What We’re Playing This Week – First of the Year Edition
Terry Randolph – Final Fantasy XV (PS4), Overwatch (PS4)
One of the big goals of this year is for me to slow down on buying games…and making sure to play the ones I have until I’m done. Right now, I’ve decided I need to focus on getting through Pretty Boy Simu–I mean Final Fantasy XV. Having only played an hour of it, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed what I’ve gotten to play and look forward to what the game is going to throw at me.
I’m also going to be using Overwatch more often seeing as I bought it to play — and hardly had a chance to play it. Both games are genuinely engaging and exciting, and I can’t wait to utilize them more!
https://youtu.be/iAfP-JCjrmc
Sean Willis – Slime Rancher (Steam early access), Disc Jam (Steam early access)
I finally got around to repairing my 3DS to play my copy of Pokemon Sun (and some homebrew games :3) but it’s only between Slime Rancher and Disc Jam as of late. Slime rancher was on sale recently and I rarely ever buy games without a huge sale but I simply had to be able to ranch some slimes. The charm levels are insane with this game as you farm vegetables, fruit, chickens and slimes to sell erm, crystal like things that form after they eat. It’s simple really but managing the AI some is interesting and there are so many ways for things to go horribly wrong if you aren’t careful. The slimes can mix together but there’s a dark evil blob version you have to be careful of, complete with its own theme music. Only weapon is a vacuum and whatever you happen to have stored, which is to say the only thing useful is water or pulling things in and throwing them into the ocean. It’s odd how addicting it is despite it being so simple, just explore around get what you need, raise some slime things, collect money of crystal things rinse repeat till you upgrade everything. Heck if you boil it down to that it’s a little shallow and I hope the final version has a lot more to it than that but what is there is well polished and again full of insane amounts of charm and silly cute factor sorta things.
Disc Jam is a game I’ve been eyeing since I’ve heard of it all because it reminded me so much of a little Neo Geo arcade game called WindJammers I tend to enjoy now and then. It’s kinda like a disc based tennis game but with more complex moves and elements to it. You can only play online at the moment and sit through a slow but informative tutorial. Oh and customize some things if you have enough in game money. It’s current state is a little small but the mechanics are all there and it’s honestly a lot of fun to play. You have advanced curved throws, special moves, a shield to block with and some nasty wall riding tricks to use. Plus so far the community seems to be friendly enough. You could say it has a polish close to Rocket League. I’m looking forward to more of this game and I think it’s already one of my favorites as I find myself playing it off and on for a few quick matches. Now if I could just stop running away from the disc and start catching it more often heh. I’ll have to thank a friend of a friend for the free copy, I really didn’t expect to enjoy it this much.
Jake Rushing – The Last Guardian (PS4)
I will be busy for at least a month, so my game playing will be limited. But I will spend my game time on The Last Guardian, which was a Christmas gift to me. So far, I have taken a good liking to Trico, and I really enjoy how they made the AI for Trico to make it act like a real creature rather than a lot of creature AIs that we’re used to in games. I really enjoy the dynamic of the boy navigating through the world with Trico. I will be looking forward to enjoy what this game has to offer.
https://youtu.be/GE2BkLqMef4
Marshall Garvey – Fallout 4 (PS4)
Farewell my beloved social life! I finally got a PS4 after what feels like a year or two of teasing, and Fallout 4 was one of my requested Christmas gifts. Thus, my free time has been spent thundering across radioactive Boston, barely giving a rat’s ass about the main story (which is basically just the story for 3 in reverse) in favor of the delicious abundance of sidequests. While it’s hardly revolutionary in updating the franchise formula, it doesn’t really need to be. It’s just a finely tuned installment when all’s said and done, and that’s good enough for me. In addition to subtle improvements (V.A.T.S. not making you temporarily invincible, the spastic-zombie ghouls, etc.), turning Fenway Park into the main level and the terrific sidekick Nick Valentine are enough to make this worth full price in my eyes. The only downside is that, despite the more advanced character creation mode, I totally botched my obscure lookalike character (English folk rock legend Ashley Hutchings). I was so much better with lookalikes in Fallout 3, ESPECIALLY when I did Billy Mays.
Benjamin Fitzgerald – Legend of Kyrandia (PC)
I am making a second run at this ancient adventure game (I was two years old when it was released), as my old save file was on a laptop that was stolen. Apparently, I forgot how to solve a bunch of the puzzles in my year’s absence, and the game is more random and tricky than I remember it being. This really isn’t surprising – it is an adventure game from the 90s, after all – but I was hoping my memory would have been a little clearer.
That said, I did notice a couple of details I missed in my first playthrough. At first, I thought they were references to Lands of Lore – The Throne of Chaos (which starred Patrick Stewart as King Richard), but Kyrandia predates Lands of Lore. Some of the music in Kyrandia was re-used for the later Westwood title, and a characters make a reference to a particular talking plant.
I am both looking forward to and dreading the long maze sequence that I know inevitably awaits me. I’m going to have to figure out some way of mapping out the caverns!