I’d just like to state that I am
totally holding up with my end of the bargain, so far. Two blogs in two days! This kinda stuff spoils most folk, but I know
you guys and gals were raised in a socially acceptable manner and won’t take
advantage of my generosity. Well, I don’t
know that… but I’ve got pretty high hopes that you ladies and gents won’t.
So, this blog, as
promised will be more about my year in NEW games. Brand spanking new! Not fresh out of the box, day-one buy, new for
some of them. Most of them… Eh.
Who is counting really? You’re
not, I’m not, and we are all square on my end.
I have to put a disclaimer on this blog, it is incredibly nerdy and will
exclusively contain constant video game references and if that is not your deal…
Then you’re gonna want to step out on this one.
Second disclaimer; these are not all the new games I have played this
year, only the games that I really truly enjoyed the crap out of this year that
also happened to be new. (So… like… not
GTA V. It just didn’t hold my
interest. Saint’s Row for life!)
I’m going to knock
out some of the new titles that I played this year before gushing profusely
over my “Big Three” of the year so far.
Without further ado… Drumroll
please… No? Alright, then I will just get started. The past couple of weeks I have been diving
head long into some games developed using UbiArt. And despite other issues I have with Ubisoft
as a whole, their UbiArt titles have been soooo good. (Cue excessive drooling.) Child of Light and Valiant Hearts: The Great
War are some of the best games I have played in a while as far as side
scrolling, single player, story based games.
The art style utilized in Child of Light is so brilliantly worked into
the very essence of the game, it is like a masterpiece painted in High Def. It makes me happy just looking at the art
alone, and the game is a pretty good RPG with an interesting upgrade and combat
system. (Plus they rhyme in every
dialogue segment!) Valiant Hearts is a
puzzle game at heart, but is wrapped in a beautiful and heart rending story of
a family torn apart by the First World War.
The game hits hard emotionally and keeps running until you can’t run
anymore. The characters are built on the
solid foundation that you can still find good people to walk beside you, even
in times of tragedy. It makes me both
happy and immensely sad to play this game.
Next up is a more,
well known, title. inFamous: Second Son.
I’m going to preface this paragraph with the statement that inFamous and
inFamous 2 were… okay. The third
installment of the inFamous saga however is freaking awesome! You play as a far more enjoyable and likeable
character (unless you’re evil in which case you’re just a dick to everyone),
you get (as Chris would put it) such hype as sh*t powers, and the story isn’t
long enough to be convoluted like the first game’s was. Just powering up alone is where the game shines. Once you get maxed in the power track that
Delsin (the main character) is on, you basically freaking just fly around the
city and swoop down to deliver swift justice/havoc wherever you please. It is an incredibly entertaining game… but as
I said before, it is also incredibly short.
So… play through twice or something.
From one short
game to another; Transistor. Transistor
is shorter than inFamous: Second Son.
But it is a solid game. The
ending really aggravated me. (Beyond the
normal level of aggravation I often send out into the universe.) I can’t really say that I agree with the
choice to end it the way that it ended. To
each their own, I guess. I will state
however that the gameplay stays solid the entire game: with an interesting “Turn” system that allows
you to zip around the battlefield and devastate foes in such an enjoyable
manner. And it provides a phenomenal
pacing throughout the game. There is
never a point where the enemy is too hard to fight. They always seem to be the right level of
challenge at any given moment. (Except
the Spine boss. That dood was messed up
hard.) The art in the game and the
soundtrack are also solid reminders that Super Giant is really good at this
game making thing.
A few titles that
I love, but am just going to touch on a bit…
Reus, the game where you rebuild the world with a bunch of friendly
giants. It’s fun and very replayable. Banner Saga, is a strategy and tactics based
game that is very unforgiving of mistakes made on the battlefield. The story is quite good and very Viking saga-ey? (Plus any money you send to Stoic really
screws with those douches at King. And
really, isn’t that what we all want?)
Octodad, the most frustratingly fun game you will ever play with 3 of
your friends. Moving around as an
octopus trying to be human… come on, that just screams video game gold. The Yawhg (and yes I did spell that
properly), a story based game where you pick and choose what you do for 6 weeks
and see if you’re ever the same after the Yawhg happens to you. (It’s also super replayable.) Mariokart 8, the most friendship crushing
game I’ve played in a long time. If you
love your friends and you want to very rapidly hate them, play Mariokart
8. And Talisman, based on the board game
and only fun if no one else knows what will happen to them from specific
spaces. (Best played with noobs.)
Now… The “Big
Three.” First of these amazing titles is
Destiny. I know, the full game hasn’t
come out yet. But if the game is even a
fraction of good when it goes gold, then it will be better than most of the
other shooters and MMOs that exist to date.
I only got to try the Alpha, which is insanely solid. Just an FYI it is freaking great. I hope that I’m not building too much hype
into the title. Since its release is
later this year, I won’t honestly know if the game is as good as I think it
will be. But just one day of playing the
Alpha had me sold… well… I already pre-purchased the game. Let that tell you exactly where I stand on a
game that combines Mass Effect magic, Halo shooting, and Borderlands
RPGing. So, basically the greatest game
to ever exist. (I know, right?!) I was
also promised access to the Beta. And if
I have that, I will give you a more personal and accurate retelling of why I
probably have no friends and grow way to attached to playing dem vidya gaymes.
Speaking of overly
attached to games; The Wolf Among Us… what can I say about this game? Telltale really nailed it with this one. Now, they often do this, but this game is
just straight amazing. You play in the
modern refuge of Fabletown, where Fables from the old world come and try to
live a new life in New York City. You’re
Bigby Wolf (That’s Big Bad Wolf for those wondering), the sheriff of Fabletown,
charged with keeping its inhabitants safe from the mundane world… and
themselves. This is a mystery/adventure/story
game. The dialogue system is progressive
and characters remember things you say to them earlier in the story and may
even bring it up later on in another chapter.
It is story driven and any time that you get put in a situation where
you have to fight, it is less run and gun and more story combat. You picking your actions and seeing where
they get you. The entire game is story
driven and the combat is reactionary to this gameplay choice. And I will never be the same for having
experienced it. I literally can’t get
enough of this game. As of this date,
there is a new chapter out. You should
be proud of me for resisting its thrall and doing this blog. Seriously, I’m freaking out man! The game can be a little laggy after major
decisions on the Xbox 360, but I’m hoping for a next gen revamp, where I will
of course buy it again… duh…
Finally… I cannot stress this enough… This is the best game I have played all
year. I know, I’ve been throwing best
out a tad bit in this blog. But…
TowerFall: Ascension is the top of the
list. I will probably be unable to explain
this game properly, but here goes… It
has simple game mechanics, that can be manipulated into doing surprisingly
complex things. It is multiplayer, so
you can kill your friends for hours. (It
has actually robbed me of sleep.) And it
is so much fun that I have bought the game twice. If there is DLC for it, I will offer to pay
for it if it is free, and I will buy it for twice the amount it is worth if
that is asked of me. It has brought many
of my family/friends together to shout profanities at one another whilst
shooting copious amounts of arrows at our sprites on screen. Smashing each other’s heads in and dodging
flying projectiles. Disappearing into
the darkness to jump out and surprising an unsuspecting foe. I cannot completely tell you why the game
makes me happy and angry to play. Or why
I submit myself to Chris’s insurmountable skill, Marcus’s volley of arrows, or
MAYRA’s need to stomp us all flat. I
think… and hear me out on this one… TowerFall is life. That is truly the only way to explain
it. But don’t just read about these
games. Play them!!!!
LAZY
Rhino “LMFAO”
Andrew
(I beseech thee to read my blog and follow me on the Twitter. @ANDCauthen.
Also, start playing them games, and if you have a PS4 and want to join
in on Destiny action in a few months… hit me up. Gamer tag style, fools.)
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