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Monday Gaming Diary: Extra Life is THIS Weekend!

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extra-life-logoThe Extra Life gaming marathon is this weekend, can you believe it? I’m flying out to Iowa to do the marathon with my podcasting team, where Chris and I will get Zelda tattoos, all four of us will play some Diablo III, and we’ll do our best to stay up all night while playing lots and lots of games. I’m packing up my Xbox 360 and my 3DS as well as a PS4 controller for the D3 session, and lots and lots of Dragon Age gaming. I should bring my Wii U for Bayonetta 2 as I’ll have to review as well, but I really wanna get both DA games under wraps ASAP.

Of course, I still need your votes for what 3DS games to pack and play! I’ll be playing my 3DS while driving to the tattoo shop, getting my tattoo (maybe), and definitely while Chris gets his. Then of course there is the ride back as well. I’ll need great 3DS games to play while I hope my battery stays cool! Maybe I need to look into picking up a car charger as well…

Regardless, please vote and boss me around a little bit. Reign me in, tell me which game to focus on and finish. I’ve had a huge problem finishing games this year. I blame how much greatness is out.

So what do I have going on this week? Well, maybe I’ll finally finish writing up my Hyrule Warriors guide review, and then I have Skylanders Trap Team to wrap up before I leave on the jet plane.

Let’s not look at November right now, okay? Let’s just enjoy the greatness of October, before it gets too scary. Oh what’s that? What about Bayonetta 2 and  Sunset Overdrive and Lords of the Fallen? Shhhhh….you’re ruining my peaceful moment.

Go vote for the 3DS game I need to play while you’re busy reflecting on how to not ruin my peaceful moment…

Monday Gaming Diary: Planning for Extra Life Gaming

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Good Pootchie!

Last year for Extra Life, I posted a survey asking everyone what I should play for the 24-hour marathon as I had three or four games I wanted to play but wasn’t sure which I should give the priority. That’s not happening this year as my stack of shame has spiraled out of control, and I have a few games I absolutely must finish before November. That first one is Dragon Age: Origins, the game I was supposed to wrap up this summer.

I actually put down both Diablo 3 games and what I’m supposed to be reviewing in order to play some Dragon Age: Origins last night. I was expecting to need a lot of time to get reacquainted with the game’s mechanics, but everything just fell in place very very quickly. My last save was not in the middle of a quest, but before I started any quests in a new area, so I couldn’t have planned it any better if I tried. Within minutes, I wanted to smack myself for letting it go on so long before playing the game again. My last save was in 2011, which is far too long. I have no idea why I kept putting it off either. The game is that fantastic, and it still holds up just fine, even with all the greatness of the new generation of consoles.

A friend loaned me her copy of Far Cry 3, and my original plan was to bring that to Extra Life, but with Dragon Age: Inquisition on the cusp of release, I feel like I need to prioritize DAO and DA2 (I don’t care how bad everyone says DA2 is).

I will also bring my 3DS because Chris and I are getting Zelda tattoos together, and I’ll have to have something on hand while we’re driving to the shop, getting inked, and watching the other person getting inked. It’s going to be a fabulous, fabulous time. Question is, what shall I bring for my 3DS? Should I finish Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance or should I give Ocarina of Time 3D another chance? I’m already going to wear a Link hoodie while getting the tattoo, and I have the Zelda 3DSXL; I might as well go the distance into being that guy?

Perhaps, perhaps that is what I should make for an Extra Life poll…

Monday Gaming Diary: Thank Goodness for Handhelds

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blackoutThis past weekend was nuts, and not exactly in a good way. Thursday afternoon, a monster thunderstorm rolled into our city and wreaked so much havoc it’s shocking to believe there were no tornados. Numerous trees were downed on power lines, and we were without power from the time the storm hit to Saturday. Some friends didn’t get it back until late Saturday, early Sunday. And then with the storm that hit this morning, many lost power again.

Naturally, this would only happen when I have two games to review.

So what is a gamer to do?

Well, to be honest, I actually read a bit while there was still light. It was a great way to ignore the eldest child and his whining about being bored without power. But when it got too dark to read without damaging my eyes, I pulled out the 3DS and jumped back into Bravely Default, a game I still have not finished. My son was rather upset that I was able to play a game and he could not, because he hasn’t quite figured out the nuance of letting his 3DS charge while he’s at school. As I’m a mean mother, I refuse to do it for him.

Unfortunately, the 3Ds battery doesn’t last too terribly long, even when you turn off the 3D. Plus, I have to remember that it wasn’t getting charged for most of the day when I finally cracked it open. Then when my 3DS’s battery did run out, my Vita was already dead dead dead. *shakes fist at Vita*

When power was restored, I did play a bit more of Hyrule Warriors, which is ungodly fun and it makes me want to finish Twilight Princess and Ocarina of Time 3D. With all that spare time to game I have. Maybe I should pack up the GameCube for the Extra Life marathon in a couple of weeks. That could be a fun thing to work on while we’re up all night.

Monday Gaming Diary: So. Much. Murder.

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Believe me or not, I actually played no Diablo 3, either version, all weekend. The last time I played was during the EvilCast podcast, but I find I pay attention better if I play D3 than I do normally. Not sure why that is, but it’s given me a great excuse to play while podcasting. Ross already plays League of Legends and Chris constantly plays some indie game during the podcast, so I might as well get in on the action. It is a gaming podcast, after all. It only makes sense that we play games while we podcast.

I forced myself to buckle down over the weekend and plow through the games I’m supposed to review for work reasons. Maybe I’ll get to reviewing the Reaper of Souls strategy guide eventually, when I stop being such a terrible person. But for now, I had to focus on Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, which is one of the better Professor Layton games I’ve played in a long, long time. I’ve been less than pleased with their games ever since the original trilogy ended, and this one felt like a call back to the earlier games. It also helped that the puzzle gameplay was broken up with the Phoenix Wright gameplay, which I didn’t end up hating as much as I did in the beginning. I was still terrible at it, and that’s where my hint coins went for the most part, but I embraced how they gamified the courtroom. Just please never think that’s how court procedure goes. It hurts my head to think that kids out there believe that’s how criminals are tried.

But the murder mystery-solving has not stopped there. I also started Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments on Sunday, which was far, far better that what I experienced at E3. As I’m under embargo, that’s all I can say at this point. I must finish that review today, no way out of it. I want to say that I’m loving it and it’s fantastic, but I’m not allowed to, you see.

Still waiting on the strategy guide for Hyrule Warriors, and Blake is going to review the guide for Disney Infinity 2.0. Maybe we’ll have those up in a far more timely fashion than I’ve done for Reaper of Souls. Maybe that’s why I didn’t get the Destiny guide? I’m kidding, BradyGames! Please don’t hate me.

Monday Gaming Diary: No Diablo 3 this Weekend

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Anomaly 2 3Believe it or not, I actually put down Diablo 3 over the last few days. No, I still haven’t touched Destiny, but it’s because I’m trying to be a good little reviewer. My official Fall sink starts this Friday with Hyrule Warriors, and I have three games to try to finish up and review before then. I turned in one review last night, so just two more to go! Huzzah!

The one I finished was for Anomaly 2, a tower offense game (yes, I said offense, not defense) that was originally a PC game ported to the PS4. I really had a lot of fun playing the game, and that’s all I’m going to say for now until my review goes up. Just…wait until my review before rushing out to buy it. I have a few caveats in there.

And I’m still plugging through Professor Layton v. Phoenix Wright. I have to devote more time to this, the length it’s taking me is ridiculous.  And I am enjoying it, I really am, I just have to hide my copies of Diablo 3 for awhile.

The next game I must review before Friday (hopefully) is Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments. I saw this game at E3, and it looked interesting. It has some moral twists in it as well, which always ropes me in. Plus, I love Sherlock Holmes. I read all of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s short stories and novels, and who doesn’t love solving a good mystery? That’s pretty much what both Professor Layton and Phoenix Wright are all about in the first place.

Must wrap all of these Scooby-Doo mysteries so I can enjoy hack-n-slashing it up in Hyrule Warriors and Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor. This fall is going to be amazing, even if it does break my bank.

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