Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon

Date played: April 27th
Platform: 3DS
Session fun rating: 7/10

Luigi freezes his butt off

Luigi's Mansion has turned into my "piano class" game. Every week, my daughter has a piano class that lasts 30 minutes, which is about the length of a level in this game. I started a new area, an old mine in a snowy mountain.  Once again, a toad needed to be rescued. Ice acts as a mirror, letting me see ghosts without using the flashlight. It also serves as a new type of obstacle, as I sometimes had to slide the Toad across ice patches to avoid breaking it and falling into water. In the end, I managed to get Toad out of there safely.

Battlefield Hardline

Date played: April 27th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 10/10

One of my brothers was online, playing Battlefield, so I joined him for a big night playing Blood Money. We make a really good team together, mostly because we communicate well. Our best matches were on the maps that had vehicles. I am an excellent getaway driver and he is an excellent money pile thief. I like to keep a car, bike or boat nearby, parked in a low profile location, but lined up perfectly for a quick getaway. If needed, I would jump out of the car, throw some smoke to cover my or even just shoot a few guys as he stole the money. He would then let me know when he was ready to leave, then I would drive by, pick him up and get him safely to the vault.

Stealing money, hidden in smoke

The trick was to know when to be patient, when to take a detour, when to just stop the car and when to ignore everything around me and make a run for it. We also played on maps that didn't have vehicles. We had tons of fun trying to grab the money or steal money from the enemy's vault. I used my revival ability and smoke grenades to keep up the pressure, while my brother used his spawn beacon to keep the action near the money pile. Blood Money is fucking awesome, but it's even better with a friend.

Wolfenstein: The New Order

Date played: April 26th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 9/10

Wolfenstein is a lot of fun...

I played quite a bit of it yesterday and found that the brief interludes at the headquarters are really refreshing and break up the Nazi killing routine quite well. There was a whole subplot about the way the Nazis have been using a new type of concrete to build stuff. I forget the details, but it led B.J. Blazkowicz to a concentration camp to help a veteran escape. This man is supposed to be a genius of sorts that has all sorts of technological secrets... or something.

To escape, I infiltrated an administrative building and silently killed a dozen Nazis with my trusty knives. I deactivated the automated defense systems and moved on to a different part of the camp to find a special battery. This would let my veteran friend control one of the large bipedal mechs wandering the camp. However, as I grabbed the battery, I was captured by the guards!

This bitch ain't got no jaw left!

In a great scene, BJ and the veteran are tied to posts about to be executed for their treachery. A crazy Nazi commander woman and her henchman were blabbering on, when BJ threw the battery to the veteran, who then proceeded to snap off the woman's jaw by controlling a nearby robot. Freed, we hopped onto the robot, shot a ton of Nazis with missiles and a minigun, then freed most of the refugees, then drove away on a bus.

The veteran and refugees joined our headquarters. The vet gave us some interesting info which meant that the next mission was to steal a U boat from the Nazis. I used a weird little diving device with a motor and an oxygen supply to make my way through some catacombs. It was pretty cool...

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Date played: April 26th
Platform: Wii
Session fun rating: 9/10

I made good progress to reach the first sacred flame in Faron Woods. I explored the inside of the great tree in the middle of the forest, only to find a lone Kikwi hermit. He gave me clues to find the sacred flame, which led me to a mysterious gate near a huge waterfall on the eastern edge of the forest. I opened the gate by drawing a symbol on it with my sword, then jumped down into beautiful Lake Floria.

Some odd, squid-like creatures met Link and guided him to the Water Dragon through some underwater caverns. When I found the Water Dragon, it asked me for some help to find some sacred water so that it can heal itself. If I succeed, the dragon will show me the way to the sacred flame I am looking for. The search for sacred water took me all the way back to the first temple I beat at the other end of the forest. Some new enemies populated the temple, including a trio of hardcore skeletons that were pretty difficult to beat. I ended up using bombs to weaken them and stun them, then I swiped at them with my sword. I had to use a potion to survive, but it led me to the sacred water.

The next dungeon?

I made my way back to the Water Dragon and gave her the water. She grew into a magnificent, wonderful creature and agreed to show me the way to the first sacred flame. She stopped a nearby waterfall from flowing which revealed the door to what must be a new dungeon. I went back to town to resupply potions and was able to upgrade my slingshot. It can show shoot a wide scatter shot. I also bought the third shield that is immune to electricity and fire.

Mario Kart 8

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

The new DLC tracks are available for download, so, having paid for them back in November, I was excited to download them and try them out. There are three new characters, the Animal Crossing Villager (male and female), Isabelle from the same game and Dry Bowser, a skeleton version of the Koopa King. There are a few new karts and bikes too. Of course, the real draw comes from the tracks.

I played both cups at 150cc against the CPU. There are 4 tracks that were remade and 4 brand new tracks. Baby Park makes a triumphant return! The small oval is always full of craziness and items, but with 12 players, it's just insane... Cheese Land is from the GBA version, but it might as well be brand

Dry Bowser rides his awesome bike on Big Blue

new. It has some really tight turns. Neo Bowser City is the most recent, coming from Mario Kart 7 and hasn't changed much since then. Ribbon Road is another GBA track set in a child's room, Micro Machines style.

The new tracks are all pretty great too. Wild Woods is a gravity defying trek through a forest. Super Bell Subway is set underground in a subway track. It's probably the weakest of the new tracks. Animal Crossing is amazingly fun to race on and is really pretty. Finally, Big Blue from F-Zero steals the show with huge jumps, fast corners and a great look. I'm impressed that Nintendo was able to do something that makes sense and is worth the money for Mario Kart's downloadable add-ons. 

Wolfenstein: The New Order

Date played: April 25th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 9/10

In the heart of Berlin, we found a small resistance group hidden in a building. The ragtag group has a very cool headquarters that includes complex computers, weapons, a memorial to fallen colleagues, a kitchen, a working toilet (!) and some rooms to sleep. I completed a few little fetch quests inside the HQ.

Then the game went completely bonkers... I found a bed and got some sleep only to live through a nightmare, the first level of the original Wolfenstein 3D! It really was incredibly clever and honestly, still a lot of fun. They even still had all the same secrets hidden behind false walls and everything!

Yep, this happened.

I woke up and we had our next objective. We would attempt to steal a prototype helicopter from a Nazi scientific research facility. So far, the mission is pretty standard. I got to use a new weapon, the Marksman. It's not quite a sniper rifle, but it's really close. It is powerful and fun to use, but ammo is limited. I explored the facility, killing dozens of enemies along the way. I reached a really cool room with a giant replica of the moon in the middle and stopped playing shortly after.  

Metroid Prime

Date played: April 25th
Platform: Wii U
Session fun rating: 8/10

I finally started playing the Metroid Prime trilogy that released on Wii U a while back. I had played the original Metroid Prime a when it first came out, but had never finished it. I never played the second game and I've completed the third just before starting this blog.

Recently, I've played Super Metroid, Metroid Fusion and Metroid Other M, but the Prime series is what introduced me to this amazing franchise. My daughter is a big fan of Samus and asked me to play "A game with Samus" this morning. I didn't have much time, but it was enough to make it through the intro of the game and land on Tallon IV.

I explored the space station orbiting Tallon IV and discovered many dead space pirates and few dying ones. There were experiments where creatures were infused with Phazon, a mysterious substance. I fought one of these mutated beasts, but the whole place was really just a big tutorial. After I fought it, a mechanical version of Ridley showed up and destroyed the whole place. Keeping with Metroid tradition, there was a huge escape sequence. I reached space and chased after Ridley to Tallon IV.

I'm starting to notice that my daughter is really into any games that feature a lot of exploration. She doesn't like shooters, racing or sports, but she loves when I can explore. That might be a big part of why she likes Zelda and Metroid so much, but also games like Assassin's Creed and other open world games.

Mario Kart 7

Date played: April 24th
Platform: 3DS
Session fun rating: 8/10

I played a Grand Prix against my friend at work during break. I used Donkey Kong and my friend used Yoshi as we sped through the Banana Cup at 100cc. My friend has played lots of Mario Kart 64 and Mario Kart Wii, but not much of 7. This meant that the battles were more heated on N64 Koopa Beach and on Wii Coconut Mall. I still won every single race though, with my opponent placing 4th overall. My skillful driving and patient defensive use of items really helped me stay ahead.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Date played: April 23rd
Platform: Wii
Session fun rating: 8/10

My daughter has been asking to play Zelda every day since we last played it, she really wanted to see what was inside the big cyclone in the sky. I found a special shrine there and solved a little puzzle to build a bridge. Inside the shrine I learned a new song that could help me find the sacred flame in Farore Woods. It was also revealed that I must complete 3 trials to find the sacred flames.

The first trial

In Farore Woods, I completed the first trial. I used my sword's dousing ability to find the spot where I could play my new song on the harp. The objective of the trial is to gather about 15 tears that are scattered around the main forest area. The twist is that there are enemies that chase Link the whole time and can kill him n one hit, forcing a restart of the trial. When a tear is collected, the enemies freeze in place for 90 seconds, giving me time to find the next one. There are also special items scattered that make the tears easier to find by placing a marker above them.

The first time I tried the trial, I failed because I couldn't find the last tear. I managed to escape the enemies for a solid 2 minutes, but eventually, they caught up. The second time around, it was much easier and I got all the tears easily. My reward was an important item, the Water Dragon's Scale, which allows Link to swim underwater, opening up many new paths. I must now venture into the large tree in the forest by swimming under it. I hope it will reward me with my first sacred flame!

Battlefield Hardline

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

I started by playing a few Heist rounds, but wasn't doing that great, so I decided to try another mode, Blood Money. Blood Money is a weird twist on Capture the Flag... The concept is pretty simple. There is a pile of cash in the middle of the map. Both teams try to grab some cash and bring it back to their vault. The winner is the team that fills their vault first. It makes for some really interesting battles in the middle of the map.

Blood Money is fucking awesome!

To grab money, players have to stay near the pile and gradually fill their backpacks. This means that the money pile is a high risk, high reward area. To add to the tension, players can steal from the opposing team's vault, so it spreads out the battles a bit. I ended up focusing on getting to the money pile, waiting for an opening (or making one by shooting fools in the fucking face), grabbing a bunch of cash and speeding away on a bike or in a truck. I was a good driver for my team too, as I made sure to position cars in a way that made it easy to escape.

I love playing Blood Money, though I only got to play it on one map so far. I definitely want to try it again. 

Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon

Date played: April 22nd
Platform: 3DS
Session fun rating: 6/10

I completed the level I had started last time, where I had to save a Toad from a painting in the clock factory. The little guy is scared of clocks and gears, so I had to escort him back to the room with the rotor without making him walk close to the things he feared.

Scary mummies...

As I escorted him around the level, I was faced with a series of ghost battles, each more difficult than the last. At one point I was confronted by three mummies at once. It was hard enough that I died, but thankfully I had picked up a bone that acts as a continue earlier... I got the rotor and got out of there.

The final level of the clock factory was another boss, though this one was a lot less interesting than the spider and the possessed staircase. The whole fight took place on a clock face. The clock hands moved around and released a series of ghosts at each hour. It was a long gauntlet, but it wasn't all that hard. I defeated the possessor ghost and got another piece of the dark moon. I can't wait to see the next area!

Wolfenstein: The New Order

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

I killed a lot of Nazis. A lot. Wolfenstein isn't afraid to throw many enemies at the player, including some really cool ones like two giant assault robots and some armored, shotgun wielding soldiers. It all started when B.J. "interrogated" a prisoner they had taken back to the house. By interrogate, I mean threaten with a chainsaw in a basement of course. BJ got info on where the few resistance prisoners were held.

On the way to the prison, I had to find a way to open the gates for our car. This whole section was pretty cool. Killing Nazis on a rainy night with a silenced pistol and some throwing knives is pretty fucking great. At the end of the level, I fought two giant robots with my dual assault rifles. It was really satisfying!

Giant Nazi robot are no match for B.J. Blazkowicz!

BJ and the nurse managed to sneak onto a Nazi train to reach Berlin and find the prison. The game really does a good job of setting the mood, as ridiculous as it all is, it's still very well presented. After the train ride, I had to infiltrate the prison and liberate some of the resistance fighters. Most of the level focused on stealth, hell, I didn't even have a gun for most of it. After sneaking around for a while, I found a new item, a sort of laser cutter device that I could use to cut through some fences to move around. Eventually, I also found an upgrade for it that let me shoot bursts and use it as a short range weapon.

The Nazis also made robotic "panthers" of sorts. These things are impossible to kill with the weapons I have, so I usually had to flee when they showed up. I made it to the prison cells and liberated the prisoners, including my friend from 14 years ago! We shot our way out of the prison and escaped in a car. I enjoyed using the game's insane dual-wielded, double barreled automatic shotguns...

Wolfenstein: The New Order

Date played: April 20th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 9/10

My brother lent me Wolfenstein: The New Order on PS4 and told me he enjoyed it a lot, so I popped it in and gave it a try. Wolfenstein 3D was the first FPS I played when I was around 12 years old and loved it. The 1992 game was a real pioneer of video games, it established what a first person shooter game is...

More than 20 years later, I am playing Wolfenstein again and I like it a lot. The game beings with the hero, B.J. Blazkowicz, riding an attack plane into Nazi territory in 1946. In this alternate history, the war isn't over yet and the Nazis have continued their experiments, creating new weapons of war. As I went through tutorials, I put out a fire in the plane then went on to shoot down Nazi planes with the plane's turrets. In a thrilling sequence, the plane crashed.

There was a whole sequence in the trenches. Wolfenstein played pretty much exactly like I expected at that point. Go through trenches, shoot nazis, repeat. It feels nice too, the controls are tight and the game looks pretty good graphically, though not spectacular. After a lot shooting and killing, I found myself stuck in an incinerator room with my squad mates.

That's where I met the game's main antagonist, Deathshead. This evil Nazi scientist locked us in a room with a giant cyborg man. I shot his face off with the assault rifle, but was soon captured by the bad guy. He forced Blazkowicz to chose which of his buddies would die... I was left in the same incinerator room with the guy I chose to save and we escaped through the window. A piece of shrapnel got stuck in Blazkowicz's skull, prompting the game's title screen.

The game is completely ridiculous, yet I still care about the characters and the story. The big twist is that the hero ends up in a coma for 14 years. There was a whole big scene about the coma that showed how a father, his wife and his daughter took care of him over the years. One day, the Nazis come in and decided to close the hospital and killed the father and wife when they fought back. Abruptly, this prompted Blazkowicz to finally wake from his coma and stab his attacker in the neck.

Blazkowicz doesn't take shit from no one!

I shot my way through the hospital and saved the daughter, then we escaped in a jeep to her grand-parents house. So... it turns out, the Nazis won the war. The American's surrendered. There is no resistance. The world is run by Nazis...

There are some really cool things about the gameplay in this game too... One of the coolest is that special perks can be obtained by completing bonus objectives. For example, by getting 15 pistol kills from cover, I got bigger magazines for that weapon. There is dual wielding of even larger weapons like assault rifles. There are fun stealth mechanics, including a throwing knife. There are secrets doors that lead to real bonuses like silencers and such. It's a really surprising game so far. It's dumb and stupid, but it's also really fun and well made. I like it. 

Mario Kart 7

Date played: April 20th
Platform: 3DS
Session fun rating: 2/10

Urgh...

I wanted to race against my friend in Mario Kart 7 over the internet, but it turns out it's not really an easy process. I was faced with a persistent "Please Wait" screen when connecting to the internet. When I did manage to connect, I discovered that the only way to play against a friend is to join an worldwide match, then to have the other player "join" the race.

It's a shitty process as it stands, but it was made even worse by the fact that we never actually managed to get it working. We had a variety of problems, including crashing, error messages, system freezes and disconnections. I raced twice, thinking my friend would join eventually, but it never happened. I did have fun in two races, playing as Donkey Kong. I actually won both races too, so that felt pretty good. Too bad the whole thing never worked...

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Date played: April 19th
Platform: Wii
Session fun rating: 7/10

I only played a little bit of Zelda with my daughter. Back in Skyloft, I spoke with some people to get some hints about what to do next, the main objective still being to find the three flames that will improve Link's sword. I learned the lyrics of the goddess' song by talking to the headmaster, but more importantly, I learned how and where to play the song.

Link reveals the path to the next area with Zelda's harp

It is said that the tower in Skyloft will show the way when the two windmills face it. I had already found one of the windmills and positioned it to face the tower, but the second was missing it's propeller. Apparently, it flew down to the surface because of high winds. Finding it wouldn't be enough though, as I still had to carry it back up to the town. To do this, I gave a special item to the blacksmith in town. In exchange, he let me use his grandfather's old decrepit robot. The machine is the same as the ones I found in the desert, though it responds better to Fi, my friendly little blue lady, than to Link. I found the propeller by using the dousing ability of the sword. It was hidden near the volcano temple's entrance and brought it back to town. It revealed a new path in the sky, but that's where I had to stop playing.

Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon

Date played: April 19th
Platform: 3DS
Session fun rating: 7/10

I played one level of Luigi's Mansion and played about half of another. I had to find the second clock hand, but it was stolen by the fun loving ghost dog that has been messing with us a few times already. I followed him around the level again, searching for his spectral paw prints with my special light. I fought a few ghosts and then fought the dog again. As expected, he escaped from the vacuum when we went back to base.

I love this little ghost dog

I didn't complete the next level, but I started looking for the last piece of the clock, the rotor. A Toad is stuck in a painting down in the basement of the building. The whole level was set in areas filled with large gears. Some of the puzzles required that I ride on top of moving gears and such. I found the toad, but haven't freed him yet.

Hokra and Towerfall Multiplayer Special

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

Wow, I had so much fun last night! 2 of my brothers and 2 friends came over to my house to play some video games. We spent our entire night playing both Hokra and Towerfall. Both games were incredibly intense, very fair and very competitive.

Hokra, the 2 vs 2 sport that plays a lot like hockey, was a real hit. We swapped the teams every match and it was always very close. In fact, in some of the matches, we were so evenly matched that it took minutes to even score a few points. In Hokra, that is incredible. This game only displays 4 squares, a smaller square and 4 colors, yet is deeper than most big budget games...

We also played a shitload of Towerfall. Again, it was very competitive and very fair. We had to employ hardcore, complex tactics to win. We played a few variants, though the weirdest one was a thing where if we shot an arrow while our quiver was empty, we died. We quickly stopped playing this as some players favored rapid fire methods. They lost those games and were dominated by the players who favored careful, accurate shots.

My gaming room being put to good use

The best part of the night how we stopped using each other's names. Instead, we started using the in-game character's names! It was fucking hilarious... It all started when we unlocked a new character, Ancient Exile. It wasn't long before we were talking to each other as Ancient Exile, Turncloak Soldier, The Last of the Order and Assassin Prince.

Here are some paraphrased quotes from our night:

"Ooooooh shit, The Last of the Order is on fire!"
"Assassin Prince takes them all down!"
"Ancient Exile is fucking dominating!"
"Holy fuck, Turncloak Soldier dodged that shit!"

NHL 15

Watch out for the Hamburglar in NHL 16!

Date played: April 17th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 9/10

In the spirit of the Stanley Cup playoff series going on right now, I played three games of NHL 15 against one of my brothers. As in real life, the Ottawa Senators and the Montreal Canadiens battled for victory. My bro completely dominated the first game, winning it with a solid 6-2. The second game was a lot closer, but he still won 3-1. Finally, I got my revenge with a conquering 5-1 win.

The thing is, me and my brother play very different styles of hockey. He is very good at dangling the puck and aiming his shots at the smallest openings in the goalie's defenses. I am very good defensively and don't allow a lot of shots. I set up great plays too. The big problem I have is that I simply can't aim the fucking puck for shit. I end up relying on brute force, rebounds, precise passing, puck tips and just getting pucks to the net. It works, but if I could aim, I would be so much better...

Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon

Date played: April 16th
Platform: 3DS
Session fun rating: 6/10

Luigi fights for the first clock hand

I played a single level of Luigi's Mansion where I had to grab one of the clock hands from a brainy ghost. There wasn't much special about this level except a pretty cool sequence on a conveyor belt floor. I really like Luigi's Mansion in general, but the combat is not that great. My favorite part of the game is simply exploring the mansions and finding some secrets. Now that we have one of the clock hands, we must find the second.

Pokemon Shuffle

Mega Audino

Date played: April 15th
Platform: 3DS
Session fun rating: 3/10

I was killing time, waiting for my daughter to complete her piano lesson. I wanted to play something like Luigi's Mansion, but didn't have enough time, so I settled for a couple of rounds of Pokemon Shuffle. A new mechanic was introduced, Mega Evolution. By matching the icons of a monster that has an evolution stone, I can build up their Mega Evolution meter. When filled, it evolves and becomes a lot more powerful. It's kind of cool, but isn't enough to make this game more than a mindless distraction at best.

Axiom Verge

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

Axiom Verge is a rare kind of video game. It is absolutely excellent. I love every moment I've spent playing this thing. The amazingly creepy music and the fucked up, yet beautiful visuals come together to give this game a real sense of style and a solid atmosphere. There's also the mysterious, intriguing story that is given out in very small chunks. But the glue that holds the entire thing together is the complex, yet easy to handle gameplay. The mechanics keep getting more complicated, but the game never gets overwhelming.

I continued exploring the depths of the world, found some new items, beat a gargantuan boss and even took a little walk outside. The best part was definitely the boss. This thing is gigantic, requiring the camera to zoom out to even see creature fully, not to mention it's dozens of projectiles. The giant slug-like creature attacks Trace with quite a few different weapons. He lobs bombs, shoots multiple, large yellow projectiles and swings a huge beam of death vertically. To top it all off, the floor is fucking lava and there are hidden platforms that can be activated by the glitch gun...

Uruku, one of the most epic battles in recent memory

Honestly, this was one of the coolest looking boss fights ever! At first, I tried damaging it's cannons and artillery units by climbing on top of the platforms to the left of the screen. I made progress, but it was slow and painful, resulting in 3 or 4 deaths rather quickly. That's when I tried experimenting a bit more with the glitch gun and found a few single blocks to glitch that brought me directly below the monster. All I had to do was destroy one of it's bomb lobbers to make it there. From this position, I was able to directly damage the boss without even getting hit once, though I did fall in the lava at one point. The towering beast couldn't even touch me with it's giant guns. I felt pretty fucking clever. Watch how I beat it.

I picked up some cool upgrades too. I can now jump quite a bit higher, got a few health upgrades and even a very useful weapon range upgrade. One of the cooler upgrades was a syringe that Trace was inadvertently injected with that spawned two weird creatures in his back... Those things fire additional projectiles when I am at full health. The other cool upgrade is the lab coat. This thing is fucking awesome as it lets me teleport through walls and objects that are 1 "square" wide. It also makes an awesome sound... Axiom Verge is great!

Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon

Date played: April 13th
Platform: 3DS
Session fun rating: 6/10

I played a single level in the clock factory level. Using the special compass he found in the previous level, Luigi opened a secret tunnel beneath the factory that led to a very dark cave. The objective was to find the missing clock hands for the clock tower. I battled many ghosts as I made my way deeper into the sand-filled cavern.

Burn, motherfucker, burn.

Eventually, I found a spider infested passage where I lit a torch and burned all of them bitches down. At the end of the tunnel was a tomb. I opened it and fought a few ghosts dressed as mummies. These guys would just charge at me, then would stumble when they hit a wall. I could then pull the fabric off with the vacuum and reveal the vulnerable and weak green ghosts inside.

Axiom Verge

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

I fought my second boss in Axiom, a large two legged creature (device?) with a gigantic machine gun. This whole fight felt a LOT like the battle against Kraid from Super Metroid. I basically had to stand on top of a platform and shoot at the monster's head with my regular gun. Most of the fight was simply about dodging the projectiles by crouching and jumping. He killed me a couple of times as I was learning the timing of his weapons, but it went pretty smoothly after that.

This boss is awesome!

I met with the source of  the mysterious female voice from the opening sequence. She is a robot of sorts, personified as a giant head, connected to dozens of wires and cables. She only had enough power to give me vague instructions to "keep going"... so I did. I reached the third area of the map and started exploring it a little bit. I also went back to some of the previous areas to try out my new gear in a couple of spots.

The first new item I found is a short range electric gun. This acts as a sort of very short range shotgun, but can also shoot through walls and obstacles. While it's short range is definitely limiting, shooting through things is very useful in combat and even to open certain doors. It also came in handy against some of the new enemies I fought.

The second new item is a weird one... It's basically a glitch gun. I can shoot out fairly long range beam of energy that can "glitch" enemies and even reveal new platforms. Shooting the enemies with it has a lot of varying effects. For some, it will freeze them in place, for others, it will turn them into wall destroying projectiles, others it will slow down, etc, etc. It's actually a really cool mechanic. It can weaken most enemies and, since it can be shot through walls, can be used before a battle.

I'm loving everything about Axiom Verge!

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Date played: April 12th
Platform: Wii
Session fun rating: 8/10

I made my way to the Sacred Grounds, where I had to meet with the elder who would guide me in my quest. To my surprise, when I dropped from the sky, Groose followed me! The red-haired pompadour who is in love with Zelda wanted to follow me to find his love. In a hilarious scene, he grabbed on to Link and fell with him to the surface. His animations and sounds were really great...

Groose is hilarious...

They both met with the elder. A mysterious time portal appeared, but could not be activated just yet as Link's sword had to be more powerful. The portal also re-awakened and unsealed The Imprisoned, a horrific beast. I think it was the thing that created the giant tornado at the beginning of the game. Anyway, I had to fight it and stop it from reaching the temple. I repelled it by stabbing it's cute little white toes, then striking a stone slab into it's brain with my sword. It was resealed, but only temporarily.

It was soon revealed that I had to find three sacred flames to imbue my sword with more power, located in the forest, the volcano and the desert. To continue, I have to find the right person in Skyloft to help me progress. I figured this was a good time to talk to some people and complete a few side quests.

I bought a bigger wallet, then explored the town at night. I found a few orange crystals lying around, so that was nice. I also found two side quests. In one, I had to bring a stamina potion to one of the villagers who was doing push-ups during the night in his room. In another, I had to deliver a love letter and get involved in a love triangle between some students. I actually had the opportunity to give the letter to a ghost that needed paper in the bathroom... but my daughter thought that was mean and asked me to deliver the letter to it's rightful owner. 

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Date played: April 11th
Platform: Wii
Session fun rating: 9/10

I completed the Lanayru Mining Facility dungeon! I navigated through the last couple of rooms in the temple that were rather large and complex. In the first, I had to blow sand away from the floor to reveal a safe path that didn't involve putting large spikes through the green clad hero. In the second, I had to blow on some platforms to move them back and forth to make a path. There was also a new enemy type introduced. It requires that I blow the creature's hatches open with the gust jar, then strike at two crystals inside it.

Zelda gave Link her harp

The boss battle was very cool, though it was a bit too easy for it's own good. Moldarach is a giant scorpion that burrows in sand, grabs Link with it's pincers and stabs it with it's poisonous tail. I struck it's pincers until they fell off. The scorpion then started burrowing in sand to perform surprise attacks. I blew away the sand with the gust jar to reveal it and attack it's final weak point, a central eye.

After I beat the boss, I was able to reach Zelda and her guardian, Impa. Just as Link and Zelda were running towards each other, Ghirahim showed up to spoil the party and attack Zelda. Impa made a shield to stop him as Zelda ran towards a mysterious portal. Dramatically, she threw her harp over to Link, saying he would need it soon. Link helped Impa and held off the bad guy as the two ladies went through the portal and destroyed it.  Ghirahim ran away... Things are unclear right now, but I have to go find the elder at the Sealed Grounds.

I went back to town and got a few new things. I upgraded my wooden shield to the maximum, bought a new pocket for my adventurer's pouch, received a 4th piece of heart (I have 11 hearts now!) and an item that helps me receive more hearts from pots, grass and other sources. Also, Link can play Zelda's harp, though there doesn't seem to be much point just yet. It's cool though, it can be played with the motion controls, which my 4 year old daughter immediately fell in love with. I happily spent a solid 5 minutes just watching her playing the harp...

Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon

Date played: April 11th
Platform: 3DS
Session fun rating: 8/10

I played 3 levels, including the boss of the second mansion. I first chased after the friendly ghost dog who had stolen the key. Using the spectral light unit, I found it's paw prints and chased him around the level until I was able to stun him and capture him in the vacuum. Oddly enough, when I got back to the professor, the dog managed to escape, though we go the key. Using the key, Luigi went to the top of the mansion inside a very large tree.

The staircase boss

I had to climb a HUGE set of staircases. It was split into a large number of levels, each with 3 sets of staircases. I had to figure out which of the 3 was the right one on each level. There were a few hints where torches around the right staircase would flicker or disappear, but it wasn't obvious. When I failed, I had to fight a green ghost and start over. Finally, the boss was a new type of ghost who had possessed a staircase near at the top of the tree. He wasn't very difficult to fight, I just had to avoid it's attacks and pull a string with the vacuum when it was vulnerable. I was rewarded with another piece of the dark moon.

The next mansion is set inside an old clock/watch factory. It has been abandoned for a very long time. There's a bit of a sand theme going on here. I explored the first few sections of the mansion. A few new mechanics were introduced, including some light activated robotic explosives and a room that I filled with sand to progress.

Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon

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

I played through one level in the twin tower mansion. Now that I've turned on the water valves, vegetation has started growing more and more. While some plants blocked the way and had to be fought or sucked into the vacuum, others helped me reach new areas.

We inspected the picture Toad had taken on the roof. I saw the mysterious key there as well as a new type of ghost. Most of the level was pretty standard fare for the game. There was a cool looking solarium room and a fun battle against three blue ghosts in a bedroom. There was also a creepy as fuck dollhouse where Luigi could leer into a window and see himself...

Creepy dollhouse...

When I reached the roof's interior pool room, I had to fight the new type of ghost, pink. These guys aren't that hard to fight, but they can scare Luigi and interrupt his attacks. As I grabbed the key, the friendly little ghost dog stole it and threw it out the window...

Axiom Verge

Date played: April 7th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 9/10

Axiom Verge is a game that pays homage to Super Metroid. That was enough for me to be interested as I fucking loved Super Metroid.

The game begins with a scientist doing some unexplained experiment. It quickly goes very wrong and the man wakes up in a creepy room. A woman mysteriously sends him a few cryptic words through telepathy (maybe?) telling him to go left and grab the gun sitting in the next room. From there, the game plays like a classic right away.

The 2D artwork is incredible, the music is moody and complex and the animation is smooth as hell. Everything feels right in this game so far. I got the gun and started making my way through the graph paper map, just like the 2D Metroid games. The gun is a rapid-fire rifle that is easy to handle. There is a helpful "lock" function on L1 that allows for diagonal and horizontal shooting without moving the character. The guy has a strong jump that can be used to navigate the various platforms.

I fought my way through gruesome creatures, all of it very reminiscent of Metroid. I found a couple of upgrades along the way. More health, bigger projectiles and higher damage are some of the smaller, simpler upgrades. I also found a new gun! This thing sends out larger, slower projectiles, but can be detonated at any time to create a spread of smaller bullets in a radius around the bullet. I used it to progress to new areas by shooting at out of reach buttons.

I kill you motherfucker. I kill you.

I made it to the first boss and kicked it's ass by shooting at it from every angle while avoiding it's projectiles and mines. The ugly motherfucker didn't last long as I pummeled it with all my might. As a reward, I was given a large drill that can be used to dig through rock, but also to fight enemies at close range. I reached the second area of the map and stopped playing there, but I look forward to playing more of Axiom Verge. We need more games like this.

2D Competitive Couch Multiplayer Special!

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

Fuck yeah man, fuck yeah.

Hokra

I spent some time playing video games with 2 of my brothers and my sister in law. We spent most of our time playing Towerfall, but also played Barabariball and Hokra from Sportsfriends. Towerfall was a hit, as usual. Again, the matches were fair and the action was intense. We pulled off some pretty fucking advanced techniques towards the end including lots of last second arrow grabs and skillful head bopping.

It was the first time I played Barabariball with 4 players and it was really cool. Having two teams of two players changes the dynamic a lot, opening up the game with passes, dekes and even some "baiting". One of the four players struggled with the game though, so we moved on to Hokra.

Hokra is a pure sports game. It's not a real sport of course, but it's a sport nonetheless. The goal is to bring the "puck" to your end zone and stay in there as long as possible. There are two players per team. You can pass/throw and tackle. That's it. It actually plays a lot like hockey for the most part because of the passing and the way the puck moves. It was pretty intense and quickly enough, we started forming real strategies. The thumping soundtrack also makes it even more exciting. I love Hokra...

Code Name S.T.E.A.M.

Date played: April 5th
Platform: 3DS
Session fun rating: 8/10

I finished Code Name S.T.E.A.M.!

The final battle was pretty awesome, but very difficult. I fought a giant star shaped creature in a simple, open room. The only cover was a set of 4 pillars around the room. Naturally, I split my team around each of the pillars. If caught in the open, the boss could easily kill my characters in one turn, so I had to chip away at it from a distance. A single misstep would often mean one of my characters died and every single time, that meant failure. I wiped out at least 4 times before I had a real decent run.

On top of the formidable boss, I had to deal with dangerous, smaller enemies spawning at regular intervals. After about an hour of careful, methodical and meticulous movement, I finally took it out. There was a quick A.B.E. battle after that against the big alien boss thing, but it was over in less than 2 minutes. Abe Lincoln heroically sacrificed himself to save the Earth from being frozen and the world is back to normal.

Henry and John salute their fallen leader and celebrate victory

This game was pretty good and had some really fun moments, but overall, I felt like it was a bit...uneven. Maybe if there had been better aiming, it would have been better. Also, having some sort of map would have been nice. Finally, I think the game would have benefited from some character specific upgrades through leveling or something. I'm glad I played it, but I won't be playing it again. 

Sunset Overdrive: Dawn of the Rise of the Fallen Machines

Date played: April 4th
Platform: Xbox One
Session fun rating: 10/10

Once again, I'm reminded of how much I fucking love Sunset Overdrive! I really can't say it enough, it's easily one of my favorite games of the generation, maybe even my favorite. It's just so much fun to move around and kill enemies in that world. I truly hope they make a sequel, because I've just finished the last of single player missions,

I started by trying the third energy ball traversal challenge, which I got gold on rather quickly. I figured, why not give the second challenge another go, as I failed it the last time I played. Surprisingly, the techniques I used in the third challenge made the second easier and I got it on the first try... I also completed another energy ball challenge, but this time, I had to destroy enemies with it and reach a high score. There were some pretty funny one liner jokes during these challenges referencing both Katamari Damacy and Metroid, games where you get to roll around as a ball.

Finally, I took on the final battle in the game. It started as a battle against a sort of nano-machine cloud of destruction. To damage it, I had to trigger electromagnetic pulses by smashing some switches and stuff. When it worked, it transformed the cloud into a giant spinning sword of death. I kept attacking it with my strongest weapons. When it got near the end of it's life bar, the game broke the fourth wall like it never had before.

I was warped into the game's programming code attacked by "targeted advertising". Large advertising panels flew at me as I shot them with my charge beam. Eventually, my character had the great idea to use the Xbox's Kinect voice controls to stop the attacks... "Xbox, stop!". It was fucking hilarious.

I fight the final boss

After a bit of messing around in the programming world, I managed to get back to the robot factory where I faced off against the final boss. The nano-machine swarm took control of the Sunset TV actor, a real person video... Using a few dozen TV screens as it's armor, the shouting, announcer-controlled machine attacked me with giant lasers! I fought it by shooting at it's TV screens, then attacking the core. I destroyed it and it melted in the lava pits of the robot factory in a dramatic, fiery death.

Sunset Overdrive is fucking genius.

Code Name S.T.E.A.M.

Date played: April 4th
Platform: 3DS
Session fun rating: 7/10

I played through most of the last missions in Code Name S.T.E.A.M.. This game has got some very difficult sections... I mean, a lot of it needs very meticulous, slow movement. I really don't like how the weak spots work either, the aiming is just too loose to be fun. I think I would have preferred just a percentage chance to hit than to manually aim these shit weapons...

Anyway, I managed to make good progress despite this. The big bad enemy, the Shoggoth, is hidden below the depths of Antarctica. I made my way through some tricky levels until I reached a large ice egg of sorts. I had to shoot at the thing for a long time until it broke and revealed a passage down to the alien boss lair.

My team of weirdos gets ready for battle

Finally, I took on the toughest mission in the game yet, a deadly battle against some hardcore enemies. I was even forced to split my team into 2 squads. I stuck Tiger Lily with The Fox and put Califia with Henry. It worked pretty well, but I didn't have a decent weapon to hit weak spots with the second squad. This was quite a battle of attrition. I inched slowly through every corner, sometimes spending 5 or more turns holding a single spot. It was painful, difficult and honestly, not that much fun. The whole place was filled with the toughest enemies in the game... I made it through after more than an hour, but am not ready to take on the very last map in the game!

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

I got the Gust Bellows!

Date played: April 4th
Platform: Wii
Session fun rating: 6/10

I wish I had more time to play Zelda today... Unfortunately, I only played through a portion of the Lanayru Mining Facility. After opening the secret door to it by solving a fun little puzzle, I made my way through the secret tunnels beneath the desert to reach the temple where Zelda is believed to be.

The dungeon itself has been relatively simple so far. I fought some enemies and solved some simple puzzles, including some fun conveyor belt action, using the sprint to move at counter current. Eventually, I reached an area that had many suspicious little mounds of dirt on the ground. Shortly after, I got my hands a new item, the Gust Bellows. This windy pot can blow air out at a short distance. I used it to clear some of these dirt mounds. I'm guessing they will have many cool uses that I have yet to discover.

Sunset Overdrive: Dawn of the Rise of the Fallen Machines

Date played: April 3rd
Platform: Xbox One
Session fun rating: 9/10

The final piece of DLC for Sunset Overdrive is out with a ridiculous title, Dawn of the Rise of the Fallen Machines. The plot is paper thin. As far as I can tell, the only real objective is to destroy the Fizzco robot factory.

To get past the invisible walls protecting the factory, I found a drone and hitched a ride on top of it's cargo. I had to protect the thing from OD and Scab attacks the whole way. I made it safely to the robot factory, a large, high tech open area, filled with floating platforms, assembly chains and other machinery. As is my habit, I started with some challenge missions, most of which weren't that difficult. I managed gold on all available missions before moving on to the story stuff.

I found a man and a woman held prisoner inside a garage. The man bashed the shit out the robot that held him captive, complete with dramatic slow motion, a baseball bat, grungy guitar and aviator sun glasses... After calming down, the duo gave me some missions. The writing is as funny as ever too, they even made a joke about how difficult it is to launch a new intellectual property in video games.

Most of the missions were pretty standard fare so far; get to a position, defeat enemies, grab item. There were a few cool missions in there though. I got to use 2 new weapons. The first shoots out a deployable nanobot cloud that munches away at enemies. It works well... The second is an amazing laser guided satellite energy beam shot down from space! It is extremely powerful, but somewhat difficult to aim.

The robot dog made a comeback too. I used the powerful puppy to take out some of the new enemies, including some dangerous sniper robots and some massive, bipedal tank enemies. I've also swapped out some weapons to focus on the ones that are effective against robots. The Fizzco Rifle is my main weapon, though I also use the Fizzco Beam and anything that adds electricity to my attacks.

Killing enemies with the energy ball is a lot of fun!

Then I played a really cool mission where I got to ride and "energy ball". I rolled around the factory, destroying enemies by rolling into them or smashing them from above. This was a really cool change of pace and forced me to find new ways to fight enemies. After this mission, it unlocked 3 energy ball traversal challenges... I managed gold on the first one, but I just couldn't get better than silver on the second. It was pretty frustrating, I was less than 1 second away from gold, but I just can't get it. I bet it's because of the path I am using during one particular section of the course, but for the first time in Sunset Overdrive, I gave up on getting gold in a challenge. 

Screamride demo

Date played: April 2nd
Platform: Xbox One
Session fun rating: 8/10

Screamride is a weird game... Set in the future, it's about a large corporation that tries to build the most exciting, scream worthy rides in the world. The game is actually split up into 3 different modes; Screamrider, Demolition Expert and Engineer. In Screamride, the game plays almost like a stunt racing game. Played from the perspective of the riders in the rollercoaster, I controlled boost and the angle of the train to maximize screams without going off the rails. It's a pretty cool concept and is quite exciting. At the end of the track, I even got to crash the train into a building, the objective being to destroy as much of it as I could...

Screamride is fun and exciting... mostly

Demolition Expert was my favorite mode. In it, I got to aim a little cabin that holds a few riders. The objective is to destroy as much as the structure with the cabin. There are triggers in the environment that create enormous explosions and chain reactions. Aiming is pretty hard too because the device spins vertically, kind of like a sling. I had to adjust power and release the device at the right time to hit my target. There is a bit of control once in the air, but not that much.

Finally, Engineer mode asks that I build the most scream worthy ride, without losing riders to g-force or causing too much nausea. While the tools to build things are easy to use, it's difficult to determine what will cause accidents or high nausea without testing it. While testing looks cool, it's also a bit slow. I managed to build a nice coaster, filled with loops, corkscrews and high speed drops, but I didn't have as much fun with it as I did with Demolition and Screamrider modes.

Screamride is a surprisingly cool game. It has a lot of personality too with great narration and fun character animation. 

Code Name S.T.E.A.M.

Date played: April 2nd
Platform: 3DS
Session fun rating: 7/10

I played two missions and I feel like I am getting really close to the end of the game. I fought a large boss in Oz, to save the aptly named Queen Ozma. The boss was a gargoyle looking thing that protected it's weak point with it's wings. I had to kill all of it's minions for him to reveal the weak spot. Even then, he was rather difficult to beat as the weak point was on it's chest, so I had to attack him from the front. He also hit really fucking hard, so I had to be very careful.

The gargoyle monster protects his weak spot with it's wings

We saved the queen and were ready to go back to Antarctica to destroy the final alien base. Using A.B.E., we started drilling down in the ice to reach the base. I had to protect it from aliens while it did it's work. I faced off against another gigantic alien with lots of HP. I had to kill it before it reached A.B.E.. The map was tricky to navigate, as it was filled with cliffs and impassable paths. I had to use long range weapons to really take it down, including a tank. The drill worked and we are now reaching the alien base.

Battlefield Hardline

Date played: April 2nd
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 8/10

I played a few Heist matches last night. The first couple of games were plagued with lag, so that fucking sucked... I really couldn't get anything done. However, once the lag subsided, I performed pretty well. As usual, I got pretty high scores, even if I didn't get that many kills. The most memorable moment was on the large desert map, Dustbowl, playing as the thieves.

This map is complex, I still have a lot to learn

One of my teammates had picked up the package, but was held down by enemy fire in the big motel area. Most of my team tried to help him by shooting enemies, but no one thought to drive the package carrier to the drop off. I stole a police cruiser, turned on the lights and siren to fool the cops a little bit. I drove to the carrier and made sure he saw me, then he hopped on. I drove like a madman straight for the drop off point. I got out, threw a smoke grenade and killed an enemy before being killed myself. Triumphantly, the carrier stayed alive long enough to drop off the package, thanks to my smoke grenade and aggressive driving! It felt good...

Code Name: S.T.E.A.M.

I destroyed the fuck out of that bench

Date played: April 1st
Platform: 3DS
Session fun rating: 5/10

I played a rather average mission where I just had to defuse 5 "bomb" enemies. Honestly, there was nothing special about this mission. Move forward, kill enemies, reach bomb dudes and press a button to defuse them. There was a 10 turn limit, but the map was so small and simple that it wasn't an issue at all. Thankfully though, I had brought Califia and her rockets with me because one of the bombs was hiding behind a destructible bench. 

Halo 4

Date played: March 31st
Platform: Xbox One
Session fun rating: 10/10

I finished Halo 4!

I only had one level left at the end, but it was a big one. It started with an unusual segment for a Halo game... I flew a jet right through the outer hull of the Didact's ship. It was pretty awesome, I had to avoid obstacles in all directions, had to destroy enemy turrets along the way and even open up certain doors by shooting at targets. The ship had turrets and seeking missiles, so it was lots of fun to use. The sequence culminated in a battle where I had to take out four large shield generators, aiming through small openings, Luke Skywalker style.

Master Chief then reached a very large area where the Didact was inside the Composer, trying to essentially destroy mankind. The details are hazy, but the general idea was that Master Chief had to destroy the Didact and his device using a nuclear warhead that he carried on his back (sounds like a bad idea...). I fought countless waves or Prometheans as Cortana helped me progress to the Didact.

Cortana's rampancy became a real problem, but she used the last of her ingenuity to split her personalities off into single entities that were able to trap the Didact for a short moment, long enough for Master Chief to put a grenade on him, drop him into an abyss and detonate the nuke. Cortana saved the Chief from the explosion with some technical tricks that weren't quite clear.

Master Chief and Cortana in their last moments together

However, it was clear that Cortana was about to die. In an amazing, well written scene, Cortana and Master Chief talked about her imminent death. The dialogue was a lot better than I ever expected from any Halo game. It was touching. It showed humanity in artificial intelligence and a man that was literally bred to be a soldier.

Cortana is dead. Master Chief is back on Earth. The world is saved... for now. I loved playing Halo 4. It had great weapons, fun enemies, amazing looking vistas and some very good story bits.