The Gaming Diary: Chapter 3

[bombatomba]

Bought Alice Madness Returns on the past PSN sale mainly because I found out you get the original Alice game (American McGee's Alice) for free, which seemed pretty awesome.  I spent a few hours and have to say I wasn't having very much fun.  I originally thought it was a lot to do with the limitations of the Quake III engine (i.e., FPS engine turned into a platforming game), but the more I played I think it is I am just terrible at the game.  This is certainly a game that I need a "quick save" option, as dying at any point (which is very easy) sends you back to the last save.  Oh well, guess I will move on to the sequel.

[MetalFRO]

I got a download code for a new game I hadn't heard of called Project Xenon Valkyrie+ on PS4, and started playing that last night.  It's an interesting mix of chibi-style 8-bit action platformer with light RPG elements and randomly generated levels, but also has a 1-life per run limit.  So think of The Binding of Isaac, but side-scrolling, 1-life, and without the gore and more of a sci-fi feel.  Pretty interesting stuff, and quite challenging.  I'll probably do a review of the game for next month's article.

[Link41]

South Park: The Fractured but Whole (Switch) - Walmart broke street date, so I've been playing all afternoon so far. Been farting and clubbing people for exp and selfies

[Disposed Hero]

Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology - Still making my way through this.  Making a beeline for the end.

Yakuza 6 - I still haven't put much time into this one yet, mostly due to the next game I've been playing.  My opinions are a little mixed right now.  I'm hoping all the new changes will gel with me a bit more once I get further in the game.

God of War - I'll admit, I was skeptical.  I knew this game would at least be good, but I wasn't sure if it would live up to the massive hype and praise it has generated over the last couple of weeks.  It absolutely does.  I've been playing it ALL weekend.  Yes, practically all my free time has been put into this game since I got it in my hands last Friday.  It is rare for a game to consume my life as this one has.  The game unfortunately doesn't track the amount of time played so it's hard for me to gauge how far I am into it, but I would say probably at least halfway, but as of right now I think this game will likely crack my Top 10 games of all time, something I don't think I've said since I played Persona 4 Golden at least five years ago.

[Link41]

South Park: The Fractured But Whole (Switch) - That little stint at the strip club was a little much but the search for that cat and the $100 reward continues.

[ErbBetaPatched]

Playing through .hack//GU Volume 1. Better than first dothack series. Good for people who like grinding.

[Link41]

South Park: The Fractured but Whole (Switch) - Cartman is a vindictive little shit, but that isn't really surprising is it?

[bombatomba]

Having a ton of fun remembering how much I liked Castlevania IV.  I have to say though, that Stage VII (The Library) is stressing me out.  I mean, the game spends a lot of time teaching you that attacks come from the background as much as from the foreground, and then I have to walk by a bunch of bookcases that the overly large books vibrate in, but do nothing else.  I've died on the boss a couple times but each time I pass the bookshelves I have to pause for a second.

[Disposed Hero]

God of War - I finished it and got the platinum trophy.  A truly amazing game.  I suspect we'll see something about a sequel or DLC expansions at E3.

Yakuza 6 - I've made a bit more progress.  I'm still having some difficulty adjusting to the new engine, but I'm hoping that it will just be a matter of time.  I just hit the new Onomichi location, so I'm looking forward to exploring a new town.  I hope there are some interesting minigames there.  I'm a little disappointed that they removed the bowling alley in this installment, and the Pocket Circuit minigame from 0 and Kiwami didn't make a return.

Castlevania: Curse of Darkness - I've taken a real shine towards the PS2 lately ever since playing the first two Onimusha games, so I pulled Onimusha 3 and Castlevania: Curse of Darkness off my shelf with hopes of playing them soon.  I've only just started the Castlevania game so far.  After playing Lament of Innocence earlier this year, I have mixed feelings about this game.  I really like that they added EXP, so killing enemies won't feel like a waste of time, and the familiars seem like a cool new addition.  The gameplay and camera feel like a step back from Lament of Innocence so far.  We'll see how it goes.

The Warriors - I played this game at least 10 years ago with a friend of mine and remember having a great time with it.  The same friend and I decided to start it up again, and it's not as good as I remember.  My biggest frustration is with the camera which goes back and forth between a single-screen view and a split-screen view depending on whether both players are in the same FOV or not.  It can be pretty jarring.  I always wished they would make an HD remaster of this game and add online multiplayer so each player can just have their own screen, but it'll probably never happen.

[MetalFRO]

I think I'm done with Project Xenon Vaklyrie+ for now.  It's somewhat addictive, and I would like to see the end, but I have way too many other games to play, and it's frustrating me to the point where I can't make any more progress.  So for now, I need to put it aside.

[Link41]

Super Mario Kart (SNES) - Just beat on 50CC. Still fun to play, if not a little rough around the edges.

[Disposed Hero]

Yakuza 6 - I've been making more progress, and it's growing on me a bit.  I'm encountering some substories which has always been one of Yakuza's high points, and they're just as quirky and ridiculous as you'd want them to be.  I'm getting the hang of the new engine and the combat some more, but it's kind of hammering the point home that there just isn't as much variety in the combat or activities in this game as there was in the last couple of entries.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World - I've been playing this for the past few weekends with a couple of friends.  It's a fun River City Ransom inspired beat 'em up that I guess is based on the movie/comics/whatever else.  

The Warriors - I also finished this in co-op.  The game grew on me a lot since the last time I posted.  The combat is deeper and more fun than I was giving it credit for.  The game still has a ton of camera issues, and that's really the only thing holding this game back from being great.

Final Fight CD - Played through this again with a friend.  It's awesome.

Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology - Finally finished this, and good riddance.  I really don't think it's a bad game, but I just didn't enjoy it much for the most part.

[MetalFRO]

I downloaded R-Type Dimensions on PS3. I'm a little surprised how much I like the retooled graphics.

[shaggy]

Beat Nelson Tethers: Puzzle Agent.  Way to short and a cliffhangar ending but it's a nice game full of puzzles.

[MetalFRO]

I messed around with R-Type on the Game Boy last night. It tries hard to be faithful to the arcade game, but definitely has some shortcomings.