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Monday Gaming Diary: In Pursuit of Platinum

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I had a weekend to myself for the first time in months. I had all these plans to get lots of work done, including writing my review for the Game of Thrones strategy guide. When it hit me that I was all alone and could do whatever the hell I wanted, I abandoned the responsible plan and set out to work toward getting my first Platinum trophy in a game. When it comes to getting a Platinum trophy, I’ve hit too many obstacles. I never have enough time, I have too much else to work on, I have no desire, or there are certain trophies I know I’ll never get, either through lack of skill or lack of caring. For example, I really could have gotten a Platinum trophy in either Assassin’s Creed 2 or inFamous 2. The insane, timed platforming requirements for the last tombs in AC2 are what stopped me dead in my tracks. After nearly throwing my controller during the second to last tomb, I completely ignored the last one. For inFamous 2, it wasn’t the Hard difficulty requirement that barred me from getting a Platinum; it was the three precise headshots in a row. You think I have enough patience to master that? Fffft.

Really, I’ve been fine with never getting a Platinum. However, it hit me not longer ago that it’s ridiculous I don’t have  Platinum trophy in any of my LEGO games. I usually play those through 100% completion anyway, since let’s face it, it’s not hard to do so and it’s kind of fun. If I’m willing to go that far, what’s stopping me? I touched on playing LEGO Harry Potter Years 1-4 once before for the Platinum trophy, but I haven’t set aside time for it since. This weekend was time.

I didn’t wrap it all up, but I’m really close. Of course I have one freaking student in peril left to find, and no, the little bastard isn’t in peril in the campaign chapters. I’m going to have to run all over Hogwarts again to find him. When I do, I will have Harry punch him in the face.

From there, I have the bonus levels to complete, more gold bricks to find (grrrrr), and a couple of chapters I will have to replay under specific trophy requirements. So it’s definitely within reach, but who knows when that will happen. Spec Ops The Line releases this week and I got my little hands on LEGO Batman 2. Harry will just have to wait a little longer.

Monday Gaming Diary: Hodgepodge

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Hodgepodge

Nova Scotia Hodgepodge

Normally I have some sort of theme going on for a week where I play one type of game or just one game over the course of the week. This last week was perhaps more all-over-the-place than my gaming schedule for E3. So what constitutes a hodgepodge of games? I believe its very definition consists of playing Prototype 2, Game of Thrones, Dragon Quest VI, and Resistance: Burning Skies. If that’s not a hodgepodge, I don’t know what is. (Also, I like the word “hodgepodge.”)

Despite how hard it is not to look at Prototype 2 and instantly think inFamous-ripoff, I’m having a lot of fun with it. It’s definitely not a game I would recommend to anyone over inFamous–unless you don’t own a PS3–but it’s fun in its own right. Story-wise, the game has me torn in my moral leanings. While I agree it’s horrible to use live, unwilling humans as test subjects for horrible experiments, I also have issue with outright killing all of these scientists. It’s the whole take-justice-into-your-own-hands thing…never been a fan of it morally, so I often feel guilty about what I’m making Heller do. At the same time, I have zero issues killing off members of the Blackwatch, but that’s mainly because they always shoot at me first. And they like murdering innocent people. I didn’t say I wasn’t contradictory, for the record.

I’m rather mixed on Game of Thrones and Burning Skies. Burning Skies plays like another Resistance game to me, albeit short and very unpolished. I had heard that it was short, but I had no idea how horrifically short it was until I perused the trophy list. Six chapters? Really? It only took me an hour to get through the first two chapters, so that doesn’t bode well. I’m not one of the doomsdayers out there who decry that Burning Skies was supposed to save the Vita and it has failed to do so, but it’s very disappointing that Sony didn’t push for a more quality product on one of its exclusive franchises for a handheld that isn’t doing well. I have a feeling that I’m also going to have to pull a Comic Book Guy and look up the dates set in this game to make sure they match the lore.

Game of Thrones…I’m not sure what I’ve gotten myself into. It plays a lot like Dragon Age, yet I don’t feel like I have as much control as I did in Dragon Age. Also, these people talk way too much. If I wanted that, I’d re-read the books.

One last note before I actually try to make some money today…do not download Pocket Planes for iOS. It’s Tiny Tower crack all over again.

Monday Gaming Diary: The E3 2012 Writeup

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I feel like I was smacked around with Captain America’s shield and I could sleep for three days. It must mean that I’m in E3 recovery.

Don’t get me wrong; E3 is a lot of fun and I wouldn’t trade my opportunity for going for anything in the world. That said though, E3 is far more work than it is fun. But in a sick sense, working that hard is fun. Yes I was up past 1 a.m. every night writing and out of bed by 6:30 a.m. the next day to prepare for another day of back-to-back meetings; yes I had to take Aleve every night and every morning for the back pain and sore feet; and yes I had to talk to plenty of people I didn’t want to and play plenty of games I didn’t want to; but I enjoyed doing so.

One thing I will say about this past E3 is that once I sat down and really thought about the show in its entirety, I can’t think of one thing presented that just wowed my socks off. There were very, VERY few unannounced games at this year’s show, so not much took me by surprise. No new hardware was announced either or new peripherals–because with the PS4 and NextBox being announced next year, what’s the point–so the main focus had to be on the games. I wish that they had surprised me with more new announcements. You know what else would have been nice? It would have been great for Sony to spend more time on the Vita at their press conference than on the Wonderbook. So disappointing.

As for the games, I’ve laid out a brief summary of my thoughts below. If you want to know more about my individual thoughts and experiences from E3, I’ll have to direct you to Gaming Angels.

  • Microsoft Press Conference – I was very surprised to see the new Splinter Cell game announcement, and I was just as surprised to be interested in it. Doesn’t look like it requires much stealth, so hey I might be able to hack it. I hope I can. The fluid motion shots looked amazing. Oh and we thought the Smart Glass idea was fairly cool. If implemented well, it could be comparable to the Wii U GamePad without needing to buy a whole new console.
  • EA Press Conference – Yeah, this was kind of a snoozer for me. Moving on.
  • Ubisoft Press Conference – I know I’m alone in thinking this, but Ubisoft really bored me. After they made me feel ungodly uncomfortable with their trailer for Far Cry 3, I really stopped being interested in the show. Their trailer for Assassin’s Creed 3 was amazing, but again, it’s not a new announcement. I’m already planning on picking up the game. Before you ask, I am not interested in Watchdogs. For starters, the demo was boring to watch with all of the standing around of the main character. Yeah it’s cool to hack into devices to get through the story, but I’ve played a very similar game to this one, and it was called Syndicate. It had a lot of the same ideas, and I liked those ideas, but the game was so bad. As such, I’m not optimistic about Watchdogs.
  • Sony Press Conference – Too much Wonderbook. For the love of God, too much Wonderbook. At least they tempered that a little with a great live demo of The Last of Us and Quantic Dream’s new title, Beyond.
  • Nintendo Press Conference – Absolutely nothing interested me. Way too much Nintendo Land and core franchise game announcements that were neither a surprise nor an interest t0 me. Sorry Nintendo; not getting a Wii U anytime soon.

So what did I like on the showroom floor? I cannot wait for the following games:

  • Spec Ops: The Line – A military shooter that actually focuses on narrative over multiplayer? Count me in. In three weeks. (ACK!)
  • Gears of War Judgment – This is a well duh because it’s me and I’m obsessed with Gears, but it was made rock solid with the announcement that it’s all about my favorite character: Damon Baird. I wrote up everything about this game in more detail at Gaming Angels.
  • Halo 4 – Two words: Spartan Ops
  • Dishonored – It’s a steam punk version of Deus Ex: Human Revolution. What’s not to like?
  • Borderlands 2 – Trina and I had a blast playing this one together. I need to move the first one up in my stack of shame.
  • Double Dragon NEON – Holy cow, I was ten years old all over again. This is definitely a must-buy on day one of XBLA release (it releases on PSN too, if that’s more your thing).

It’s not much, right? Yeah, I get disappointed every time I look at it too. On the one hand, it’s a little sad, but on the other hand, we really do have a lot of games to look forward to this fall and next spring. Just go on ahead an block out October and February. You’ll thank yourself later.

Monday Gaming Diary: Happy Memorial Day!

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Hungover GamesI know my international readers couldn’t care less about the American holiday of Memorial Day, but I wish everyone a happy Memorial Day nonetheless. I spent my 3-day weekend with lots and lots of family, as this weekend was the weekend of my son’s fourth birthday party. It has been absolutely insane, and as much as I wanted to play games at night, I never was able to. So yes, I’m still incredibly behind on everything (grrrrr).

This week is going to be an interesting one for two reasons.

  1. My goal has been to finish The Witcher 2 before E3; and
  2. I’m leaving for E3 on Saturday, June 2nd.

Ack.

There’s so much I still have to prep for here, before I leave, and I still haven’t made any appointments with strategy guide publishers. We’re all trying to wait and see how our schedules can squeeze each other in. I’m going with Gaming Angels, so I’m mainly there for the gaming side with them, and guide publishers are there to schmooze with game developers and publishers to get guide contracts. So regardless of how much we all want to get together, we’re not completely a priority either. This isn’t to say that I won’t meet with them. We’ve all agreed that we want to, it’s just a matter of finding the time.

I’ll be sure to keep the site updated with gaming related stuff while I’m at E3, I promise. I’ll try not to start every post with OMG THIS IS SO AWESOME!! while I’m at it.

But anyway, why am I wasting time writing something here? The Witcher 2 isn’t going to complete itself by Saturday!

Gaming Diary: BioShock Complete, Now It’s Time to Focus

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Would You Kindly

If you haven’t played or finished BioShock yet, skip this post. That is, unless you have no plans whatsoever of playing or finishing said game. In that case, continue reading, please!

I stayed up until nearly 1 a.m. on Thursday night/Friday morning last week playing BioShock, and if I could have stayed up later than that, I would have. I ended the night with the revelation behind who Atlas was and who Jack really was. I walked away after impaling a golf putter in Andrew Ryan’s brain while he was demanding I figure out if I was a man or slave. Spoiler, Mr. Ryan…I’m neither as I’m a girl.

I was seriously blown away. I had theories in my brain, but I was way off. I never truly saw any of this coming, including the hints behind the phrase, “would you kindly.”

That said, the game was a bit of a let-down from that point on. The only revelation after that was learning of the demise of the awful Dr. Suchong. Even the boss fight was a massive disappointment. I beefed myself up and carried as many health and EVE packs as I could…and I didn’t need even half of them. Even my ending was just okay. If you’re curious, I got the unicorns and rainbows ending. I saw the evil ending on YouTube, and it barely made sense to me. After saving himself, just because he harvested a Little Sister or 10, he automatically becomes so evil he hijacks a nuclear sub? Huh? At least my rainbow ending made sense.

I’m very glad that I played through BioShock, and I can’t wait for BioShock Infinite next year. But now, I need to get my ass in gear. It’s time to focus on The Witcher 2, Prototype 2, and most likely, Game of Thrones and Dragon’s Dogma. I’ve made a dent in my stack of shame, but I’ve sacrificed my to-do list in the process. And game devs, ya ain’t helping by releasing all these good RPGs.

This is a horrible problem to have, I know, but we will get through it.

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