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Monday Gaming Diary: So, uh, Skylanders…

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After watching my eldest play more Skylanders SWAP Force, I asked him if I could start my own game when he finished Sunday afternoon. That was a huge, HUGE mistake, as I now want Skylanders of my own. I don’t mean I want to collect my own toys, although yeah, I want my own of those too, as I like the dragons and he’s all about the silly-looking monsters. I’m actually considering picking up my own copy of the game for PlayStation 4, even though we can easily share one copy on the Wii U.

By having my own copy upstairs, I could, uh, get trophies (most important) and play whenever I want, not just when the big TV downstairs is free. Plus, we could share our Skylanders between one another, as I know we won’t have many of the same characters.

Okay, okay I admit I just want my own copy that isn’t on the Wii U because I’m selfish and I want those ridiculous trophies. And whenever he starts to play, I want to play as well. If I had my own copy, I could just go play. Or I could be the responsible and nice parent and sit with him and help him out whenever he needs it, as he does need it often.

It’s not as though I don’t have a ton of other things to play on all of my consoles already, last generation and new, so I probably shouldn’t look into a new game with toys just yet. Yet.

Right now I’m waiting on the delivery people to bring me two things so I can hammer out reviews before I run off to LA for E3: strategy guide for Watch_Dogs and a copy of Murdered: Soul Suspect. I’m still sadly dreading WD, even though I hear it is great. I’m beginning to think that open world games are just not for me after my dismal experience with Skyrim.

Must remember to keep an open mind. Don’t want to be another uneducated hater on the Internet.

Wolfenstein: The New Order Mini-Review

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I haven’t played a Wolfenstein game since Wolfenstein 3D back when I was in college. And when I say played, I really mean watching my boyfriend at the time play it with his friends. I was into Doom II and couldn’t be bothered with petty Nazi killing. I don’t remember much about the game except for mecha-Hitler, red dots filling up your screen when you got shot (it was the best they could do for blood spatter back then), and opening a door to see a massive Nazi with a chaingun waiting for you, right there behind that door.

Even though I wasn’t a die hard fan of the franchise, I was still super excited about Bethesda and Machine Games’ reboot of the series in Wolfenstein: The New Order. The game was a delightful combination of incredibly dark and depressing themes (it is set in an alternate reality where the Nazis win WWII, so not much to be happy about there) and silly reflections. For example, hero BJ Blaskowicz never really stops talking to himself about what is going on during his missions. Sometimes it’s super cereal, sometimes it’s really dark reflections on his past, and sometimes it’s hilarious commentary on what is going on around him. And then there are the glorious Easter Eggs for Wolfenstein 3D.

I reviewed the game in full for Action Trip. Here’s a snippet of my gushings.

As silly as a lot of the game was in terms of plot devices and Easter Eggs, it was balanced out incredibly well with the horrors of Nazi atrocities, something the developers did not spare the players from witnessing. You may laugh at one minute, but the next may find you with your hand covering your mouth in shock. In this balance, the next iteration of Wolfenstein was executed extremely well, giving it a fun combination of a serious first-person shooter without forgetting its roots or how absurd typical set pieces for first-person shooters are.

Yes, I absolutely loved it. the shooting mechanics were smooth, the perk system added a layer of depth that helped me tailor the game to how I wanted to play, and the fact that you can make a choice that alters your game’s story was a nice surprise. Just…just don’t expect it to be the happiest story in the world. And from what I hear, don’t try to play it on PC.

And if you want to see me absolutely suck at playing games, check out my first run through the Wolfenstein 3D Easter Egg.

Tuesday Gaming Diary: So the kid now has Skylanders…

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My eldest son’s sixth birthday party was last weekend with all of his friends, but my in-laws really wanted a family party, so they invaded over the weekend while my parents were also in town to throw Gabe yet another birthday party. His real birthday hasn’t happened yet, I must add.

One of the gifts he received was Skylanders SWAP Force, a game he really wanted because well, Skylanders. I knew nothing about the game as I have avoided it entirely. He has friends who have the game, so naturally he has seen it and heard about it every now and then. Every time we’ve gone to Toys R Us to buy a birthday present for one of the thousands of parties we have to go to, he always asks to just go look at the Skyanders.

Now he has the game and three starter Skylanders. Since he can’t read yet, I had to help him start up the game, and I folded laundry while watching him play. He was having an absolute blast. One thing I’ll say about Skylanders over Disney Infinity is that the game allows and encourages players to swap out the Skylanders whenever you want. If you swap out characters playing Disney Infinity and you aren’t in the Toy Box mode, it shuts down what you’re playing and switches modes, since each character has their own play arena. For a little boy, that’s hard to stick to just one thing at a time, especially when you have other toys you want to play with.

While I watched him play, something disturbing happened to me. I started to want to play Skylanders SWAP Force too.

The game is brilliant in so many ways. There’s combat, exploration, and unlockable exploration that requires certain abilities or certain Skylanders, which of course forces you to buy more toys if you want to get through those area. It’s absolute genius.

I’m actually looking forward to watching him play tonight. He still hasn’t gotten the concept down that he needs to break things to earn more money, but I think this is the perfect game to teach him how to loot.

Oh and I played and finished Wolfenstein: The New Order over the weekend. But more on that later.

One A Wednesday: Wolfenstein: The New Order Online Strategy Guide

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Wolfenstein The New Order

I’m more than disappointed that there isn’t a print strategy guide for Wolfenstein: The New Order. I realize that since it’s a shooter, it won’t have the depth needed for a strategy guide such as a JRPG, but I have so many strategy guides for shooters that I’ve loved for various reasons. Sometimes I needed help figuring out where that one little prick was hiding, sometimes there are crazy collectibles, and sometimes there are fun Easter Eggs to find.

Even though there is no print strategy guide, Prima Games has a completely free online strategy guide for the game. While I bet it’s fantastic, just remember that it may not be as great as a print guide because, well, you get what you pay for.

I already have this online guide bookmarked on my iPad for easy access in case I get stuck. Although, I am curious if it’s a walkthrough for a stealth or a mayhem run or maybe a combination of both.

Monday Gaming Diary: Oh yeah, Bravely Default is fun!

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I’ve all but given up trying to play console games on weekends. Unless I’m reviewing something, I just can’t get my butt upstairs to play, even at night. I’m too worn out from all of my kid’s social activities (yes, they ain’t mine) to stay up very late (or so I feel), and on Sunday night, I’m usually writing for another outlet until quite late so I don’t have to write as much there during the week. One would think this would open up time for my handhelds, but until this past weekend, I kind of forgot I had games to play on them.

My eldest son now has his own 3DS, thanks to my silly self buying the A Link Between Worlds-themed 3DS XL last year. I traded my 3DS XL with another friend who had a regular 3DS, and gave that one to the kiddo. Of course he doesn’t have any games for it yet (his birthday is right around the corner), but I was nice enough to let him borrow my copy of LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars. When we weren’t at a teeball game or at a birthday party, he sat on the couch and quietly played with his new 3DS. As I watched the baby crawl around on the floor and entertain himself quite well, I pulled out my 3DS and started up Bravely Default for the first time in months.

Holy cow I forgot how delightful that little RPG was. When the kids went to bed, I instantly took it out, saying I would only play for an hour as I had to get up early the next morning for church. The next thing I knew, it was nearly 1:30 in the morning, and the husband was demanding to know why in the world I was still up.

Any chance I had on Sunday to sneak in a few battles, I did so. It’s the perfect little game to try to spend a few minutes grinding or rebuilding Norende. I kind of hope I’m not done with it before E3 so I have something to entertain me while waiting in lines in addition to Street Passing the hell out of everyone.

I haven’t given up on Bound by Flame at all either. I’m still enjoying that and stressing out about every decision I make. I’m not sure I’ve played a game that seems to have so many pivotal decisions, and that includes Mass Effect. At least with Mass Effect, those choices were pretty obvious as Paragon or Renegade. With BbF, I have no clue if what I’m deciding is best for the world or even the character. Not sure if I will play again to change my choices at this point, but that’s only because I’m too busy to plan additional playthroughs. If I can’t find time to finish two of my Mass Effect 3 playthroughs, BbF isn’t going to get time either.

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