Hey friendos --
Man, it’s been a minute, eh? Yeah, I’ve been bad. Instead of finishing a game, I’ve been getting about halfway through a game, getting anxiety, and then starting another one. I miss writing though, and I wanted something easy to get back into it. Rather than a full blown piece, here’s a medley of thoughts on the medley of games I’ve been playing.
Fable Anniversary, Xbox One backwards compatibility
I actually finished this one, but I haven’t finished the post about it yet. Look back soon. I super dug it though. Great game with a fun story, good art direction, and a ton of ambition that I didn’t know the console had in 2004.
Damn, look how much prettier that is
Fable II, Xbox One backwards compatibility
Fable II is probably better than the original Fable but I don’t think I like it as much. It’s hard to remember that this game came out six years before the Anniversary version I played before it, but this game aged considerably poorer than I’d expected it to. Everything has that first HD gen problem of muddy textures and earth tone pallets, but this game, while more what I would want from a video game, just isn’t as fun as its predecessor.
Splatoon 2, Switch
I skipped the first Splatoon on Wii U so I was pretty happy to see the sequel announced for that shiny new Nintendo thing I got. It’s… fine? The game is beautiful, it’s vibrant, and it’s exciting. It is one of the most mid-2000’s games I’ve ever played and it feels like it was made for the Dreamcast, like it’s a spiritual cousin to Jet Set Radio or something. I love the atmosphere of this game, it’s brilliant in concept, but something about the shooting feels stiff, awkward, and imprecise. When you first start the game its default setting is gyroscope controls to assist with aiming, and since turning it off (because I don’t want to swing the Switch wildly), the game feels less accurate, like it was designed with gyro controls in mind, and that makes me play it a bit more begrudgingly.
Pokémon Moon, 3DS
Every Pokémon game emulates a city or a region, and last year’s Pokemon game (I’m playing the original, not the Ultra Moon enhanced version) is based on Hawaii and its islands. It’s probably my favorite game in the series since Soul Silver. Gym Leaders have been replaced with “Island Challenges (which are 80% the same thing). While that sounds like a small change, the deemphasis on combat permeates the entire game and makes it feel like a more relaxing game because of it. The only thing I’m missing from it is the feature in Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire where the lower screen was marked with your collection stats for the immediate area you’re in.
Say what you. will, I actually really dug these starters
X-Men Legends II, GameCube
I’d actually never beaten this game before. I had it in high school and got stuck on a boss battle before convincing myself it wasn’t as good as the first one. I was wrong. Sort of. This is definitely a nerdier RPG than the first one, but that’s a double edged sword. One thing I really appreciate about the first is how streamlined it is, and while that’s lost in the sequel, there’s no denying how awesome it is that you get to make teams out of both the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants against Apocalypse, that’s awesome, right? I’m going for broke in this; I’m hoping to unlock both Iron Man and Deadpool, half of my normal team in this game’s spiritual successor.
Marvel Ultimate Alliance, PS4
Oh shit look at that. I actually finished this one too but haven’t done the write up on this either but damn - this is one of my favorite games that isn’t particularly great. I’ll elaborate more in the games on post, but there’s so much to love about this game, you just have to be willing to forgive a bit.
That’s only about 2/3’s of the entire roster, the PS4 version includes the DLC and trophy support
Super Mario 3D World, Wii-U
This is the only 3D Mario game I’d never played. SO far it’s a ton of fun, it definitely feels like a sequel to the 3DS title, 3D Land, which is awesome. That game was great. That said, so far it hasn’t moved the ball forward as impassively as past games, but that’s ok, because Mario Odyssey is also a thing. But, man - screw everyone, I liked the Wii-U
Spider-Man, PS4
Alright, so, this is inarguably the best Spider-Man game to date. That said, it’s only marginally better than previous Spider-Man games. It’s the best produced game, but it doesn’t feel all that different than games like Spider-Man 2 or Web of Shadows. It’s one of the most beautiful games I’ve ever seen, and it’s the best movement the character has ever had - every hour or so, it feels like a new collectible is introduced and I’m so happy I have another excuse to web around the city because it feels incredible.
Halo: Combat Evolved, Original Xbox
A friend came over and we just blasted through the first halo game on legendary. It’s harder than I remember for sure, but there’s something so special about this game, even 17 years later. The music especially is incredible, Marty O’Donnell is a goddamn genius.
Shadow of the Colossus, PS4
I didn’t play this game for 10 years out of protest. My roommate in college would play this all the time and I just snapped, I couldn’t take the graphics, the sounds, or the colossi. I wasn’t just wrong after playing this, I was absolutely floored with how wrong I was. This is clearly a very special game and the HDR looks stunning, worth upgrading on its own.
God of War, PS4
I only played the opening tutorial section at a friend’s behest and it’s super good, but I never really liked console God of War games all that much to begin with. That said, this one feels different and I intend to get back to it, but I feel like I’ll have to restart it when I do, which is probably making me take a little longer than it should to get back to it.
Assassin’s Creed Origins, PS4
Holy shit, this game. I should’ve started it sooner. This game has consumed me, I’ve probably put in 30 hours in the past 5 days. It takes what made The Witcher 3 special and just perfects it a little bit. Before I write the review on this, I think I want to play Ghost Recon Wildlands some to get a feel for that, because all of Ubisoft’s games are starting to feel like a singularity. There are so many elements here that don’t feel like AC but feel more like Far Cry. The combat itself feels like it borrows heavily from their only melee combat game For Honor, and I’m wondering what it took from their Ghost Recon series. Not that I’m mad - this is some of the most fun I’ve had playing a video game in a long time and I can’t put it down. It’s one of the most impressive video games I think I’ve ever seen and I can’t wait to see this one through. That said, this is the glitchiest game I’ve played in a while. Like, years. I’ve had to restart this game more times in the past week than all other games I have on PS4 combined.
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