A few interesting releases this week before the GTA V juggernaut comes crashing on gaming’s shores, invalidating any need for a shiny, new console. First up is Puppeteer
on the PS3. I’m looking forward to playing this one, if only for the visual style. Platformers aren’t my thing, but if something looks interesting enough, I’ll try it. Also coming out on Sony hardware this week is Killzone Mercenary
. I have a theory that the Killzone games are not meant to be the action heavy shooters they are, but a grand farce centering on the most incompetent military squad in the galaxy. I don’t see Mercenary topping the genocidal incompetence of Killzone 3, but I’m all in regardless. Rounding out the console releases are Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix
for the PS3 and NHL ’14 (360
, PS3
).
On the PC side, Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs releases this week. Our own Matt Thrower reviewed it, so by all means, read his scintillating words. For eighty bucks you can get every Elder Scrolls game ever made in the The Elder Scrolls Anthology
. If military sandboxes are your thing, ARMA 3 has got you covered. Cyanide drops Aarklash Legacy, and Robot Loves Kitty releases Legend of Dungeon. Looks like that last one is already out, so have at it.
Deals
Toys R Us – Save $20 on Disney Infinity products when spending $85. Buy one of the following games, get a free $10 gift card, buy two and get a $40 gift card: NHL 14, NCAA 14, The Bureau: XCOM Declassified, Rayman Legends, Splinter Cell: Blacklist, Diablo III.
Target – Get Madden 25, NCAA 14 or Splinter Cell: Blacklist for $49.99 each. Get Far Cry 3 for $29.99.
Best Buy – Get Splinter Cell: Blacklist for $49.99. Get Dead Space 3 and Crysis 3 for $19.99 each.
Phew, slow week slow.
I finally wrapped Tales and have since been dumping my time into Guacamelee (awesome) and Paper Mario Sticker Star (also awesome).
Trying to wrap Sticker Star so I can convert it and Tales into GTA5 or Rayman Legends ahead of Wind Waker HD.
This time of year is such a juggling act…
I think I’m somewhere around the halfway point in Tales of Xillia. We just met up with Leia, who I’m really, really struggling to not call Cheria in my head. It’s enjoyable so far (and I’m pretty confident I’m going to finish it), but I’m not really loving it.
I’m taking a break from PvZ2 now that I’ve beaten the main story and I’ve done almost all the challenges that don’t essentially require using the player super powers (WTF, don’t let the zombies cross the flowers and don’t spend any sun for 90 seconds!!!). I am looking forward to the Far Future levels once they come out though. And my review of the new plants goes like this: the close range stuff is extremely interesting (strategically). Same with the iceberg lettuce. Just about everything else is fluff.
I’m picking up the Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD Remix (oh Square and your ridiculous titles). I feel like I’m partly buying it for the artbook and partly buying it because I kind of feel like I cheated when I played through Chain of Memories. I built decks that were all defense and non-exhaustable cards and turtled bosses until their decks were empty and then killed them. If that doesn’t make sense, don’t worry. Anyways, I’m interested in doing it right this time.
I’m also incredibly nervous that I’m going to suddenly feel an overwhelming urge to beat the optional, final Sephiroth Coliseum battle again. That would probably ruin my life.
Haha, she has Cheria aspects to her, definitely.
That section I found very middling. It starts well, wavers, then Charges back.
Xillia has a frantic and wicked second act finale and the story twist took me completely off guard and was my favourite part of it all. It ended pretty strong too. Not a patch on Vesperia, but better than Graces for sure and possibly better than Symphonia.
That Chain of Memories strategy is a thing of genius and probably saved yourself a lot of heartbreaking losses. God speed on your “normal” play through.
Also, I have the same worry with Kingdom Hearts. I always start telling myself, “Alright, I’m just going to play the main story,” and then I end up some 50-70 hours later having completed everything.
So I finished Mark of the Ninja this past week, and, as Beeblebrox pointed out on last week’s edition of Calendar Man, the game did get a little more interesting in the later levels. Though, a lot of the more interesting parts were only interesting because of my imposed no kills, no alarms (and in some cases no distractions) rule. There were very few occasions that required me to sit back and think, which is what I like to do in my stealth games. I saw enough promise there though that if they were to make a sequel (spiritual or otherwise), I would be interested in trying it out.
I moved on from there to Darksiders. I just completed the second of the four “Chosen”. I have to say, I love the combat system. There are enough moves to be interesting (unlike a Zelda, where your main weapon has three attacks) but not too many as to be overbearing (unlike say, your Bayonettas and Devil May Crys). I understand what each attack’s purpose and the game, on occasion, has given me the opportunity to use each move for said purpose. That said, the boss fights have been incredibly underwhelming thus far, and the backtracking for the sake of backtracking (going back for a chest that was gated off by not having a specific tool) is quite annoying/frustrating. That and the difficulty seems to grow at a slower rate than my character progresses, so I hope that rectifies itself soon as well.
Hopefully, I’ll finish up Darksiders sometime this week and move on to Gunpoint. I’m liking my indie-indie-AAA game cycle.
Also, Kingdom Hearts… *Squeals like a teenage girl at a One Direction Concert*… I’ve been waiting to replay it since the HD remix was announced. That will definitely be my next AAA game.
Told ya! (re: that Mark of the Ninja stuff)
I didn’t like first Darksiders that much, but for some reason, I played it to the end, and dumped 17 or so hours into it. It had interesting parts, sure, but it was mostly just parts and ideas from better games stitched into one. Not a bad one, but not a great one either. I got Darksiders 2 for some 5 bucks when it was a deal on the Humble Bundle page, and still haven’t started it, but I hope for the best (reviews mostly said it’s better than the first one).
Also got Gunpoint during Steam Summer Sale, and it’s till on my “to play sometime soon” list. Which is quite long :/
For me, it’s a Sony week, definitely. Just finished Killzone Mercenary singleplayer, and it was fun. Nothing special, but fun nonetheless. Gotta check out some levels again for those additional challenges (stealth run, precision run and the like), since I saw potential for different approaches. Also gotta play multiplayer some more, which is surprisingly good and well suited for handheld with small maps perfect for 4 on 4 action, and lag is nowhere to be seen. Also, no unlocking weapons – earn some money and buy whatever you want.
And then on to the Puppeteer – enjoyed the demo, can’t wait to play the full game. Story seems fun, and game just oozes style. I LOVE their voicework, narrator, spotlight following you on the stage, audience cheering on the rear speakers when you hook up surround sound to your PS3… Hopefully postman will arrive tomorrow with my disc.
All that + catching up with Breaking Bad will tide me nicely until GTA V arrives. Can’t wait to get lost in Los Santos again!
GTA V is going to swallow me whole. I just know it.
Hmmm…I just realized that I haven’t put any thought into which version of GTA V I’m planning to play. I’d assumed the PC edition would be arriving alongside the console versions, Max Payne 3-style, but it’s nowhere in sight. 360 has generally been my go-to choice this generation, but like Brandon, my decision to go PS4 this fall has been shifting my priorities.
This week also marks the start of Shiny Palkia event at GameStop. Mass-produced shinies don’t have the same appeal to me as unique Pokemon events, but hey: if I’m stopping by my local store anyway….