It’s been a long time since I’ve played videogames for hours on end and Patapon doesn’t count because it’s been predominantly a distraction during train rides and a filler during those hours of insomnia (some would argue it’s THE cause for insomnia but I disagree of course). So yea, after reading Mike’s post, here’s a list of what I’ve been playing these days.
Skate (Xbox360)
This is by far one of my favorite 360 games. I love how the controls are so intuitive, how the world is so open-ended and how the objectives are challenging, yet never too difficult to complete with practice. Skate is the perfect example of how a game can be great despite being incredibly buggy. There’s been so many instances where my guy’s got stuck in some walls; the game crashes sometimes; triggers for the completion of objectives don’t work all the time - the list goes on. Yet, I’m addicted.
Mass Effect (Xbox 360)
The only reason why I own this game is that there’s SO much hype surrounding it. It reminds me of Brute Force for the Xbox. Both games are Microsoft titles, they have ‘innovative’ combat systems, they share a similar color palette, they’re both sci-fi thrillers and most importantly, I don’t like either titles. I’m not too sure why I’m playing this even - possibly because I kinda feel bad about not giving it a chance. I’ve not touched this for a couple of days now and in fact, I’m quite keen on putting this up for sale. Hmm.
Katamari Damacy (ps2)
I love bizarre games and this has such an irreverent sense of humor. Makes you wonder how this game was pitched.
Designer: Ok see, we have this little guy. He has this magnetic ball thing which he rolls into things. And this ball gets bigger and rolls people up. Eventually the whole world gets rolled up and you win the game and this little guy flings the ball into orbit and the ball becomes a planet. His dad would be so proud!
Big Shot Executive: Excellent! Here’s 10 million dollars to make the game!
The World Ends With You (NDS)
By the same guys who brought you Kingdom Hearts. Despite being the biggest selling game in Japan, I’ve actually not heard of it until Kee and Shaun kept speaking in code about it. I’m about an hour into it and am loving it. I’ll write more about TWEWY after I’m done with it.
Final Fantasy Tactics A2 (NDS)
Worst. Story. Ever.
There was a time when I was quite enchanted by strategy RPGs. I’ve been through the likes of Vandal Hearts and the first Final Fantasy Tactics on the psOne (among others). IGN gave this game a 9.0. I don’t think it’s worth more than an 8.3. Each battle spans out excessively long with slow character movement, slow VFXes and that annoying lag between your selecting an action and the showing of the options available to you. I don’t see why the first few missions should take almost 20 minutes to play and why a simple text conversation at the pub can set you by by 10 minutes. Ridiculously boring. I’m conflicted whether I should finish the game but if there’s nothing good for the DS after I’m done with TWEWY, it’s likely I will.
Sam and Max Season 1 (PC)
There’s been heaps of accolades lavished on the series but I felt that the plot and gameplay is a lot weaker here than in the original Sam and Max and other Lucasarts classics. Humor in parts of the dialogue seem forced and the puzzles are nowhere as befuddling as those from yesteryear. It makes for a less frustrating experience certainly but I really liked the challenge and satisfaction of spending the next month pondering the next step to take and THEN finally getting it.
Next Games to Play:
Postal (Xbox 360)
FINALLY FINISHING Kingdom Hearts (ps2)
Final Fantasy X (ps2)
Geometry Wars Galaxies (NDS)
Trauma Center 2 (NDS)
Spore (Mac) - when it becomes available
