Gaming This Year

So, after a pretty dry January, gaming has finally started to pick up this year with some big releases, specifically for me, Lightning Returns and Lords of Shadow 2. I'm not only playing those, but some older games as well. I thought I would take this time to talk about what I'm playing and stuff. Alright, let's get into it!

So, I wasn't really looking forward to Lightning Returns at all, mainly because even though I've played the first two games, I never finished either one. It's especially bad for the original because I was at the end. I just never beat it. Anyway, I don't like delving into games mid series but I got more trade in credit if I reserved it so reserve it I did. And I'm glad I did! In the 10 hours I've spent in this game, I've really grown to enjoy the hybrid battle system of turn based combat with real time implications. It's like the perfect mix of Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy. The garb change system, though it originally reminded me of the class system in FFX-2 which I hated, is awesome. I like having the option of changing Lightning's abilities on the fly. It's awesome and the fact each garb has it's own ATB gauge, it feels very tactical as well. I don't know if I'll finish Lightning Returns, but I'm definitely going to keep playing and see where it takes me.

The original Lords of Shadow was one of my most anticipated games of that generation simply because I'm a HUGE Castlevania fan. Symphony of the Night is my favorite game of all time while Bloodlines on Genesis is one of my fondest memories as a child. 3D Castlevanias haven't been the best. The PS2 games were bland while the Nintendo 64 games were fun at the time but certainly haven't aged well. When I finally got my hands on LOS, I was very impressed. It wasn't original and it wasn't really Castlevania but it was still a fantastic game. And the ending was fantastic. Gabriel becoming Dracula and then revealing that he's living in modern times was a great twist to the Castlevania lore. That game came out in October 2010. It's now March 2014. I had to wait a long time for the sequel but so far, it has been worth the wait.

Lords of Shadow 2 is like the 3D Metroidvania Castlevania fans have wanted. It's a good and a bad thing. It's good because, well, it's Metroidvania. If you're a fan of that type of gameplay, then you're going to be happy with it. It's bad because it's basically a lot of backtracking and remembering what abilities you didn't have before that you do 2 hours later. Right now, I've only played the game for a little over 5 hours (I think) and have defeated Satan's first acolyte and I feel like the game hasn't even opened up fully yet.

The combat is so much better in this one than in the original, mainly due to the ability of controlling the camera. LOS1's camera was fixed and it hurt the game in areas where you were trying to explore and find secrets but couldn't due to the camera. That is gone and it's fantastic. I love being able to swing the camera around Gabriel while fighting. It just brings a sense of freedom. The three different weapons are all unique. You have the traditional Castlevania whip, a sword that heals with every swing connected and my favorite, gauntlets that let you break your enemies defenses. I absolutely LOVE hand to hand weapons in video games so I'm excited they added these. I also like the leveling system in the game. You unlock new moves for your weapon by defeating enemies, getting XP and using it. You can also improve your mastery with each weapon by using the move a number of times. For example, if I only used the basic 5 hit combo with the whip enough times, then I'm going to max out its mastery. It's a nice little system that keeps me from just using one weapon. And while the whip is unlimited, the sword and gauntlets have magic meters attached to them so once they're depleted, you can't use them but you can find gems to increase the length of each bar.

The lore of Lords of Shadow is my favorite in the series. Gabriel becoming Dracula, Trevor dying and becoming Alucard, Simon doing his part in 'killing' Dracula, it all comes together very nicely. And I like the time it's in. You basically jump back and forth between present day and medieval times and call me crazy, but I quite enjoy the modern time setting. It's a cool futuristic setting that hasn't been seen in Castlevania so far.

So far, I've been loving Lords of Shadow 2. It's like they read every comment that was negative about the original and fixed it. It's crazy awesome from the lore to the gameplay. I just have to beat it by Tuesday before Dark Souls II takes over my life.

I finally bought Super Mario 3D World. I haven't bought a 3D Mario game since.....well, EVER. Well, I did buy Super Mario 64 DS so that counts but yeah, before that, I've never bought a 3D Mario adventure game. I've played through all the RPG series and the Mario Kart series but for whatever reason, never bought the main ones. I've played them all, but through either friends or GameFly. This game though,, is AMAZING! I'm a platforming fan but it takes a special game to get me really into the genre nowadays. Super Meat Boy did it, Rayman Origins did it and now SM3DW has done it. The graphics are astounding. This is the best Mario and his pals have ever looked. More importantly though, the gameplay is fun and accessible. I found myself smiling ear to ear while playing it just because it is so fun. I'm only at World 3 but I've made the decision to try and complete this game. Now, I know that I have to beat the game with ALL 5 characters but I'm willing to do that. I want to say that I fully completed a Mario game before I die so I'm going to try and do it with this one. I did it with Rayman Origins but that's a cakewalk next to what Nintendo wants you to do. I'm really glad I purchased this game and it's giving me reason to play the Wii U while I wait for Mario Kart, Smash Bros, the new Zelda and X. I haven't played with anyone yet, but my wife and mother have shown interest in playing. Mario, keeping the family together since 1985!

I'm playing some other games as well, such as Earth Defense Insect Armageddon, Arkham Origins, Dark Void, (surprisingly good) Doom 3, The First Templar and Resident Evil Operation Raccoon City. My wife and I are playing through the first two together and we're having fun with both. Dark Void got such bad reviews but it's a pretty sweet but generic game. I've never played Doom 3 before but it's pretty terrifying so far. First Templar is a good hack n slash game and Raccoon City isn't AS bad as I thought. It's not great either but I had to try it for myself.

Anyway, so gaming is popping off now in the new year and I'm loving it. After Dark Souls II releases on Tuesday, I don't have anything else on the radar for awhile, which is good because I have A LOT of games to wrap up. I think Mario Kart comes out in May, but that's more of a multiplayer game anyway. I do want to play South Park and Yaiba Ninja Gaiden but those will be rents from GameFly sometime in May. Child of Light releases April 30th and that's a Day One download. Other than that, I'm just waiting for the big releases to come.

ANNOUNCEMENT! With the incoming changes to the blog, I'm putting forth some new changes. Pretty soon, hopefully by the end of this month, I'm going to do features on select women that I've come to know in my life. Whether they be co-workers, friends, whatever. I already have a couple lined up so be on the lookout for their posts coming soon! It's just going to be a simple interview, telling you who they are and such and how we know each other. You may even get a funny story or two out of it. So, going forward, be mindful of that!