I bought Dark Souls. I'm so ashamed. It goes against my commitment to myself, and I can't even complain that I have no self control and that it was an impulse buy. I was always interested in Demon's Souls, but I still don't have regular access to a PS3, so it's a no-go until such times.
Dark Souls came out the week before Forza 4. I was interested in it, but Forza was coming out and I had no room in my head to get invested in such a game then. But the weeks have gone by, Forza has faded from my brain a little, and I keep seeing Dark Souls articles linked everywhere, and everyone I speak to speaks really highly of it.
So I set out to town today in pursuit of two things: new shoes and Dark Souls. I don't regret it, not one bit.
I haven't even taken my shoes out of the box yet.
Monday, 31 October 2011
:B: - 1000 Heroes
1000 Heroes is an iOS game where you run time trials in a platformer style. The hook is that there is a different one each day, for 1000 days. I've enjoyed playing it while waiting for the bus home after work for the past few months and I finally reached 5 hours play on it. It takes a long time to get to when you only play for 5 minutes a day max.
That said, it's getting a little samey. Every so often the age changes, but not nearly often enough for the game to stay fresh. It's day 145, which is a little over 3 months, and I've played it for a lot of those days and it's felt a little like a chore for a few weeks. The developers have painted themselves into a corner with setting out all the ages on the app for everyone to see, which means it's difficult to swap things up to keep it fresh. I really, really can't see myself playing for the 855 days left.
1000 Heroes is a really neat idea that suffers from the format it picked for itself. I'd like to see more developers use it. A bite-sized dungeon crawler that gives you a new character every day to try the dungeon with? A racing game that gives you a new track every day, similar to Trackmania (free, by the way)? Maybe a mix of Timesplitters and Borderlands - switch up giving you new characters and new weapons? There's a lot that can be done with drip-feeding content to mobile gamers - if I can come up with these ideas, surely some talented developers can come up with better.
1000 Heroes gets 3/5 stars.
(Oh, and someone PLEASE PLEASE make that dungeon crawler. I would sell my firstborn for that shit.)
That said, it's getting a little samey. Every so often the age changes, but not nearly often enough for the game to stay fresh. It's day 145, which is a little over 3 months, and I've played it for a lot of those days and it's felt a little like a chore for a few weeks. The developers have painted themselves into a corner with setting out all the ages on the app for everyone to see, which means it's difficult to swap things up to keep it fresh. I really, really can't see myself playing for the 855 days left.
1000 Heroes is a really neat idea that suffers from the format it picked for itself. I'd like to see more developers use it. A bite-sized dungeon crawler that gives you a new character every day to try the dungeon with? A racing game that gives you a new track every day, similar to Trackmania (free, by the way)? Maybe a mix of Timesplitters and Borderlands - switch up giving you new characters and new weapons? There's a lot that can be done with drip-feeding content to mobile gamers - if I can come up with these ideas, surely some talented developers can come up with better.
1000 Heroes gets 3/5 stars.
(Oh, and someone PLEASE PLEASE make that dungeon crawler. I would sell my firstborn for that shit.)
Friday, 28 October 2011
:B: - Pokemon Mystery Dungeon - Explorers of Time
The Mystery Dungeon series is part of the roguelike genre. This particular entry is half of the second entry of the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon spinoff. The other half being Explorers of Darkness, and there being a third entry, released later, Explorers of Sky, as is customary for the handheld Pokemon games. Some things never change.
Part of what defines roguelikes is a very high difficulty, random dungeons, and perma-death. Pokemon reduces the stakes a little by giving you a persistent character, and reduces the difficulty. There are still parts that are very challenging, and death causes you to lose all money and most items on your person. The question is less 'do I use this unknown item that might kill me' and more 'do I take my useful rare items to this difficult dungeon and risk losing it if I die'.
I've been playing it on and off for a few months, more off lately admittedly, but I recently picked it up with an aim to complete the story and 7 hours of item gathering and leveling up gave me the strength I needed to get through the last two dungeons. The last boss gave me some trouble, and I only brought barely enough revival seeds to keep me and my partner alive. But I got through, teared up at the ending, sat through the excruciatingly long credits, and started the post-story game.
It's here that the game gets a lot more difficult, and my first mission is to restore the ability to evolve Pokemon, which should help. I'm going to continue playing to try for a :C:, however unlikely, because I'm a obsessive masochist and I loved the hell out of it. 5/5 stars.
Part of what defines roguelikes is a very high difficulty, random dungeons, and perma-death. Pokemon reduces the stakes a little by giving you a persistent character, and reduces the difficulty. There are still parts that are very challenging, and death causes you to lose all money and most items on your person. The question is less 'do I use this unknown item that might kill me' and more 'do I take my useful rare items to this difficult dungeon and risk losing it if I die'.
I've been playing it on and off for a few months, more off lately admittedly, but I recently picked it up with an aim to complete the story and 7 hours of item gathering and leveling up gave me the strength I needed to get through the last two dungeons. The last boss gave me some trouble, and I only brought barely enough revival seeds to keep me and my partner alive. But I got through, teared up at the ending, sat through the excruciatingly long credits, and started the post-story game.
It's here that the game gets a lot more difficult, and my first mission is to restore the ability to evolve Pokemon, which should help. I'm going to continue playing to try for a :C:, however unlikely, because I'm a obsessive masochist and I loved the hell out of it. 5/5 stars.
Forza Motorsport 4 - Beginnings
If you're aware of racing games, you'll probably be aware of the Forza series. It's often considered to be Gran Turismo's direct competitor, although this is primarily thought by console fanboys.
Forza leans towards the simulation side of the sliding scale of racing games, but there's a lot of customization towards how sim-y. You can have ABS & TCS on, with a full racing line, damage off and automatic shifting on and have a fairly arcadey experience, or you can turn everything off and put manual shift on - which, which a good quality steering wheel, is almost unparalleled as to realism.
I'm somewhere in the middle of that sliding scale. I have ABS and TCS on, with automatic shifting, but with damage and fuel consumption on simulation and the difficulty up to full. I'm not the fastest by any means, but I'm usually in the top 20% times when putting the effort in. To improve much further would require getting to grips with all the intricate systems, and I just can't deal with that kind of commitment.
I also use the new Microsoft Wireless Speed Wheel from time to time. The game is significantly harder with it, but it's also incredibly satisfying. The wheel is far comfier than I ever thought it would be. It's very responsive too - you can turn the wheel a little and the car will turn just the right amount. And I do mean a little - the wheel is super sensitive. It feels great to drive with, even if it means giving up competitiveness. Although that might just be because I suck with it!
I'd like to mention Rivals mode. I'm not a particularly competitive person. I don't like to play against other people (indeed, even co-operative modes are a push). I feel like organizing matches or having to wait in a lobby to get into a race is a waste of time; it's too much of an obligation. Enter Rivals mode. What this is, is an expanded time trial mode. It gives you a track and a restriction, and the time of the person above you on the leaderboard. Beating that time gives you experience and money that is linked to your career profile. It's genius. More than once I've loaded the game intending to play the World Tour, but gotten sidetracked into Rivals by a message from the game that a club member has beaten my time on a track.
I haven't played it particularly long, but from the getgo I knew Forza 4 was something special. It's shed the tedium of Forza 3's career, linked everything together so everything you do is working towards something, streamlined car experience and thrown a shitload of content in there. It's fantastic, and I can envision myself playing it for a long time to come.
Forza leans towards the simulation side of the sliding scale of racing games, but there's a lot of customization towards how sim-y. You can have ABS & TCS on, with a full racing line, damage off and automatic shifting on and have a fairly arcadey experience, or you can turn everything off and put manual shift on - which, which a good quality steering wheel, is almost unparalleled as to realism.
I'm somewhere in the middle of that sliding scale. I have ABS and TCS on, with automatic shifting, but with damage and fuel consumption on simulation and the difficulty up to full. I'm not the fastest by any means, but I'm usually in the top 20% times when putting the effort in. To improve much further would require getting to grips with all the intricate systems, and I just can't deal with that kind of commitment.
I also use the new Microsoft Wireless Speed Wheel from time to time. The game is significantly harder with it, but it's also incredibly satisfying. The wheel is far comfier than I ever thought it would be. It's very responsive too - you can turn the wheel a little and the car will turn just the right amount. And I do mean a little - the wheel is super sensitive. It feels great to drive with, even if it means giving up competitiveness. Although that might just be because I suck with it!
I'd like to mention Rivals mode. I'm not a particularly competitive person. I don't like to play against other people (indeed, even co-operative modes are a push). I feel like organizing matches or having to wait in a lobby to get into a race is a waste of time; it's too much of an obligation. Enter Rivals mode. What this is, is an expanded time trial mode. It gives you a track and a restriction, and the time of the person above you on the leaderboard. Beating that time gives you experience and money that is linked to your career profile. It's genius. More than once I've loaded the game intending to play the World Tour, but gotten sidetracked into Rivals by a message from the game that a club member has beaten my time on a track.
I haven't played it particularly long, but from the getgo I knew Forza 4 was something special. It's shed the tedium of Forza 3's career, linked everything together so everything you do is working towards something, streamlined car experience and thrown a shitload of content in there. It's fantastic, and I can envision myself playing it for a long time to come.
Wednesday, 26 October 2011
Returning to World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft has been in my peripheral vision for years now. It always sounded like the sort of game that I'd like, but due to various factors, cost, lack of a decent PC, and a general misanthropy towards people, I've mostly given it a miss.
A while before Wrath of the Lich King came out, I played for a while on a private server called Ash Realms, primarily because it was free and fairly stable. It had 32x leveling and gave you a mount at level 1, and I spent my entire time exploring the world. I also gained a small obsession with collecting the vanity pets, but ultimately, it all felt a bit pointless because everything was very easy to come by. I stopped playing pretty quickly.
However, Azeroth still held a attraction for me. Roughly every 6 months, a desire to play takes its hold. Sometimes it passes, and sometimes I gave in. Until last year, I'd just re-sign up for the Ash Realms and start over, which tended to kill the want pretty fast. But last year, I had no excuse not to get the real thing - steady employment, ok PC, and the Battlechest had just dropped in price - so I took the plunge.
Fast forward a year later and I have a sprinkling of characters across 4 different servers, the highest of which is level 16. And my pet obsession remains.
Which brings me to the announcements of the new expansion, Mists of Pandaria. I'm not going to touch on the panda, that's for others to write ad nauseum about. What got my attention was the pet battling system. My like of the vanity pets is going to pay off, in that I'm about to get the Pokemon MMO I've always wanted. It got me so excited I immediately went out and bought Wrath of the Lich King and Cataclysm so I'd be fully up to date.
I started yet another character on a new server (Steamwheedle Cartel - EU), so I could later join the PC Gamer guild if I so desired. I'm not sure if I'm going to continue him once Cataclysm arrives from Amazon though - I do quite like the look of the Worgen. I'm going to keep him to get any Horde-only pets, though. Gotta catch 'em all, after all.
A while before Wrath of the Lich King came out, I played for a while on a private server called Ash Realms, primarily because it was free and fairly stable. It had 32x leveling and gave you a mount at level 1, and I spent my entire time exploring the world. I also gained a small obsession with collecting the vanity pets, but ultimately, it all felt a bit pointless because everything was very easy to come by. I stopped playing pretty quickly.
However, Azeroth still held a attraction for me. Roughly every 6 months, a desire to play takes its hold. Sometimes it passes, and sometimes I gave in. Until last year, I'd just re-sign up for the Ash Realms and start over, which tended to kill the want pretty fast. But last year, I had no excuse not to get the real thing - steady employment, ok PC, and the Battlechest had just dropped in price - so I took the plunge.
Fast forward a year later and I have a sprinkling of characters across 4 different servers, the highest of which is level 16. And my pet obsession remains.
Which brings me to the announcements of the new expansion, Mists of Pandaria. I'm not going to touch on the panda, that's for others to write ad nauseum about. What got my attention was the pet battling system. My like of the vanity pets is going to pay off, in that I'm about to get the Pokemon MMO I've always wanted. It got me so excited I immediately went out and bought Wrath of the Lich King and Cataclysm so I'd be fully up to date.
I started yet another character on a new server (Steamwheedle Cartel - EU), so I could later join the PC Gamer guild if I so desired. I'm not sure if I'm going to continue him once Cataclysm arrives from Amazon though - I do quite like the look of the Worgen. I'm going to keep him to get any Horde-only pets, though. Gotta catch 'em all, after all.
Sunday, 16 October 2011
Pondering
I admit it - I'm considering recinding my 360 ban. Obviously Forza 4 and Skylanders have had something to do with it, but I'm finding my anger fading some. I was having a really rough day on the day I lost my cool with it; stolen purse, family issues, boyfriend issues and I just completely snapped and decided I'd had enough.
But recently I've been looking at it and thinking 'hmm'. Perhaps I judged too harshly, I don't know. I'm thinking about putting my xbox games back on my backloggery, even with jump in :U: that would bring. Perhaps I'll give it another couple days thought, and decide whether to put that deposit down on a R2D2 xbox.
But recently I've been looking at it and thinking 'hmm'. Perhaps I judged too harshly, I don't know. I'm thinking about putting my xbox games back on my backloggery, even with jump in :U: that would bring. Perhaps I'll give it another couple days thought, and decide whether to put that deposit down on a R2D2 xbox.
New - Forza 4 and Skylanders
I bought Xenoblade Chronicles a couple of weeks ago because it was getting fantastic reviews and I was jonesing for a fresh JRPG. When I tried to play it, however, it tried to install an update. And failed. Three times. My Wii refused to be updated, possibly because I softmodded it an eon ago (and there were no files of that sort left). So I returned it to Gamestation with a heavy heart and promised them that I'd get Forza 4 a week from them if they could pretty please put it on a card. So, that's Forza 4 accounted for, at least.
Skylanders is sketchy at best, I admit. I professed to be considering trading in my Wii, and asked for the trade-in price - which was £40. The manager, wonderful man that he is, offered me 50% extra, £60 against Skylanders because I'm a regular and because I'm so awesome. I can't refuse an offer like that, commited to not buying games or no. I very rarely play my Wii, and there is a smaller, cheaper one coming out soon so if I really feel the need to play Skyward Sword or whatever I'll be able to buy that one.
Justified? I have no idea. But Skylanders is really fun and completely up my street, so even if it does break the rules, I have no regrets. Even if I've failed here, no matter, I forgive myself and can just redouble my efforts - and by my standards, I was doing really fucking well anyway. And I have a new way to reward myself if I go a week without buying anything - a Skylanders figurine!
Skylanders is sketchy at best, I admit. I professed to be considering trading in my Wii, and asked for the trade-in price - which was £40. The manager, wonderful man that he is, offered me 50% extra, £60 against Skylanders because I'm a regular and because I'm so awesome. I can't refuse an offer like that, commited to not buying games or no. I very rarely play my Wii, and there is a smaller, cheaper one coming out soon so if I really feel the need to play Skyward Sword or whatever I'll be able to buy that one.
Justified? I have no idea. But Skylanders is really fun and completely up my street, so even if it does break the rules, I have no regrets. Even if I've failed here, no matter, I forgive myself and can just redouble my efforts - and by my standards, I was doing really fucking well anyway. And I have a new way to reward myself if I go a week without buying anything - a Skylanders figurine!
 |
| I have this dude and he is crazy awesome. |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)