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Monday Gaming Diary: Killzone Kingdom

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Best box I've ever gotten from Amazon

Best box I’ve ever gotten from Amazon

I played Kingdom Hearts for the first time in over ten years this past week. Holy God I was nervous. Kingdom Hearts was my first “real” video game (at least it was to me) with the PlayStation 2. The last game I had played on a console before Gauntlet Seven Sorrows was Super Mario Kart on the Super Nintendo. Not lying. Gauntlet was a great way to ease me into the controller (it had analog sticks, OMG!), and then Kingdom Hearts put it all to the test.

I hated platforming games already, that much I knew, so KH really tried my patience with a lot of it. The only reason why I didn’t rage quit was because you don’t die from falling. I loved the game by the end, but there there were levels in particular I never wanted to traverse again without the high jump and glide abilities–Wonderland and the Deep Jungle, especially that damn Deep Jungle. I am convinced to this day that the only reason I was able to get through the waterfall section at the very, very end was because of luck. The game felt sorry for me or something and finally let me make that last jump Sora needed.

So yeah, even 10 years later and many, many games later, I still have zero confidence in my skills. I was super nervous I was going to have those same problems all over again. I was going to get frustrated and possibly toss a controller once again. I was going to get stuck in that same waterfall and try to make that jump for over an hour yet again.

I’m so happy to say that while I still had some issues with that last damn jump, it only took me ten minutes of trying this time. Not even Wonderland bothered me that much. I’m actually having a lot more fun this time around playing the game than I did 10 years ago, and it makes me so happy. It’s never fun to dread playing anything. This actually gives me hope that I’ll get further in Wind Waker than I did the first time.

But I know you’d much rather hear about my fun with the PlayStation 4.

My system did arrive safe and sound, and thankfully it’s not one of the bricked units. Unfortunately, I didn’t get as much Killzone Shadow Fall time as I wanted. My baby has rudely decided to not nap as much during the day and demands my attention instead. So I’ve only played about 4 hours of it, and all I can say is this since I’m reviewing it for ActionTrip: the game is absolutely beautiful and the implementation of the touchpad is genius. I regret nothing at this point, except for the fact that there is no strategy guide for KSF.

Seriously, BradyGames and Prima…WHAT IS UP WITH THAT??

Monday Gaming Diary: OMG THE PS4 IS THIS WEEK!

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ps4-headsetIt honestly seems like just yesterday I was watching the E3 pre-show press conferences for Microsoft and Sony and taking furious notes so I could prep news articles for my employers. November seemed like so far away to save up for the next-gen consoles, and OMG IT’S THIS FRIDAY.

This Friday, a brand spanking new PlayStation 4 bundled with Killzone: Shadow Fall will arrive at my doorstep. You had better believe I’ll be staring out my front porch waiting for my UPS ninja to arrive. It may be my husband’s birthday that day, but he will instantly be tasked with setting up the console in my office before he’s allowed to have any birthday cake. (I’d set it up myself, but honestly, I don’t want to jack with how he’s set up my office gaming TV. The amount of wiring is a bit scary, even for him.)

True, there won’t be a strategy guide for Killzone, which makes me sad for this site, but somehow, I will struggle onward. I will find a way.

Now I just need to find a way to get through these next four days. I hate when I have something I’m looking forward to at the end of the week, because it makes my work week so darn slow.

Thank you to everyone who voted in my strategy guide poll. The Wii U only received one vote for each game, and Kingdom Hearts 1.5 the half-assed HD collection got the over-whelming vote. I have to admit that I’m a little nervous delving back into that world, because to be honest, it’s a miracle I finished the first game at all with all of the platforming. I’m a much better gamer now than I was nearly 10 years ago, but it’s enough to still make me a little nervous about trying to manipulate Sora through the Wonderland. God I hated that world.

Monday Gaming Diary: Extra Life Wrap-Up

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Tomb RaiderSo as you may have gathered from the SGR Facebook page, Extra Life was this past weekend, and I did complete my 25 hour marathon over the span of two days. I took in the votes I received for what I should play, and my playlist consisted of the following, all of which I did play:

  • Tomb Raider,
  • Dragon’s Dogma,
  • LEGO The Lord of the Rings, and
  • Bastion.

I admit I did not play much of LEGO LOTR. I started off my Saturday with that because my husband had to run and errand, and that was one game I knew my eldest son could watch me play. As soon as the husband returned, I ejected LEGO LOTR and put in Tomb Raider. I just couldn’t get into LEGO LOTR, and I think it’s because I’ve played a lot of LEGO Marvel Super Heroes and LEGO Batman 2 as of late. I love the LEGO games, but too much can be too much.

I absolutely loved everything about Tomb Raider. My only complaint is that I had to burn through the game, so I didn’t explore half as much as I would have done if I was playing the game during a normal session or if I was reviewing the strategy guide. I did like the game so much, though, that I want to return to it occasionally to pick up the collectibles. I am so glad I finally played this game, and I’m even happier that I found a game that released this year that I’ve liked this much. After my disappointment with both Gears of War: Judgment and BioShock Infinite, I was pretty down on this year. Saints Row IV is great too, but not in the way that these other AAA games were supposed to be.

I tried to finish TR that same day, but by 1 a.m., I had to call it quits for the night. I did finish it the next morning, sang its praises on social media, and then started up Bastion.

Bastion was another indie game that many of my friends insisted I should play. They said I would love the art style and the story, but I’d probably get frustrated with the gameplay. However, I needed to play it anyway. They were absolutely right on their recommendations. The art style is amazing, I already knew I would love the music since I had been listening to the OST for the last year or so, and the story was intriguing. I did find the gameplay to be downright difficult. If I hadn’t set the game on No Sweat mode, meaning that I’d never really die, I would have rage quit the game very early on. I’m not one for super tactical and difficult gameplay, as I don’t play games for the challenge. I review strategy guides; nowhere in that does it suggest I enjoy a challenge in gaming.

I see why Bastion got so much praise. Did I love it that much? Eh, not really, but I’m really glad I played it.

I broke up my Bastion gameplay with a bit of Dragon’s Dogma. I didn’t know what to expect from this game, but I assumed (wrongly) that it would be another typical JRPG. It’s more of a JRPG answer to Skyrim. Skyrim, however, at least presents you with a main campaign. DD just drops you in the middle of a city with nothing to go on. “Hey, this thing happened to you, so you’re special now. Have fun!” No initial quests. No guidance. Go wander around a city and find something to do.

I turned to the strategy guide for help, and I was astonished to see the walkthrough was not set up by a main campaign either! Instead, it’s sectioned by city/region, and then each area has all of the side quests laid out with how to complete them and when is the best time in your character’s career to complete them. I have never seen anything like this before. At first I was really turned off by it, especially since I was so bored with Skyrim after awhile, but stumbling upon a couple of quests made me more interested in the overall story. Nothing in Skyrim made me curious about its overall story. The civil war, the dragonborn…yeah, really didn’t care. I’m not ditching DD yet, that’s for sure. I just need to figure out how to fit it in with my schedule.

And speaking of my schedule, as you can imagine, I have a ton of strategy guides I need to review! I’m wrapping up LEGO Marvel Super Heroes now, but I want to hear from all of you which strategy guide I should focus on next. Granted, I’m going to work on all of these this year. I’m going to be able to now that Watch Dogs and South Park: Stick of Truth have been delayed. I’m just curious which strategy guide everyone wants to hear about first. (Please note that this is my agenda, not my staff’s. They’re working on plenty others.)

So go vote!

Monday Gaming Diary: Gearing up for Extra Life

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I can’t believe it’s already here, but the Extra Life marathon, while I’ll attempt to play video games for 25 hours over a weekend, is THIS weekend. I’m not sure who is less ready for this–me or my husband, who will have to take care of two kids pretty much by himself most of the weekend. I still need to plan snacks, a schedule of sorts, and what games I’m going to play.

From the poll, I’m definitely playing the following games:

  • Tomb Raider;
  • LEGO The Lord of the Rings; and
  • Bastion.

There’s one vote for Batman: Arkham City and for Dragon’s Dogma, but I’m going to lean more toward Dragon’s Dogma just because I’ve had several people ask me to play outside of SGR back when the game released. And I’m not in the mood to be trapped with some stealth. Yeah, I’m wimping out, but them’s the breaks.

If I need a bit of a distraction, I’m also going to play Saints Row IV, since I really want to finish that game and I’m bummed I just ran out of time with other game releases and, well, my baby son. I think that should be more than enough, and probably more than I can play in 25 hours time.

If I do happen to run out of stuff or I just get sick of what I’m playing, I’m going to check out Telltale’s new episodic game, The Wolf Among Us. Hopefully that won’t scare me as much as The Walking Dead did.

And if you haven’t donated to my awesome Extra Life cause yet, please do so! Every $10 you donate goes toward winning a strategy guide of your choice!

Monday Gaming Diary: One Reason Why I’m Excited about LEGO Marvel Heroes

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LEGO Marvel HeroesBefore I delve into this, let me make one thing clear; I am excited about LEGO Marvel Heroes for several reasons. One, it’s a new LEGO game, and I love these games to absolute pieces (pun intended). Second, it’s Marvel, and I love practically everything Marvel.

However, this weekend made me realize I’m really excited about LEGO Marvel Heroes’ release this week for one big reason: I’m so sick of playing LEGO Batman 2 with my son.

My eldest boy is really into Batman everything right now. He’s going to be Batman for Halloween, he wants Batman toys, and he loves the LEGO Batman game on his iPad. Since I refuse to play that horrific game, I offer to play LEGO Batman 2 with him on my PS3. The first time we played together was an absolute nightmare, as it became readily apparent that it’s a problem he can’t read and the controls are often a bit complex for him. I often had to take the controller from him to maneuver through some areas he just couldn’t figure out, even with me telling him which buttons to press.

He begged me to play with him again, and I prepared myself for another somewhat painful experience, but this time, he got it. I would only have to remind him what buttons to replace every now and then. I would have to keep his attention at times and tell him where I needed him, but for the most part, he really had the game down.

So now, guess what we play together every time he notices I’m not feeding the baby? I have this game memorized inside and out. I hear the dialogue in my sleep. As much as I love Clancy Brown, Troy Baker, and Travis Willingham, I’m really sick of this script running through my head.

Gabe really likes the Avengers, so I’m hoping this will distract him a bit so maybe we can trade off which games we play between Batman 2 and Marvel Heroes. Then I’ll have two games I’m absolutely sick of.

At the same time, it is fun playing these games with him, even though I could most likely play them in my sleep.

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