The Future
While the first two parts looked at the past, the fourth will look to the future. There's a few things, mostly gaming related, that are on my radar for next year.
From Bamco (Bandai Namco), I really want to play Project X Zone 2 and Digimon: Cyber Sleuth. I loved the first PXZ and I'm confidant I'll like the sequel as long as the combat hasn't been ruined. Sure, they have shuffled some teams around, for better or worse, but I like a lot of the character choices. It's still a game that I'm likely to sink hours into.
I've liked the Digimon franchise since I watched the first season, and I've actually enjoyed a lot of the video games. It's been years since we had a Digimon RPG, as the last one were the Dusk and Dawn versions of Digimon World on the DS. While initially I wanted the Vita version of Cyber Sleuth, I might go with the PS4 version. Even the pre-order DLC looks awesome. Agumon dressed as Tai is cool, and you get Beelzemon Bluster Mode! I already know my favorite Diaboromon is in the game, so that's two slots on my team that are already taken.
Bandai Namco also announced late in 2015 that they are bringing over God Eater Resurrection and God Eater 2 Rage Burst. I enjoyed what I played of Gods Eater Burst on the PSP a year or so ago, and would love to play these on a more current system. Hopefully the release of these is spread a bit through the year, rather than have two different God Eater games for two different systems (PS4 and Vita) release simultaneously. It would be a bit confusing. Given their track record, I might not get review copies for any of these four titles, but I will definitely check them out down the road.
A few more games I'm looking forward to that may or may not end up being released in 2016. No Man's Sky, which I am really hoping to review, still looks like a lot of fun to just go exploring the universe. I'd also like to see more of two hopefuls, Horizon: Zero Dawn and Re:Core. We have seen very little about these, and if they aren't releasing in 2016, I'd like to see a good chunk of gameplay to see if they look good or just mediocre. Who knows, we may even see Mighty No.9 release as well!
In non-gaming areas, I'm also psyched to see some cool looking Transformers toys coming out next year with Titan Wars. While not as cool as this year's Combiner Wars, there are some good toys shown that I'm going to try and get. He'll be expensive, but the Fort Maximus looks cool and I'm hoping for a recolor/remold of the leader class Blaster as my favored Soundwave. While the games I know I can either get a review copy of or wait for a great price, that doesn't usually work with the TF toys. I'll have to figure out some way to get the money for them, but I'll likely have to continue to be choosy about which ones I pick up, and hope that the Hasbro Toy shop has them in stock when they have the % off coupon codes.
There were a lot of fun games I played in 2015, and 2016 should have its fair share as well. Happy new year readers!
Showing posts with label 2015. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2015. Show all posts
Saturday, January 2, 2016
Friday, January 1, 2016
Year End Wrap-Up, part 3
Games to Revisit
Getting copies of games to review is really awesome, and reviewing a game pushes me to beat it if I can in the time allotted. However, I don't always get to play as much as I want of a game, due to actually getting the review out in a timely manner and other scheduling things (stupid real life).
Of course Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate will go here. My buddy Mark Tatsu and I were so close to the end, and we've fought all but like 4 monsters. If it wasn't for him getting married and other silly things we would have done it, too. Now, I'm not advocating that he give up his life to play more Monster Hunter with me, but he definitely could have tried to work it in. It's not like I wasn't making time for it, and he doesn't even have kids.
I've played a few visual novels in 2015, and I enjoyed them. For Amnesia: Memories, Norn9 and Code: Realize, I would really like to get all the endings, and the platinum trophies if I could. Another platinum I'd love to get is for Lost Dimension. I really liked that game and would love to have enough time to finish my second run and hopefully get the rest of the trophies. Well, maybe a third run so I can save my waifu Mana...
There are three other RPGs that I would add to the list of games I want to play more. Omega Quintet was a game I found humorous and fun, and would love to put another 30 hours into. Sword Art Online RE: Hollow Fragment is also on that list, since it is basically two games merged into one. I liked it and would love to have to time to pour into it and get the platinum. To round out the RPG list is, predictably, Disgaea 5. I've really enjoyed the series, and I would like to devote more time to leveling up my characters and doing post-game stuff and a lot of the extra things you can do in the game.
Since I enjoy hack and slash games, I might as well include some recent Warriors games. Samurai Warriors 4-II, Samurai Warriors Chronicles 3 and One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3 still have a handful of content I haven't completed, and I want to. Those should be easier because it is very possible to pick up and play, and my son enjoys playing them too. I could play with him or have him play them and grind me out some drops, hahaha. Anyway, I'd also like to add Dynasty Warriors Gundam 3, since I haven't finished that one off and I've had it for years. Good game, though.
Getting copies of games to review is really awesome, and reviewing a game pushes me to beat it if I can in the time allotted. However, I don't always get to play as much as I want of a game, due to actually getting the review out in a timely manner and other scheduling things (stupid real life).
Of course Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate will go here. My buddy Mark Tatsu and I were so close to the end, and we've fought all but like 4 monsters. If it wasn't for him getting married and other silly things we would have done it, too. Now, I'm not advocating that he give up his life to play more Monster Hunter with me, but he definitely could have tried to work it in. It's not like I wasn't making time for it, and he doesn't even have kids.
I've played a few visual novels in 2015, and I enjoyed them. For Amnesia: Memories, Norn9 and Code: Realize, I would really like to get all the endings, and the platinum trophies if I could. Another platinum I'd love to get is for Lost Dimension. I really liked that game and would love to have enough time to finish my second run and hopefully get the rest of the trophies. Well, maybe a third run so I can save my waifu Mana...
There are three other RPGs that I would add to the list of games I want to play more. Omega Quintet was a game I found humorous and fun, and would love to put another 30 hours into. Sword Art Online RE: Hollow Fragment is also on that list, since it is basically two games merged into one. I liked it and would love to have to time to pour into it and get the platinum. To round out the RPG list is, predictably, Disgaea 5. I've really enjoyed the series, and I would like to devote more time to leveling up my characters and doing post-game stuff and a lot of the extra things you can do in the game.
Since I enjoy hack and slash games, I might as well include some recent Warriors games. Samurai Warriors 4-II, Samurai Warriors Chronicles 3 and One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3 still have a handful of content I haven't completed, and I want to. Those should be easier because it is very possible to pick up and play, and my son enjoys playing them too. I could play with him or have him play them and grind me out some drops, hahaha. Anyway, I'd also like to add Dynasty Warriors Gundam 3, since I haven't finished that one off and I've had it for years. Good game, though.
Thursday, December 31, 2015
Year End Wrap-Up, part 2
Disappointments of 2015
In my reviews, I try to find some positives in the negative and some negatives to the positives, but there were still a few things that were disappointing in the world of gaming in 2015.
The biggest one to me was The Elder Scrolls Online. I'm a fan of Bethesda's games, and while I wasn't initially sold on an MMO version, I figured they couldn't mess it up completely. Well, I was pretty much wrong. The game did have a massive amount of content, I will give it that. Pretty much every other aspect was messed up or ruined, though. The game just didn't feel like an Elder Scrolls game at all, but an MMO with an Elder Scrolls skin. Combat didn't feel right. Stealing was a pain, and you couldn't do the tried and true reload if you messed up. The fact that you had to pick a class just runs against all the series has established. I wasn't looking forward to the game too much, and it severely let me down. I really regretted buying the game at all, let along paying full price for the monstrosity. My wife was able to stomach enough of it to get our money's worth, but I just couldn't bring myself to play it, and I tried several times.
Most of my other disappointments were minor compared to a whole game, but the main reason I was looking forward to playing some Call of Duty: Black Ops III was another casualty. I like horde modes in games, and I heard good things about the aliens one in a previous CoD game. The zombie mode in Black Ops III is just not enough, nor even fun. There's only one map unless you buy the season pass, which gives you one whole other map! Wow, what a bargain! Oh, right, sarcasm doesn't translate to text. It's dumb. Plus, you go down in three hits, which happens stupid fast because they will just come up silently from behind and take you down before you can turn to shoot them. The first three waves go fine, then it just goes downhill for me fast. There's a whole ritual thing you are supposed to do and items to get, but I just want a standard horde mode. If they wanted to do this new one, fine, but make it one of a few different maps. Have at least one traditional one that I don't have to pay extra for. They also threw low XP into the mode for good measure. All in all, I pretty much regret buying the game, and I got it for a very low price.
At the insistence of my fellow XPound/Pez of the Mind/WhateverItIsThisWeek member Chriz, I tried out the Star Wars Battlefront beta. The multiplayer versus was no fun at all to me. Even the brief time I was a hero did nothing to sway me into enjoying the experience. It's a pretty game, but didn't have anything I really liked. The survival mode was ok at best, but even it was only two players and couldn't pull me to the dark side. If there was some single player I might have bothered, but I'm glad I skipped the "full" game.
Lastly, I will sadly mention some things about Transformers: Devastation. I like the game, but it was too short. It has some cool artwork tied to achievements that I would love to use for my background. Problem is, some of them are for the harder achievements, meaning I'd have to put in way too much time and effort for a minor gain. One of the ones I really wanted was a community challenge that came and went with likely nobody else trying for it. The challenge happened a few weeks after release, when most people were long done with the game, considering you can beat it in a day or two easy. I was able to make due to get a decent background with the screenshot tool, but I would really like to get some of that artwork to make my dashboard look cool.
In my reviews, I try to find some positives in the negative and some negatives to the positives, but there were still a few things that were disappointing in the world of gaming in 2015.
The biggest one to me was The Elder Scrolls Online. I'm a fan of Bethesda's games, and while I wasn't initially sold on an MMO version, I figured they couldn't mess it up completely. Well, I was pretty much wrong. The game did have a massive amount of content, I will give it that. Pretty much every other aspect was messed up or ruined, though. The game just didn't feel like an Elder Scrolls game at all, but an MMO with an Elder Scrolls skin. Combat didn't feel right. Stealing was a pain, and you couldn't do the tried and true reload if you messed up. The fact that you had to pick a class just runs against all the series has established. I wasn't looking forward to the game too much, and it severely let me down. I really regretted buying the game at all, let along paying full price for the monstrosity. My wife was able to stomach enough of it to get our money's worth, but I just couldn't bring myself to play it, and I tried several times.
Most of my other disappointments were minor compared to a whole game, but the main reason I was looking forward to playing some Call of Duty: Black Ops III was another casualty. I like horde modes in games, and I heard good things about the aliens one in a previous CoD game. The zombie mode in Black Ops III is just not enough, nor even fun. There's only one map unless you buy the season pass, which gives you one whole other map! Wow, what a bargain! Oh, right, sarcasm doesn't translate to text. It's dumb. Plus, you go down in three hits, which happens stupid fast because they will just come up silently from behind and take you down before you can turn to shoot them. The first three waves go fine, then it just goes downhill for me fast. There's a whole ritual thing you are supposed to do and items to get, but I just want a standard horde mode. If they wanted to do this new one, fine, but make it one of a few different maps. Have at least one traditional one that I don't have to pay extra for. They also threw low XP into the mode for good measure. All in all, I pretty much regret buying the game, and I got it for a very low price.
At the insistence of my fellow XPound/Pez of the Mind/WhateverItIsThisWeek member Chriz, I tried out the Star Wars Battlefront beta. The multiplayer versus was no fun at all to me. Even the brief time I was a hero did nothing to sway me into enjoying the experience. It's a pretty game, but didn't have anything I really liked. The survival mode was ok at best, but even it was only two players and couldn't pull me to the dark side. If there was some single player I might have bothered, but I'm glad I skipped the "full" game.
Lastly, I will sadly mention some things about Transformers: Devastation. I like the game, but it was too short. It has some cool artwork tied to achievements that I would love to use for my background. Problem is, some of them are for the harder achievements, meaning I'd have to put in way too much time and effort for a minor gain. One of the ones I really wanted was a community challenge that came and went with likely nobody else trying for it. The challenge happened a few weeks after release, when most people were long done with the game, considering you can beat it in a day or two easy. I was able to make due to get a decent background with the screenshot tool, but I would really like to get some of that artwork to make my dashboard look cool.
Wednesday, December 30, 2015
Year End Wrap-Up, part 1
Favorite Games of 2015
First and foremost, I'll talk about some of the top games I played in 2015, whether I reviewed them or not. Might as well start with the good news, which is something I don't often do.
If you know me or listen to the XER/ZR/WhateverItIsThisWeek podcast, the first choice should be obvious. Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate was a lot of fun. It had some significant changes to the movement of the characters, most of which was really needed. I was afraid how it would alter the experience, but I thought the changes were good and the game was a lot of fun. There's also a lot of content, since this is the expanded version. Lots of new monsters to kill, and I had a lot of fun playing it. Fun by myself, and a blast with friends.
Next up is one of my favorite games I played this year, Lost Dimension. It was a really fun strategy RPG with a fun twist: there were traitors in your group. Each of the five floors of the tower tasked you with figuring out who the traitor was, and getting others to follow your choice. The traitor was then erased from existence. Battles were fun and you could equip the power sets of any executed party members, making for some neat combinations. I know many people didn't like it much but I really enjoyed the game.
Of course Disgaea 5 would be on my list. I like strategy RPGs, and Disgaea is still their king. Fun characters, new troop types and some great additions and changes to the Netherworld made this a great entry in the series. I'm really tempted to buy the season pass for the extra characters and levels. I'm not always fond of what seems like every game having a season pass, but I liked Disgaea 5 enough that I'm tempted to shell out money for more content.
Even though I have not finished the review of the game yet, Eiyuu Senki should be on this list. No harm in being thorough, right? The game is really fun, even without all the AO-rated stuff. I often debate if I should continue assaulting my next target, or simply do more personal events. It's not too hard, and I've found the game to be funny, too. Look forward to the full review early next year.
Lastly, I really liked Divinity: Original Sin. There were a lot of small problems, but they didn't add up to enough to ruin the whole game. Plus, I played 95% of it with my wife. Couch co-op is a lot of fun with a good partner, and the game worked beautifully for both of us. There are a lot of ways to build a character, and I have another one or two that I'd love to try out, even if it is by myself. A really good RPG that takes awhile to play. Just be prepared to get your butt handed to you sometimes. I'm hoping the sequel will also makes its way to consoles.
First and foremost, I'll talk about some of the top games I played in 2015, whether I reviewed them or not. Might as well start with the good news, which is something I don't often do.
If you know me or listen to the XER/ZR/WhateverItIsThisWeek podcast, the first choice should be obvious. Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate was a lot of fun. It had some significant changes to the movement of the characters, most of which was really needed. I was afraid how it would alter the experience, but I thought the changes were good and the game was a lot of fun. There's also a lot of content, since this is the expanded version. Lots of new monsters to kill, and I had a lot of fun playing it. Fun by myself, and a blast with friends.
Next up is one of my favorite games I played this year, Lost Dimension. It was a really fun strategy RPG with a fun twist: there were traitors in your group. Each of the five floors of the tower tasked you with figuring out who the traitor was, and getting others to follow your choice. The traitor was then erased from existence. Battles were fun and you could equip the power sets of any executed party members, making for some neat combinations. I know many people didn't like it much but I really enjoyed the game.
Of course Disgaea 5 would be on my list. I like strategy RPGs, and Disgaea is still their king. Fun characters, new troop types and some great additions and changes to the Netherworld made this a great entry in the series. I'm really tempted to buy the season pass for the extra characters and levels. I'm not always fond of what seems like every game having a season pass, but I liked Disgaea 5 enough that I'm tempted to shell out money for more content.
Even though I have not finished the review of the game yet, Eiyuu Senki should be on this list. No harm in being thorough, right? The game is really fun, even without all the AO-rated stuff. I often debate if I should continue assaulting my next target, or simply do more personal events. It's not too hard, and I've found the game to be funny, too. Look forward to the full review early next year.
Lastly, I really liked Divinity: Original Sin. There were a lot of small problems, but they didn't add up to enough to ruin the whole game. Plus, I played 95% of it with my wife. Couch co-op is a lot of fun with a good partner, and the game worked beautifully for both of us. There are a lot of ways to build a character, and I have another one or two that I'd love to try out, even if it is by myself. A really good RPG that takes awhile to play. Just be prepared to get your butt handed to you sometimes. I'm hoping the sequel will also makes its way to consoles.
Thursday, September 3, 2015
PAX Prime 2015 - Day 2
The Legend of Zelda: Triforce Heroes
I played this with two other guys. The goal of the demo was to figure out how to get through the puzzles and fight the boss. Strangely, it worked and, all things considered, it was kind of fun. I doubt I'd want to do the whole thing with three people, but at least trying it was ok. I did like the different costumes Link can get and wear, and they each have a specialty, for better or worse. I picked the samurai one because it looked cool, but was no extra help in our dungeon. The dungeon we did required bombs and arrows, and it wasn't too hard to figure out what to do. Actually doing it, on the other hand, wasn't quite as smooth. Trying to get the order right of who picks up who with strangers can be a challenge. Communication and listening are key for this game. Oh, and patience, too.
Chasm
Who doesn't love Castlevania: Symphony of the Night? (If you don't, just skip to the next one) I do, so when I happened upon Chasm in the Indie Megabooth, I stopped and checked it out. It is a 16-bit side scrolling action adventure/ metroidvania. The guy at the booth explained that there are a few different map types, and that it is set once the opening cut scene starts. So the map isn't random, but there are a few variations to give some replay value. The game was pretty fun, but a bit clunky in movement and attacking. It, like many other games, isn't very forgiving. It's all well and good, since I do like the genre, so I will try my best to play the game when it releases next year.
Final Fantasy Explorers
When first shown, the game seemed like the Final Fantasy version of Monster Hunter. While that is somewhat true, the game resembles the previous Square Enix release Lord of Arcana. Combat was easy to understand, but I did have to be careful. I wasn't treating it like a Monster Hunter game, and did die to the boss. It was fun though. At the start there were multiple jobs to choose from, so I choose the monk, one of my favorites. I do want to try the finished game later this year (or next, whenever it comes out). My only complaint was that the C-stick didn't operate the camera. Hopefully it is a menu option or defaults to that in the full release. To operate the camera, it was like Phantasy Star Online, where a button will center it. No touch screen d-pad or anything, and I don't recall if the actual d-pad did it (which would be uncomfortable anyway).
Cuphead
When Cuphead was first unveiled, I really liked the look of it. Once they later showed gameplay, I knew I had to try it. And... well, both of those held up. The look of the game is very much like the old 1930s animation and it works. The demo at PAX had only a tutorial that showed the controls and boss fights, so I tried three of them.
The first was in a plane against a giant bird. It was very much like a shmup, a genre I enjoy, but it's not quite as smooth. It's workable, but not quite as good as a dedicated shmup system. Almost beat that boss, but didn't. Second was against a giant potato and then a giant carrot, which I did manage to win. Third was against a pirate on a boat that would attack with shots, a hanging chest and a shark/octopus from different parts of the screen. That one I didn't win.
It was a pretty fun game, although very unforgiving. Enemy shots were small, and your graphic not so much, so dodging was, well... dodgy. You only get three hearts, so three hits and you are out. No continuing in the demo, as it just put you on the map/menu and you had to do it again. Two player might be fun, so I'm still looking forward to trying the full game when it releases.
Xenoblade Chronicles X
First off, I didn't play Xenoblade Chronicles X, since they were only having gameplay demonstrations with a dude I used to work near (there is 0% chance he remembers me, though). Anyway, I watched several of the demos and went to the panel about the art, where they showed off the special edition coming this winter.
They showed off getting quests, skills and even mid-air battles in the mechs, which I didn't know was a thing in the game. The guy also ran around various parts of the map, enemies and talked about weather effects. Xenoblade Chronicles X looks like it has a ton of content and I am looking forward to it.
The special edition also got me excited. The lithograph is ok, and the art book looks really nice (and big!), but the USB drive is what I really like. It looks like a zohar! It also has 10 tracks of the soundtrack on there. Sure, it could, and should, have the whole thing on it, but I'll just get the other tracks through some other means. I'm glad it was still able to be pre-ordered when I got home, since I couldn't do it while at the show.
I played this with two other guys. The goal of the demo was to figure out how to get through the puzzles and fight the boss. Strangely, it worked and, all things considered, it was kind of fun. I doubt I'd want to do the whole thing with three people, but at least trying it was ok. I did like the different costumes Link can get and wear, and they each have a specialty, for better or worse. I picked the samurai one because it looked cool, but was no extra help in our dungeon. The dungeon we did required bombs and arrows, and it wasn't too hard to figure out what to do. Actually doing it, on the other hand, wasn't quite as smooth. Trying to get the order right of who picks up who with strangers can be a challenge. Communication and listening are key for this game. Oh, and patience, too.
Chasm
Who doesn't love Castlevania: Symphony of the Night? (If you don't, just skip to the next one) I do, so when I happened upon Chasm in the Indie Megabooth, I stopped and checked it out. It is a 16-bit side scrolling action adventure/ metroidvania. The guy at the booth explained that there are a few different map types, and that it is set once the opening cut scene starts. So the map isn't random, but there are a few variations to give some replay value. The game was pretty fun, but a bit clunky in movement and attacking. It, like many other games, isn't very forgiving. It's all well and good, since I do like the genre, so I will try my best to play the game when it releases next year.
Final Fantasy Explorers
When first shown, the game seemed like the Final Fantasy version of Monster Hunter. While that is somewhat true, the game resembles the previous Square Enix release Lord of Arcana. Combat was easy to understand, but I did have to be careful. I wasn't treating it like a Monster Hunter game, and did die to the boss. It was fun though. At the start there were multiple jobs to choose from, so I choose the monk, one of my favorites. I do want to try the finished game later this year (or next, whenever it comes out). My only complaint was that the C-stick didn't operate the camera. Hopefully it is a menu option or defaults to that in the full release. To operate the camera, it was like Phantasy Star Online, where a button will center it. No touch screen d-pad or anything, and I don't recall if the actual d-pad did it (which would be uncomfortable anyway).
Cuphead
When Cuphead was first unveiled, I really liked the look of it. Once they later showed gameplay, I knew I had to try it. And... well, both of those held up. The look of the game is very much like the old 1930s animation and it works. The demo at PAX had only a tutorial that showed the controls and boss fights, so I tried three of them.
The first was in a plane against a giant bird. It was very much like a shmup, a genre I enjoy, but it's not quite as smooth. It's workable, but not quite as good as a dedicated shmup system. Almost beat that boss, but didn't. Second was against a giant potato and then a giant carrot, which I did manage to win. Third was against a pirate on a boat that would attack with shots, a hanging chest and a shark/octopus from different parts of the screen. That one I didn't win.
It was a pretty fun game, although very unforgiving. Enemy shots were small, and your graphic not so much, so dodging was, well... dodgy. You only get three hearts, so three hits and you are out. No continuing in the demo, as it just put you on the map/menu and you had to do it again. Two player might be fun, so I'm still looking forward to trying the full game when it releases.
Xenoblade Chronicles X
First off, I didn't play Xenoblade Chronicles X, since they were only having gameplay demonstrations with a dude I used to work near (there is 0% chance he remembers me, though). Anyway, I watched several of the demos and went to the panel about the art, where they showed off the special edition coming this winter.
They showed off getting quests, skills and even mid-air battles in the mechs, which I didn't know was a thing in the game. The guy also ran around various parts of the map, enemies and talked about weather effects. Xenoblade Chronicles X looks like it has a ton of content and I am looking forward to it.
The special edition also got me excited. The lithograph is ok, and the art book looks really nice (and big!), but the USB drive is what I really like. It looks like a zohar! It also has 10 tracks of the soundtrack on there. Sure, it could, and should, have the whole thing on it, but I'll just get the other tracks through some other means. I'm glad it was still able to be pre-ordered when I got home, since I couldn't do it while at the show.
Wednesday, September 2, 2015
PAX Prime 2015 - Day 1
LEGO Dimensions
This was the first game I got in line for. I almost got to go to the station that had a lot of figures, like Ghostbusters and Jurassic World, but a press guy came in and, of course, got preference. First impressions of the figures, though... they are smaller than I thought. Not the minifigs, they are the right size, but the vehicles are small. They are closer to the minis that you can find next to the register for $3-4. So, even more than before, I feel the packs are overpriced. Yes, I know they fit in line with normal LEGO costs, but I also feel those cost too much. Anyway, seeing the figures didn't dissuade me from thinking the set is more expensive than it should be.
I decided to play the Scooby Doo level, since I saw the kid in front of me do the Doctor Who level. First off, I like that the look of the game changed to more closely resemble the newer Scooby Doo cartoons. Cool, I like that they try and match the property in their respective level. Also, the Doctor has two sets of health, which is cool because he has two hearts. Nice small touches, which I do appreciate.
However, the game itself seemed overly complicated. I'm used to puzzles in the LEGO games, but these seem even more involved for no real reason. It started out normal - break things to get pieces to build stuff, and use certain characters to do certain actions. Fair enough. Then I dug up an item which could either show where switches were, change the colors of the pad (or something similar) and another function to solve the puzzle. I had to attack it, pick the right one, switch my character, get to an area, then switch where the character was on the physical portal.
While I appreciate that they do something with the placement of the characters in the physical space to add something unique, I know it will quickly get tiresome. Unless the portal is wireless, I won't have it close, since kids + cords = disaster. I don't want to have to mess around with the physical pieces so much. That's better for children, but the puzzles seem better for adults. So... no one wins? It could turn out ok, but I'm much more leery of buying the game on its release than I was two weeks ago.
Viking Squad
Located in the indie megabooth, I wondered by Viking Squad, a 3 player beat-em-up. It was pretty fun. Unforgiving, like the trend it nowadays, but fun. I teamed up with 2 random guys and we beat the sub-boss (which the developer assured us many people hadn't done), and lost to the boss (which the developer claimed only 1 team had defeated). It was really easy to get hit, and damage was high. There is a helpful slide maneuver, but it didn't seem possible to cancel into it, which would make it much more useful. There is one character who can block, so hopefully you can cancel into that to make it more survivable. It is a game I'm looking forward to playing next year when it releases on PC and PS4.
Mad Max
Even though Mad Max was releasing soon (when I was at PAX, it just came out yesterday), I figured why not check it out. As another WB game, it too lifts the combat from the Batman Arkham series, but then adds some Grand Theft Auto driving. That was fine. After looting a few things and fighting three guys, I then had to do car combat. Aiming while driving was somewhat automatic, which was nice, but it took me a bit to understand that. If you are in the right position, you can shoot the gas tank on the back of an enemy car and it will explode. However, it is hard to get into the right position. That said, I ran out of ammo and was reduced to ramming the objective vehicle to try and complete the mission. That was long, annoying and boring. So hopefully it isn't quite so bad in the full game. Overall, the on foot segment was fun but the driving wasn't.
This was the first game I got in line for. I almost got to go to the station that had a lot of figures, like Ghostbusters and Jurassic World, but a press guy came in and, of course, got preference. First impressions of the figures, though... they are smaller than I thought. Not the minifigs, they are the right size, but the vehicles are small. They are closer to the minis that you can find next to the register for $3-4. So, even more than before, I feel the packs are overpriced. Yes, I know they fit in line with normal LEGO costs, but I also feel those cost too much. Anyway, seeing the figures didn't dissuade me from thinking the set is more expensive than it should be.
I decided to play the Scooby Doo level, since I saw the kid in front of me do the Doctor Who level. First off, I like that the look of the game changed to more closely resemble the newer Scooby Doo cartoons. Cool, I like that they try and match the property in their respective level. Also, the Doctor has two sets of health, which is cool because he has two hearts. Nice small touches, which I do appreciate.
However, the game itself seemed overly complicated. I'm used to puzzles in the LEGO games, but these seem even more involved for no real reason. It started out normal - break things to get pieces to build stuff, and use certain characters to do certain actions. Fair enough. Then I dug up an item which could either show where switches were, change the colors of the pad (or something similar) and another function to solve the puzzle. I had to attack it, pick the right one, switch my character, get to an area, then switch where the character was on the physical portal.
While I appreciate that they do something with the placement of the characters in the physical space to add something unique, I know it will quickly get tiresome. Unless the portal is wireless, I won't have it close, since kids + cords = disaster. I don't want to have to mess around with the physical pieces so much. That's better for children, but the puzzles seem better for adults. So... no one wins? It could turn out ok, but I'm much more leery of buying the game on its release than I was two weeks ago.
Viking Squad
Located in the indie megabooth, I wondered by Viking Squad, a 3 player beat-em-up. It was pretty fun. Unforgiving, like the trend it nowadays, but fun. I teamed up with 2 random guys and we beat the sub-boss (which the developer assured us many people hadn't done), and lost to the boss (which the developer claimed only 1 team had defeated). It was really easy to get hit, and damage was high. There is a helpful slide maneuver, but it didn't seem possible to cancel into it, which would make it much more useful. There is one character who can block, so hopefully you can cancel into that to make it more survivable. It is a game I'm looking forward to playing next year when it releases on PC and PS4.
Mad Max
Even though Mad Max was releasing soon (when I was at PAX, it just came out yesterday), I figured why not check it out. As another WB game, it too lifts the combat from the Batman Arkham series, but then adds some Grand Theft Auto driving. That was fine. After looting a few things and fighting three guys, I then had to do car combat. Aiming while driving was somewhat automatic, which was nice, but it took me a bit to understand that. If you are in the right position, you can shoot the gas tank on the back of an enemy car and it will explode. However, it is hard to get into the right position. That said, I ran out of ammo and was reduced to ramming the objective vehicle to try and complete the mission. That was long, annoying and boring. So hopefully it isn't quite so bad in the full game. Overall, the on foot segment was fun but the driving wasn't.
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