possession spell still, combined with the carbine, shotgun, sniper rifle or rocket launcher depending on the situation.

Spot on.

Speaking of rocket launchers, they've become a more important part of my arsenal as bigger enemies started showing up. Patriots and Handymen are all very strong and fun to fight. As I've played more of the game though, it's flaws are really starting to become annoying.

For example, it's really fucking weird that every major enemy spend most of their time talking to Booker on a loudspeaker. What the fuck, who does that? Also, why does everyone record their intimate thoughts on vinyl recording devices then leave them around for people to find and listen to? Why are there sandwiches hidden in trash cans and cash registers? Why does every fucking song sound like a goat being fucked by chimp? Anyway...

Call of Duty Black Ops 2

Date played: August 21st
Platform: PS3
Session fun rating: 9/10

One game of TDM. Positive K/D. Bang Bang.

The Sims 3

Date played: August 19th and 20th
Platform: PC
Session fun rating: 9/10

The Sims 3 is not a game I've played a lot of. However, I kind of got the itch to play it again recently, I'm not sure why. So I decided to install it again and make a one person home to play with a bit. My Sim, Erin, started out as my dream girl when I was creating her. During the long creation process though, I realized I was wrong, I was making my dream self... if I were a lady.

Erin Cockgobbler, tending to her garden

She's a Scorpio, loves to dance, play computer games and works as a high ranked scientist. She's quite the handyman, can cook very well and has a knack for gardening. She's also really slutty, though I haven't had the chance to get her to Woo-Hoo yet since I don't have a double bed... Soon though! I spent a lot of time just making her outfits and living space. I like to play this game in a simple way. Sleep, eat, bathroom, shower, socialize, have fun and learn new skills. Erin tends to do most of her socializing online though, to save time...

Bioshock Infinite

Date played: August 19th
Platform: PS3
Session fun rating: 8/10

More shootin bad guys, more looting, more possessing enemies and a very inefficient power company. I got hold of a sniper rifle, which was useful in a couple of fights. The the real highlight was the regular rifle. That thing is powerful, accurate and fun to shoot enemies with. I also looted some better clothes and improved my battle shield a lot. Elizabeth unlocks doors, kind of like Joel does in The Last Of Us with shivs, she does with lockpicks.

This section of the game is awesome

The electric company that runs the transport to the airship to Paris is shitty. The power went out on the thing and no one will fix it, so Booker has to get an electricity spell to progress. This brought us to the Hall of Heroes. I learned tons more about the story and the rivalry between Comstock and the other dude. There was also two large expositions on the battles of Peking and against the natives of America. I learned that Booker did some awful shit of some sort back there. I also learned more about Elizabeth's use of tears to travel and her family, though I won't spoil the details. This game is tons of fun, but I can't shake the feeling that I've played it twice before. That was probably when I played Bioshock and it's sequel.

Gravity Rush

Cute

Date played: August 18th
Platform: Vita
Session fun rating: 6/10

More weird Japanese story stuff, a weird dude that controls the enemies and tons of challenges made up my time with Kat this time. The boss was pretty easy, I just had to chase him down using gravity tricks, then his weird, two headed flying monster. The key was to hit the heads while they shot projectiles.

The challenges were unlocked when I gained access to the Industrial district of the city. The place is fun to explore as it's riddled with gems to find. On the challenges, I am happy to get a bronze and move on. Kat is now being praised in the papers for her efforts!

Runner 2

I am NEVER typing the entire title of this game

Date played: August 17th
Platform: PS3
Session fun rating: 9/10

Playstation Plus has been amazing to me. I have tons of games I have yet to even launch like Saint's Row The Third, Spec Ops The Line, Ratchet and Clank All 4 One, Hitman Absolution among a bunch of others. Runner 2 is the newest addition to the list. This is an automatic running platformer. Basically, Mario, but you can't stop running.

Now, I've played tons of these on iOS and Android, but none of them were really all that fun. Runner 2's hook is that everything goes to the beat. Every jump, item, gold piece and checkpoint adds something to the music and it just feels good. I don't think this is the kind of game I will complete, but it's a nice thing to play in short bursts. I only played the first four levels which were easy, but I can see how this is gonna get crazy real fast.

Gravity Rush

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

The story in this game is completely fucking absurd... I don't understand anything about what I'm doing and why. There's an old dude that calls himself the creator who sent me to another area with magic purple flowers and tons of enemies to fight. This one was set in a sort of lava place where if I fell too far outside the main area, Kat would take damage from the fire. I've upgraded my abilities a lot, but many feel unnecessary. For example, there is a slide more that has been used in a couple of specific places, like this fire dungeon. The problem is that it's controlled with motion, which can be inaccurate. It's kind of fun but I haven't found a way of using that in combat effectively.

Burning windmills!

At the end of the level, I was surprised to see Raven, the mysterious shifter, enter the area and start fighting me. This was a fun fight as I had to deal with another shifter's abilities. Raven attacked me with drill kicks, basic physical combos and a weird projectile attack. It took a while but after a half dozen well placed gravity kicks, she vanished in a puff of smoke.
Finishing the dungeon helped rebuild the city for some odd reason. There is now a ferris wheel in the entertainment district and I've unlocked an air ship that will take me to a new section of the city.

New Super Mario Bros U

Date played: August 16th
Platform: Wii U
Session fun rating: 7/10

My girlfriend wanted to play of New Super Mario Bros U last night. Now, we've already completed the main game but haven't scored all the secret coins in every level. The last time we played, we managed to unlock the second world's secret level so last night, we beat it. I barely remember it at all...there was nothing really memorable there. However, this opened up the second level in the secret star world.

Fuuuuuuuuuuuck man. This level HARD. It's kind of similar to the bonus levels in Donkey Kong Country Returns and Rayman Origins. The entire stage has Mario and company running on top of coins turned into brick by a series of P-blocks. The entire thing has a very tight time frame. As soon as we stopped more than 2 or 3 seconds, our hopes of making it to the next switch dwindled dramatically.

This led to an amazing display of team work founded on a solid routine. I swear, we must have tried this level at least 40 times...and we didn't even make it through by the end of the night. I can feel it though, we've nailed down the first 75% of the level, mistakes being very rare. However, as soon as we reach the second to last P-block, I have a hard time nailing the next series of jumps. My girlfriend acts more as a support player as she helps kill enemies with fireballs and can make suicide jumps to grab special coins. I just have to nail that last little section...

Of course, we could always cop out and use the Gamepad to make platforms instead but I want to avoid it if possible.

Mario & Luigi: Dream Team

Date played: August 16th
Platform: 3DS
Session fun rating: 8/10

I've been a big fan of the Mario & Luigi series. Superstar Saga is still the best but I never completed Bowser's Inside Story or Partners in Time. It's weird too, in the last year, I've played a shit ton of Mario games. It started with NSMB 2, then Paper Mario Sticker Star, NSMBU and even Mario VS Donkey Kong.

Dream Team starts with the crew being invited to a resort for a vacation. The tutorials were presented as activities from the welcome committee. It was a bit long and the characters have a tendency to repeat themselves a lot, but the setup is interesting and the text is funny. Soon enough, we got wrangled into an adventure. Luigi falls asleep on a treasure we found and creates a portal to his imagination. Peach gets sucked in and Mario must now rescue her from the Dream World. That treasure ended up being a stone Pi'illo, the resort's ancestor residents. By destroying nightmare chunks in the dream world, the guys wake up and help Mario and Luigi find the Princess.

No Bowser this time?

The combat is nice. In the real world, both Mario and Luigi are playable, presenting combat very similar to what was seen in the series past. In the dream world though, Mario is joined by Dreamy Luigi. This representation of Luigi is stronger, more handsome and generally more awesome. He has tons of copies of himself that he uses to attack with Mario.

In the real world, there is 3d navigation and basic puzzles involving hammers and jumps. In the dream world, navigation is 2D and the puzzles require "Luigination". This means poking, stroking and pulling at Luigi's real world face on the touch screen while seeing the results on the top screen. I pulled Luigi's mustache to make Mario slingshot to different areas and tickled his nose to have him sneeze in the dream world, moving objects around. I'm excited to see where this game goes from here!

Pikmin 3

Date played: August 16th
Platform: Wii U
Session fun rating: 9/10

I got a lot of stuff done in Pikmin 3 today. It all started with an epic battle against an obese butterfly of sorts. This is the thing that kidnapped Green dude at the start of the game. It has a sort of stealth camouflage system, he can only be revealed when directly exposed to light. That sounds like a job for yellow Pikmin! The battle was really cool. I had to conduct electricity in multiple spots of the cavern, one of which required that we dig out a twig to have the Pikmin climb. After building a small bridge and powering a car battery, a light bulb came out and let me attack the guy as often as I wanted. This boss was easily the most exciting section of the game so far. It was clever, smart, pretty and very rewarding.

The stage for the battle against the obese, stealth camo butterfly

Inside the creature we found our leader, Green dude. The game opens up way more now though because we now have access to many more areas by throwing the other two leaders on top of platforms. We decided to head back to the first area of the game to follow a radio signal. We found an old cell phone buried in a dirt pile, but of course, it was guarded by a giant creature, this time, a sand worm. The day was over when we met him though so I elected to spend the next day exploring the area a bit more where we found tons of new paths and fruits. Next up, worm boss buy.

Civilization V

Date played: August 13th, 14th and 15th
Platform: PC
Session fun rating: 10/10

I finished a game of Civ V G&K.

My Mongols ruled.

My pious, ordered, liberated Mongols conquered the world with their culture. It all started with a hostile takeover of all the city states on the continent, including Cape Town. I never went to war with the other civs, though that's because I was playing on easy... I just had a bad reputation, destroying any chance for diplomatic victory.

My small wars were fought with catapults, pikemen, and a few musketmen towards the end of my growth period. Then I just settled down, spending tons of gold to build cities quickly, without exceeding 6 cities. That made the cultural victory pretty easy to win around 2008. The Chinese and Greeks never stood a chance, never mind Polynesia.

I fucking love Civilization.

Bioshock Infinite

Date played: August 14th
Platform: PS3
Session fun rating: 9/10

I played through two very cool levels, one on Monument Tower, the other on Battleship Bay. Monument Tower is where I met Elizabeth. She is introduced as specimen in a science experiment of some kind. She seems to be able to open portals to...well she tried to go to Paris. There was only a short shooting portion against humans before Booker was knocked unconscious.

Battleship Bay

The next segment had me find the girl again, this time in an amusement park. The art style really helps set the mood in this game. Coupled with the awesome rail travel, it's a pleasure to see the world they made. The combat is all right, but not tight enough for my tastes.

Gravity Rush

It's over 9000!

Date played: August 12th
Platform: Vita
Session fun rating: 7/10

I played through episode 6, a battle in a rift plane or something. I fought little red and black creatures again and followed a path shown by flowers blooming purple lights. Yep, this game is Japanese. Next, I fought a boss where I had to attack it's tentacle eyes, then attack it's single glowing testicule. I died a couple of times because it retaliates with a stream of projectiles that hurt a lot.

This opened up the next portion of the city, the entertainment district. The open world structure of the game really helps it I think. It's a lot of fun to just traverse the city, searching for crystals and man holes to Kat's house.

Pikmin 3

Date played: August 12th
Platform: Wii U
Session fun rating: 10/10

I'm really having a great time playing Pikmin 3. I played through a bunch of in game days, I'm probably on exploration day 12 or 13 now. I've befriended yellow pikmin who can be thrown higher, can conduct electricity and are immune to electric attacks and barriers. The blue dude and the pink dudette got separated on one of the maps, so I built bridges and threw pikmin over rivers to reunite them. I've gathered tons of fun fruit like kiwis and oranges. It's tons of fun to play.

Scary insect!

The highlight of my time was a battle with a giant insect of sorts. An armored centipede that had to have it's protective shell broken with rock pikmin, then attacked in the soft parts by red pikmin. During the battle, the day ended! This forced me to retreat back to the ship. I was surprised to find out my progress on the boss had been saved so that I could continue the battle the next day! I find little touches like that quite entertaining. I also went back to the previous levels and opened up a few new areas with my yellow and rock companions, but didn't find much beside fruit.

Gravity Rush

Date played: August 10th and 11th
Platform: Vita
Session fun rating: 9/10

I played a few challenge missions. These are specific tasks that award some gems to upgrade Kat's abilities. There are checkpoint races, battles and other activities. After at least trying a few of them, I moved on to the main missions. The first order of business was finding a home for our hero. She talked to a few people around the city, picking up a chair, desk and bed. This introduced a new ability, a sort of gravity field that forms around Kat, picking up any nearby objects or people. They can then be transported elsewhere or used as a projectile to attack enemies.

The next mission was about stopping the creatures from attacking the city. I kind of lost the plot, but I was tasked with replacing a gem at the top of a statue with a fake one. This turned out to be somewhat of a stealth mission. I had to navigate to the statue by using the walls and ceilings of the area to avoid being spotted. It's a cool idea but it's really hard to see all the enemies and which way they are facing. I could have done without this segment... Eventually, I made it, only to realize that the dude I gave the gem to was an impostor!

Story segments are really stylish

For some reason, the next mission had me visiting a fortune teller, who told me I needed to follow a white bird (using gravity tricks), go see a blue flag and pop some red balloons. This led me to a storyline about a boy who lost his father. I reunited them which opened up a portal to another dimension or something. This was an area where Kat had no gravity powers... I made my way through the area, avoiding enemies, only to find myself back mysteriously back in town.

I then played a couple of challenges, levelling up my skills along the way.  I also started the next mission but there wasn't anything I hadn't seen yet. 

Skylanders Giants

Ignitor is my favorite

Date played: August 10th and 11th
Platform: Wii U
Session fun rating: 6/10

I played some Giants with my brother who was visiting. He saw the figurines on the shelf and was curious to see them in action. We played the second level (very casually...) in co-op. He played most of the way with Tree Rex, swapping out a few times to use Cynder and Hex. I played most of it with Ignitor and a bit with Whirlwind. The level was pretty simple, though we didn't find all the secrets. There was more combat than the first level and the enemies were definitely stronger and more resilient. Archer enemies were a pain as they would hide on top of ledges. Ignitor's bombs proved useful in that situation. Both Ignitor and Tree Rex levelled up, though I didn't take the time to figure out what that really means. All I could see is that they have a few more hit points than before.

I then nought an upgrade to sword damage for Ignitor. I also played a challenge map that had me save rainbow colored singing geckos from rock prisons. It was easiest to use Tree Rex as he is could knock down walls easily. I was rewarded with a stat upgrade.

Gravity Rush

Date played: August 7th
Platform: Vita
Session fun rating: 8/10

I played the demo for Gravity Rush about a year ago and enjoyed it. Then, when PS Plus came to Vita, I got it for free and never booted it up until now. I only played a the first two chapters of the game, mostly just tutorial stuff. Kat wakes up next to a weird cat with no memory of anything. She walks around a bit until someone asks her to help save his son who is trapped in a house. There's a giant wormhole of sorts above the city and it was sucking up the house. I was confused, but went on to save the boy using the amazing gravity shifting mechanics of the game. After saving the boy, I met another gravity shifter, a lady with a crow companion but she floated away before we could talk.

This game is pretty awesome

I was then interrupted by a city worker, asking why I wasn't at work yet. It seems Kat has a job with the city somehow. Either way, he tasked me with fixing a nearby fountain by collecting gems in the neighborhood. I also fought a few monsters, little black creatures with a red weak spot. The game controls really well, giving the player an amazing sense of freedom. It's not uncommon to be flying around, changing gravity at the touch of a button and it all feels great. There are also stats to level up like health, speed and gravity shifting. The story is simple so far, but presented in a very cool, motion comic style. 

Storm demo

Pretty and shitty

Date played: August 6th
Platform: PS3
Session fun rating: 1/10

Bleh. This game sucks. This is a 2D puzzle game that has the player move fruit around to grow trees using the elements. For example, using wind to push the seeds towards the next patch of fertile soil or using lighting to burn things that are blocking the path. While the game looks great, it plays like shit. The controls are iffy, I had trouble setting up my wind streams more than once. Secondly, it's really hard to know what is possible and what isn't. I got stuck on the third level simply because I couldn't figure out how to have the seed climb a steep slope. I'm really glad I didn't spend any money on this one...

The Last Of Us

Date played: August 5th and 6th
Platform: PS3
Session fun rating: 10/10

I finished The Last Of Us.

I think this is my favorite game this year so far... The hero finally reached the destination but gets ambushed by the cannibal dude from before. I ran away outside the building but was blinded by a large snowstorm. This was one of the coolest sequences graphically. The snow is completely blinding and also reduces the effectiveness of hearing mode. It was cool to stealth my way through the area and kill dudes from behind in the blizzard. There was then a stealth fight against the cannibal which I won by using bricks to distract him and stalking the guy from behind. He had to be knifed three times before going down for good.

Cut to Spring.

Ellie and Joel made their way to Salt Lake City, the city where we expect to find the Fireflies and their research facility. This chapter takes place around a bus depot. After a few ladder puzzles, Ellie spotted a herd of giraffes (!) roaming the city. The scene was very calm and seemed to revitalize Ellie, who was a bit depressed after the encounter with the cannibal. The game wasn't shy about using music to enhance the experience and this was one of the best examples in the game.

The last pleasant sequence in the game

The beautiful view didn't last. We headed towards the hospital where the Fireflies should be located. This took us through another underground tunnel, completely infested with infected, including a spot with three bloaters and a couple of clickers. I climbed on top of a bus, threw a brick in the middle of the pack and threw some molotovs and scissor bombs in the pack of creatures, resulting in a screaming, fiery pack of mushroom people. Then we reached the hospital.

It didn't take long for the Fireflies to spot us. Marlene, the woman who gave Joel and Tess the mission back in Boston, was there. It quickly became clear that Joel and Marlene disagreed on how to handle the whole vaccine situation. To create a vaccine, the Fireflies must remove parts of Ellie's brain, killing her in the process. Joel has become attached to her so much that he opposes Marlene.

Ellie being stuck in the operating room, Joel makes his way through the hospital to go rescue her. I found an assault rifle along the way and loved using it. It's very powerful and has good range. I fought dozens of armored enemies in the hospital until finally reaching Ellie and running away with her. Unfortunately, Marlene intercepted us and confronted Joel on his decision to kill all hope for a cure. In the end, he killed Marlene to prevent her from going after the duo in the future. Joel finally escaped, with Ellie still knocked out from the drugs.

The epilogue has Joel flat out lying to Ellie about the whole thing and convincing her that they didn't need to operate on her because they already had all the info needed for a vaccine...  In the end, Joel saved the life of one over saving humanity. Pretty fucking selfish man. This was easily one of the best games I've ever played and look forward to playing it again one day.

Skylanders Giants

Date played: August 5th
Platform: Wii U
Session fun rating: 8/10

It's not obvious to me that I am a gamer dad. My three year old daughter has been in many video game stores with me and has always loved looking at the Skylanders figures. I saw the starter pack on sale for 40$ and caved. I bought the starter pack as well as three additional figurines, one for each member of the family. I got the game on Wii U which includes the portal of power, the giant Tree Rex, Jetvac and Cynder. I bought Hex, Ignitor and Whirlwind separately.

The game is a sort of brawler with loot. It's obviously aimed at kids, with shitty graphics, a cartoon art style and a very dumb and light story. The key feature is the portal of power thing. Dropping a Skylander figurine onto the portal spawns it in the video game. Swapping Skylanders works very well, is fast and tons of fun.

I played in co-op with my girlfriend and put my daughter in charge of changing the creatures. She got a real kick out of just putting different characters on screen and was nice enough to put on the needed creature when the game required it. We only played the first level, though we played it three times to unlock all hidden items. I also scored some hats that act as stat increasing equipment. While I'm not expecting much from the game itself, the figurine stuff is really cool.

Pikmin 3

Date played: August 4th
Platform: Wii U
Session fun rating: 10/10

Holy fuck, Pikmin 3 is amazing. I had played the first Pikmin game, back on Gamecube, but never played the second. I still don't know why because I really love this damn game. This is really still just Pikmin, but with up to three leaders, a few more pikmin type and some amazing graphics, mainly due to the art style and heavy depth of field effects.

The game starts with a stranded green commander dude, he discovers yellow pikmin but gets ambushed by an unseen creature when the game cuts to the second little commander dude. Blue dude. That's where the game really starts. The old formula still applies. Gather stuff, bring back to ship, grow pikmin, carry bigger stuff. Also, fight bugs and shit. I've rescued the third member of the crew, pink commander dudette, who can be launched up to solve some puzzles. It all feels great.

Pikmin 3 looks amazing

The only problem is, I'm using three physical devices at once. The pad on my lap to see the map and use the radio, and the nunchuk and wii remote combo to control my aim and character. I tried playing with only the Gamepad and it was just difficult to aim well.  Either way, I'm LOVING this game.

Final Fantasy VI

Date played: August 3rd
Platform: Vita
Session fun rating: 9/10

Well, I think I've made it further into this game than I ever have before. Terra, Locke and Shadow investigated the small town of Thamasa. I observed some weird things around town such as a young boy practising the Fire spell, a child begging her mother to cast Cure on her and most importantly, a old fart and what appears to be his grand-daughter or child.

When a fire breaks out in one of the houses, the town reveals that most of it's habitants are descendent of the espers and stuff. The old man, Strago, joins us while Shadow leaves again. Strago is the blue mage of this game. He learns monsters magic basically. I hate these types of classes generally but he dealt good damage with his spells and ice rod. We fought some fire based enemies and a boss, none of which were very difficult.

Strago is cool, but I don't like blue mages 

We then left together to investigate the mountain where espers might be. We climbed the mountain, fighting enemies until we reached three statues of old goddesses. We fought Ultros again, the blue octopus. That's when Relm came in, Strago's little girl person. She sketched (!) Ultros and he died. I have no fucking idea what happened there and don't understand the ability... That's where I stopped for the night.

Frobisher Says

Date played: August 2nd
Platform: Vita
Session fun rating: 7/10

Uhh...sure?

Frobisher Says is a weird, free to play Warioware clone of sorts. While it doesn't have as much speed and has fewer minigames than Warioware, Frobisher Says is still a lot of fun to play in short bursts. The games themselves are varied, crazy and mostly fun. One of my favorites had me search for a bird in augmented reality using the Vita's gyroscope and camera. Another had me guide a pixelated crocodile to a giant flan dessert, hidden under a Pitfall style map. I smiled for the ladies and frowned for some penguins, again, using the camera. I squashed Englishmen using the back touch and touch screen at the same time. I even drove a smiling, three bladed helicopter through a smiling thing infested sky. I like this game, it's just that some of the games suck a bit.

Dokuro

Date played: August 1st
Platform: Vita
Session fun rating: 6/10

One more time, PS Plus delivers a nice free game. Dokuro is a 2D puzzle platformer that plays a little bit like Ico, but simpler. A Princess is captured by an evil overlord guy when one of his skeleton minions falls for her and starts rescuing her. The catch is, she can't even see him! The skeleton dude can transform into a hero to carry the princess and battle enemies, but only for a short time. In skeleton form though, the guy has a double jump and a push back move that makes him the most useful form.

The puzzles are pretty clever, involving some timing based events that require some skill as well as good thinking. The art style is pretty nice too. I played the first two chapters of the game, including a cool boss that required spiky boxes to be moved in his path. While this is not an amazing game, it's definitely a good one.

Earthbound

Date played: July 31st

Ness rocks

Platform: Wii U
Session fun rating: 7/10

Grind grind grind.

I levelled up Ness all the way to 6, bought him some stronger equipment and fucked up Frankie and the sharks. The battle was a piece of cake after a couple more levels. After being congratulated by Frankie himself, the mayor saw fit to give me the key to the entertainer's shack that led to a cave. The cave is overrun by insects of all types but I mainly fought little snails and bugs. I think the next boss is coming up real soon. There have been rumors of a giant ant wrecking havoc in the cave. 

NHL 13

Date played: July 31st
Platform: PS3
Session fun rating: 8/10

I. CAN'T. FUCKING. SCORE. A. GOAL.

It's crazy... I feel like I'm really good at NHL except the part that matters most, putting the damn puck in the net. I played very well against my friend as the Sens and the Oilers but got blanked 2-0 in both games. Hell, I shot more, I hit more, I won more faceoffs, I even got fewer penalties but it wasn't enough. I set up awesome plays, yet can't put the fucking thing behind the goalie.