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Monday Gaming Diary: Gears of War 3, 4-Player Fun

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Gears Co-OpMy plan for last week was to do nothing but Final Fantasy XIII-2. But then…on Valentine’s Day…I succumbed to two things. One, I played the Mass Effect 3 demo, which totally went against my media blackout for spoilers for the game. I was very pleased to see that there were no spoilers, but I’m not going to get more into it here. If you really want to know what I thought of it, you’ll have to listen to the EvilCast podcast, where Blake and I go nuts over it. It’s not up yet, but check back often this week; it will go up eventually.

Two, I got a text message from a friend–best friend’s husband, actually–asking if I would play Gears of War 3 with him and a couple of friends so we could get Achievements for 4-player and playing on Insanity. Those are two Achievements I definitely want, so I agreed to let Serah and Noel have a night off so I could die a lot whilst killing ugly things.

It became apparently very quickly that I’m not as versed in Gears 3 as everyone else. One guy has played so much, he’s level 70, my friend is level 30, and the other player is in his 20s. I’m at level 13 because I haven’t really touched Gears 3 since I beat it twice in the week it launched. Playing on Insanity with veterans is no way to re-wet your feet. I am definitely the queen of dying the most. At least we’re playing on Arcade mode, so it’s not as bad of a hampering when someone goes explodey…something I did a lot last night while we wrapped up Act II.

I have a lot of fun playing with these guys, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they fired me before we finished playing. Compared to them, I am that bad. I die the most and I have the least number of kills. I haven’t been last place for every chapter, but that’s been my average. I hate seeming like the “stereotypical girl gamer” in that I’m not as good as the boys, but hell, in this case, I’m definitely not as good as the boys. At least they haven’t made fun of me for “playing like a girl” or anything, so it’s my own chip on my shoulder. I hate that damn chip.

What Strategy Guide Would You Want from a Kickstarter Campaign?

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Kickstarter-logo

Ever since Double Fine had such a huge success with their Kickstarter campaign, and Obsidian has sent out feelers about possibly doing their own campaign, I’ve been thinking about strategy guides I’d fund via Kickstarter.

There are a few video games out there that did not have official print guides published that I would love to own. Obviously, I played the game just fine without them, and I could just go online for the guides if I really needed help, but there’s something about having a guide for a game you truly enjoy. Not to mention, I find using print guides to be ten times more efficient than using guides online.

So what do I want? Here are what I would gladly fund in a Kickstarter campaign. (Hey BradyGames and Prima Games…please take note!)

LEGO Harry Potter Strategy Guide

Why there was never such a strategy guide created is beyond me, but the fact remains, if you want a guide for finding all of those damn collectibles–because there are a crap-ton–you will have to go online. And while I needed little assistance with other LEGO games, I have had a beast of a time with LEGO Harry Potter Years 1-4. So, so many collectibles that for the life of me, I cannot figure out how to get.

Or more importantly, I don’t have the time to figure them out.

Kingdom Hearts re:Coded Strategy Guide

I had zero problems finishing this game and unlocking all the hidden stuff, but that’s beside the point. The point is that I have strategy guides for all of the other Kingdom Hearts games and I feel like I’m missing a gargantuan hole in my collection. So yes, I admit this is purely because I’m a mad KH collector, and my addiction must be appeased.

Uncharted: Golden Abyss Strategy Guide

I have seen zero information on a guide for this upcoming Vita game. I’m sure that this Uncharted  game is easier than most thanks to the touch screen, but come on…it’s tradition! And yes, it burns up the collector in me to not have one.

If there is one, will someone please announce it already. I hate being in the dark.

There are mine. What guides would you like to see made?

Monday Gaming Diary: So Much Sidequesting…

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Mog of Final Fantasy XIII-2One thing I will say that FFXIII-2 does better than its predecessor is how it opens up sidequesting from the get-go. I’m not a fan of level grinding, something I’ve made perfectly clear numerous times, but I don’t mind it when it’s veiled with a sidequest. In FFXIII, you didn’t get any sidequests until you hit Pulse, so if you needed to grind your levels on Cocoon, it meant running through rooms over and over again. Know what that’s called? A boring pain in the ass. It’s one reason why I hate early FF games, like FFIII. I play games to have fun, not do the same thing over and over and over just to gain levels. Ignore the fact that I play shooter games and move on.

With FFXIII-2, you are almost inundated with sidequests. As you open up more time gates, you can find a gazillion more. Since you only need to travel through about a third of the time gates you can actually open for the storyline, you can spend numerous hours doing anything but the main plot. And that’s what I did all weekend long. I am bound and determined to find all 160 fragments, and you can’t do that by just following the story. And the best part about taking time out to doing all of this sidequesting? I have Noel and Serah maxed out for both of their Commando and Ravager roles, Serah is maxed out as a medic, and Noel is almost maxed as a synergist. When I get back to the story, my levels will be above and beyond what the guide suggests for minimal. That’s what I like to see.

The story to FFXIII-2 still has not grabbed me. Not sure it ever will, to be honest. I’m not a huge fan of alternate timeline stories and parallel universes and all that, so it’s doubtful I’ll ever really like it. However, I do like the mechanics that the time traveling story aspects provides in terms of completing sidequests by traveling to a different time to retrieve something before it was destroyed or to pick up something that only appears in a certain time or season. I am really, really digging that, kupo!

In other news, my gaming cave is complete! We moved both PS2s, the GameCube, the Xbox 360, PS3, all my strategy guides, the PSP, DS, 3DS, PSPgo, charging stations, and corresponding games in their this weekend. Playing FFXIII-2 in a private room with my headset was an amazing experience. If I didn’t have to work or be a mom, I’d live in that room and be another statistic.

Monday Gaming Diary: All Final Fantasy XIII-2, All the Time

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Okay, well, I WISH that were true. I haven’t played it as much as I wanted or should have, which is something I hope to correct this week. But I can say that what I have played has been greatness. I’m not sold on the story yet, but I’m digging the improved gameplay. And that’s all I can really say at this point since I’m reviewing the game for Gaming Angels.

I can also say that I’m LOVING the strategy guide so far. But more on that another time.

So what else can I talk about? Well, how about the gaming cave I’m constructing? My son has been in the smallest bedroom in the house since he was born, and it’s definitely time he moved into one of the larger bedrooms, especially since the closet in that room is a complete joke. The room was originally our office, but I didn’t want to turn it back into the office. I’ve taken over the front dining room as my office over the last year or so, so I just moved all of my bookshelves from the current office into this one. However, there isn’t enough room for my other computer desk and my PC in here, so that will return to its original home in the tiny bedroom. It will be joined by the Xbox 360 and PS3 in the near future, which will be the dedicated gaming room. Now my husband and I won’t have to fight for rights to the giant TV at night. He can watch TV, and I can game.

Also, with this new, minimal setup, I can use my new awesome headset that will allow for piping in the TV sound through my headset. The way our main TV is set up now, there is no way I can hook up the headset without crawling back behind our TV and navigating through the millions of wires. So why does that matter to me? It matters because now my gaming won’t alert our son that someone is still awake. I never had the TV loud when he was in bed, but it’s loud enough to let him know that he’s the only one in bed. Plus, now my husband won’t have to be tortured by repetitive music when he’s home. It’s a win-win in so many ways.

However, I am still incredibly sore from switching all of the rooms. I moved virtually all the furniture by myself, so plenty of muscles have been exerted that haven’t been used since the rugby days.

Now I need to go look at TVs worthy of the gaming cave.

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