The Last Of Us

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

Incredible. Simple incredible.

Naughty Dog has just released The Last Of Us, a stealth action game set in a post-fungal apocalypse world. The game has one of the strongest openings in a video game, it's up there with the first five minutes of Dead Space 2. It starts 20 years before the game proper, with Joel living a normal life with his teenage daughter. His daughter is the first controllable character. She wakes up to a phone call during the night from her uncle who seems distressed. She starts looking for her dad who comes in the house, yelling that they need to leave as the neighbors are acting weird. Then the neighbor crashes through the window and Joel has to shoot him to protect himself. They escape and make it to a police checkpoint. Tragically, the daughter is shot by the officer as they think she is infected.

What makes the whole thing great is the presentation and atmosphere. It feels....real. First, the graphics are jaw-dropping. The attention to detail is insane and really makes the world feel believable. The character's face animation is stunning too, relaying their emotion very well. Combined with amazing acting, it makes everything feel super polished.

The Last Of Us starts really strong

20 years after the intro, Joel is some sort of smuggler who is working with a girl named Tess. They are after a guy named Raymond for some reason. It seems he may have stolen some of Tess's gear or something. There's also a group called the Fireflies that seems to be some sort of organized resistance. It's not quite clear yet. Either way, Joel and Tess made their way to Raymond's hideout and that's where the actual gameplay started. This is a stealth game so far. Joel crouches behind cover and walks around slowly, trying to take down guards without getting shot too much. Ammo is extremely limited and I've had to rely on silent takedowns, shivs, wooden planks and even bricks to take down enemies.

The stealth is enhanced with a "listening" mode, where Joel can focus on his hearing to see where enemies are when they make sound. It works really well and I like the mechanics so far. The shooting is a little stiff but it works and feels powerful. We got to Raymond, he told us he got a deal with the Fireflies and sold them our weapons. This resulted in a bullet to the head from Tess. We then found a person that would help us recover our weapons in exchange for a delivery job. The catch is that the cargo is a 14 year old girl, Ellie. She was infected by the virus but is not turning into a monster, which is probably why she is so valuable. Joel is now tasked with bringing the girl outside the city safely. I cannot fucking wait to play more of this game...

Mario vs Donkey Kong

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

This game is getting better and better, even if it's now a lot harder than the first few worlds. I've completed the last few levels of World 3, played through World 4 and started World 5. World 3 was pretty easy and simple throughout, with the simplest boss fight yet. It's called Fire Mountain and of course, features a bunch of lava all over the place. I had to navigate areas that had rising and falling lava, ferrying keys up and down some switch activated platforms. I also met some fiery birds that dropped flaming turds.

Flame-throwing Shy-Guys and birds that shit fire

World 4 is called Spooky house. Obviously, this part features some Boo's as it's pretty much just set in a ghost house. I also had to avoid Thwomps, the falling stone monoliths. I was forced to use more advanced techniques in this world. Things like throwing keys, back-flipping and using switches to create platforms out of ghosts. The puzzles were good, challenging and not frustrating, with the exception of one that had a stray ghost that kept getting in my way. I made lots of mistakes too and got a couple of Game Over screens as a reward... The boss battle was all about picking up shy-guys at the right time to throw them at DK. It was pretty easy.

World 5 is called Mystic Forest and introduces a new switch that controls the direction of conveyor belts in the level. Of course, I had to use those to bring a key to the door, but I also had to use block switches to make a path. There is also an enemy type that can push Mario through small openings since he can't crawl. Add all those things into a level and you have an interesting puzzle. 

Call of Duty Black Ops 2

I felt like this chick when using a shotgun

Date played: June 17th
Platform: PS3
Session fun rating: 6/10

I played a few matches but I was kind of absent-minded and not very awake... Needless to say, I didn't quite perform as well as usual, even scoring an abysmal 2/12 in my worst match. I also tried a shotgun but hated it fiercely. I managed only one kill with it, it really doesn't fit my style at all... The only match where I did pretty well was on Studio, the Firing Range remake. 

Mario vs Donkey Kong

Mario vs DK is btter than expected

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

Mario vs Donkey Kong is a Game Boy Advance game that I received as part of the 3DS ambassador program. I played through the first two worlds and a good chunk of the third. There are only 6 worlds as far as I can tell so this should be a pretty short game, though some of the puzzles are starting to get pretty difficult.

This is a puzzle platformer that has Mario getting a key to a door, gathering collectible gifts and saving miniature Mario clones. There are also special levels where Mario controls the mini-Marios and has to bring them safely to a toy box. The last level of each world featured a battle against DK himself. The first one was very simple, but the second fight had me throwing barrels at him from platforms while avoiding attacks. This game is surprisingly addictive and fun.

Final Fantasy VI

Uh?

Date played: June 16th
Platform: Vita
Session fun rating: 4/10

Everytime I leave an old school RPG for more than a couple of weeks, I forget where I left off. I should have checked out this blog to see what I was supposed to do, which was to return to Zozo to see Celes again. Instead, I used my airship to explore the world a bit. I found a few little towns but nothing useful. I did manage to find a new Esper though, it was given to me by a hidden citizen in one of the towns...

Fire Emblem Awakening

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

I finished Fire Emblem Awakening! I first played through Paralogue 22 and a few random battles though. Paralogue 22 was the most interesting of the free DLC missions. It pit my team and Aversa (the dark witch) against an evil twin team. The other team consisted of copies of every unit I had on the field. That meant I had a crew of fucking bad ass enemies to beat. Thankfully, they don't pair up so I paired up everyone, put my strongest units at the head of a choke point and took out the opposing team one by one. Gerome and My Unit were by far the toughest to beat, both having high defense, resistance and amazing avoidance.

After a few random challenges, I checked out Paralogue 23 but it seemed more like a bonus mission than anything else because it featured an obscene amount of units, something like 30 or so. I don't have enough depth to take out a strong team of that size so I just skipped the mission and went to the last battle.

Chrom and Lissa in the epilogue

The last fight wasn't very hard, but it had to be completed quickly as the fell dragon Grima calls in reinforcements every turn. If not dealt with quickly, I could have been overwhelmed. I also had to choose whether to kill off Grima forever by using my unit or sealing him away for a few hundred years with Chrom's blade. I chose to end the madness and sacrificed my unit to kill Grima. During the credits, I read eulogies from all my fighters, a nice touch. There was a short epilogue suggesting that my unit survived and was found by Chrom and Lissa put it wasn't super clear.

This is easily my favorite game of this year. After 47 hours of play, I'm really happy I bought this. Nintendo really knows how to create interesting games, I wish they would have more mechanics heavy titles like Fire Emblem. Maybe they will revive Advance Wars?

Outrun 2 SP

Racing cabinets fucking rock

Date played: June 15th
Platform: Arcade
Session fun rating: 8/10

I spent the day at La Ronde in Montreal, a large amusement park. Of course, it has an arcade (it actually has two...) with a ton of cool games, though most of them are at least 5 years old. I saw the Outrun 2 SP two player cabinet from a distance and decided to play it right away. I love racing games in general, but in an arcade, I love them even more!

I managed to play the default event all the way to the 5th and final leg of the race but ran down the checkpoint clock before I could finish... I had a lot of fun playing, mainly because my daughter was sitting on my lap for a good chunk of the race. I should also mention that the game plays really well, the drifting mechanics are tons of fun to use. This game is perfect for an arcade, I just wish it had better graphics.

Grid 2

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

I scored my first real online podium!!! My trusty GT-R proved to be enough for me to hold on to 2nd place until the finish line. I lead the race for quite a while but a good player in a BAC Mono passed me during the second lap. This race felt really good, I was in complete control of the car and had a very good, if not impeccable, racing line.

My sexy flowers set the mood before a race

I did well in other races too. I placed 4th many times and never placed below 7. This is my best so far. The Golf always does a good job in the lower classes, but now I've upgraded it all the way to the top end of Tier 1. Interestingly, the cars can be levelled up beyond their initial tier. I've also spent a good amount of time (and in-game money!) on a good custom paint job for the Golf. I would have done it with the GT-R too but the game doesn't allow me to modify it's paint for some reason.

Now, I MUST capture my first win.  

Civilization V

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

The Irish are taking over the continent... I fought a very long and strenuous war against China. In fact, I am still nibbling at their last city, a coastal town that they built a few turns before I declared war on them. I did manage to annex both Beijing and Shanghai as well as another small town. Shanghai and the other city weren't too much trouble but Beijing was a fucking bitch to crack. I used mostly cannons, lancers and musket-men to take it over but it cost me a lot of units. The fact that the Chinese built the Great Wall didn't really help matters much. Eventually though, I managed to overpower the city.

My nation of Irish Muslims at war with China

I also conquered the city-state of Prague as it stood in the way of China's last city. They didn't put up a fight. I'm not quite sure of the direction I want to take with this game yet. I think a cultural victory is possible but I have a lot of cities, which makes it harder. I think the scientific victory is the most realistic for this game...

Skullgirls

Date played: June 12th
Platform: PS3
Session fun rating: 9/10

I played about an hour of Skullgirls against my roommate. This was her first time playing this game so it took a few rounds for her to get used to the controls and feel of the game. One thing that always stands out when I boot up Skullgirls is just how fucking amazing the animation is. It's really in a class of it's own...

The Skullgirls

I used a few different characters but as usual, I settled back into using Valentine and Parasol. Valentine really fits my style and Parasol has some cool assists and ranged attacks. I beat my friend in almost matches but a few of them were really fucking close. She managed one win using Pinwheel.

Labyrinth Legends

Date played: June 12th
Platform: PS3
Session fun rating: 2/10

This game sucks

I got Labyrinth Legends for free as part of the PS Plus program. Long story short, this game's local multiplayer mode sucks donkey balls. I didn't try the single player but my roommate and I tried the three modes included. This game is played from a top-down perspective in single screen arenas. Survival mode pit us against increasingly difficult enemies until we died. The combat all melee and only features two attacks, at least as far as I could make out. This mode was the most boring as the game doesn't "feel" good when fighting. Domination mode was even stupider, though definitely more fun, as it was basically a 1 vs 1 button mashing battle. The best mode was Treasure Hunt which had us navigate a maze to gather a gold pile. Since gold respawns after every pickup, the mode feels a bit like Pac-Man in a lot of ways. Also, the art style is shitty and the graphics are not interesting.

Civilization V

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

ONE.

MORE.

FUCKING.

TURN.

This game has a way of redirecting 100% of my mental capacity into playing it. It's amazing how time becomes a fucking joke in the face of Sid Meier's epic humanity building tool.

Irish muslims hehehe

I picked a random leader and random attributes again, this time playing as the Irish. I built a strong, peaceful civilization around the west coast of a very large continent. Edinburgh grew into a large metropolis that fed the growth of 5 more cities. So far, China has been my main threat since they are large, powerful and sitting on my borders. They haven't moved on me though.

I made a very religious and cultural civilization and have a few wonders including the pyramids and The Great Lighthouse. I decided to make my Irish found Islam.... Lol. I've now reached the renaissance and can't wait to finish this game.

Grid 2

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

I finally did a bit better in Grid's online mode. I really think there's a tiny player pool in the racing playlist because I'm starting to know a couple of dudes. I'm beginning to recognize their individual play styles and cars. I also remember when they try to fuck me over by bumping me.

I lead a race for more than 2 laps but made a small mistake halfway through the last lap and ended in 4th. I managed a few more 4th and 5th place races and made it to level 4. I upgraded my Golf and had great success with the Nissan GT-R. I like this game a lot, I just wish I was better at it. The skill level online is pretty damn high compared to other games...

Modnation Racers

Accurate

Date played: June 11th
Platform: PS3
Session fun rating: 9/10

I played half a dozen races in split screen against my roommate and her friend. We only used the stock tracks and one downloaded track. The stock tracks are well balanced but honestly, they get boring pretty quickly. I made myself a little white dude with freaky eyes and a gigantic horn in the middle of his forehead. I also made him a spartan car that looks a lot like a Super Mario Kart vehicle.

I won all but one of the races we had... I've always been a good racer in video games and MNR rewards that. My roommate defeated me once with a nice clean race and some smart shooting. We had a few close races and had tons of fun. Her friend didn't fare as well and was 6th in almost every race. Better luck next time!

Bioshock Infinite

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

Skyhookin'

I played through a short portion of the game, though honestly, nothing of note really happened. This was a basic explore and shoot section. I did pick up a new vigor, a murder of crows that stuns enemies. It was useful in some of the larger battles I had while exploring this section. I also learned how to fight while on the sky hook rail system. Basically, instead of just jumping from one spot to the next, I was able to travel through the city by riding the rails, similar to what was done in Metroid Prime 3. The difference is that in Bioshock, I am able to control the speed of my character and shoot enemies on the fly. It works well and feels fucking amazing. I hope there's a bit of story soon...

Fire Emblem Awakening

Close call on Paralogue 20...

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

I saved Emmeryn! I played through Paralogues 20 and 21, peppered with some random battles. Paralogue 20 was very long as I didn't want to lose any characters along the way. I took my time, built a solid fortress of units around Emmeryn and stood my fucking ground until all I had left was the boss. I had a few close calls, including having Cordelia at 3 HP and Maribelle at 4 HP but eventually, we made it and recruited the powerful sage.

Paralogue 21 was about a swordsman, I think he is one of my characters father. However, I didn't bring the right character with me and wasn't able to recruit him. The mission itself was a refreshingly easy map. After all the craziness of Paralogue 20, it was really nice to crush the opposition once more.

Call of Duty Black Ops 2

Date played: June 10th
Platform: PS3
Session fun rating: 5/10

Bah, I just killed some time with some online multiplayer. I did very well on Carrier, the cruise ship and Studio. I also finally took down another player controlled vehicle with my anti-air rockets, leaving only five more to get it's gold camo... I'm up to level 29 on my first prestige.

Kirby's Adventure

High Jump!

Date played: June 8th and 9th
Platform: Wii U
Session fun rating: 8/10

I played through worlds 3 and 4 of Kirby's Adventure. This game has it's flaws, but it's still the first time in a while I've played a NES game for more than 10 minutes... World 3 is called Butter Building and honestly, I don't remember anything special about it except that it was pleasant and calm. World 4 was a bit of a bitch though. I started dying in this world, mainly due to bottomless pits and more enemies in each screen.

The boss is the one that really got to me though. One of the abilities Kirby can gain is High Jump. The boss is a huge lightning cloud with an eye that floats around and tries to zap the little pink dude. I didn't realize that High Jump could actually damage enemies so I went through 6 lives before I understood the fight... I feel like an idiot but I finally made it through once I understood how to use High Jump!

Fire Emblem Awakening

Min Max time!

Date played: June 7th
Platform: 3DS
Session fun rating: 8/10

I played through a shit ton of random battles just to get a few level ups, to improve my supports and to increase my secondary weapon skills on some of my units. A few of my characters are starting to reach the cap on certain stats so I think I should just finish the damn game but I love it too much....

I also tried Paralogue 20 which amazingly, featured the return of Chrom's royal sister, Emmeryn. She is disoriented, talks like a child and doesn't recognize her family. Of course, a battle follows and I have to rescue her. Unfortunately, I didn't expect every single unit on the map to rush her and kill her in two hits
. I will have to use a tactic similar to Tiki's chapter where I had to surround her with units to protect her. 

Grid 2

Date played: June 4th
Platform: PC
Session fun rating: 7/10

I played exclusively online this time and managed some better finishes, usually around 4th or 5th. I'm starting to get a feel for the tracks and how other players play. I bought my first new car with the little amount of money I've been awarded from races. I went with the Volkswagen Golf GTI hatchback. It handles well, has a good amount of power. I'm still just level 2 though, I'm having a hard time getting a podium finish...

Call of Duty Black Ops 2

Date played: June 5th
Platform: PS3
Session fun rating: 10/10

Barbarian Conquest 101 *Black Ops 2 edition*
Serves 2 players

-Start with a 19-1 kill streak
-Add cheers from your roommate and teammate
-Finish your first game 25-4
-Keep being fucking badass all night
-Enjoy badass effect propagation through roommate's performance
-Dance a little bit between rounds
-Stay focused
-Stay hydrated (I choose Gatorade)
-Keep your chin up when you get killed
-Don't sprint
-Get out while you're on top

GG

Grid 2

Date played: June 3rd
Platform: PC
Session fun rating: 8/10

I played almost exclusively online as the AI, as usual, sucks in this game. It just doesn't look anything like what real players are playing like. Sure, it looks a lot like a real car would normally drive, but playing online reveals that real players know this is a video game, and that makes it a lot more fun.

Screen capture provided by roommate :-)

Online, people are a bit dangerous. Everyone seems to try their best with a few exceptions who cause crashes for no reason. However, most crashes seem pretty damn natural to me. In fact, I've crashed so many times that I can start to believe everyone plays like a gentleman. Either way, I ended up in the back half of most races. I managed a couple of fourth and fifth finishes but most of the time, I was in the seventh to tenth range. The faster cars are extremely difficult to handle at times but also provide some fucking awesome sequences! I am only a level 2 player which severely limits my options but I'm sure I'll get better in time.

Fire Emblem Awakening

Date played: June 2nd and 3rd
Platform: 3DS
Session fun rating: 10/10

Walhart is a fucking asshole...

I played through chapter 25, the last before the end boss. I also completed Paralogues 18 and 19, along with some scattered random challenge battles.

Chapter 25 was quite dramatic but not very difficult at all. I just trampled through the trashy enemies on the way to the boss, Aversa, Validar's....partner? Paralogue 18 wasn't really difficult either as it had pretty weak enemies. Gangrel, one of the early bosses, is among the enemies and he seems like a defeated man. I spoke to him with Chrom, but unusually, he didn't quite join my team right away. I had to speak to him three times before he finally agreed and I could kill the boss.

Walhart is the motherfucking king of red lobsters

Paralogue 19 was a whole other ordeal though. It was easily one of the hardest levels in the game so far. The enemies are very numerous and pretty damn strong. While one of them is far from being a threat to any on my team, two are very dangerous to some of my weaker units. It took three failed attempts before I could survive until the end with all characters alive. In my first attempt, the reinforcements surprised me. In the two following tries, Lissa, my main healer, died. I finally paired her up with Sully who has high defense to bolster her survivability. I also abandoned the idea of splitting my team up into small groups. I just moved like a little, 12 headed turtle. When Walhart finally got close without killing anyone, I took him down easily with Gerome, my now overpowered flying axeman.

Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition

Dhalsim vs Cammy

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

I played some SSFIV with my room mate and one of her friends. Both of them are very novice but they both picked up the basics very quickly. Soon enough, I had to make an effort to win. I won a lot at first, using any character really, but as the girls got a bit better, I had to start fighting for real. Then it happened. One of them beat me while I was using Dhalsim... This was a huge blow to my ego so I made sure that it wouldn't happen again by being very very careful in my next fights.

Grid 2

Date played: May 28th
Platform: PC
Session fun rating: 9/10

I finally have my hands on Grid 2! I've been waiting for a good racing game for a long time, I haven't really played a good racing game since the last Need for Speed game. I played through a few events for the two racing teams that I have unlocked. I also played a vehicle challenge event that let me unlock a new car.

First, the game looks stunning. I don't have the best PC around but it's good enough to play the game on high at 1080p with about 45 fps. I couldn't turn on the advanced lighting effects, as in the last Dirt game but it still looks pretty damn good. I played with a controller of course and the cars handle very well. A lot of people don't like the mix of simulation and arcade of this series but I think it works really well. I had no problems finishing on the podium for all events, though the wins were a bit more difficult on some of the events.

I drove an old Ford Mustang Mach 1 for a couple of races. I also drove an old Nissan Fairlady Z and a couple of other cars. They all feel pretty different and are fun to drive. The drifting mechanic works well and allows for some crazy speeds around the right corner. Most of my racing was done in Chicago so there were a lot of 90 degree corners. I spent a large amount of time customizing my paint jobs, mainly on the Fairlady and the Mustang.

I also played one quick multiplayer race. While I was 10th out of 12, I didn't realize that I could use the Flashback feature in multiplayer. Of course, it doesn't slow down time for all players, instead it sets you back on the track in the thick of the battle. Multiplayer felt good and people weren't acting like dicks so I hope it becomes popular.

Civilization V

Ceasar fucked up

Date played: May 27th
Platform: PC
Session fun rating: 8/10

All roads lead to...Berlin? I started a random map with a random leader on the third difficulty level. It seems I underestimated the AI because I got run over by the Germans in no time. I played as Ceasar and the Romans. I set up shop on a large continent that was only populated by city-states and had passages to other large continents that housed the Chinese, German and a few others I didn't quite get to interact with. Montezuma and his Aztecs established their capital near Rome though. He seemed relatively weak in the early game so I went after him with Ballista's and Spearmen but their defenses were too good and I had to agree to peace (in exchange for a shit ton of gold of course).

Shortly after, I started building up my three city empire. All was well until Bismark, the German leader, decided to declare war. He brought in about 10 units which was enough to burn Rome to the ground. Maybe I'll stick to the easier difficulty next time.

Call of Duty Black Ops 2

Moshpit!

Date played: May 26th
Platform: PS3
Session fun rating: 7/10

I played a few matches with my friend on the Uprising mode, but this time, we went with Moshpit to mix it up a bit. It was really refreshing to play some different modes, maybe I should do it more often. Kill confirmed is a really fun mode because every kill has a risk/reward mechanic going on. I use the tokens to bait enemy players quite often, people fall for it every time. We had a couple of games of Hard point which I really enjoy, but unfortunately no one seems to play it too well. People farm for kills instead of getting the target sometimes... Search and Destroy is always the odd man out in these games. Having only one life per round really makes a huge difference in how people play. I do pretty well at the mode usually since I play pretty aggressively, at least for a guy with an LMG.

Grid

Date played: May 26th
Platform: PC
Session fun rating: 8/10

In anticipation for Grid 2 (OMG OMG OMG), and having pre-ordered it on Steam, I scored a free copy of the original game. I played this all and completed it back in 2008 or something but it's still a really good game. I only managed to complete about five races before I had to stop. I still enjoyed my time though as the game handles exceptionally well. It's just so much fun to drive these cars...

60 FPS, 1080p greatness

Wipeout 2048

Date played: May 26th
Platform: Vita
Session fun rating: 7/10

I played a fun time trial with the always pleasant AG-Systems Speed. It took me a couple of tries but I made the basic pass time quickly. Then I played a Zone event on Sol, the amazing track in the sky. I then had an exciting but oddly paced battle event. I was stuck in a speed ship, so again, I rode the AG-S machine, and had to score a good amount of points with only missiles. The others all had fighter ships too... I ended up winning the event by going very fast and shooting missiles as soon as they were locked in.

The last event put me in the Pir-hana prototype's seat. That thing is a fucking bitch to drive. I attempted the race five times but I got beat by a few seconds at the end every race. I think there is a section towards the end where I have to be faster. Next time I guess...

Fire Emblem Awakening

Validar

Date played: May 25th and 26th
Platform: 3DS
Session fun rating: 9/10

I played through Chapters 23 and 24. Chapter 23 had Chrom and my dude stuck behind a barrier at the top of the map, facing Validar, the evil fuck from the first scene. The rest of the crew were below the barrier with a few dozen units to dispatch of their own. My team is very strong though so I had no problems at all getting it all over with. I'll spare this text the drama, but there were a lot of surprises in the story at this point. Needless to say, it all turned out in our favor.

Chapter 24 was set on a beautiful field against summoned beasts from the evil dragon or some other bullshit. This was a more interesting battle because of constant respawns from forts. I held out strong though and covered up all the key points with my flying units. Their mobility is really useful in every map... I also played six or seven random challenge battles, all very easy but letting me grind my way up slowly. I used second seals on a few of my units to let them level higher using a different class, or even the same class.

Kirby's Adventure

Date played: May 25th
Platform: Wii U
Session fun rating: 7/10

(>^_^).>

I played through the second world of this adventure. Kirby had to blast some baddies with all sorts of spells, even musical notes! Fireballs, electricity, stone, a sword, spikes and a fucking laser. That's right. Kirby has a laser.

This game plays well except for one little detail, there's a significant amount of slow down when there are three enemies or more on screen. It gets pretty ugly. World 3 is about to start!

Sega Rally 2

Date played: May 25th
Platform: Dreamcast
Session fun rating: 8/10

I played two years of the championship mode of Sega Rally 2 on my trusty Dreamcast for about 20 minutes. This game doesn't exactly play very well, but it has a unique feel that makes it worth playing again. I slid my way through dirt, mud, gravel, water, snow and asphalt. I completed the first championship year in 3rd place, driving a Lancia Delta.

I love the Lancia Delta

I was disqualified during the fourth race of the second year. I then tried the Lancia Stratos but felt it was too heavy for my style. I settled on the Peugeot 206 and had a better run, but still didn't win the second year. This game is a classic, even though it feels a bit like a relic. 

Knytt Underground

Date played: May 23rd
Platform: PS3
Session fun rating: 5/10

This is a game I received for free through PS Plus. I didn't know about the game beforehand so I had no idea what to expect. This is a 2D platformer with a dark art style. There's a story in there about fairies and sprites of some sort but it was way too late into the night for me to care.

The gameplay is simple but relatively fun. I was exploring a large cave of sorts, climbing ladders, sliding down walls and jumping across large gaps. I hope there is more to this game because as it stands, it's a bit too simple for my tastes. 

NHL Arcade

Those little goalies are hilarious!

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

This game is always fun with inept gamers. We played three humans vs 3 AI and we sucked so much that we lost 10-1. The second game was better as we learned the controls but the point was more to just have some mindless fun. NHL Arcade always delivers on that front!

Call of Duty Black Ops 2

Date played: May 21st, 22nd and 23rd
Platform: PS3
Session fun rating: 9/10

Well, I finally caved and bought a map pack for Black Ops 2. I skipped the first one as they are really expensive, but I couldn't pass this one up since my friend was buying it at the same time and wanted to try it that same night. The maps I got to try were really cool. One of them had areas that were full of deadly lava. The best new map was Vertigo, a sort of futuristic sky building. There was also a concert venue that features a stage and lots of little nooks and crannies to hide in.

Firing Range has been renovated into Studio

Last but not least is the rebirth of an excellent map, Firing Range. This has to be one of my favorite COD maps ever made, no question. It's a good size, has lots of good spots for firefights of any range and is just fun overall. Plus, they changed the set up to look like an movie set or an amusement park. There are dinosaurs, UFO's and all sorts of funny things scattered around.

I then played with two friends, them in split screen in the living room and myself on a monitor nearby. One of the girls had never played a first person shooter so we set up a private room and helped her learn how to play. While there wasn't much action, it was really funny seeing her get stuck on walls and looking at her feet the whole time. We even went online with her where she wasn't able to get a kill. I also played a few rounds by myself but nothing special really happened.

Fire Emblem Awakening

Vaike is one of my strongest units

Date played: May 21st
Platform: 3DS
Session fun rating: 8/10

I played Chapter 22. This was a simple battle against the Plegian's strongest fodder units. I fought 12 or 13 strong units that were spread out in three groups across the map. Gerome and Tiki took out some of the weaker units then retreated for healing. Vaike and another took out many units on the other side but Vaike got out of there with only 3 HP. It was pretty fucking close. After the first few were taken out, I moved slowly towards the boss, taking advantage an amazing new bow that has three squares of range for attack, that changes the game completely! I am definitely nearing the end of the game now, I think there may be only two or three chapters left...

Call of Duty Black Ops 2

Date played: May 20th
Platform: PS3
Session fun rating: 6/10

After a whole month of not having proper internet access, I finally have internet again. The first thing I did with it was pre-order Grid 2 on Steam. Once that was done, I moved my stuff around so that I could play Black Ops 2 with my room mate. She plays on her TV and I play on my monitor in the same room, it's pretty fucking awesome.

We only played a few rounds of Team Deathmatch together as time was very limited but I still managed a couple of decent games and a shitty one. My friend struggled a bit more though as she was very rusty.

Fire Emblem Awakening

Date played: May 19th and 20th
Platform: 3DS
Session fun rating: 9/10

I played through another large portion of the story, Chapters 20 and 21. These are obviously pivotal chapters in the story as big villains are biting the dust now. Chapter 20 was an amazing battle against all of Valm castle, including a treacherous tactician, a valiant general and of course, the big red lobster himself, Walhart. The battle was fairly simple but quite lengthy and challenging. Since I've been fighting every random battle I can find and am restarting the game when I lose a unit I like, I've built up a very strong team that can take down almost anything.

I love my crew

After the encounter, we unceremoniously left with a new gemstone, the fourth of five. Right after that, we were offered the last gemstone by the Plegians, the sneaky bastards I fought a few times earlier in the game. Of course, it was a trap and we had to fight another army of bad dudes, including some very long range sages that could attack from almost anywhere in the map. Thankfully, I have pretty high resistance overall and made it through without a scratch to take down the boss. Unfortunately, there was a twist to this whole story! My player character is an amnesiac (typical Japanese games....) and it turns out that the Plegian bad guys could mind control him at will! The bad guy used his magic voodoo to force my character to give him the fire Emblem which is now complete with all five gemstones. I imagine the last few chapters of the game will be about the bad guys using it in some evil way which I will need to rectify. We shall see!

Fire Emblem Awakening

This is the biggest map yet

Date played: May 16th, 17th and 18th
Platform: 3DS
Session fun rating: 10/10

Whew, the story is getting heavier and heavier while the battles are getting lengthier! I played through Chapters 18 and 19, Paralogue 17 as well as a few random battles. Chapter 18 had me fight against one of Walhart's generals near a volcano. The map layout was interesting as well because different sections of the map would periodically turn to lava and hurt the units standing in the fire. It worked to my advantage since my units are pretty strong and managed to move forward quickly, leaving the fire to hurt only enemy units.

Chapter 19 was a fucking epic clash where we took down Walhart, or at least forced him to flee. This was a pretty normal battle except the map was gigantic and it was filled with a ton of high level units. I just stuck to my guns, paired up and played defensively while still moving forward. Eventually, I took the big red lobster down.

Paralogue 17 was one of the coolest levels yet. Tiki, aka The Voice, is performing some sort of dragon ritual. Our team has to protect her until her spell is complete. The trick is that there are a TON of reinforcements, almost all of them flying. They all go straight to Tiki so I had to build a defensive wall with my units around her so that she was completely out of range of any attacks. I didn't quite understand this the first time and got wiped pretty hard but on my second attempt, I just sat there, used rally a lot and waited for them to attack us. As a reward, Tiki has joined our team and has replaced Panne. Tiki is a Manakete, creatures that can turn into a powerful dragon.

Fire Emblem Awakening

Date played: May 15th

I think I'll fight this dude sometime

Platform: 3DS
Session fun rating: 8/10

I played through Chapters 16 and 17 as well as a few random battles. Chapter 16 was really cool because it was set on enormous tree roots. The map was split into three roads so I sent three teams, each with a healer, a ranged unit and a physical fighter through each path. I sent two fliers to roam the empty space between the roads. The goal was just to make my way to the top and kill the boss but as I moved along, many reinforcements appeared from all sides. I made a dash for the boss, killed him swiftly and made it through the mission without fighting the reinforcements.

Chapter 17 was similar but this time, the enemies were a bit tougher to chew through. My strong team made quick work of the mission, though the stakes in the story are higher than ever. We are now attacking the enemy force head on, trying to find all the gemstones required to activate the titular Fire Emblem that will protect the world from evil....or something. 

Fire Emblem Awakening

Gerome is kind of a dick

Date played: May 14th
Platform: 3DS
Session fun rating: 9/10

I played through three Paralogues back to back and recruited three new units along the way. It seems that Paralogue 10 was the toughest of them all since everything after it was a lot easier. Paralogue 11 had me trying to save some villagers from an onslaught of flying enemies. While I only managed to save two dudes, I also recruited Gerome, Cherche's and Lon'Qu's son who is also a flier. He's not just riding any old Wyvern though, he's riding Cherche's!

Paralogue 12 had me fighting on some weird cubes that made up the floor. This one was definitely one of the easier missions I've played in a while in the game. I saved Morgan who turns out is my character's and Lissa's daughter. Paralogue 13 was a lot more interesting, it gave me the option of joining one of two warring parties, a group of knights vs a group of horsemen. I first decided to help the horsemen but when I killed one of the units from the knights, I noticed that he was a Taguel, the weird rabbit morphing people. I figured, that must be Panne's and Virion's son, as she is the last known Taguel. I restarted the mission and this time fought against the horsemen. Sure enough, I was able to recruit the time travelling rat, Yarne.

I found that as I enter harder levels, pairing up is becoming more of a necessity than a bonus. I only have a handful of units that could really handle some of these tougher enemies on their own. I also play a bit more defensively by putting only one or two strong pairings within range of enemy units. They defend the initial attacks, killing many, then I let the weaker units take out the remaining attacking units. It's a bit slower but also very safe.

Bioshock Infinite

Date played: May 13th
Platform: PS3
Session fun rating: 9/10

I finally got around to playing Bioshock Infinite! I don't want to spoil anything so I will try to stay as vague as possible. Be aware though, this game has one of the best introduction sequences since....well, since Bioshock! I play as Booker Dewitt, the only info I really got about him is that he wants to "save the girl".

The game is set on Columbia, a city in the clouds. It seems like it used to be part of the USA but then became a nation of it's own. They have a leader who seems to be considered a prophet of some sort. Oh yeah, and these guys are totally fucking racist as hell. All non-whites have been pushed to the opposing faction known as the Vox Populi. Soon enough, Dewitt finds himself at a high class raffle where the winner gets to throw a baseball at an interracial couple... Dewitt wins of course, but I was given the choice to throw the ball at the couple or at the announcer. I chose the announcer but as I was swinging my arm, I was labelled a false prophet due to a scar on Booker's hand.

Infinite has an amazing art style

That's where the fighting started. I had a pistol, soon picked up a machine gun and was introduced to Vigors, Infinite's version of magic I guess. I have two vigors right now, a skill that lets me possess machinery and people to fight on my side and a sort of fire grenade thing. The combat is smooth and fun to play, though I'm not a big fan of the controller configuration (I'll check the options, I might be able to find something better). I also picked up a sky hook, a sort of magnetized device used to traverse the floating buildings through the air. I can't wait to see where this game goes as I've barely scratched the surface. 

Fire Emblem Awakening

Date played: May 12th
Platform: 3DS
Session fun rating: 10/10

I fucking love this game, but I also hate it. It's really hard to prevent everyone from dying in some of the later Paralogues... I played through Paralogue 10, but it took me three solid attempts to succeed. I kept losing Cordelia, my Dark Flier, because she was a bit too weak to take more than one hit. After two failed attempts, I kept her out of the main battle, paired everyone up and went again, this time, suffering no losses.

Severa is pretty cool

In the process, I saved a lady called Severa which turned out to be Cordelia's and Vaike's daughter. I haven't really used the children characters yet as I have a very solid team already but maybe I'll level them up later on and have a B team. I also fought an easy random battle after that.
I then tried to complete Paralogue 11 but after 40 minutes of tactical play, I lost Maribelle and called the night.

Lego City Undercover

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

I finally entered my code from the Lego Chase set to unlock the two vehicles and two missions that are included in the real life playset. As the title implies, the missions were about chases. The first had me take down the red car with the patrol truck and the second had me run away from the cops in the red car. While the missions themselves were kinda boring, seeing the real life toys on screen is really cool.

I then played a portion of the next story mission where I have to infiltrate the Triads. I only played a short segment that involved scanning the area with a long range microphone to gather intel on the gang. I had to aim the Gamepad towards the conversations and picked up lots of funny stuff on the side before finding the bad guys. I think I'm going to be headed to a museum of sorts soon.

Sound Shapes

Creating levels is fun!

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

I was extremely tired after a long night of partying and drinking and such. At 5am, instead of going to bed, I thought I would play a game until sunrise, just for the hell of it. I settled on creating my first chunk of a level in Sound Shapes. I only tried it briefly when I first bought the game and felt like this would be a nice thing to do when inebriated.

I spent about half an hour learning the tool and building a small level, which isn't completed yet. I haven't decorated or put many objects in just yet as I'm trying to just place notes and terrain that works. I had to resort to putting lava walls in a couple of spots to prevent bugs and weird things. The song I'm making is a bit on the crappy side but it's melodic enough to pass. The platforming is also simple, but still interesting, at least I think so. I'm about two screens away from finishing the level but I also want to add a bunch of cool objects and sounds in there.

Call of Duty Black Ops 2

Date played: May 10th

You mean I need TWO of these???

Platform: PS3
Session fun rating: 8/10

I got my good friend to try Black Ops 2 with me in multiplayer. We started with a little local 1 vs 1 game so he could get used to the controls. I helped him learn the basics like aiming down sights, creating a class, switching weapons, melee, etc. His accuracy was awful but navigating with two sticks wasn't a huge problem, which surprised me. The guy has never played a shooter with twin sticks and his last point of reference is Perfect Dark on N64 for fuck's sake. He was confused as hell about the radar and it's use, it was quite funny to watch.

We then played online and of course, he had a hard time but he also really enjoyed the firefights. His best game was a very respectable 5 kills and 5 deaths, pretty amazing for a newbie! I hope he gets interested in the series so I could play with him online.

Fire Emblem Awakening

The Dark Knight in FE isn't quite as badass

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

I haven't played my 3DS in a long time because I meant to send it in for repairs. The 3D slider is broken and now all games are stuck in 2D mode. I was supposed to send it in weeks ago but I got lazy and never did it. I will send it soon but in the meantime, I figured I could play a bit more Fire Emblem.

I played two random skirmishes where I sent some weaker units to get a good feel for them, supported by my player character and one other high level. Then I completed one of the story missions where I had to save a swordmaster lady around a village, surrounded by enemies. Thankfully, I'm a bit over leveled and enemies go down quickly without being much of a threat. I sent my flying units in to save the girl while the rest of the team killed off a shitload of red dudes. When I saved the girl, she joined our cause. I didn't really pay attention to the setup for this mission so I'm not sure who she is and why she matters but I know I have a new swordmaster on my team. My player character also evolved into a Dark Knight, a mounted mage that can also use swords. 

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance demo

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

MGR:R is surprisingly fun, yet pretty damn frustrating at the same time. The game looks gorgeous, that's for sure.The animation is typical of a Platinum game, in fact, it looks a lot like Vanquish at times. This is a third person melee action game. While it's in the same genre as God of War and DMC, it surprised me because it felt different.

It actually felt a lot like a better produced Afro Samurai as many of the same concepts apply. There are similar moves like aiming the sword attacks while time slows down. Either way, that's generally a good thing. It took a while for me to understand how to play though as the tutorial is kind of shitty and doesn't explain much. After a bit though, I was parrying well and managed to slice some guys efficiently, but it's clear that this game has a deep combat system.

Fuck you wolf robot, fuck you.

After I made my way through a few regular cyborgs and a few mechs, I took on a weird wolf robot armed with a chainsaw. I tried this fight about 7 times before I had to leave and go to work. He hits hard, attacks quickly and is difficult to parry. I got him down to 25% or so on my best attempt. I'm not sure I really like this game too much, it feels a bit stiff, but then again, the system is complex enough that I could be just an ignorant noob about it.

God of War Ascension demo

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

Well, this is another God of War game. I beat up some dudes, killed giant monsters and watch Kratos be angry a lot, as expected. While that may seem a bit boring (it is the 6th game in the series after all), it still plays really well, looks fucking amazing and is a lot of fun.

This boss was a lot of fun to fight.

It starts with Kratos in chains, fighting a weird, half naked bug lady that he seems to have a history with. The whole demo is about chasing that bitch after Kratos escapes. Combat feels the same but has changed slightly. For example, the fury meter now allows for new attacks when full, even if it's not activated yet. Also, there are new grapple moves and the quick time events are designed a bit differently. Overall though, this is still God of War. There was a cool sequence where Kratos slides down some rubble, it almost felt like a racing segment. There was also a really cool battle with a humongous boss. The creatures tore out the section of the building that Kratos was in and waved it around like a toy plane while our hero had to fight enemies in the middle of the moving thing. I will definitely play this game at some point but there are others I would rather play first.

Injustice: Gods Among Us demo

Wonder Woman is awesome

Date played: May 6th
Platform: PS3
Session fun rating: 2/10

Well, this turned out to be quite a boring fighting game, or at least, it's really not my style. I'm more of a Street Fighter kind of guy, but this plays a lot like Mortal Kombat in a lot of ways. I played four battles as Wonder Woman, managed to pull off a few special moves and her amazing special move. I beat Batman, Lex Luthor, Wonder Woman and the boss (I forget his name).

I don't have much to add, this is cool for DC fans but personally, the game isn't for me at all. The only cool parts are the cool animations on the special moves and the button that is assigned to interacting with the environment. It allows for cool moves on the fly, depending on what is around the player.