Destiny

Date played: October 30th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 6/10

I played the daily heroic story mission. I set foot on Mars and saw another player doing the same mission, so I invited him to my fireteam so that we could destroy some Vex together. We were tasked with finding the warp gates they installed deep in the ruins of Mars. The other guy was a very well geared titan who was very helpful. We easily decimated the robotic invaders and got our petty ascendant materials.

I love destroying Vex

I then played a few rounds of Control in the Crucible. It's been a while, so my first few rounds were really rough, but I soon got back into the swing of things and scored well enough. Honestly though, I'm not liking grinding for materials to upgrade my gear. I wish I could buy materials from playing the Crucible...

Puppeteer

Date played: October 28th
Platform: PS3
Session fun rating: 8/10

The PS4 was busy installing it's fancy firmware 2.0 and I had nothing better to do except turn on my faithful PS3. I've had this Puppeteer game installed for ages, it had been free on PS Plus a while back. I gave it a go and was surprised at how cool it looks. In fact, it's available in stereoscopic 3D, so I put on my glasses and played the first level.

Puppeteer is pretty and charming...but a bit on the simple side so far.

The game is a 2D platformer starring a little puppet that gets his head eaten by the Bear Moon King. I am not making that up. Let that sink in a moment.

Bear Moon King!

Anyway, there's a few mechanics at play here. The little guy can pick up replacement heads that each have special functions when used in the appropriate area. My guy's head was a skeleton, a hamburger, a spider and a banana. There's also a weird cat thing that follows me around. I can control it with the right stick and use it to interact with certain elements of the decor. I reached a funny witch who challenged me to get a magic pair of scissors from the Bear Moon King, saying it could help me find my real head.

I went through a spiraled dungeon looking place, avoiding enemies and jumping over gaps in the floor. Eventually, I reached the end and picked up the magic scissors. These will surely play a central role in the game, but that's where I stopped playing. My daughter was captivated by the game. I played in French so that she could understand the narrator and she thoroughly enjoyed the little story.

Costume Quest: Grubbins On Ice

Date played: October 27th
Platform: PC
Session fun rating: 9/10

I played a good part of the Grubbins On Ice expansion in Costume Quest with my daughter. She really enjoys watching me play this game. She participates too! She presses buttons to open doors and smash items.

Unicorn strike!

The expansion is really just more of the same. I had to complete small quests to open the paths needed to progress. One of them had me lure a man's girlfriend by using the fry costume and it's wonderfully greasy smell. Another had me explore a mysterious cave to find a joke book. The cave was setup a lot like those puzzle forests in Zelda games. I had to use my different costumes to figure out which door to enter or I would end up at the entrance again.

I got a new costume and I really like it. It's a pirate skeleton! It's fucking awesome and has replaced my robot. The pirate has the ability to zipline in the world with his hook and is an offensive character in battle. His special is a very powerful cannon barrage from his ship.

Civilization Beyond Earth

Date played: October 27th
Platform: PC
Session fun rating: 9/10

I won my first game!

Sponsored by the Kavithan Protectorate, my people were technologically advanced, had high production and 3 large cities. At first, I really struggled with the health of my people, but eventually my technology, the quests and the virtues tree allowed me to have very good health and support a fourth city. All of my territory was well developed by my workers too.

After a bit of struggling with the systems, I finally focused on the emancipation victory type and worked on fulfilling it's requirements. Emancipation's goal is to build a portal back to Earth, send units through and force technological superiority upon it's citizens. While I was researching the required elements, I sent out a small army to destroy alien nests and find relics to excavate.

The Supremacy tree has some fucking awesome units, many of which require a resource called firaxite. I'm really disappointed that there isn't an easier way to track how my resources are being used. I wanted to try building a cool unit called the Angel, but I couldn't figure out where I was using my firaxite so I couldn't build it...My favorite unit so far is a nice hover tank that ignores terrain... it's very powerful and fast.

Sending units through the emancipation gate near my capital

Eventually, I researched enough to build the emancipation gate. It took many turns to build, but I was soon ready to send military units through it and take over Earth. It required that I send 1000 strengths worth of units through, but could only send one unit per turn. I gathered my forces near it and slowly sent them through until I was victorious!

I feel like I understand the game's systems fairly well now and will be able to better grow my next empire now that I know what matters and what doesn't. I'm excited to play another game and do things differently!

Skylanders Swap Force

Date played: October 26th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 8/10

I played Skylanders this morning with my daughter. The level we played through had us activate a giant stone monkey for unclear reasons... It was a cool level that introduced many new enemy types, including some that have temporary shields and little dashing bombs.

These cute creatures were turned into evil monsters by Glumshanks

We focused on leveling up Ninja Stealth Elf and Wash Buckler since my favorite, Jade Fire Kraken, is strong enough for now. Ninja Stealth Elf now has a scarecrow ability that lures enemy attacks while she wails on them from behind. Wash Buckler now has the ability to shoot 2 immobilizing bubbles at once. Also, when shooting a single bubble, a vicious fish is shot with it and nibbles on the target as it's paralyzed.

I fought Evil Glumshanks as he rode his amazing looking tank. It was a cool boss battle that required that I lure him towards big yellow spikes that would temporarily make him vulnerable.

Destiny

Farming sucks

Date played: October 26th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 6/10

I played a strike and a the daily story mission just to get some ascendant materials and complete some bounties. While I just love Destiny, I think I'm kind of done with the single player for the most part. Farming is never really fun, regardless of the game. However, I might keep going in there reluctantly just to level up my gear...

The Crucible is still tons of fun though, so I'm sure I'll go back to it every once in a while.

The Sims 3

Date played: October 26th
Platform: PC
Session fun rating: 6/10

My daughter begged me to play The Sims 3... I just couldn't say no. I played a few days of my little virtual family. You know, cooking, eating, sleeping, washing, pooping, working, the usual.The father improved his cooking skills a bit, the mother read a book about traffic whistles and everyone had a good time.

Birthday cake!

There was a big event too. The daughter had her birthday and grew up into full sized child! We had cake, sold all the old baby furniture and bought new stuff for her. I chose another trait for her and at my real daughter's suggestion, I went with artistic. School is coming soon!

Earthbound

Zombie paper works!

Date played: October 26th
Platform: Wii U
Session fun rating: 8/10

While watching some hockey, I booted up Earthbound for intermissions and commercial breaks. My new 3 person team fought some ghosts and zombies around the city of Threed. Paula is still pretty weak physically, but her magic is really powerful. I explored the town, bought some gear and discovered a weird tent that attacked me.

The apple kid sent me a special invention called zombie paper. This is meant to be used as fly paper is used... I put it on the floor in a large circus tent and attracted all nearby zombies overnight. This opened up a path near the cemetery. I went through some caves, fought more zombies and a little barf blob of some kind. I reached the infamous Mr. Saturn village, but haven't explored any of it yet.

Destiny

Date played: October 26th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 7/10

Farm, farm, farm...

I just farmed a bit today. I started with the daily heroic story mission, the first of the Mars missions. This lets me farm ascendant materials which are used to upgrade exotic and legendary gear. It's rare stuff that is hard to find. I also played a few strikes, one on Mars and two on Venus. I then spent some time farming spinmetal on Earth, helium filaments on the Moon and spirit bloom on Venus.

My guardian is well equipped now...

I have enough to upgrade my helmet, but am still missing a bit of plasteel plating. Honestly, it's kind of boring to do this stuff, at least the beautiful environments give me something to look at. I still want to get a new pulse rifle from Crucible marks, but outside of that, I don't have a lot of stuff left to really do. The raid looks cool, but it requires an full 6 person team and there is no matchmaking for it so I doubt I'll ever play it.

Civilization Beyond Earth

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

I must carry the hopes and dreams of humanity onto a new world. Civilization Beyond Earth is here.

I have been playing this series for over 20 years. When I was about 10 years old, me and my friend sat in the dark of the night behind an old DOS computer, trying to decipher how to play this game with a very limited understanding of English. To met, a settler was simply a weird looking pod thing that made cities. An ironclad was a brand of warship. A worker was a thing that made water flow near my cities. Civilization has been a part of my life ever since.

I learned how to really play in Civ II with it's detailed isometric graphics. I fought pollution in Civ III. I held off Gandhi and his nukes in Civ IV. I built powerful religions in Civ V. Now, I conquer space in Beyond Earth.

There are some MAJOR changes here that I still haven't wrapped my head around, even after hours of play. The most significant so far has been the intimidating tech web. Instead of progressing through different technological ages, Beyond Earth offers complete freedom in the way tech is researched. I think it's a good idea, but until I understand the systems, buildings and units better, I will make many mistakes.

Another big change comes with the ideologies. Depending on how I develop science and complete small quests, I build affinity towards one of three affinities. Harmony, Supremacy and Purity. These allow for different victory types and different unit upgrades. One of the best changes in the game is that units are now automatically upgraded. This may seem minor, but it was a pain to manage individual upgrades and obsolete units in previous games.

The orbital layer is another new addition that adds a lot to the game. Basically, nations can launch satellites with various uses, including the ability to clear poisonous miasma from tiles. I still have a lot to learn from these mechanics, but I like what I see so far.

I built a 3 city empire. I decided to focus on trade and quickly established a strong trading network. Along the way, I fought many types of aliens which are kind of like Barbarians from previous games, except that they seem to be a bit more passive, depending on the situation.

I quickly ran into a problem. I was swimming in energy (the new currency) but had nothing to spend it on! My science was falling behind and my culture wasn't that great. Since I had nothing to build, I started building military units and went on alien raids, exterminating as many of them as I could. Explorers can set up expeditions on special tiles that grant great rewards, so I tried to find some of these during battle.

I'm not quite sure how I will win. I could try for a domination victory and destroy everyone, but that's a long and difficult process. I still don't quite understand the other victory conditions, so I will explore my options a bit, but next time, I need to build a more balanced empire I think.

Destiny

Date played: October 23rd
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 9/10

I played a lot of Destiny last night, enough to get significant upgrades.

Much of my time was spent in the Crucible completing bounties and kicking ass. I did really well for the most part. To complete some bounties, I ended up playing a lot of Rumble and Skirmish. Rumble is rough man. I've had success there, but I haven't won any of the games. I like it, it's unpredictable and ripe for fun situations. In fact, I feel like Destiny could have used a multi team game mode, it worked really well in Halo.

My shiny new helmet!

I found a really good team in Skirmish. Gjallarhorn, my rocket launcher, proved to be VERY good in skirmishes. I think the reason is that since there are fewer players, those heavy ammo crates are a bit easier to get. I also played Control and it's crazy how much better I am in that mode.

I had such a good night that I got enough marks to get my final piece of legendary armor, a new helmet. I also reached Crucible rank 3! I started gathering rep for Future War Cult in the Crucible and went farming for items in strikes and by patrolling the moon so that I could upgrade my items. I also completed a heroic story mission to get some rare materials.

In the end, I had upgraded three pieces of armor, my sniper rifle and Gjallarhorn. It was enough to push me over to level 27 and I'm not that far from 28.

Destiny

Date played: October 21st
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 9/10

I played some Destiny last night and ended up joining my friend's fireteam. Him and one of his buddies were working through the weekly heroic strike, a high level version of the Phogoth battle on the Moon. One of the modifiers in the strike made it so that many elite enemies spawned. This meant dozens of wizards and knights with very high HP and high damage potential.

We actually died MANY times due to the strength of the elites. In fact, we had to eventually quit and try an easier version. The second time around, it was still very difficult, but we made it through alive in the end. Unfortunately, we all played titans. This wasn't so bad honestly, but it would have been nice to have some class variety. One of them is using the defender skills and his big shield came in handy more than once.

Our fireteam relaxes after a difficult battle with Phogoth

I then played a couple of rounds in the Crucible and was quite successful overall. I always place in the top 2 spots on my team and we win a lot. There was one particular hunter that really had my number though. This guy was very skilled with his hand cannon and managed to keep me at bay in every encounter I had with him. He used cover and range to his advantage and I never had a chance. Good job hunter man.

Destiny

Date played: October 19th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 7/10

I... I don't really know what I'm doing in Destiny...

I picked up a new type of bounty that seems to be some sort of chain quest. I have no idea what it's for, but since it's different from anything else I saw in the game, I figured I would give it a shot. The objective is to play through 5 strikes without dying. I jumped into the Strike playlist. I started with a level 24 playlist, but it was a bit too much and I died a couple of times.

Who cares about the Traveler? There's loot to be found!

I then spent a good amount of time completing level 18 strikes. These were easy enough for me to go through unharmed for the most part. I went through the Nexus on Venus, Phogoth on the Moon, the Cabal commander and his tank on Mars and twice, I fought the Cabal Flayers on Mars.

I only made 3 runs without dying, so I still have 2 to go to complete the bounty. On the bright side, I got a ton of useless loot that turned into useful parts. I was able to upgrade my gauntlets which pushed me to level 26! I also fully upgraded my pulse rifle and scored a new rare shotgun that was slightly better than the on I had. I also have way too much Glimmer, so I bought a fancy blue ship.

Costume Quest

Date played: October 19th
Platform: PC
Session fun rating: 8/10

I finished Costume Quest!

It was a great little RPG that held both my interest and my daughter's. The last area of the game was quite boring actually, but thankfully it wasn't very long. The Grubbins had weird behavior here... some of them actually wanted me to succeed in taking down the evil boss lady, so they offered to help me build a Grubbin costume to fool a guard. I fought my way through the maze, got the costume and moved past the barrier.

I used a teleporter to go back to the mall because I had missed a piece of the unicorn costume. I LOVE the unicorn! This thing is completely armored and looks really cool. It acts as a healer, but instead of targeting all units like the Statue of Liberty, it heals a single unit for lots of HP.

I fought the evil boss lady and won rather easily. She had a cool ability that allowed her to summon two weak clones. She also had a big charge attack, but I didn't give her a chance to use it. I simply had to stun her with one of my special abilities.

My brave unicorn battles against the last boss

After a bit of comedic drama, I fought the REAL last boss, a gigantic skeleton wizard that loves candy. This fight actually required a bit of strategy, enough that I died on my first attempt. He killed me with some of his strong attacks. Also, I was using the Fry costume and it's special ability was useless against him. On top of that, I had some useless badges equipped. I went back in with a fresh team. The robot with counter-attack, the knight with dodge and the unicorn with self-healing. It worked wonderfully and I kicked his ass. The kids went back home and ate their candy as if nothing ever happened! I also have the Grubbins on Ice expansion, a whole new chapter, but I haven't tried it yet.

Costume Quest is a simple game, but it's funny, has pretty cool mechanics and is incredibly cute. I'm happy I played it!

Driveclub

Date played: October 18th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 10/10

I finished Driveclub!

I started with two hyper car race events, including the Legend Trophy. These were actually pretty easy for me to complete with all stars. The Hennessey Venom GT has been a reliable ride for me. It's extreme speed and solid handling make it a no brainer.

Then, I took on the Venom Hot Lap.

I feel like this is the flagship event in the game. It is by far the hardest thing in the tour mode. Using the Venom GT on one of the best India tracks, After learning the track well, I posted a solid 1.16.395. Then it happened. I must have spent a little more than an hour just trying to beat that. That means I must have driven over 75 laps on that track. I would often beat my time in the second sector, but my first and last sector times were very good and difficult to beat.

I focused on getting that first sector down to about 22.2 seconds. When I was able to hit that, by the time I reached the third sector, I usually had a very slight lead on my ghost. However, I really nailed that sector the first time so I was always a little short at the finish line. In game, I managed to go from dusk until dawn...

With dedication, patience, a smoke break or two and a soft throttle finger, I fucking nailed it and cleared a time of 1.15.867! I know most who read this will not understand, but the feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment I had at that moment was incredible! On the global leaderboards, that puts me a little above 1000th in the world. I feel like I could beat this time still but I'm happy with my time.

Celebrating 1.15.867!

I've got all 225 stars available in the Tour mode and have finished the game. All I can do now is race other players. Driveclub is a lot better than people give it credit for. Sure, the AI is kind of weird sometimes and there could be a better variety of cars, but I fucking loved every second that I was driving a car in this game. The sense of speed is amazing and the cars are tons of fun to drive. 

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX

Date played: October 18th
Platform: 3DS
Session fun rating: 10/10

I played through two dungeons, Angler's Tunnel and Catfish's Maw. It was relatively straight forward, but I got lost more than once. A lot of this level is blocked off by large patches of deep water. I fought enemies and explored until I was confronted by a big red ball creature in shallow water. It kill it, I had to sprint around a central obstacle to reach the back of the creature. This rewarded Link with the flippers! These things allow him to swim and dive in water. I had a bit of trouble figuring out a puzzle where I had to stand on tiles in a specific order to progress. The problem is that the first room that requires this is really explicit by making the correct tile glitter, while the second room does not make them glitter. I incorrectly assumed that I wasn't due to complete the second room yet when I didn't see the glitter...I finally figured it out and fought the boss, the Angler fish. Set in a 2D underwater area, I simply had to hit the large fish near his head a few times to finish him. It was the easiest boss fight yet...

After getting my musical instrument, I decided to explore a bit with my new flippers. I found a new song for the ocarina, a useful warp to a pond in the Northern part of the map. I continued the trading sequence too. I brought the flower to the goat in the animal village. She gave me a letter that I delivered to the dude that likes letters (!), who gave me a broom. I didn't know who wanted a broom, but I started by talking to everyone in town and found out that the old lady there wanted it! She gave me a fishing hook, When exploring with the flippers, I had found a fisherman hidden below a bridge near Catfish's Maw. He took the hook and gave me a necklace. The nearby mermaid was happy to receive it and gave me one of her scales in exchange. I had no clue what to do with the scale, but a friend of mine reminded me that there is a mermaid statue that could use it, but I haven't got around to it yet.

Somewhere along the way, a ghost started following me. He hinted that I should bring him back to his old house. I figured that might be the house near the beach that had been abandoned. When I got there, he seemed happy and wanted to go see his grave. I brought him to the cemetery and found his tombstone. He left me and rewarded me by putting a seashell under a pot in the house... I also bought the bow from the store, but haven't really found it useful yet.

This ghost is a cool guy

Equipped with my flippers, I headed to Catfish's Maw. The entrance was hidden in the middle of the lake. This was one of the more frustrating levels for me. The layout is kind of confusing because of the many 2D segments that lead to different parts of the map. The in-game map is really not detailed enough to navigate well... Anyway, this dungeon had a cool premise. I had to fight Master Stalfos, a large skeleton warrior, 4 times. Each of the 4 rooms has to be entered in the correct order, labelled by the number of stones in the room. I was a nice exploration challenge. I had to use bombs to make him fall each time.

While I had all the keys and stuff I needed to reach the end of the level, I was missing the Nightmare key to enter the boss's room. I had a really hard time finding it and went around the dungeon many times before I found it. Along the way, I scored the best item in the game yet, the hookshot. This is not just a regular hookshot, it's screen wide weapon of destruction AND a way to glide over large chasms. I also fought the Ghoma twins, two armored spiders. The final boss was a weird creature that attacked with it's tail while hiding it's head in 4 caves around the screen. I had to pull at his head with the hookshot and hit his weak body.

After the dungeon, I went to find the third and final song for the ocarina. I had to navigate a 4 screen sign post maze. Basically, I had to read the sign posts in the correct order by following the clues written on them. I was rewarded with a meeting with Wart, the bad guy from Super Mario Bros 2. So weird. The song apparently makes things that were dead alive again, but I haven't found a use for it yet. I explored a little bit with the hookshot too and found an upgrade for my bomb capacity and a piece of heart. I'm sure I'm missing a ton of secrets though...

Driveclub

Date played: October 17th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 8/10

I played one event in the Tour mode, but that's all the time I had to play Driveclub yesterday. It was a good one though. The Norwegian Lightweight series was a 2 race event restricted to the Ariel Atom and BAC Mono. These super light, open wheel cars are a joy to drive, but behave in an odd way. At first, I tried using the Atom. That little rocket has incredible acceleration, probably the best in the game. However, it controls like shit. The slightest miscalculation, bump or scrape, can send the car into ridiculous spin outs. I was having a really hard time with this car...

The BAC Mono is slow, but handles like a dream

The BAC Mono requires a club at level 10, which our club has just reached. I'm very happy about that because while the Mono is actually not very fast, it handles almost like a kart. It takes corners at full speed without a hint of losing control. In the long straights, I tried to position myself so I could drift behind an Atom because the BAC is just too slow. In the end, I managed to get all the stars in the event and am ready to move on.

Super Mario 3D World

Date played: October 17th
Platform: Wii U
Session fun rating: 9/10

I played through the end of world 6 and 1 level of world 7 with my girlfriend. It's been a long time since we last played, so we were a bit rusty. We started by getting all the green stars in the last level we played where we had to use the cat suit through a level based on an continually moving raft. The next level had us climbing through a level filled with Bullet Bills and fast moving cloud platforms.

Then, we took on some evil clouds who had a blowing job. These clouds would send huge waves of air that would throw us off platforms. Along the way, we had the opportunity to knock Goombas out of their ice skate shoe thing. These things are amazing to use, letting us glide on the ice and skate over dangerous spikes. The next level was a very short one that had us climb a tower that was being invaded by quick little black creatures.

These clouds have a job. A blow job.

The bonus level was awesome too. To gather the 6 green stars, we had to successfully throw baseballs around in different challenge rooms. It was really cool. We then took on the final level of World 6, another flying ship. This one required that we use bombs to blow up certain sections of the level. We also had to use the Tanooki suit to hit targets on the floor to build little bridges. After saving the fairy, we had to confront another boss. A small jester would puff itself up by surrounding itself with weird little chrome balls. Every once in a while, it would get out of the balls to attack us, that's when we had to attack it. The cherry item helped us manage all the balls...

Finally, we reached World 7, which seems like it's the last world. We only played one level here, but it was a good one. A classic castle environment, complete with spinning fire barriers, Thwomps and Hammer Bros. I'm glad we finally played Super Mario 3D World again!

Driveclub

Date played: October 15th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 10/10

I can't believe it... I actually managed to play against real people!!!

After a full week of crazy online issues, Driveclub seems to be slowly coming back online. There's still stuff that doesn't work, mainly the challenges, but I've been able to race online, contribute to my club, complete face-offs from other players and view the leaderboards.

I started with a bit of online racing. I ended up in the Sports car class and picked the snappy Lotus Evora to take on the other players. We had 7 people in the race, and I won it hands down. Other players didn't seem to have the handling down, except for one other guy who was close most of the race. Others were ramming into each other and going too fast in the turns. In the second race I played, there were 12 people and I finished 2nd. I ended up in a Bentley Continental GT. It served me well enough, though one guy was a complete asshole who spun me out on purpose. I caught up to him and while he was absurdly trying to hit me, I passed him cleanly using simple, fast driving.

I went back to the Tour mode after that and completed 6 events. The hyper cars have been prominent and I've been having a really good time with the Hennessey Venom GT. This car is absolutely incredible. It's a fucking beast that is hard to tame though... My first few laps with it were a bit rough. It drifts a little too easily and can lose control quickly, but if kept under control, it is by far the fastest car I've had the pleasure to drive in this game.

246th worldwide rank, not too shabby

Since the beginning of the tour, I've really tried to get all three stars and have been successful so far. Some of the drift events have been a challenge, but the really tough ones were all time trials. I don't think Evolution meant for people to get three stars in every event because some of these are probably out of reach for many players. I spent a lot of time just practicing this night track in the Venom GT and eventually got the target time. I was happy to see I was ranked 246th in the world, not too bad!

I completed a drift event with the Pagani Huyara too. I think I've got the hang of these now, but it was the last drift event in the Tour mode. I only have 4 events left, including the final cup. One of the events is scary...they call it the Venom hot lap and the leaderboards show the top time being only 2 seconds short of the target, I'm sure it will be quite a challenge.

Destiny

Date played: October 14th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 9/10

I played a few Clash and Control matches last night. I was a bit rusty at first, but I soon got into a groove and started performing well. I picked up a new sniper rifle at the end of a match. It's very similar to the last one I had except it's a few levels higher. I also scored a nice new blue color scheme for my armor.

Yes, that's me with the top score

Gjallarhorn has been proving it's worth too. Now that it is upgraded a bit, the legendary rocket launcher shoots out extra projectiles that home in on enemies after detonation. This has proven extremely useful in multiplayer as I often get a kill, then sometimes a secondary kill from the projectiles. 

Special Edition: A man, his brother and a PS4

Date played: October 13th
Platform: PS4, PC
Session fun rating: 10/10

My youngest brother came to visit. I don't see him often, so we ended up playing a ton of PS4 since he's never really played it. We played Driveclub, Destiny, Skyrim and even a bit of the NHL 15 demo, but the game that held our attention was Sportsfriends.

There are three games that were playable for us, BaraBariBall, Super Pole Riders and Hokra. Super Pole Riders is a weird ass game that is pretty difficult to understand. There are two players, each with a vaulting pole. In the middle is a ball suspended on a rope. To win, a player must kick the ball into the opponents net. The difficulty comes from the control scheme. The left stick controls the man while the right stick controls the pole. It's impossible to describe here, but it's very difficult to hit the ball correctly. The awesome sound effects added to the hilarity.

We had a lot more fun with BaraBariBall. Basically, it's kind of like Smash Brothers except the objective is to sink a ball in the opponents water. The key here is the jumping mechanics. Characters can jump 5 or 6 times in a row before hitting the ground, but must let their jumps recharge when they touch the ground. There is an attack to hit the opponent or the ball. The ball can also be thrown into the water, but it can also be recovered by the other player. It's hard to describe, but it's actually very deep, technical and immensely fun. At first, we were using very simple moves, but by the end, we had fake shots, bounces and dozens of other strategies to sink the ball. I absolutely love BaraBariBall.

Finally, Hokra is a game designed for 4 players where little blocks must pick up a "puck" and bring it to their scoring area to win. You can pass, tackle and steal the puck by touching the carrier. The twist is that we each played as TWO characters on the same team. This meant we controlled one character with the left stick, the other with the right stick. At first, we thought it would be impossible and granted, it was extremely demanding, but we finally had a few good matches going. The intensity of the brain activity required is daunting... I really don't think most people could do this. I ended up "flying in formation" to keep shit straight in my head. A few times, we would lose it and had to "reconnect" our brains to the control scheme, but it was worth it. We played some intense matches, many of which were won with an incredible pass, a well timed tackle or a clever deke.

Costume Quest

Date played: October 13th
Platform: PC
Session fun rating: 9/10

I played through the shopping mall area and a good portion of the last area. In the mall, I entered a costume contest. To win, I had to guess the right costumes to use according to some hints from the judges.

Along the way, I gathered a few new costumes too. The first was a Space Warrior who wields a shining sword and can walk through dark areas that other costumes can't. He's not very good in battle though. I completed tons of little quests in the mall until I was able to reactivate it's little train system. Once that was back online, I confronted the goblin dudes as they were searching for more candy in the mall. I also added a 3rd party member to my group, a nerdy little girl.

I bought some better gear, gained some exp and took on the boss. He was a little goblin equipped with a bulldozer. Now that I have three people to fight with, everything is a LOT easier to manage. I typically stick to the statue of Liberty for support and the robot for strong offense. The 3rd slot I use different costumes, but generally, another attacker works best. We beat the boss easily, but were captured by the evil witch lady.

We were put in cage in a rural area. We escaped by swinging our candy pails at the cage, obviously. We lost our costumes though. We had to get them back from some menacing crow creatures. To do that, I embarked on the most ridiculous, yet satisfying quest of all.

Step 1: Get French Fry costume from road side fast food stand.
Step 2: Lure hungry kids to stand by activating the "French Fry Smell" ability.
Step 3: Get tickets to nearby carnival.
Step 4: Lure crows to barn with the "French Fry Smell" ability.
Step 5: Lock them in the barn.
Step 6: Get our costumes from chest that was guarded by the crows.
Step 7: Enter carnival.

This is my favorite costume combination

This game is full of stupid shit like this, and I love it. The French Fry costume actually ended up being one of my favorites to use in battle because it's special ability stuns all enemies for a turn. that's incredibly useful. I also got Ninja, cat, pumpkin and vampire costumes, but none seem to really fit how I play. I'm nearing the end of the game now and think I've reached the final goblin area, a large hedge maze. 

Driveclub

Date played: October 12th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 9/10

I played through many Tour events and completed the Professional cup. There is only one single player cup left to complete, though I still have a good number of events left to play. Evolution REALLY needs to get their servers back online or I'll be out of stuff to play and will have to move on to a different game...

I raced some very fast cars. I'm gravitating towards the Ferrari's such as the 458 Italia. The Ferrari's all seem to handle pretty damn well, have good acceleration and are furiously fast, while still being accessible. Some of the targets for secondary objectives are a real challenge. Usually, it's a lap time that will give me trouble, but since I've practiced so much in the time trial events, when I get back to one of those tracks, it becomes a LOT easier. Granted, having other racers on the track and a different time of day does make a difference, but the corners don't change.

The Ferrari 458 Italia blazes through the night

Racing at night is still one of my favorite elements of Driveclub and it's made even better when I get to race through dusk or dawn. The fancier the cars, the fancier the interior, which makes the lit up dashboards even prettier to look at. I fucking love Driveclub, but I'm going to run out of stuff to do in it real soon...

Costume Quest

Date played: October 12th
Platform: PC
Session fun rating: 7/10

I completed all the missions in the first area, the kid's neighborhood.  To do it, I had to find components for a Statue of Liberty costume, bob for some apples, explore mysterious caves and use the knight's shield to protect myself from a nut throwing squirrel.

The Statue of Liberty costume is a support unit in battle with healing. I equipped it with a cool item that stuns enemies for one turn, so I typically stun the most dangerous enemy creature while I damage the others with the robot costume.

The robot and Statue of Liberty take on their first boss

Eventually, I got into the goblin base and fought many of them until I was confronted with the foreman, my first boss. He summoned cohorts by speaking into his megaphone. I damaged the megaphone with the robot while stunning the cohorts and eventually took him down without much effort. I discovered that the sister was being transferred to the mall, where a large stock of candy was being stored. I hopped on the back of the bus and started exploring the dark mall, though I didn't see much of it yet. 

Driveclub

Date played: October 11th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 9/10

I made some progress in the Tour mode and completed the Semi-Pro events, winning all available stars. The difficulty is really starting to ramp up. I can still win consistently in races, though I've placed 2nd and 3rd in a few of them. The difficulty is really coming from some of the time trials and drift events.

This Ferrari 430 Scuderia is fun to drive

Drift requires that I learn the car and track well to get the top score. It also takes some practice as the drift mechanics are really weird. I don't like these events much. Time trials are similar, except I find them extremely fun! Maybe it's just my personality, but I fucking love shaving off a few tenths of a second on a run. Again, I've managed three stars in all of them, but sometimes required that I spend a good amount of time just trying and trying. It's incredibly satisfying to finally nail it...

The online servers have been showing signs of life! I was able to join a club by GameFAQs folks and gain Fame for them, but I haven't been able to use other online features. No online racing, no leaderboards, no challenges, no faceoffs, nothing. Hopefully, things get better soon. I still have a good amount of events in Tour mode to play, but pretty soon, I will have to stop playing this game if I can't race against real people.

I got a chance to try some much faster cars too. Both the RUF CTR3 and the Pagani Huayra are insane cars and are difficult to drive, but still manageable. The RUF is hard to keep straight on small circuits, but worked very well on a faster point-to-point track. The Pagani is a lot easier to handle and worked well on the smaller circuits. These cars have absolutely crazy interiors too... The only thing that pissed me off is that the RUF has no rear view mirror! 

Costume Quest

Date played: October 11th
Platform: PC
Session fun rating: 8/10

Halloween is my favorite day of the year! Costumes, candy and scaring people is about as good as it gets. Video games are also awesome... so a Halloween video game is right up my alley!

Double Fine has some great writers

I figured this would be a good game to play with my daughter, so I picked up Costume Quest, an RPG about trick or treating. Two siblings set out to trick or treat on the 31st of October when the sister gets kidnapped by mysterious goblins! The little brother must save her by collecting candy and fighting goblins. I walked around the neighborhood, talked to some kids and found a partner to help me in my quest.

The little boy starts off in a robot costume and his friend has a knight costume. When they enter battle, the whole game changes to reflect how those kids see themselves in their costumes. I battle with a giant robot straight out of Japan and a knight with a big shield. It's a very simple game, but it's charming, funny and completely unique. I didn't play much, but I can't wait to see where this game goes.

Pix The Cat

Date played: October 10th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 8/10

Pix The Cat came out of nowhere for me. I never heard about it until it was made available as a free download for PS+. It's a really fun game though that's for sure! The game is set on a grid, reminiscent of Pac-Man. Controlling the cat, I have to gather eggs in the maze and drop them off at drop off points scattered about. When collected, the eggs turn into ducks and follow the cat around in a snake formation. The objective is to score the highest amount of points before time runs out.

Pix The Cat is intense

For these mechanics to really work, there are a few more kinks added to the process. To build up combo points, you have to gather all the eggs before dropping off any of them or it breaks the combo. You also have to avoid your ever growing tail because that will destroy all the ducks in the formation. Finally, the game speeds up dramatically as you go deeper in the maze. I really like the mechanics, but holy shit, it gets very difficult very quickly.

The blood-pumping music adds a lot to the experience, as do the slick graphics. In fact, every time the combo goes up, the music steps it up a notch and the visuals get more exciting and colorful. It's a really cool game that is perfect for a quick 5 minute round every once in a while. 

Rusty's Real Deal Baseball

Date played: October 10th
Platform: 3DS
Session fun rating: 2/10

What?

What the fuck is this? After 10 minutes of chatting with an old dog running a sports shop, I was given a demo of a baseball mini-game where the objective is to hit the balls at the right time. I played through the 6 demo events and while it was sort of fun, it's not something I would ever buy.

That's when I discovered what the deal is with this game. It's insidious, sneaky and kind of dirty to be honest. I learned that I can haggle with the shop owner to lower the REAL LIFE price of the mini-games available! I gave him a donut and a nose hair trimmer and he agreed to lower the price of one mini-game from 4$ to 2$. If the games seemed more fun, then maybe I would have bought one, but at a minimum price of 2$ each, it seemed like a real ripoff, even with the haggling. There is no way I will ever play this again.

Driveclub

Date played: October 9th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 9/10

I played a few Driveclub events. The races have all been relatively easy so far. My years of video game racing have been productive it seems. I'm blazing past AI cars by simply being aggressive and pushing the car to it's limits. I'm also not afraid to play bumper cars a bit, even if it costs me a bit of fame. The bonus objectives are always fun to complete too. I tried out the Aston Martin V12 Zagato and I like it a lot. It's sexy, fast and handles well. However, I ended up using the Ferrari California when I could, it just felt good, even if it's kind of heavy. Ferrari has some weird interior design though, there's gauges and meters everywhere!

I actually spent most of my time completing time trial events. Some of the targets for achieving all three stars are really fucking tight. One track in particular was a real bitch. Maybe I should have tried a different car, but the California had served me well so far, so I stuck with it. The ghost system in the game works well for time trials. the ghost car never obstructs my view and gives enough information to let me find areas of opportunity.

The Aston Martin V12 Zagato is a beautiful car

My best time for a while was about 1.5 seconds slower than the top target. I tried again and again to beat it but I usually fucked up at least once in every attempt. This meant I was beating my original time by quite a bit, but screwed up on one turn and  lost all gained time. Eventually, I nailed a very good lap by being very aggressive, yet careful in the more demanding turns. I obliterated my time by 6 seconds!

The last few racing games I've played that had time trials also had a rewind feature. I understand why that feature exists, it makes the games a lot less frustrating for players. At the same time, I enjoy a game that forces me to deal with my mistakes. It just makes me a better racer at the end of the day. I can't wait to see how my times compare to other people once the servers are online. Oh yeah, the online servers are still fucking down. What the fuck?!? Really?

Driveclub

Date played: October 8th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 9/10

The servers are still broken...

I settled for more of the single player Tour events. There are drift events now and honestly, they kind of suck. It's more like a little puzzle, similar to what was in Grid 2. The problem is that the cars don't seem like they are really made to drift. It took a bit of trial and error, but I managed three stars on all of the ones I played. It became a lot easier to drift from the chase camera though. It's the only time I go out of cockpit view.

I'm starting to drive faster cars too. I've been loving the Lotus Evora. It's small, nimble and has good acceleration. It also has a bit of a tendency to drift. It's hard to describe, but it has some sway in the corners. This allows for more aggressive cornering, but also makes the turns more challenging. It's easy to compensate after the fact though, so it works well.

This Lotus is a joy to drive

I went back to an event I had trouble completing on the first day. It required a fast lap time in Norway and the Audi I was using just couldn't cut it. Surprisingly, I was successful only when I chose the slower, but better handling Mini Cooper.

I ended up completed the second set of events to win the Amateur cup. Aside from the joys of driving the cars, I've really enjoyed the small details of Driveclub. The best of which has been the weather and day-night cycle. In one event, the race starts off with the sun hidden behind clouds and everything is dark and overcast. A few laps in, the sun gradually reveals itself, entirely changing the look of the track. The incredible lighting from the cockpit view makes it that much more interesting too. At night, the entire dashboard lights up realistically, headlights from chasing racers reflect on the interior of the car and the track looks completely different. If only they could get their fucking servers back online...

Driveclub

Date played: October 7th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 10/10

Finally, I get to play a new racing game on my PS4!

It's been frustrating for me as a racing fan. Xbox One got Forza 5 and Forza Horizon 2, but PS4 had nothing. I played Need for Speed Rivals, but it just wasn't a great game. Driveclub is the first real racing game of the generation for me.

The first thing that impressed me is the incredible attention to detail in this game. The cars are exceptionally well modeled, including a near perfect recreation of the interior. The cockpit view is wonderful to use because of it. The lighting system in this game is completely insane too... It's really incredible to be rushing through twisting tracks in India, Canada, Chile, Norway and Scotland.

Driveclub is a simple game. Pick a car and event and race as fast as you can around a circuit or point to point track. There is no tuning, no open world, no fancy abilities, no rewind or racing line. It's a pure racing game. Some people will be turned off by that, but I fucking love a good race and Driveclub delivers on that.

Unfortunately, the servers are having major issues, so I couldn't connect to the internet and play against real people. I was stuck with the single player events. Right from the first race, it's clear that Evolution nailed the handling mechanics. The cars don't feel very difficult to drive, but they still require skill. It feels a lot like the defunct PGR series actually, a series I loved. It's hard to describe, but the handling feels just right. It's incredibly fun to just drive the car around the track.

Driveclub looks astounding!

The AI is kind of fucked up though. They rammed me a few times and even seem to rubber band a little bit. Thankfully, I don't expect to play against the AI for very long, assuming the servers are working next time I play.

I played through a good number of events, probably about 15. The game stars European cars only, so I've driven my fair share of Audi, Mercedes and Volkswagen cars. The events are interesting because of how they are scored. Every event has 2 or 3 "stars" to earn. These are tied to various accomplishments in the event. For example, one race may ask that I finish in the top 3, beat a lap time and reach a specific top speed. I completed the Rookie events and final event, and started the next set. Every race earns me Fame, which is basically exp. Actions such as drifting, drafting, overtaking and winning earns Fame.

Driveclub is taking a lot of heat from people on the internet right now, but if the servers come back online, I will be entirely satisfied. Driving a fast car through incredible environments is lots of fucking fun for me, I can't wait to play more of it!

Earthbound

Date played: October 6th
Platform: Wii U
Session fun rating: 7/10

You know what's cool about the Wii U? Playing things on the gamepad instead of the tv. While I can do this with my PS4 and Vita, it just doesn't beat the convenience and speed of playing the Nintendo machine. While watching a tv show with my girlfriend, I ended up playing a bit of Earthbound at the same time.

Earthbound is completely crazy

It's been a while since I played... I am currently controlling Jeff, the little genius dude, and trying to make my way south to meet Paula who has been sending him messages telepathically. I used my little monkey friend and his bubble gum blowing habits to catch a ride on Tessie, the Earthbound equivalent to Nessie the Lochness monster. I then made my way through a small dungeon, fighting ducks and rats until I found Stonehenge.

I leveled up a bit here by defeating some hilarious looking cavemen, then found the lab where Jeff's estranged father offered to lend him his flying machine to reach his destination. Jeff flew over much of the world in his flying saucer and crash landed right next to Ness and Paula. After a brief introduction, he used his inventor skills to unlock the door that had trapped our friends in the room. I can't wait to see what happens next!

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX

Date played: October 6th
Platform: 3DS
Session fun rating: 9/10

I solved a ton of small puzzles and am getting ready to enter the fourth dungeon. I ventured to the Animal Village to the east, where I was told I could find the Angler key for the next dungeon. Before doing that, I went back to the prairie to make sure I didn't forget anything and found Tarin. I gave him the stick and he knocked a bee hive off a tree with it. I lost my stick, but got a honeycomb.

The Animal Village is a cool place and is populated by talking animals, as expected. The worst of them all is a huge walrus that happens to fall asleep in the path that leads to the key. Asshole.

Moving the guy turned into an adventure in itself. I explored different things, using my new charging boots to find new areas and clear new paths. I stumbled upon a shrine in Mabe that I had visited before, but could now explore further with my boots. I scored an ocarina as a reward! Unfortunately, I didn't know any songs, so I went to see the only person I knew could sing, Marin, and learned a song from her.

I went back to the animal village and fucked around a little bit until I could figure out what to do. I found out that the bear who lives there wanted the honeycomb I was carrying, and exchanged it for pineapple. I also discovered that I needed Marin to wake up the walrus. She decided to go for a stroll on the beach, so I met her there.

That's when an adorable scene played out where Marin talks to Link about what's beyond the island, though as usual, the conversation was pretty much one sided. I brought her back to the walrus, woke him up and explored the small desert. I fought a giant snake thing in a quick sand arena which netted me the Angler key. Following clues, I found it's entrance near the waterfalls to the north. I didn't get into the dungeon though, I still have to find a way to it's door. I did meet a dude that wanted the pineapple and traded it for a nice flower. There's a rude bitch in the animal village that wants it.

Destiny

Date played: October 5th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 7/10

I finally set foot outside the Crucible, the first time in a long while.

My Guardian rests between farming runs on Earth

I had to go farming for materials to upgrade my gear. I decided to go run some rounds on Mars and the Moon. In the process, I completed some bounties and some patrol missions. I got enough loot to upgrade my rocket launcher, my chest piece and my leg armor. Farming the materials that are looted on the ground and in chests isn't too bad, but finding gear to dismantle into plasteel plating and weapon parts is a real pain in the ass.

I'm thinking Strikes might be a good way to get some weapons and armor to dismantle, but I still have a good bit of Crucible fighting to do to get my exotic helmet and pulse rifle. I have a bit of a problem though as Driveclub is coming out on Tuesday... 

Skylanders Swap Force

Date played: October 5th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 7/10

I played through one level of Swap Force at my daughter's request.

I really only played with Jade Fire Kraken unless I had to swap in someone else to open a door or chest. The level had me free one of the four elementals of Skylands, a giant fish that shoots lasers out of it's eyes held captive by evil crystal crap.

Jade Fire Kraken is awesome

There were some new, stronger enemies in this level. Thankfully, my new favorite Skylander is stronger than ever. I now have a charged up melee attack, a strong hop attack that shoots out fireworks, a much stronger Chinese dragon form and even an amazing attack that requires a long activation. The Skylander sets his tail on fire and when it reaches it's body, a devastating ground pound is launched. I love this guy, the fireworks theme makes everything looks awesome. 

Lego: The Hobbit

Date played: October 4th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 8/10

I went to my local game shop to buy Shadow or Mordor, the new action game that is getting rave reviews. Unfortunately, they were out of stock... so I walked out with Lego: The Hobbit. I played it with my girlfriend for a little while and we made it through 2 story levels in cooperative play.

The first thing that struck me about this game is how pretty is looks! It's not something I'm used to saying about Lego games, but damn, this looks great. The first mission was set in the prologue where the dwarves are shown to become too greedy for their own good. We moved through the area as Thorin and another of the dwarves. There was no combat in this mission, we simply destroyed a ton of crap and got coins. There were a few minor puzzles, but it was mostly an intro to the game. We saw Smaug and escaped his attacks, but never really got to see him proper.

The Shire is beautiful

The second level was set at Bag End, Bilbo's house in the Shire. It's the famous scene where the dwarves barge into his house. I had to find food for them and even build a table to eat. There are some interesting new mechanics in the game. I think the last time I really played one of these was the first Lego Batman, so it's been a while.

There is now crafting for puzzle solutions. It's really simplistic, but it's nice. There were rhythm game sections which were both hilarious and fun in co-op. There are also attacks that combine two characters. Outside of the main missions, there is a HUGE hub area with tons of side quests to play. Look, I got to ride goats as Gandalf, that's gotta be worth something right?

Destiny

Date played: October 4th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 8/10

It was another Crucible day for me in Destiny. Combined Arms was this weekend's special playlist. It focuses on the maps that have vehicles. I think there are only two of those, one on the Moon and one on Mars. It's a fun mode though. I played some Control and Clash too.

Combined Arms is a fun mode

I was hot and cold today. For a few rounds in a row, I was completely horrible. Maybe it was just the quality of the opposing team, but I felt a bit sluggish. I bounced back after a while and even managed a couple of nice fat streaks.

On the gear side, I gathered enough Crucible marks to buy the exotic chest piece from the vendor. I also got a nice fusion rifle that I decided to keep in my arsenal to flesh out my versatility. I also scored a very nice looking ship and upgraded Gjallarhorn again. I'm gonna have to farm soon though...

Zen Pinball 2

Date played: October 4th
Platform: Vita
Session fun rating: 7/10

My daughter has weekly dance classes. That's a solid 45 minutes of me sitting on my ass and doing fuck all as I wait for her. Zen Pinball is a perfect fit! I mostly played the Thor table, with a bit of Ghost Rider and Moon Knight as well.

While all three of those tables are really good, I ended up with a really good run on the Thor table. I managed to get through the mission that pits the hammer wielding god against his brother Loki. I obliterated my old high score too. 

Destiny

Date played: October 3rd
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 8/10

Once more, I fought in the Crucible all night!

I did pretty well again, but had a few sloppy games. I was matched with very good players for most of the night. There are fewer bumbling idiots in general... It might be the matchmaking system that is finding higher level players I guess.

Fighting tooth and nail on Mars

I'm fighting tooth and nail in every match and I play to fucking win.I always give it my best shot... I didn't get any new gear, but I did run into a little problem. I need materials to upgrade my new exotic gear... This means I have to go farming in patrol mode. On the bright side, I managed to upgrade my legendary rocket launcher a little bit. I also think I will be able to get the exotic chest piece from the Crucible vendor relatively soon.

Destiny

Date played: October 2nd
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 7/10

I didn't get a chance to play as much as I wanted to, but I still got a few games of Clash done. Some of my time was spent buying some new gear from the Crucible vendor as I reached rank 2 and had enough marks for two of the cheaper pieces. I went with the gauntlets and leg armor, so I now have two exotic pieces!  I'm slowly upgrading my gear, but it's been very tedious. As soon as I equipped those armor pieces, I shot up to level 25.

My Titan is the one on the far left

In Clash, I did well again. I know the maps well and know what to expect from other players and their abilities. A move I've learned to love recently is a quick burst or two from the pulse rifle then rushing in for a melee hit. As my melee generally hits harder than other classes, I usually end up on top.