Assassin's Creed Origins

Date played: December 29th
Platform: PS4

I wrapped up most of the stuff I had to do before entering the big city of Alexandria. I did a variety of smaller side missions. In one of them, I had to carry a drunk back home on camel back.  In another, I had a difficult arena battle where I was given some honorific weapons and armor and a fantastic looking costume. In another, a woman needs my help to keep bandits away from her farm. I stealthily destroyed them all, hiding in bushes and whistling at them to grab their attention. Another side quest had me clear out a villa of enemies.

This one went well at first, I was killing them all in their sleep, but someone walked by and saw me. I ended up getting into a giant brawl that lasted about 5 minutes as reinforcements arrived steadily. This was a good opportunity for me to really practice the fighting system. I'm really starting to feel at home with it. I think they key is to block at all times, dodge big attacks then swoop in with a combo of my own. Right now, I'm rocking a regular sword and a big war ax. I use the sword for most battles, but take out the ax for stronger enemies or mounted combat.

The missions progressively brought me closer and closer to Alexandria. I had to assassinate a VIP at the gates to the city. This was fun because it felt like the types of missions that were in the first two games in the series. That means a target that is heavily protected, some walls to climb and a perfect spot for an air jumping assassination. I jumped and stabbed the man in classic Assassin's Creed fashion.

So, I have to talk about Alexandria. It's hard to describe really, but seeing the sprawling city, extending beyond the horizon, was a spectacular, breathtaking sight! I was floored by the size of the city, but also the incredible attention to detail and the busy commotion of the markets and temples. I haven't really started exploring it, but this place looks like the main hub of the game. I am incredibly impressed by the craftsmanship of the team that made this game.

Alexandria awaits

I decided to leave the city and do a bit of hunting and exploring before delving into the story missions again. I did some hunting (I even killed some hippos!), gathered materials and made a few upgrades to my gear. I also went back to the lake to synchronize a tower and got into a bit of a naval battle along the way. So far, the easiest way I've found of fighting other ships is to set my arrows on fire with the lantern on my boat, then shoot their boat. This starts a big fire that immobilizes it and burns it's occupants. I then shoot an arrow or two at enemies to take them out. It works pretty well.

I'm ready to go back to Alexandria now I think, to meet up with my wife, Aya.

Cuphead

Date played: December 28th
Platform: Xbox One

I played a little bit of Cuphead yesterday, focusing on the two platforming levels and the mausoleum in the third world. The first level I played was Rugged Ridge. Set in a mountainous areas, I was attacked by pickaxe-wielding mountain goats, hopping Satyrs, sludge monsters, baby dragons and even a giant fucking cyclops!

As usual, this was hard as fuck, requiring good accuracy and precise jumping. I struggled with a stone lion statue that blew wind in my face periodically as a mountain goat threw pickaxes at me as I balanced myself on a tipping scale... Fucking stone lion.

Cyclops battle!

The animation in this level is amazing in general, but the cyclops is one well animated motherfucker. He runs at me at full speed as the level auto-scrolls and I jump from ruined platform to ruined platform. It took me a good while to get a good rhythm, but as usual, perseverance and patience paid off and I made it through.

The second level, Perilous Piers was a bit more frustrating, and honestly, not as much fun as the first. That's mainly because it felt a bit more random, thanks to some weird flying fish, starfish and other obstacles. Still, the pier level was still lots of fun and once again, incredibly well animated.

I decided to use a different weapon here, because of the fish and the vertical aspects of the level. The heavy hitting, bouncing shots of the Lobber were perfect for most encounters. I loved riding the big craps in the middle of the level, and I couldn't help but smile anytime I fought with Kaptain Krustacean, a big lobster that shoots lightning.

The final part of the level is where it got frustrating though... I was riding an octopus, floating on top of the water and had to dodge a number of projectiles or shoot them. The problem was the pink jewel on top of the octopus head. Because I had the perk that auto-parries equipped, I think it made this portion way more difficult than it had to be. I should have been smart and changed equipment, but I made it through eventually.

I now have a ton of bosses waiting for me, at least 5, so I can't wait to boot this game up again and take them on.

Assassin's Creed Origins

Date played: December 27th
Platform: PS4

After jumping back into the Animus, I take control of Bayek on camelback, as he arrives in a new region. My main mission is to go to Alexandria and meet up with Aya, Bayek's wife. I started in the open desert and I could see the pyramids in the far distance. There is also a big lake, a big village and a some farms. I'm very impressed with the world that the game presents... Every detail is amazing and it looks spectacular at all times. It's a very impressive game world that's for sure.

I brave a sandstorm on camelback

I did a bit of hunting around this area, mainly crocodiles. I use my bow a lot more than I was expecting, it's a powerful tool. I also played a few minor missions from villagers. Most of the missions are similar, but the camps and battles are all slightly different, so each enemy camp is it's own experience. 

Water is a big element in this game, which might be surprising considering this is still a game set in Egypt. Either way, there are a number of large bodies of water, each with hidden treasure, triremes, fishing boats, dangerous animals and islands. It's really well done. I particularly enjoy riding small boats at high speeds.

Boat riding is a lot of fun

I spent a good amount of time hunting animals, or stealing materials from bandits and stuff. This allowed me to upgrade a lot of my equipment and I've picked up a bunch of new weapons along the way too. I'm rocking a sniping "predator" bow, a standard "hunter" bow, a pair of quick short swords and a heavy axe.

Wow.

In the village, I also completed a number of smaller errand missions, including a funny game of hide and seek with some kids at the temple. I'm skipping a lot of details here of course, but there's a lot of little side quests to do everywhere. Thanks to the missions being tagged with a level requirement, it's pretty easy to know which mission I should do first, I typically just take the lowest level one.

Assassin's Creed Origins

Date played: December 26th
Platform: PS4

After killing my first real target, I got to play a flashback scene, one year prior to the game's opening, as Bayek who must protect a valuable artifact in a vault. I guess he's some sort of guard or policeman. The thieves are 5 masked men who have taken Bayek's son hostage, a young boy of about 9 or 10 years old. Bayek, with a clean shaven face and short hair, resists the men's interrogation, but then they threaten to hurt the child.

Bayek's son manages to grab a knife from one of the guards and gives it to his father. At the last moment, Bayek attacks with the knife and knocks out most of them. Holding the knife to the throat of one of the masked men, Bayek is fooled by a slick move and ends up stabbing his own son in the heart, killing him.

This scene was very well made and the emotional impact was solid. I couldn't believe it, and I felt the same anger that Bayek felt. Bayek manages to kill one of the masked men (fucking brutally too), then the game cuts to the present time.

Yes, this is still an Assassin's Creed game, and yes, that means modern world scientists jumping into people's "genetic memories". I am Laura Clemens, a reckless Abstergo technician that was never able to climb the corporate ladder thanks to her dubious work ethics and disregard for procedure and safety. She somehow managed to get dispatched to the Qattara Depression in Egypt to recover a valuable artifact. Though I still don't get the details, she managed to access Bayek's memories.

Back to Bayek, I must now leave the Siwa region to find the next masked man. There's talk of his wife, Aya, who is looking for information on the masked men in Alexandria, in the Great Library. I decided to stay back a little bit and complete a few side quests and explore the area.

I explore Siwa

There's some missions that are just about killing elite animals. The first was a hyena, protected by a dozen weaker hyenas. These guys are easy to take out with my melee weapons since they just charge at me. Another of these missions required that I kill an Ibex, which was an easy kill with my bow.

I spent a bit of time gathering the last few remaining treasure chests in the area. I found a little enemy encampment that asked that I kill the leader. Thankfully, I approached the camp at night and most of the soldiers were asleep. I killed them in their sleep, then took out the leader with a quick assassination. I'm now ready to leave the region and search for my third target.

Street Fighter V

Date played: December 26th
Platform: PS4

I was hanging out with my brother last night and we ended up playing a few rounds of Street Fighter V, mostly trying out some of the new characters. We had about 7 or 8 battles and we started with a classic Ryu vs Ken. This went well, I won, but barely.

Laura really fits my playstyle

I had a really good time playing as both Laura and F.A.N.G.. Laura is closer to my style, favoring slow movement with heavy impact moves, focused on her kicks. Her special moves are comfortable to pull off for me, since they are based on quarter circles, like Ken and Ryu. F.A.N.G. was a lot weirder to use, but lots of fun. He uses charge moves, so I wasn't as comfortable, but he's got very odd movement, akin to a drunken master or even someone like Voldo in Soul Calibur. He was harder to use, but he was honestly lots of fun to play as.

Street Fighter V is a lot better than when it first came out, and there's a big arcade mode release coming soon, so I might pick it up in the next year sometime. It's definitely a high quality game and it's awesome to play local versus.

Assassin's Creed Origins

Date played: December 25th
Platform: PS4

Assassin's Creed Origins was one of my Christmas gifts, so I spent a bit of the day trying it out. I have a long history with this series... I was there when the original broke technical barriers and provided a huge world to explore, teeming with people. It also introduced the now ubiquitous "free-climbing" mechanic. I was there when Assassin's Creed II took open world storytelling to the next level with Ezio's story. I was there when Assassin's Creed III disappointed most of the world (I liked it). I sailed the seas of Black Flag, joining the gaming world in a moment of naval combat enthusiasm. I skipped the bug-ridden, microtransaction infested Unity. I returned to the series with Syndicate a couple of years ago, set in 1800's London.

It's been kind hard to be excited about these games for the last few years. They follow the same formula with minor changes. Syndicate was good, but it was also kind of just, more of the same. It had a few cool ideas, but it didn't really do anything very special, except maybe having two very cool characters.

Ubisoft took their first break from releasing these games every year in 2016, to make some bigger changes to the franchise and come back strong in 2017. So far, Origins seems to prove this was a good gamble.

Assassin's Creed Origins

Origins is set in Egypt in the year 48 BC. I play as Bayek, a warrior who is charged with protecting the Siwa Oasis. The story is kind of unclear at this point, but Bayek is trying to find 5 men and kill them. From the sounds of it, it's starting to look like a revenge tale. Bayek had a wife and son before, that's for sure, and I think they've been killed somehow.

Regardless, the story isn't really the appeal of this game for me so far. The giant, open world of Egypt filled with hundreds of missions, collectibles, shops, cities and fortresses is what I love about this game. There's also a number of major changes to the game's mechanics that a big difference.

The biggest change is combat. This is no longer "Batman" combat, where groups of enemies surround the player and attack taking turns, turning battles in a series of counter attacks. Instead, this feels more like a traditional action game, like God of War or something. Bayek has a shield and a variety of weapons. He can also "lock-on" to enemies and swap targets on the fly. Finally, there's a bow and it allows for some really fun stealth attacks, similar to Horizon. There's a number of different weapons, each with different speeds, range and damage potential, so I'll have to find the weapon I am most comfortable with.

Another fantastic little touch is Bayek's camel! It's just like a horse, yeah, but it's a camel!!! I guess what I'm trying to say is that the Egyptian setting is very refreshing. It's really nice to see the game return to ancient times instead of always getting more and more modern. The architecture, the animals, the cities, the wild open world, it's all executed brilliantly.

It doesn't hurt that this is one of the best looking games on the market. While it's not as beautiful as Horizon or Gran Turismo, it's still one hell of a good looking game, particularly in HDR. HDR is really cool in video games and it makes a big difference in Origins. At one point, I was deep inside a cave and Bayek's silhouette was completely black, contrasted by the light of fires in the distance, burning brightly.

All this, and I haven't even talked about a single mission... The biggest of them all was one of the main story missions, killing the second person on my hit list. To find him, I had to infiltrate the Temple of Aman, a huge facility crawling with enemies. I started by clearing the outskirts of enemies. I tend to favor stealth in these games, so I hide in bushes a lot and I snipe with my bow a low. Close range assassinations are the most satisfying to me though.

I did pretty well, staying out of sight or at least killing the ones that spotted me. However, at some point, I got spotted and just had to fight my way out. I'm still learning how to fight, but I was good enough to survive this one and kill my second target in the process. There's still a lot that escapes me in the game, and systems I don't quite understand, but I'm really loving it so far. I can't wait to get back into the world and explore it all!

Yoshi's Story

Date played: December 24th
Platform: Wii U

I was sitting in my living room, looking for something to do. My daughter was playing on the iPad and nothing urgent needed doing, so I picked up the Wii U tablet to fill my time. I ended up playing about an hour of Yoshi's Story, the weird N64 2D platformer. This game came on the heels of Yoshi's Island, a undisputed masterpiece, so the hype was at it's peak. Unfortunately, Yoshi's Story is not even close to Yoshi's Island.

Yoshi's Story, a weird little game from the N64 era

The game has a very bizarre structure and I honestly don't understand it yet. The world is separated into 6 story pages. When I begin a level on a page, it links into the other 3 levels of that page. Most of the time though, I wasn't able to see the entire level. That's because progression is based on the number of fruit Yoshi eats.

So, for example, once I gather 20 fruit (maybe it's more) in page 1, I reach page 2 regardless of how many levels I competed on page 1. It's weird and makes almost no sense to me. Still, the mechanics and levels were pretty good. Yoshi can still swallow enemies and make them into eggs, as well as shoot those eggs. There are still dozens of Shy Guys trying to kill Yoshi and there's still some really cool level design and enemies. I even fought a pretty cool boss where I had to eat parts of it's body until it was small enough to swallow.

The graphics are pretty awesome too, considering this is from the N64 era. While the smaller details are a bit blurry, most of the game looks fantastic, with a fun aesthetic and lots of bright colors. The music isn't too bad either.

However, I completely lost interest when I died on the 6th page. Before starting a page, I had to pick one of 6 Yoshis, all of different colors. When I die, that Yoshi gets taken to a castle and isn't available anymore. In the 6th page, I lost my last Yoshi and was greeted by a Game Over screen. When I restarted, I was back on the first page! I believe progression is kind of saved in a way, but I didn't bother to look into it just yet. Maybe I'll try again some other day.

Super Mario Odyssey

Date played: December 23rd
Platform: Switch

Yesterday was a Mario day for me, I played a ton of it in the afternoon. I started with some time exploring the Sand Kingdom, gathering as many moons as I could. Most of the easy ones are done now, so I'm hunting harder for them now. When I was spending most of my time just running around, I decided it was time to try a different world, so I went to the Luncheon Kingdom.

My first trip to the Luncheon Kingdom was kind of short, I really just focused on the main story mission here and barely did any exploration, so there was a lot of stuff left to find here. In fact, I hadn't even completed the second portion of the main quest!

I warm up the soup

The Luncheon Kingdom is well known for it's wonderful stew, slowly cooking over the towering volcano, but it's been taken over by a giant bird. I had to find a way to the top to fight the bird. This meant a lot of fun platforming, vaulting from forks and tricky jumps. Eventually, I reached the stew where I fought the bird in the body of a fireball. The fight itself was pretty cool, as I had to climb through the bird's "vomit" with my fireball to defeat it.

Now that the stew is free of the bird's threat, the villagers have peace of mind and host a big carnival, inviting people from all Kingdoms. This opens up a ton of new little missions to get power moons. I spent a lot of time here...

I explored the depths of some new caverns, including one where I had to warm up the soup by possessing a fireball. There were many moons that required I use the fireball form in fact. It allows for new forms of movement, including some cannons, moving through lava and even jumping into hot tomato paste. Another good one had a crazy platforming challenge on some brightly colored moving platforms. This one was pretty damn hard.

However, my favorite of all missions here were the two races against the Koopa guys. I had to jump through a series of moving platforms, inhabited by some fireball spewing piranha plants, then climb to the top of a structure. The first little bit was hard, but straight-forward. In the climbing parts I managed a bit more creativity though. I pretty quickly found a really good shortcut, where I had to use a fireball to jump up, then turn back to Mario to make a few acrobatic jumps, which led directly to the goal line. It was tricky and required a bit of practice, but it felt great to kick the golden Koopa's ass with a sick jump.

I'm missing only 3 purple coins in this world, but I can't imagine where they could be. I still have a number of moons to find, but the easy ones are all out of the way. I might head to a different world next time, but I'm sure I'll return to this colorful gastronomic world soon enough. 

Overcooked

Date played: December 23rd
Platform: PS4

I've been meaning to try this one out for a while, but haven't had a chance until yesterday when my brother came over to hang out. Overcooked is a local multiplayer game where each player is a member of a kitchen crew. We must make orders to satisfy customers by picking up ingredients, chopping them, cooking them in various ways, putting a plate together, delivering it to the servers and washing dirty dishes.

I cook the soup while my brother serves the dishes and prepares the ingredients

It's simple, but getting a good score is very difficult. The levels are laid out in a variety of fun ways. The simplest level is just a kitchen with a couple of cutting boards, a sink and a couple of ovens. We had to communicate quickly and loudly to be successful. Then shit got really crazy when the orders got more complicated, or even worse when the levels started being insane.

For example, in one level, there's a conveyor belt that runs around the room. The two players are separated from each other by a wall, so they can never be in the same room or give each other stuff like plates and ingredients. Instead, we must do our part of the process (washing, cutting, cooking, etc), then drop the items on the conveyor belt for the other person to pick it up.

Another great level had us riding in a restaurant truck, cruising on the highway. The truck is fucked up though, since it's separated in the middle, periodically making the two halves of the kitchen divided by pavement.

It's all very crazy, silly and most of all, extremely hectic. It's also a shit ton of fun! I'd really want to try this with 4 players to see what it can really do, but it was amazing with two players. I definitely want to play this one again. 

Rocket League

Date played: December 22nd and 23rd
Platform: PS4

All 3 screenshots are from the exact same moment

Rocket League has become my default "filler" game these last few weeks. When I don't have anything in particular I feel like playing, I just boot up Rocket League and play a few matches. These last couple of days however, I feel like I really stepped up my game and have been making a bigger difference in matches.

I got myself quite a few goals, even more assists and my aerial game is much better than it was a few weeks ago. My favorite play was a high altitude pass from the side of the arena, to the center field, which was then picked up by a teammate for the goal.

Last night, my youngest brother came over to play some games and we ended up getting a bit of online split screen. He was rusty, but he got better really quickly and we had tons of fun playing it. 

Rocket League

Date played: December 20th
Platform: PS4

I felt like playing some multiplayer last night, so I booted up Rocket League for a few matches. I am definitely doing better and better... I've always kind of had a weird style in Rocket League, similar to how I play the NHL games. I stand back and read the play, then try to intercept at critical points.

I charge from a distance to score a high speed goal

It makes me weak at fighting in the corners and "getting in there", but makes me really strong at setting up huge plays and defending before there's a scoring opportunity for the other team. I'm still not at the top of my game for aerial shots, but I'm more consistent and more accurate now.

I got a few MVP's, scored a good number of goals and honestly, just had a ton of fun. I almost have enough points to buy a new winter crate too, which has a bunch of fun holiday items. I really want the candy cane rocket trail...

Cuphead

Date played: December 19th
Platform: Xbox One

Last night, I claimed the souls of 3 new bosses in Cuphead!

It started with the only boss I hadn't killed in the second world, Wally Warbles in Aviary Action. Wally is a large bird that flies with his birdhouse on his back as Cuphead chases him in this plane level. The first phase took me a while to learn, mostly because I kept getting hit by the eggs the bird throws out. After a few failures, I nailed it and moved on to the second phase. This one felt like an old school schmup, where I had to avoid a barrage of feathers.

Wally Warbles

The third phase felt a lot harder. Wally falls to the ground and is replaced by one of his newly hatched babies. This little guy moves quickly and shoots a little laser gun, but the real threat was the shield of spiked eggs rotating around him at all times. They would expand and collapse regularly, forcing me to play a dangerous game of dodging and weaving through the deadly shells. I struggled with this phase quite a bit.

Finally, the last phase was the easiest. Wally returns, featherless and on a stretcher, carried by a pair of smaller birds. I had to avoid attacks from the birds while dropping bombs on the boss. I was proud to beat this guy and moved on to the third world.

The first battle I fought here was against Rumor Honeybottoms in Honeycomb Herald. As expected, the boss is a giant honeybee queen, but I didn't get to fight her right away. Instead, the first phase pits Cuphead against a policeman and some worker bees. For the first time in the game, I chose to use the homing weapon instead of my shotgun weapon. That's because there's a focus on platforming in this level. The battle screen scrolls up continuously, forcing me to jump from safe platform to safe platform. This means less time to aim at enemies, so instead I just shot the homing weapon the whole fight.

The second phase was a lot harder, where Rumor starts getting involved directly. She shoots projectiles and launches automated weapons. She also launches some torpedoes that move quickly through the platforms. After a bit of practice, I was ready for phase 3, where the queen turns herself into a place and attacks me with flying fists and giant buzzsaws (ha!). The homing weapon was a crucial tool here since the place is at the bottom of the screen. I could just focus on staying on platforms and avoiding attacks without having to worry about aiming too much.

The third boss I fought was Captain Brineybeard in Shootin' N' Lootin'. The captain rides atop his vessel, a brightly colored ship and attacks by throwing small projectiles. three of which can be parried, one of which is deadly at all times. There's also a treasure chest hanging high above the battle that falls down on me when I walk under it, during the entire battle.

There's only really two phases to this guy. In the first, while avoiding the treasure chest and projectiles, the captain summons one of three minions. There's an ink spewing octopus, a giant fucking shark and some angel dogs (???). This phase gets harder when the ship starts spitting out some cannonballs. Dodging and parrying is critical in this fight.

Finally, Brineybeard is defeated, but his ship is still fighting! This phase is short and relatively easy, but also kind of tricky. The treasure chest still moving back and forth at the top of the screen, I had to shoot at the ship's now exposed uvula. Periodically, it would wind up a huge attack that shoots a beam through the arena. I had to just duck to avoid it, but had to be careful of the treasure chest still moving above.

I still have a lot of Cuphead to play and explore, but I think I'm getting into the latter parts of the game now. I was really impressed with the animation, particularly Wally on the stretcher, Rumor Honeybottoms in general and the Shark from Captain Brineybeard.

FX Pinball 3

Date played: December 18th
Platform: PS4

FX Pinball 3 is just another version of Zen Pinball, under a different name. This series has such a weird naming convention... Either way, it's the newest launcher for the tables and it replaces Zen Pinball 2. I bought some tables, since I felt like playing some pinball, then tried them all once.

I got Portal, The Walking Dead, DOOM, Skyrim, Fallout, Ms. Marvel, Black Widow, a couple of Star Wars VII tables and a couple of more generic tables. My favorites were easily Ms. Marvel, the Kylo Ren table, the Fallout table and a theme park table.

Ms Marvel is a great table

Ms. Marvel is probably my favorite superhero of them all, so I was happy to see the table keep her quirky style and colorful art. It's fast table too, with lots of fun ramps and events. Kylo Ren feels a bit like that too. Skyrim and Fallout are particular because they allow for some character creation and equipment, which is fucking weird for a pinball game.

DOOM was particularly cool because of the awesome music and visual effects. I tend to favor tables that are more "realistic", in the sense that they could be possible in real life, so I love fancy lights and long ramps. Speaking of long ramps, one of the most fun tables was the theme park. Filled with clowns, roller coasters and carnival crap, this table feels like an old school, unlicensed pinball, and that's great.

Quantum Break

Date played: December 17th
Platform: Xbox One

I've been wanting to play Quantum Break ever since it was announced, but never got around to it. This is a game from Remedy, creators of Max Payne and Alan Wake. I was never a huge fan of Max Payne (I liked 3 a lot though), but I've loved every second of Alan Wake, so I had high hopes for Quantum Break.

Quantum Break is the story of Jack Joyce. a guy who somehow gets involved in a weird time traveling experiment. He meets up with his friend Paul at a university (maybe it's a business? Not sure) who wants to test his new machine, a time travel machine. It goes well at first, with successful travels, though of course, the logic is completely flawed, like every time travel story ever told.

Honestly, I'm quite confused by the story and what's happening, but it doesn't really matter. That's because even if the details of the story are hard to understand, the presentation and gameplay are rock solid.

This is one of the best looking video games I've played, up there with Horizon and Uncharted. It's not quite as polished as those two, but the performance capture and lighting are exceptional. I was really impressed by what the Xbox One can do here. The voice acting is fantastic too, and there's some really great camera angles. It really looks amazing.

During the experiment, something went wrong (OF COURSE!) and just like any superhero origin story, Jack gets powers. He can manipulate time in a number of ways, sometimes stopping it entirely, but mostly this affects combat and puzzle solving.

Combat is really fun and action-packed, thanks to these awesome time manipulation powers. Jack can create a "time-bubble" that slows time in a specific area for a few seconds. This slows down enemies, but also allows Jack to shoot bullets at the bubble, which will hit the enemy with ferocity once the bubble collapses.

Another power is a bullet shield, that stops bullets in their tracks for a short period. Finally, there's a "time dash" which instantly teleports Jack forward a few meters. If I aim my gun while doing it, it creates a slow motion effect, giving me time to riddle an enemy with bullets before moving on to the next. So far, my weapons have been very conventional, with a pistol, SMG and assault rifle, but they feel pretty good and combining them with the powers is a lot of fun.

Paul has come back from the future, 17 years in the future to be exact, and shit is just falling apart. I don't quite get it, but it's clear that Jack has to reverse the effects of the time machine somehow. I'm really impressed with the game so far, and it definitely hooked me as soon as I started understanding combat. The amazing graphics are just the cherry on top. I can't wait to play more of it!

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Date played: December 15th and 16th
Platform: Switch

I'm falling deep into Skyrim now. Equipped with my Flame Atronach, Bound Sword and some fire destruction magic, I headed to Bleak Falls Barrow for the game's first big dungeon. It was hidden deep in a mountain near Whiterun, so even getting there was a challenge. After a few encounters with some cougars and bandits, I entered the dungeon to find a golden claw and to uncover the secrets that lie beneath.

Bleak Falls Barrow is mostly inhabited by Draugr, which are basically skeletons brought back to life. They are pretty weak, but I still have to be careful around them because I don't have much armor, thanks to my magic robes. During my adventure into the depths of the dungeon, I encountered my first traps and my first puzzles.

The traps are a bitch because they can be really hard to see. They are typically activated by walking onto a hidden stone or something, which triggers some dangerous traps like spikes, arrows and other deadly mechanisms. I found the claw and used it to solve the puzzle. I was then able to enter the final chamber where I learned by first word in the dragon language!

I returned to Whiterun, to speak with the Jarl and his wizard, but reports of a dragon just outside the city interrupted my voyage. It was time to fight my first dragon! I had help from the Whiterun guards who attacked the giant beast with their bows and swords, but I had to help. My Flame Atronach spit fire at the dragon while I stabbed it with my Bound Sword at every opportunity, avoiding it's deadly fire-breathing attacks. When I finally killed it, I absorbed my first dragon soul, which let me speak the word I learned in the dungeon. I had my first dragon shout, Unrelenting Force.

I killed my first dragon!

I now had to go meet the Greybeards, a small group of monks that live high atop a giant mountain. They will know more about the dragon language, and why I can learn it so easily when normally only highly educated scholars can speak it.

I made some upgrades to my arsenal and I'm really digging deep into the Conjuration skill tree, dabbling in one handed combat, enchanting, alchemy and Destruction. Most of my battles are a combination of my Flame Atronach shooting fireballs, Bound Sword attacks and Flames or Firebolt. It works pretty well but I have to be really careful with my health. I can't take on soldiers head on, I have to keep some distance.

I headed for the Greybeard mountain and after speaking to a few villagers at the base, I started the long climb to the monastery. The path was pretty simple, but I was attacked by wolves and even a fucking troll along the way. The wolves are super easy, but the troll required that I use all my skills to survive. I'm also using potions a lot to boost my power or weaken enemies.

When I reached the peak of the mountain, I met with 4 of the 5 Greybeards. They explained that I am the Dragonborn, also known as Dovahkin. I can easily learn the dragon language and I can "shout". My first shout, Unrelenting Force, which pushes enemies away. The Greybeards taught me the second word of the shout, making it more powerful. The old monks also taught me the first word of my second shout, a long distance dash.

At this point, I've picked up a ton of quests from random people, just from talking to them. The world is wide open for me, and I can just pick something to do. I am now the Thane of Whiterun, thanks to my exploits as the Dragonborn, which means I am now a VIP there. I have a housecarl, Lydia, who follows me around and helps me fight. She's pretty weak, but she attracts enemies, leaving me room to cast deadly spells without getting an ax to the face. I am also allowed to purchase a home in Whiterun, though I don't want to do that, since this town was always my home the last time I played.

I also took a carriage to a couple of the bigger holds, just to unlock the fast travel point for them. I visited Falkreath, a small town to the south, Windhelm, a cold fortress to the north, and Winterhold, the sole haven for wizards in the cold lands of Skyrim.

My daughter has been watching me play occasionally and she is a huge fan of alchemy. Mixing ingredients together to make potions seems to really interest her. In fact, while we were doing some of it together, we ended up having a long conversation about alchemy in the real world, which was lots of fun. She also enjoys telling me to pick up some stuff that she finds interesting, like a ring, a circlet and apple pie.

I am not sure where I'll go next. I am thinking Falkreath might be a good choice since it's pretty close and the Jarl wants to see me, but I haven't really decided yet. 

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Date played: December 14th
Platform: Switch

Whiterun is a large, bustling city smack in the middle of Skyrim. This makes it a great place to hang out, get quests, gear and practice skills like alchemy, cooking and blacksmithing. A traditional Nord city, their citizens are mostly loyal to the Empire. They aren't very comfortable around magic, and they have very conservative values.

I stayed in Whiterun last night, getting quests, meeting people and learning new stuff. I'm only level 3, but I've already focused my skill points on Conjuration and Destruction magic. I did a few small tutorial missions like learn how to tan leather, craft and upgrade items at the forge, alchemy and even bartering.

The Companions are a group (guild?) that has their headquarters in Whiterun. These guys are just warriors, with no leaders and no real organization. They just go out and help the citizens of Skyrim anyway they can with their fighting skills. To join their ranks, I had to help the town's alchemist get rid of some dangerous bandits.

Turns out, this was probably a really bad idea. I have almost no skills, shit equipment and honestly, I just wasn't ready for a fight. When I entered the shop, three bandits attacked me with swords and axes. I died here about 3 times before deciding to bring the battle outside of the shop. This failed also, and I got my ass kicked. I then went with a different approach... I ran out of Whiterun completely into the open world and let the bad guys chase me. I found a small structure where I could jump over a wall to avoid the enemies, then jump back over to attack them. It was cheesy, but it worked. I slowly killed them with my wolf Familiar, Flames magic and a couple of axe swings.

My Breton with a Flame Atronach, a Bound Sword and the Candlelight spell

This allowed me to join the Companions, and also taught me that I wasn't ready to fight. I went back to town and made some money by selling junk and potions I had made with alchemy. This gave me enough to buy a few new spells.

First up was the solution to the darkness problem I had in the first few hours. Candlelight is a simple, cheap spell that illuminates the area around me. It doesn't last very long, but it's super useful in dark areas. The next spell I bought was Bound Sword, a spell that creates an ethereal blade for a few minutes. I figure, this might be a good way for me to complement my spell-casting, but I'm not sure yet.

The big addition to my arsenal is the Flame Atronach. This fire spirit appears in the form of a woman (demon?) on fire and shoots fireballs at enemies. She's very strong, stronger than anything I can do on my own right now, so it's a huge upgrade.

Now that I'm all equipped and ready to go, I will head to Bleak Falls Barrow to continue the main story. I remember getting my first dragon shout there, so I think it's a good place to go. Plus, it's right next to Whiterun anyway!

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Date played: December 13th
Platform: Switch

Well, after playing the shit out of this game back in 2012 on PS3, then again a bit more in 2014 when I bought my PC, I'm back in the saddle with this year's Switch version. I've played most of what the basic game has to offer, but I've never messed with the expansions, and I've only really had one play style, sword and board.

Portable Skyrim? Yes please!

It's kind of stupid of me to buy this game. I mean, I still have the PC version, and it runs great and has mods. However, nothing beats the ease of use and portability of the Nintendo Switch. Knowing that Skyrim is one of my favorite games of all time (easily top 10), I still went ahead and bought it.

It was a great decision. Just booting up the game felt like slipping into an old, comfortable chair. It feels like home. It feels like I want to jump in there and not come out for another 100 hours.

The Switch version is pretty much the same as the "Enhanced edition" released on PS4 and Xbox One last year, with some motion control options and a couple of Zelda items added. It looks surprisingly good too, with many special effects, solid framerate and decent lighting. It's a bit too dark sometimes, but then again, dungeons are supposed to be dark right?

The real reason I bought Skyrim again is because I've been feeling the urge to play it all year, and now that it's portable, it's even easier! Last night, I did some alchemy in the bathroom while my daughter was brushing her teeth. I fought some wolves while waiting for my dog to pee. It's great! On top of that, the 3 DLC packs are included in this version, and I've never played them, so I look forward to that stuff.

I chose to make a different kind of character this time, my first magic user. I'm gonna try to make a Conjurer, summoning creatures and raising zombies and stuff. I don't know if that's going to work or not, but I'll give it a shot. Right now, I'm using a Familiar (spectral wolf) and a couple of destruction spells like flames. I also have a shield and an axe, but I'm trying to avoid using them to level up my magic instead.

I've played through the opening moments of the game, reaching the village of Riverwood, then the big city of Whiterun. I didn't do very much except talk with a bunch of people, gathering quests and side quests. I dabbled with alchemy, blacksmithing and bought a couple of spells, but I'm low on money and don't have a lot of options. I also know I should continue the main mission for now because I need to get myself some fucking dragonshouts!

I'm really glad to be playing this game again!

Rocket League

Date played: December 12th
Platform: PS4

Lining up the shot for an awesome goal

I really don't have anything cool to say, except that I had a good time playing a few rounds of Rocket League, flying in my Seb Force One car. I did well, but nothing amazing. Couple of goals, a few epic saves and lots of fun!

Furi

Date played: December 11th
Platform: PS4

Furi is hard as balls. It's an arena based boss fight game. I play as a swordsman who wants to escape a prison, and that's about as deep as the story really gets. This game is all about the combat against the bosses.

These fights aren't short affairs either, they are long and drawn out with many phases each. They are so long in fact that I think the game might not have that many. It reminds me a bit of Cuphead in it's structure, except the fights are much longer.

The combat system is solid, with some sword attacks, some projectile attacks and charged versions of both. There's also a parry and a dash, and that's about it. What makes Furi interesting is it's intense speed and hardcore difficulty. I mean, I beat the first boss on the first try, but it was damn close. The second boss was within my grasp, but I wasn't able to take her down.

All the music has been absolutely amazing, though I already knew that since it's what got me interested in the game in the first place! The upbeat, synth heavy tunes mesh well with the neon infused, sparse visuals.

While I love everything that Furi is doing, I'm not sure I love what it's doing to me. That is, kicking my ass into the ground and kicking me in the balls at every opportunity. This is a tough fucking game, and I think it might be a little too hard for me. We'll see, maybe I'll get the urge to take on the homicidal maniac chick in a leather gimp suit on rollerblades once again.

Super Mario Odyssey

Date played: December 9th and 10th
Platform: Switch

Now that I've completed the main story, I get to dig into the real meat of Mario's latest adventure, gathering power moons! While I enjoyed the little story and loved the battles and bosses, they don't compare with the pure joy of just exploring each Kingdom, trying to find every hidden moon and purple coin.

I did a lot of that.

I returned to where it all started, the Cap Kingdom. I can now open those metal cubes that show up in most kingdoms. They unlock a bunch of new moons to discover! At the same time, Princess Peach is going on a trip around the world, visiting every Kingdom. I have to find her in each of them to get a power moon. There are also some common mission types that have been popping up, such as a race against some Koopas. I messed around in the Cap Kingdom for a while, gathering moons, though I wasn't able to get them all yet.

My daughter watched me play a little bit and suggested we take a look at the Cloud Kingdom, since she hadn't seen it. This one is tiny though, with only a total of 9 moons to gather, 2 of which I already got when I did the story stuff here. I got them all now! A fun mission had me go through a cube where each side was a 2D room, with the 6th side cleverly hiding a bonus moon.

The best of these was a funny mission where I had to recreate a Goomba's face by grabbing stickers of it's mouth, eyes and eyebrows. This might sound easy, but placing the items correctly was rather difficult. I fucked up with the mouth a few times, and since the stickers disappear as soon as they are placed, it gave us some hilarious results.

After a few attempts, I got the two moons from the mission, but my daughter was really interested in trying it. When she failed her first attempt horribly, it quickly became the joke of the day. We must have spent 20 minutes just replaying this mission, trying to make funny Goombas! It was fucking great.

Finally, I went back to the Sand Kingdom and spent a lot of time just exploring and getting moons. Gathering hints from the parrot, Amiibo and maybe even the Toad guy is becoming more and more important, since the obvious moons are all gone. It's fun though, since there's so much to find everywhere. The Koopa race was particularly fun. There's still tons more to discover!

Street Fighter V

Date played: December 10th
Platform: PS4

I was at a kid's birthday party last night and ended up playing a couple of rounds of Street Fighter V, once against my brother and once against a 9 year old girl. Since I've only played this version of the game once before, I picked Ryu for my first battle, and my brother picked Ken. The classic match.

We were both pulling off Hadokens, Shoruykens and spinning kicks right away, even if we were really rusty. I won the match, but it was pretty close. The battle got the 9 year old girl's attention and she asked to play the winner. She picked Rashid, one of the new characters, while I went to my favorite character, Dhalsim.

Ryu vs Ken

Dhalsim feels very different than in IV... His fireballs are now lobbed instead of shot directly in front of him, so that was really hard for me to adjust. His teleport is completely different too, I didn't really have enough time to learn it. Still, I knew all my basic moves and was confident I could win against this inexperienced child.

I was wrong.

She kicked my ass, button mashing her way to victory. Rashid is actually a pretty fast character that seems to favor close range combat, so it might have been a really bad idea for me to use Dhalsim, but still, I gotta give the kid credit. She was ruthless. She proved it by also beating my brother in the next match. I like Street Fighter V, if only I had some people to play it with regularly...

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

Date played: December 10th
Platform: PS4

This game is weird. It's good, but it feels like a giant mess sometimes. I spent most of my time just walking around Prague, breaking into people's apartments via hacking, then stealing all their shit. I'm kind of leaning towards hacking with each mission or challenge. I don't really like combat too much, it's a bit too stiff...

I hack into a system to authenticate some documents

It's funny, I played more than an hour of this game last night, and I don't think I've actually accomplished much. I mean, I gathered some money, bought some ammo (including some darts for my awesome rifle) and upgraded my hacking ability. I also managed to authenticate one of the two people's documents for a side mission.

I've reached a big story area now though, since I wasn't really getting anywhere with my side missions. I bet there's gonna be some fun stuff soon, I gotta stop just fucking around.

Rocket League

Date played: December 9th and 10th
Platform: PS4

I don't really have a "big" game right now that is capturing my attention. I've been trying to get into Deus Ex, but it's a bit slow and isn't really grabbing me. Racing games are still great, but they require intense concentration, which isn't always what I'm looking for in a video game. Same with Cuphead. I kind of got sick of Overwatch, though I'm sure I'll come back to it someday. Then there's the amazing Switch games, Mario and Zelda, but I guess I still need some multiplayer action once in awhile. So I've been defaulting to Rocket League. Always good, always fast, always fun.

I speed ahead of the competition to score an open-net goal!

I'm doing better and better, landing more aerial shots and generally playing better, though I still get my ass kicked on a regular basis. I'm settling back into my usual role in a sports team, the playmaker. While I still score a few goals here and there, most of my effort is usually focused on controlling the play and creating scoring opportunities for my team while eliminating enemy opportunities. This game is always a good choice to relieve some stress and relax.

Super Mario Odyssey

Date played: December 8th
Platform: Switch

I finished Super Mario Odyssey! Or at least, I saw the end of the main story and credits... because the game is FAR from over.

Yippee!

I chased Bowser and Peach all the way to the moon, where they would get married inside a beautiful church. As soon as I got off the Odyssey to roam the lunar surface, I noticed that the gravity was much lower than usual, so I was able to make huge jumps! This opens up a lot of new challenges, as many power moons are hidden in areas that would be inaccessible with normal gravity. I navigated the dry, empty lands of the rocky satellite, fighting or avoiding some giant floating octopus. The best moment was a 2D sequence that incorporated the low gravity mechanics.

I morph into Chargin' Chuck during the gauntlet

To reach the chapel, I had to enter a dark tunnel that led to a genuine gauntlet sequence! I had to navigate through some fiery areas by capturing enemies and using their abilities to traverse. This included some Hammer Bros, some Bullet Bills and even some Chargin' Chucks! At the end of it, I had to fight one of the earlier bosses again, the Broodal queen (mother?). She had upgraded her Chain Chomp to wear more hats and to have more dangerous attacks, so it took me a few tries to win this one.

Finally, I was ready to challenge Bowser himself directly. The ceremony looks surprisingly classy, with beautiful decorations and lots of guests, but still, it's clear that Peach is being forced into this... Mario jumps into action and attacks, but somehow, the floor collapses and the trio fall down a giant hole in the middle of the moon.

Smacking Bowser in the mouth

I fought Bowser head on, which was similar to the Cloud Kingdom battle, but harder. I still had to knock his hat off, then wear it to attack with punching gloves. Bowser attacked with stomps that shot out fiery rings around him, threw a number of large objects at me, breathed fire at me and even attacked with his tail. It took me a few tries to nail down the timing, but after a few deaths, I knocked him out!

Bowser with a mustache. Hot.

To my surprise, this was not going to be good enough. With Bowser knocked out, Mario heads towards Peach when once again, the floor collapses! I don't understand why this is happening, but either way, the three of us end up stranded in a cavern, imprisoned by walls of rocks and bricks. Desperate times call for desperate measures... Mario does the only thing he can think of and "possesses" Bowser himself!

This segment was just fucking great... There's an upbeat J-pop song playing, with lyrics and all, as I control Bowser with Peach riding on his shoulder. I smash dozens of walls and bricks to find a way out to the beat of the awesome song! This level felt a lot like the last levels in Halo games, where there's usually some kind of crazy vehicular segment. It was a fitting end to a masterful video game.

All is well that ends well. We found a way out by smashing into a large metal cube. This revealed how to open the rare metal cubes I've found in various levels. Mario and Bowser make one last attempt at gaining Peach's attention by offering her some flowers. She doesn't give Mario the traditional kiss or cake, instead, she just leaves both of them there to nurse their blue balls. Cue credits.

That's not all though. Of course, there's still hundreds of power moons for me to hunt and find all over each level, but I was surprised to find myself in the Mushroom Kingdom! The fuckers actually did it, they recreated the castle from Super Mario 64! This isn't just a small little place either, it's got a whole set of power moons and purple coins to find. Shit, they even give you a star (oops, I mean a moon) when you look at the light in the ceiling of the castle in first person view, just like when that triggered the bonus level in the N64 classic.

The Mushroom Kingdom was the best surprise

Like shit, they even put in Yoshi, which I can control and use to gather fruit! There's a ton of new items to buy at the store, including an epic Mario 64 outfit that makes Mario look like his original 3D model. I don't want to complete this level yet, I want to keep it for later because it's so good... I think I'll go back to other levels and gather some random moons.

Super Mario Odyssey is an absolute masterpiece and an instant classic. It will live on as a unforgettable video game, and it still holds many, many secrets for me to discover. I fucking loved Super Mario Odyssey.

Rocket League

Date played: December 4th
Platform: PS4

Rocket League is my gaming comfort food. Last night, I just couldn't pick a game... Candidates included starting my Chinese Grand Prix in F1 2017, more spy shit in Deus Ex, pure violence with DOOM or more colorful platforming with Mario. The allure of rocket powered car soccer and short matches made me choose Rocket League instead.

I outmaneuver everyone to score this beauty 

I played rather well, I think my recent return to the game is starting to show in my performance. While I wasn't quite "flying" yet, I am starting to land more aerial shots and have better overall positioning and faster reflexes. I'm faster, better and smarter than the last few sessions, but still nowhere near my peak from when I played this daily.

Deus Ex Mankind Divided

Date played: December 3rd
Platform: PS4

I'm starting to get to grips with this game and it's complex systems. The story is starting to make a bit more sense too... I decided to abandon the document forging side mission and tried to find another way inside the gate. I was getting in trouble too often, dying too often, so I figured it was time for a new approach.

This proved to be a pretty good idea, though I still had to fight some guys that I didn't expect to fight. My job was to find the man that would help me repair my augmentations, but he was well protected by thugs.

After lots of messing around and messing with security systems, I found a way in through a hidden gate. Inside, I still had some goons to dispatch though... I might be missing something, but I just can't find any ammo for my tranquilizer gun. It seems all I'm left with are the occasional melee attacks, which is limited because of my battery power, and guns. Lots of guns.

I used my last tranquilizer dart on a distant enemy, threw a mine in the path of another, then shot the rest with my pistol and submachine gun. Enemies are a bit weaker than I first thought, they go down in just a few bullets for the most part, so combat isn't that bad.

After killing a bunch of bad guys, I was free to finally talk with the augmentation specialist. He agreed to help me, putting me to sleep so that he could "open me up". While this led to the desired effect of restoring my abilities, it also revealed some pretty crazy shit.

This man was my "doctor"

It seems that someone, somewhere, implanted me with some hidden augmentations! My new friend was able to unlock them, but if I want to use it, I have to be careful with my power consumption. This means that I have to choose certain augmentations over others... Unless I can find another man who can give me more power.

I spent some time with the tech tree, and while it's pretty small, it has many powerful abilities, so it's hard to make intelligent choices. I boosted my carrying capacity, since it looked pretty damn small, then spent some points in hacking and vision. I bought a few physical skills, like the one that lets me drop an infinite distance without hurting myself. I think I've got a decent set of augmentations to start the game, but I'm not quite sure yet. 

Rocket League

Date played: December 3rd
Platform: PS4

I score a goal through the crowd

I had an urge to play some multiplayer, so I booted up Rocket League for a few matches. There's kind of nothing to say, except that Rocket League is still one of the best multiplayer games ever made. I did pretty well, including a game where I got myself a nice hat trick. The best match is when I scored a goal to tie while the timer was at zero. My teammate made a beautiful pass along the wall as the timer wound down, then the ball flew over the grass in front of the goal. I had the right position and speed, so I rammed straight into it and got the game into overtime! We won that match shortly after. Rocket League is clearly one of favorite games of all time...

Golf Story

Date played: December 3rd
Platform: Switch

I had a bit of time to kill yesterday Golf Story was the perfect way to have some fun. I played through all of the second course, in Lurker Valley. The place has a bit of a prehistoric vibes, including some giant, mysterious footprints, some old turtles and a few people who don't quite have the expected level of speech mastery that you come to expect out of a normal person.

Tar pit challenge in Lurker Valley

My most interesting challenge was from a group of 4 golfers. They challenged me to reach the green and out the ball in the hole, while fulfilling a special requirement. The first one was easy, I just had to stay on the fairway and green. The second asked that I only play on rough and green, then the third was deep rough and green. Finally, the last guy asked that I hit only sand bunkers and green!

All 4 of these challenges required a completely different approach to the same hole, while also requiring some pretty good accuracy. It was lots of fun! This opened up the shop, where I bought some better "digging" clubs. They are intended for use in sand bunkers, but they can also be used as an improvised digging tool.

This allowed me to repair the relationship between the two golf clubs, as I found their missing idol, buried deep on one of the fairways. I learned all this by forming a strange but funny relationship with an archaeologist (NOT A PALEONTOLOGIST!). I also got to play through the entire 9 hole course. It was a really fun one, with lots of interesting challenges, including some shots that required that I ricochet my ball off a turtle's shell.

Back at the first golf course, I now had a few outstanding items to deal with. First was to get rid of the disc golf crew by beating them at their own game. The controls for it are tricky, but I got good enough to at least pass the challenge. I also unlocked a mini-golf course, which was fun but a bit too easy. Impressed by my play in Lurker Valley, the coach finally agreed to coach me. I completed a short driving range competition too.

There's still a lot waiting for me in this game, including a bunch of new areas, so I can't wait to see where it takes me. This is a quality golf game for people that don't really like golf. It's kind of great.

Super Mario Odyssey

Date played: December 2nd
Platform: Switch

This dragon boss was awesome!

Mario and Cappy ride the Odyssey towards Bowser's Kingdom to stop him from marrying Peach, once and for all (as if!). We were ambushed by Bowser along the way and had to fight him and his new friend, a giant dragon! I have a feeling the developers wanted to show off their graphical prowess here, because the world is really sparse. The entire Ruined Kingdom is really just a stage for the battle against the dragon, which is very impressive graphically.

I fought the giant beast for a while. The battle wasn't easy, since the dragon could throw dangerous blades of light as well as stomp on the ground with it's jaw to create some deadly shock waves. Once it stopped, I had an opportunity to attack it directly by yanking off some chains then doing a ground stomp on it's head. It was a really fun battle.

Once defeated, I had to chase Bowser back to his Kingdom. Bowser's Kingdom is themed around samurais in a medieval Japanese setting. It's way more colorful than I expected and it's one of the biggest levels yet.

Many of the puzzles revolved around taking control of a wood pecking bird. This little guy can stick his beak in certain types of material to launch himself into the air. There was a surprising amount of variety in how I could use them and it was a lot of fun to just explore. I gathered about 20 moons already in this level and I'm not even done with it yet!

Bowser's Kingdom is lots of fun

I had a couple of fights against some Broodals too, though it seems like I'm done with them now. The second battle, against the lady Broodal, was really cool. She used her pigtails to launch giant mines at Mario. I had to shoot them back at her to stun her, then stomp her head a few times. I'm very impressed with Bowser's Kingdom so far, and I can't wait to come back and scour every inch of it to find hidden moons.