As a video game collector, I have to admit I'm somewhat accustomed to picking up a game I'm not necessarily expecting to play. Oh sure, it usually won't be more than a dollar or two, but I'm guilty of spending (very little) money on games I consider duds such as
Bebe's Kids or
RapJam Volume One simply because I love the Super Nintendo and collecting for it. The same goes for many game systems, and even some eclectic oddities that I like to play around on more than play on, such as the CD-I or N-Gage. When it comes to modern games, the fact that most are more than a few bucks means I don't do the same, and I don't have a desire to grab a (as close as possible to) complete collection like I do for my favorite pre-PlayStation oldies. While seemingly unrelated, this brings us to:
When
Titanfall was shown, I was not star-struck as many in the industry was but I have to admit the ol' Mech-lovin', giant robot-stompin', sci-fi buff in me was piqued. Interested, but not entranced. Other announcements such as system exclusivity and an online multiplayer-only design all but killed my immediate interest. Even the 360 version failed to appeal to me, especially since the 360/PS3 ports of
Battlefield 4 felt so watered down from the PS4 port I enjoy.
However, when I found a window to acquire a Titanfall Xbox One bundle by a combination of trading off a stack of broken devices and redundancies in our collection and finally cashing in on all the Gamestop points we've amassed, it just made sense. Despite not having much interest in the system or library at the moment, it's a game system we don't have, acquired without much of any loss from us, and I know by the time another
Halo or
Gears of War comes out I'll be much more interested. And since it's the same price to get the system with a digital copy of
Titanfall that it is a normal one, it just makes sense.
And don't get me wrong; I'm sure I'll enjoy the game. While I've never been an avid
Call of Duty multiplayer fan, I enjoy many online shooters like the aforementioned
Battlefield and
Halo. And I've liked mechs since the
Battletech board game days in my youth. Perhaps I'll be as charmed as the gaming media once I load it up and indeed have a 'genre-redefining' good time. I hope so!
But I'm more that fine right now with some excellent games that have perhaps gotten overlooked in the last several months of new system releases and
Titanfall hype. Here's what I've been playing lately (instead of, oh say, writing for RFGen as I should.)
Bravely Default (3DS)
I can't say the Final Fantasy name brand is dead to me like I've heard others say. I also can't say I get that old excitement whenever it's name-dropped either. Seeing as how
Bravely Default began development as a Final Fantasy title, released as a new IP, and has been better received critically (and personally) than the last several Final Fantasy games, I sure hope the series continues. The story is naturally cliche to a fault and I have to say I endure the characters instead of being endeared to them. But the art is fantastic, the music beautiful, the gameplay fun, and the mechanics interesting. It's also rather addictive; I haven't carried my 3DS around everywhere this much since
Soul Hackers.
Plants Vs Zombies: Garden Warfare (Xbox 360)
This just shouldn't have worked, especially as well as it does. Essentially a scaled-down
Battlefield mod using the
Plants Vs Zombies universe,
Garden Warfare excels because of a humorous art design, decent and varied balancing, and the prevailing sense of quirkiness that the original PvZ games did so well. Perfect for those who tire of the gritty combat of modern shooters,
Garden Warfare is smart in its focus of pure zany fun; kills are 'Vanquishes' and player deaths aren't even counted on the final tallies. The cartoony style is well realized and detailed, and the lack of gore and heavy atmosphere makes the whole thing so playful it's hard not to come away smiling. C'mon, you get unlocks by opening sticker packs! Unfortunately being an EA game, there's no LAN support and the only bots are in the Horde-mode like Garden Ops mode, but other than that it's about perfect for $30.
TxK (Vita)
If it weren't for the NSFW and completely unnecessary vocal effects during the bonus round (which I think were toned down with the latest patch), this game is the perfect successor to
Tempest 2000 and
Tempest X3, two of my all-time favorites.
PuppeteerI'm not too far into this yet, but if the rest of it is as magnificent as the first few hours, this game is criminally unknown. I made the mistake of initially assuming this to be something of a modern
Clockwork Knight: Interesting visually, but otherwise an average platformer.
Wow, was I underselling this game.
If we gamers mean it when we say that art, sound design, and originality are of supreme importance in a game, it's criminal that no one talks about this one. The first few hours I've put into it have shown more attention to detail, fascinating world construction, and inspired design choices than anything since the storied
Journey. This game has, thus far, been quite the diamond in the rough and I intend to give far more attention to it soon. Here's the trailer, if you forgot about it or never heard of it:
Whether or not you're expecting
Titanfall to soon eat up all your free-time, try giving one of these a shot; aside from possibly
Bravely Default, they're likely to disappear under the shadow of higher profile releases, sort of like grunt soldiers under the massive metal feet of a-
Sorry, too easy.
