The Gaming Diary: Chapter 3

[Disposed Hero]

Thanks to a slew of new releases (most of which I still don't even own yet), I have once again started playing too many games.  I always refer to it as 'bottle-necking' when I do this, since I'm trying to force too many games into too little time.  Anyway....

Yakuza 0 - I've completed the main story and almost have this one wrapped up, just trying to polish off some of the side content that I still want to do.  Great game, and I'm always a little sad every time I end a Yakuza title because of how attached I get to the characters and the setting, but knowing that Yakuza Kiwami is coming out later this year helps cushion the blow.

Child of Light - Playing this for the playthrough.  Cool little game, I'm really enjoying it.  I think I'm a little past the halfway point now.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - I've only got an hour or two into this one so far, but I'm not really feeling the hype yet.  Feels like I'm spending most of my time running across an open field looking for something interesting to do.  I'm going to give it some more time and hope that it 'clicks.'

Persona 5 - I technically haven't started this one yet, but hope to get around to it any day now.  I loved Persona 4 and have heard good things about 5, so I'm looking forward to diving into it.

And last but not least, I had been planning to spend the month of April playing through all of the classic Resident Evil titles again (0, 1, 2, 3, and Code: Veronica) and topping it all off with Resident Evil 7 which I still haven't played yet.  Despite all of the other long and involved games I'm currently playing, I am foolishly still planning on going through with it, although there's no way I'll finish by the end of the month.

[Sirgin]

Just finished Heavy Rain today. Terrific game, great story and all around atmosphere. The gameplay gets a little repetitive by the end, as it's nearly all quick-time events. Nevertheless a must play.

[Boshamp]

Hey all! I haven't posted in a while, but my recent experience with the new LoZ title has me wanting to do exactly that, since I have been itching to play it daily for the last few days now and have been doing everything in my power to find the time for it.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - I just finished the first "Boss" of the game and it has me thirsty to explore and gather hearts and stamina boosts and scavenge ingredients and minerals to prepare for what lies ahead (Especially since I came across my first mini boss at such an early part of the game and without decent weapons or armor or any heart containers, I was killed in one strike about 12 times before giving up on defeating it at this point). Just like Disposed Hero mentioned earlier today with not feeling the hype, I was having the exact same experience. Finding a few enemies and items scattered over an insanely large, open field and a lot of time wasted walking and climbing over long distances unsure if I would come across anything of interest. But once I approached Zora's domain and several "Scouts" started to corral me towards the main city and the royalty that was searching for me, things started to get interesting. I won't spoil the experience for any of you, but the events that followed meeting the fish people have me more excited to play than I have been to play anything in several years, maybe even a decade.

It makes me wonder if I have been missing out with other LoZ games over the recent years. My experience with them has been completing both playthroughs of the original, the first couple dungeons of the second, a little of Oracle of Seasons, and Ocarina of Time to the shadow dungeon part. I don't think a partial playthrough is fated for this most recent entry though.

[Disposed Hero]

@Boshamp:  That's good to hear.  I was hoping I would reach a point where the game would click with me, and if our experiences are alike, it will soon.  Sounds like I should be making a beeline for the Zora's domain (wherever that is).

Long time no see, man!  Glad to see you posting around here again! 

[Link41]

Uncharted: Golden Abyss (Vita) - Clearing a few more chapters while waiting at the Dentists office.

[Sirgin]

Just finished Skylanders: SuperChargers Racing on Wii. Decent arcade racing gameplay, similar to Mario Kart or Crash Team Racing. The rubber-banding in this game is huge though. It's irrelevant how well you do, the opponents are always right by your side. The graphics are fine and the levels fairly varied and colorful.

I finished all the "cups/tours" that were available to me. Some are locked unless you buy more toys. I don't like the Skylanders aspect of this game though. It's just like a normal game, except you only get 2 characters and 1 vehicle. Somehow, because it's linked to the toys, this is acceptable to people. But really it feels like half the game is missing due to toys/DLC. I only paid €8 for the starter pack, so I'm not complaining though.

[Boshamp]

Long time no see, man!  Glad to see you posting around here again! 

I am very glad to be back. I posted in the "Lurker/Returning member" thread to give a quick update on my absence, but I am definitely back and hoping to become more active again once I get my stuff organized and once my life slows down a bit again.

[Addicted]

Mass Effect Andromeda (X1) - I'm glad to have finished this game.

Lego City Undercover (X1) - I really like the corny story and I'm looking forward to playing some more.

Neutopia (TG16) - This is a really fun Zelda clone. I'm now in crypt 5.

[MaterialHandlerMike]

Persona 5- Just beat my third palace yesterday. Hoping to finish this, before my holiday, at the end of the month.

[Link41]

Uncharted: Golden Abyss (Vita) - Around the halfway point now in the game.

[Sirgin]

Finished Katamari Forever (PS3) yesterday. Did all levels (called "requests" in this game) in Katamari Forever mode, then did them all again in Katamari Drive mode. I did a bunch (probably about 10) in Eternal and Classic Katamari mode, but didn't bother trying to get the rest. You need a good score in Katamari Drive mode to unlock Eternal mode, which can be very frustrating in certain levels (the "hot food" level comes to mind). Great game though. I thought I was only going to play this for a couple of hours; but I probably ended up playing this for over 15 hours. Rolling is addictive!

[Ikariniku]

Finished Katamari Forever (PS3) yesterday. Did all levels (called "requests" in this game) in Katamari Forever mode, then did them all again in Katamari Drive mode. I did a bunch (probably about 10) in Eternal and Classic Katamari mode, but didn't bother trying to get the rest. You need a good score in Katamari Drive mode to unlock Eternal mode, which can be very frustrating in certain levels (the "hot food" level comes to mind). Great game though. I thought I was only going to play this for a couple of hours; but I probably ended up playing this for over 15 hours. Rolling is addictive!

The Katamari games are some of my favorite ever.  I should get back to Katamari Forever.

So, I bought an Extron Crosspoint matrix because of My Life in Gaming.  I got an 8x8 layout with labeled inputs and outputs.  It was important to me to have a lot of outputs because instead of using this device to manage my console input, I'm instead going to use it to manage my TV outputs.  Instead of constantly reaching behind TVs for cable, I'll have them all wired up through the Crosspoint, ready to have my consoles plugged and unplugged.

[Addicted]

Yooka Laylee (X1) : This is a Rare platformer through and through. I like it but I don't love it. If you love the Banjo games buy it.

Lego City Undercover (X1): This is a great Lego game but I'm not sure why you need to collect two forms of collectables.

Neutopia (TG16: Almost done. This is a fun but short game.

[Link41]

Actual Sunlight (Vita) - Aka Depression Simulator, this was an interesting visual novel to say the least.

[Disposed Hero]

Following up on my last post:

Yakuza 0 - Finished this one up with a total time of roughly 60 hours.  As far as side content goes, I mainly wanted to complete the business side story for each character, but I was pretty burnt out after I finished Kiryu's so I didn't bother with Majima's.  Maybe if I get a Yakuza itch before Kiwami comes out, I'll go back and complete it.

Child of Light - Finished this game a while back.  I posted my thoughts in the playthrough thread, but basically I really enjoyed the first half but got tired of the game's formula during the second half.  Still a solid game though.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Finally got off that plateau (literally) that the game starts you on and started enjoying it a bit more.  Unfortunately, I haven't touched the game in over a week because I've been preoccupied with the next game on the list, and also because I'm in the process of rearranging my gaming space and don't have my Wii U connected right now.  I hope to come back to this one soon.

Persona 5 - I had the same issue with P5 that I did with P4 in that these games tend to start off kind of slow by trying to teach you about all of the mechanics, and this results in the game holding your hand during the early parts.  Once the game opens up and lets you make your own decisions about how to spend your time, that's when it starts getting really good to me.  So I'm past that part now and am completely enthralled by this game.  I'm in the second dungeon now.

Ys: Memories of Celceta - I started this because I needed another handheld game to play.  I had high hopes for this one since I liked Oath in Felghana so much, but this one doesn't seem as good to me so far.  I'm still pretty early in the game, so maybe it'll get better as I get further in.

Resident Evil 7 - I still haven't actually started this one yet.  I mentioned before about spending the month of April playing through all of the classic RE titles and topping it off with RE7.  I played about halfway through RE0 then decided to ditch the idea because I'm already playing too much right now.  So once I finish rearranging things and get my PC hooked up again, I plan on finally starting this one.