By the Last Token Gaming Staff
Jake Rushing – Overwatch (PC), Fire Emblem Fates Birthright (3DS), Michael Jackson’s The Moonwalker (Genesis)
It has been about 2 months since I started playing Overwatch, and I am still having sessions here and there. It is addicting! I will practice some more heroes before I dive into Season 6. So far, I have my main picks per class, with Pharah, Junkrat, D.Va, and Lucio. And now I am playing with different heroes for backup picks per class because I am starting to phase out with some of the heroes since I have started playing. I have started to wear out with all of my previous secondary picks (McCree, Bastion, Roadhog, and Symmetra), to where after some time of playing them, I am not as comfortable as playing with them as I used to, so I am just trying out new heroes for my backup. So far, I’m testing out Reaper, Mei, Orisa, and Mercy. So far, I am getting very comfortable with most of them, with Mei being a little harder to master than the rest of the heroes that I’m getting comfortable with. Nonetheless, all of the heroes that I am testing out so far have fun to play, and I need to practice more with Reaper and Mei before I can start practicing with my main picks and dive into Season 6.
I am not sure how far I am into Birthright, but I am about halfway through the main campaign, without spending a lot of time with side missions, so maybe at least 39% done in the game? Part of the fun for me is getting the best characters for the game and blasting through the remainder of the campaign with amazing characters!
Also, ever since I have managed to hook up my old Genesis 3 to my Flatscreen TV (due to the fact that my CRT wouldn’t play my Genesis for whatever reason I can’t think of), The Moonwalker came to me as my idea for my first Genesis game to beat on my Genesis console (just because it so happened to be my test cartridge for checking if the Genesis was able to run at all). So far on my first playthrough since hooking it up to my flatscreen, I have managed to get halfway through the game before getting the Game Over screen, so I am going to keep playing this until I beat it.
I am hoping to finish Fire Emblem Fates Birthright and The Moonwalker by the end of the month, because I do want to go back to my annual tradition of playing through any Horror/Halloween themed games in October!
Marshall Garvey – Area 51 (PS2), L.A. Noire (360)
After a long layoff in what’s been a pretty crazy year for me, I’m finally in a gaming groove again. I got things started with L.A. Noire, which I was long overdue to get. Six years later, I’m glad to say it still holds up. The complexity of the detective work has been a unique challenge, requiring a keen attention to detail and a willingness to take risks. What I love most, however, is soaking in the sprawl of Los Angeles. The game’s developers used authentic maps and photos to make sure they got 1947 L.A. spot on, and the results are still magnificent. Add in a Jerry Goldsmith-esque musical score, and you’ve got an atmosphere that makes the game hard to put down.
More on that “mindless” side is Midway’s Area 51 for PS2. I’ve recently developed an intense fascination with the infamous secret base north of Las Vegas, and even plan to visit the area in the near future. (For the record: I don’t think they have any aliens there, but there’s gotta be something weird that necessitates that level of secrecy.) My research led me to discover this 2005 FPS, which isn’t at all like the rail shooter we know from arcades (although its cabinet can be spotted as an easter egg early on). It’s more of a standard sci-fi FPS, with a not-so subtle aesthetic resemblance to Halo. Despite boasting a pretty impressive voice cast (David Duchovny, Powers Boothe, Marilyn Manson), this game has largely faded into obscurity, but it’s still a fun sci-fi shooter to unwind with.
Isaac Smith – West of Loathing, Skyrim, A Girl Adrift
So I’ve moved up to Oregon for grad school. In the age of the internet, it shouldn’t hamper my blogging at all! However, since the schedule’s all wonky, I’ve got a week or two of downtime to get settled in, get a feel for the town, and play lots of video games.
West of Loathing is an adventure RPG made by the creators of the popular web-based RPG Kingdom of Loathing (who’d have connected the two?). There’s a lot of fourth-wall shenanigans, a ton of stick-figure art, terrible puns, and a whole heap of silly stuff to do (or don’t do, the game is very open-ended). I am loving it.
Skyrim is an underground sleeper hit. Nobody’s heard of it. I’m one of the few who’s ever played it, for sure.
Okay, being serious now, I’ve picked up a decent mobile game called A Girl Adrift. It’s an incremental game set in a cutesy post-apocalyptic world drowned by global warming. You’re a fisherwoman who thinks she can make a difference. It’s a lot of fun, and there are some interesting mechanics. Overall, it’s a really relaxing casual game whose goal wasn’t to be a “relaxing casual” game, like Abyssrium or Viridi. I dig it!, and it’s free to play on Android an iPhone, if you want to check it out.
https://youtu.be/LSxElWwWVFE
Terry Randolph – Destiny 2, Dark Souls 3, Guardians of the Galaxy (Xbox One)
I finally just finished writing up my review for Persona 5, a game I have also enlisted into our Hall of Fame. After feeling like being in a writing stump for the ages, a vacation into the Washington mountainside really helped to get my brain in a nice, serene state to hammer it out, and that trip when I went camping with a tent from Survival Cooking was completely amazing. Expect it Friday!
That said, Destiny 2 is out and I am so excited to be playing it with a group of friends. My enjoyment died inexplicably fast with Destiny when it first came out because the beta and official release product felt too much the same. After having revisited Destiny nearly 2 years later, I found myself enjoying the game and excited for what I hope is a game that builds upon what made Destiny a great game with the collection.
I am also close to finishing up the main storyline for Dark Souls 3, and need to review the newest episode for Guardians of the Galaxy since we did receive a review copy. Overall, the week isn’t looking too bad gaming wise.
Sean Willis – Sonic Mania (PC Steam), Doom 2 mods (PC)
Well, took an extra two weeks for PC users to get Sonic Mania and it came with some rather nasty DRM bundled in which really wasn’t all that cool. SEGA you should have been upfront about that, it just makes a horrible surprise on top of a two week delay needed just to add it. Apart from all that though the game is still rather fun and it’s a nice Sonic fan treat. It might feel a bit like a Sonic romhack with stage remixes and a couple new ones but the overall package (minus the DRM) is rather great. Levels are designed well and music is wonderful. Pretty much just feels like playing the old Sonic games again, which we haven’t had in a very long time. I beat the game without too much effort considering I’ve been replaying the Sonic games and hacks on and off for years but I find myself currently trying to play each character and explore the maps as much as I can. Kinda wish there was more Special stages and the Sonic 3 style bonus stages feel oddly placed but eh, it’s easy enough to return to. Plus with my main computer down I’m stuck on an okay laptop that it thankfully runs on.
Doom, I never get tired of it, especially with Brutal Doom mod or the like. Thankfully the source port GZDoom runs well on my current laptop I’m using and I’ve been trying out some odd mods that have been popping up in the last year or two, or three. Reelism which is a sort of a survival match against monsters with a slot machine deciding what weapons you’ll get to use and monsters you’ll fight. Then when you lose you get a silly read out of your score. It even has some bosses too, it’s pretty fun really. Keeps to an older Doom style but it’s kinda fun that way as it allows weapons from many other games. Apart from that been trying the DOOM 4 Doom mod which adds the new DOOM weapons and level up system to old Doom. The map pack Brutal Doom comes with works well with it and other Doom map packs even though many are not intended for things like jumping let alone triple jumps. Still it’s a fun new way to play some favorite maps and enemies all fight a little different. Brutal Doom is still more energetic but since I can’t play the new DOOM the mod offers an interesting change of pace with the same sort of idea. Plus its funny to sorta back port the mechanics.