Weekend Gaming Session 10/9

10/9 At a Glance

Currently Playing:
Fallout 3 (working on Devil and True Mortal)

Recently Completed:
Heavenly Sword (story playthrough), Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII

On Hold:
Halo Wars, Dead Rising

One agonizing week of waiting for the new TV down, one to go. Of course, it's entirely possible that there could be up to two more weekends before I can really sit down and enjoy the new set, but, once it's here, its time for MEGA HD REPLAY MADNESS!!!!!! Um, yeah. More on that later. I'm saving Halo Wars and Dead Rising for when the new set gets here, but before that, I'm also saving my replay of Broken Steel for the new set, and with that, my last 4 levels before 30, and Devil and True Mortal will put me over the 15,000 mark. Hooray.

Anyway.

Finished Crisis Core this week and promptly sent it back. To be honest, I didn't expect the game to have as much side content as it did, however, in this case, the focus was surely on quantity over quality, and I figured I could sleep at night without experiencing ALL of it. Final verdict: A solid story for fans of the series, but a monotonous and contrived battle system kills any potential for long term enjoyment.

My Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Stats

• Platform: PSP
  
• Playthroughs: 1
  
• Trophies: N/A
  
• I compare it to: Kingdom Hearts without jumping, strategy, or Disney.
  
• Play it again?: Nope.

To get me through this last weekend of SD gaming, and to try to manipulate GameFly into sending me Uncharted 2 on launch day, I ordered Heavenly Sword, just to try it out. Rarely has a game left with such mixed feelings. (well, actually, Crisis Core did too) To be brutally honest, Heavenly Sword's gameplay is, for the most part, derivative at best, and utterly frustrating at worst. A few technically heavy boss battles begin to shine, but the inconsistent difficulty mars even those. And let's not get into the motion control segments.

However, you NEED to play this game for a reason I don't often recommend (outside of MGS), for the cutscenes. The motion capture for this game is downright AMAZING, as is the story it acts out. It should come as no surprise that these aspects of the game were supervised by mocap guru Andy Serkis, who after his excellent work on Lord of the Rings and King Kong, got into the field of gaming, and has really left his mark with Heavenly Sword (and, it's a good bet he'll do the same with Enslaved). In my opinion, HS has, arguably, the most convincing and realistic voice and mocap acting of any game. Serkis himself plays antagonist Bohan, and brings to life one of the most illustrated, despicable (and hilarious, and creepy), and fresh villains yet seen in the gaming world. HS is one of few games that have been able to evoke an emotional reaction from me by the strength of the scene alone. During a confrontation between Kai and Flying Fox, the few short flashes of the backstory along with the emotions in the scene conveyed something not even the last few survival horror games I've played made me feel, a moment of real terror.
Heavenly Sword was great for story and cinematics, just not for gameplay. I hope that for Enslaved, Ninja Theory will be able to bring the latter up to par with the former.

My Heavenly Sword Stats

• Platform: PlayStation 3
  
• Playthroughs: 1
  
• Trophies: N/A
  
• I compare it to: Devil May Cry, moreso than God of War (besides, I compare EVERY game to GoW)
  
• Play it again?: Only for the cutscenes.

When the new TV arrives, it will be time for.....MEGA HD RE...(right, stop that!!!), um, time for me to replay all of my current gen games in HD, hooray! I'm just having a tough time deciding which should be first, so I'll put it to you for your opinions. The top contenders are:

Metal Gear Solid 4
Bioshock
CoD4 (campaign)
Batman: AA
Mass Effect

So, that's it for this weekend. I'm hoping to have some impressions of Uncharted 2 for you next Sunday, as well as a new TV to game on! Until then!

B.

Delayed Gratification, Oh, and Weekend Gaming Session 10/3

10/3 At a Glance

Currently Playing:
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (Story Playthrough)
Fallout 3 (working on Devil and True Mortal)

Recently Completed:
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Completed Game #8!)



A shorter gaming session this week, but there's a very good reason. I spent most of my gaming time on Friday and Saturday shopping for the new TV! And this is the deal I found, which, if it pans out, I'll highly recommend: SlickDeals.net:Bravia W. Great set at a great price, plus a free sound system! Awesome! Granted, I can't just take it home and set it up right now like I wanted, but I guess I'll actually act like an adult and delay my gratification. (I've delayed it more than 2 years, whats another 2 weeks?) So, not a lot of gaming this week, but I did finish Wolverine, so let's look at that:


My X-Men Origins: Wolverine Stats

• Platform: Xbox 360
  
• Playthroughs: 2+
  
• Gamerscore: 1000/1000
  
• I compare it to: God of War
  
• Play it again?: Nah.
  

Since I finished that on Thursday, let's take a look at the weekend gaming I've been doing:



Fallout 3: Ah, more glorious wanderings, destroyed landscapes, and exploding meatbags. I have to admit, I love coming back to Fallout whenever I've been playing other stuff for a while. Right now, all I need to complete the achievements for the game is the Level 30 achievements for evil and neutral (though I'm going to cheat and use Karmic Rebalance at 30 before I save; I don't want to do this grind again anytime soon). And, the Devil acheivement will put me at exactly 15000 gamerscore! (appropriate, I think). However, I'm saving this moment (and playing through Broken Steel in all of it's awesomeness) for when the new TV gets here, which will probably be one or two Weekend Gaming Sessions from now.

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII: FF7 was the first PlayStation game I got after my ex-wife's mother got us a PSX for a wedding present (which made me wonder if she wanted us to fail.....hmmmm:P), and I've got a soft spot in my heart for the story. It's not the best Final Fantasy story (6 takes that, IMO), Cloud is not the best protagonist (though he's less annoying than Zidane, Tidus, and Vaan; on that note, why can't a Kain, Auron, or Basch be in the spotlight for once?) and Sephiroth isn't the best villain (he tried to destroy the world and couldn't, but Kefka DID), but there's just some gestalt phenomenon that makes VII so popular. That said, I'm really enjoying the extended backstory that CC provides. The combat, however, is not making me happy. The commands are cycled with the shoulder buttons during real-time battles, and that works, more or less. What doesn't work for me is basing leveling up, limit breaks, and summons on the ridiculous DMW system, which is essentially a slot machine which leaves all of these important tactical options to chance, albeit with greater or lower odds. I just find that frustrating, and it will be the story that gets me to the end of this game, and I certainly won't be playing to 100%. Thank god there's no trophies.

Anyway, let's hope for fast and efficient shipping, because when the new set gets here, you're all invited to come hang out! I know that pretty much just means you Nat, but still, offers open. :P Game On!

B.

Weekend Gaming Session 9/26 Part 2, and Platinum #3!

9/26 At A Glance Part 2

Currently Playing:
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (GF), working on Samurai, prep for Walking Death (Hard playthrough)

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 (GF), - On Hold
Fallout 3 - On Hold

Recently Completed -
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (Platinum #3!)

That's right, Platinum #3 unlocked tonight! It was a nice surprise to have that unlock after completing my last combat Trophy (which, by the way, was not nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be. Just charge up the Lightning Shield, find a tight cluster of stormtroopers, walk into it and watch them fall over dead, repeat!), and not have to wait for the Ultimate Sith Edition exclusive DLC to get it. I've been playing this game since I picked it up at the midnight launch a year ago, and I've played the living crap out of it. Adding trophies was a huge incentive to get me playing it again.

My Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Stats

• Platform: PlayStation 3
• Playthroughs: 5+
  
• Trophies: 55/48 (7 from DLC, 65 possible with all DLC)
  
• I compare it to: Kratos with a lightsaber
  
• Play it again?: Most Likely
  

Got Fully Loaded on Wolverine as well, however, stopped working on Samurai for the night, simply because I got tired of killing the same enemy class (last I need for the achievement) and playing the same level over and over. I just have a really hard time sitting in one place and farming anything, call it a hang-up left over from my WoW days. However, full completion on this one is not far off, and 15000 Gamerscore isn't far behind that!

On the subject of 100% completion in games, let me just say this: I don't try to max out every game I play. However, if I find a game fun in and of itself, that goes a long way toward me wanting to keep playing it to completion. There are a few factors that contribute to this, and I'll list them below:

1. Is it fun? If I find the simple act of picking up the controller and playing, at any point in the game, enjoyable, then chances are I'll go for every trophy/achievement.

2. Is there enough content? If a game is long enough, it's a lot more feasible for me to get to level 30 (Fallout) or 60 (Mass Effect) than it would be if the game is only a few hours long. This is directly related to:

3. Is the story compelling? Mass Effect is a perfect example of this, and so is MGS 4 (Dammit Konami, get that trophy patch out!).

4. Are they fun and/or challenging to get? Let me clarify. Challenging does not equal "requires 100 hours of grinding." Mile High Club (CoD4): challenging. The Flags (Assassin's Creed) monotonous, (much like the 12 hour fight against that dragon in FF12, now that I come to think of it). Essentially, if it starts making me hate life, there's no point in getting it. I really like to feel proud of myself for finally getting a really tough one, not feeling empty because I just wasted a week farming.

5. Am I close anyway? If I get over 3/4 of the possibles t's/a's on my first playthrough, I'll sometimes stick it out to get a completion. Sometimes.

6. Are a chunk of the t's/a's for multiplayer? This is usually the kiss of death for game completion as far as I'm concerned. I don't like going online to try to get achievements. (Granted, I'm not a huge MP gamer at all, but I'll go into that another time) I tried with Halo 3, I really did, but if there's an especially challenging achievement I'm trying to get, I like to be able to load up that part of the game at will and keep trying for it. In multiplayer, the opportunity to get these tough ones (Two For One is a great example) is oftentimes very few and far between, and I don't like putting in 10 hours of matches just for the one or two chances I might get. On that note, I also don't like the 1,000-10,000 kills type. More farming.
-Note: Infinity Ward made a fantastic decision with CoD4 by making all of the achievements single player only, and having separate challenges in multiplayer. I really hope MW2 stays this way.

So, that said, here are the games that I've fully completed to date:

360:
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Assassin's Creed
Bioshock
Dead Space
Mass Effect
Oblivion (though completion in this case ONLY refers to achievements)
Shadow Complex

PS3:
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

Bedevilingly Close:
Fallout 3 (just need level 30 for Evil and Neutral, another time through DLC's will do it)
Braid (Speed Run, I'll have to play through the whole game again to train for this brutalizer)
GTA 4 (the toughest one for me to get has been the turkey in bowling. WTF!)

Anyway, it's Sunday morning, and that means that that's the end of Weekend Gaming Session #1! Check back through the week for articles about gaming issues, random thoughts, and the occasional plug!

B.

Weekend Gaming Session 9/26

9/26 At A Glance:

Currently Playing:
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (GF) - working on Fully Loaded and Samurai
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 (GF) - Just hit a groove with this one
Fallout 3 - prepping for Broken Steel with Evil character (Jyk)
Star Wars: TFU - working on combat trophies for Platinum, just got Saber Throw Mastery.

Just played demos for: Brutal Legend (buying it), Zombie Apocalypse (might buy it), and Wolfenstein (already deleted it).

Alright everyone, (and by everyone, so far I mean you, Nat :P ) welcome to the 1st documented BGB Weekend Gaming Session! Generally, I go into the weekend with a gaming goal in mind, whether it be to get a specific trophy or achievement, to do a playthrough, to get a GameFly game as complete as I want to before sending it back, or, occasionally, just for the sake of playing.

Originally, my main goal this weekend was to get the Platinum for Arkham Asylum by hammering away at the last challenge I needed (Sewer Bat Extreme), but, due to a great convergence of luck and skill, I managed to get it Thursday night. Which leaves me with the point I'm about to make.

X-M O: Wolverine, is a really good game for a movie tie-in, which in general I avoid like the plague they almost always are. However, I just want to take this opportunity to say how much I absolutely HATE collection achievements (though this does merit some small explanation). In Wolverine, like in far too many otherwise great games (I'm looking at you, Assassin's Creed), there are achievements for collecting items that, other than the fact they exist, have no bearing on the story or gameplay, and are so numerous as to make finding them all a task only possible by strategy guide or YouTube walkthroughs, and, if you as a player decide to be independent and find as many as you can on your own, you find it easier to start a new playthrough with guide by side than it is to locate the 3 or 4 out of 400 you're missing. Now, there are games that do collectibles right. Either they add or augment elements of the gameplay, come with an XP reward (to be fair, Wolverine does this, but it only helps in the first few levels) or they add additional depth to the story. Let's break it down:

Did it Well:
Bioshock: The taped diaries you find scattered about the sunken metropolis of Rapture add so much to the world and your sense of immersion in it, that finding these snippets of lives gone horribly wrong really becomes it's own reward. Emulated by it's spiritual sibling, Batman: Arkham Asylum.

Batman: Arkham Asylum: At 240 collectibles to find, I originally thought I was going to send B:AA straight to the corner with a pointy hat on. However, the game does a great job of mixing up what you're looking for. Sure, there's meaningless trophies to find, but there's also easter eggs nodding to the Batman universe in the form of the Riddles, as well as some fiendishly clever perspective puzzles. Throw in the Bioshock inspired patient interview tapes and the Chronicles of Arkham, and give a great XP bonus for finding each one, and you're only missing one thing to give the collecting REPLAY value, and that is, the map. It was brilliant of the devs to hide a map in each level showing the location of each of the Riddler's challenges. By no means does it solve the riddle for the player, it simply takes the wandering out of the equation. B:AA is one of the few games I've been able to get full completion on with absolutely NO help from the internet, and that's due mostly to good design.

Did it Poorly:

Assassin's Creed: I love this game. There's not many cooler characters than Altair, so, why IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT IS STABBY AND AWESOME IS AN ASSASSIN COLLECTING FLAGS! I understand that the dev team wanted players to go all over the rooftops and see the view from the tallest towers. Yes, that's what the time trials were for, thats what the vantage points were for. We even already had the cleverly hidden items, they were called Templars and they fought back (not to mention killing them serves the character and the plot). And there were 60 of them. Add to that 420 flags scattered across a huge game world, and you have a massive undertaking on your hands. Let's hope I'm not the only one who's bitched about this, otherwise I'll be doing it all over again come November. :P

Anyway, it's late, more tomorrow. Game on!

B.

Gaming Blog #1, and Platinum #2!

So I was once told that video games were nothing but a waste of time. Well, I've actually been told that a great many times over the 24 years I've been playing them, but I've also been told that going to film school was a waste and I've actually managed to make money in the film business, so there.

My name is Ben and I love video games. I'm not a professional gamer, I don't work in the game industry, and I have no desire to do either. I just enjoy my hobby and want to share my opinions and accomplishments with people who are actually interested (unlike my fiancee, who is quite sick of hearing about it). Occasionally, I may publish a review, but that's not what this blog is about. This blog will either be shaped by my current mood or the desires of any readers. So, without further introductory minutiae, let's get to the gaming.

9/24 At a Glance

Currently Playing:
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (GF)
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 (GF),
Fallout 3
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

Recently Completed: Shadow Complex, Batman: Arkham Asylum

Haven't Gotten To Yet: Halo 3: ODST, The Beatles: Rock Band

Patiently Awaiting: Brutal Legend (see below), SW:TFU Ultimate Sith Edition, Assassin's Creed 2, Modern Warfare 2, Bioshock 2, God of War 3

Two games that everyone needs to be playing right now (if you haven't already gotten to them already): Shadow Complex and Batman: Arkham Asylum.

1. Shadow Complex - My first reaction to this game was that it was a straight rip-off of Super Metroid. My second reaction is that there are few better games to rip off (Super Metroid is on my all time top ten, which will be published in a future post). Honestly, this game is amazingly fun. It's mix of combat, exploration, and advancement are finely tuned and polished, and make for an excellent, if not wholly original, gameplay experience.

My Shadow Complex Stats:

• Platform: Xbox 360 (Exclusive)
• Playthroughs: 4
• Gamerscore: 200/200
• I compare it to: Super Metroid, Castlevania SotN
• Play It Again?: Sure

2. Batman: Arkham Asylum - How is it that it took 23 years for Batman to get a game that wasn't a side-scrolling beat 'em up (or it's 3-D equivalent)? From the mediocre to the downright horrible, I remember nothing but embarrassment in the gaming realm for one of my favorite characters since my childhood. But, at 70 years old, Batman has finally gotten a game worthy of him, and Arkham Asylum does that by doing what any great game does, by making the player feel like the character they are playing, and to do that, the developer has to distill the essence of that character and design the gameplay around it. This was the first time that I have really felt like the Caped Crusader, swooping down from the shadows upon a terrified henchman, or taking on a horde of foes, besting them with superior training and reflexes, and emerging untouched. B:AA excels in so many respects, it's hard for me to get them all down and expect anyone to sit and read it. This game has provided my with my second Platinum Trophy, but let me emphasize, it was NOT easy to get. While the second playthough on Hard was challenging, getting through the last few combat challenges (namely Shock and Awe (Extreme) and Sewer Bat (Extreme) were incredibly difficult, and I rank my Platinum up there with my Mile High Club in terms of how proud I am to have obtained it.


My Batman: Arkham Asylum Stats

• Platform: PlayStation 3
• Playthroughs: 2 + Challenge Rooms
• Trophies: 48/48
• I compare it to: Bioshock, Metal Gear Solid
• Play it again?: Anytime

In other news: 360 owners, get on XBL right now and download the Brutal Legend demo. Seriously, it's more metal than metal ever thought metal could get. If the rest of the game is half as awesome as the demo, it will be 60 dollars well spent.

Tomorrow is Friday, and that means Weekend Gaming Session! New post tomorrow with objectives and more random thoughts! Until then,

B.