It’s been quiet on the Western Front for the past few days, but we can blame that on the intense two-day snowstorm I experience up here in Canada-land. Seriously, I got at least six inches of snow. That’s pretty crazy for where I live.
To bring the subject back around to video games, it’s been awhile since we’ve asked you, the GamerSushi reader, what you’re playing as there’s been a ton of new games in the last few months. Personally, I’m playing the new 3DS JRPG Bravely Default and I’m enjoying the heck out of it. I haven’t reached the dreaded second half where the game apparently becomes a grindy slog-fest, but for now I’m enjoying a classic genre with some modern conveniences thrown in (seriously, a random encounter slider is a huge boon). It’s also gorgeous and has an awesome soundtrack to boot.
Other than that I’ve been playing Splinter Cell: Blacklist, having picked it up for super cheap last month. So far I’ve only tried the co-op, but Blacklist allows you to play in one of three styles: Panther (in the vein of Conviction), Ghost (for us Chaos Theory fans) or Assault if you just want to play a third-person shooter. While I prefer my Splinter Cells stealthy, having the option to play loud and lethal and balancing it for some very different play-styles makes for a tricky act but Ubisoft pulled it off this time around.
So, what are you guys playing? Something old, something new? Are you waiting on bated breath for Titanfall, Dark Souls 2, or one of the other million games hitting in March?
Been playing a mix of Minecraft and Super Smash Bros Project M
Glad to see one of the GamerSushi guys picking up Splinter Cell, it was a fantastic game that was unfortunately overlooked in the pre-GTA hubbub (also co-op is a blast, recommended).
Lately I’ve been busy with a lot of schoolwork, so I’ve found myself going back to Hearthstone due to its pick-up-and-play gameplay. And it’s consumed me. I would highly recommend it my fellow Sushians, especially those with limited time like Eddy mentions in the podcasts. The game is so relaxing after a long day at work/school. The music is great and soothing, games take 10 seconds to find, and 10-15 minutes to play. Daily quests can be completed easily enough within an hour’s play time, so that you’re earning gold at a rate that doesn’t make you feel as though you need to spend real money. Best of all, especially for a card game, the learning curve is extremely short, and it requires no knowledge of other card games to understand. Seriously, try this game out, it’s in open beta right now.
I’m looking forward to tackling Splinter Cell’s single player campaign. Thanks to the co-op I already have all of the top-level gear for each playstyle unlocked. Multi-functional goggles and crossbow for the win!
I’ve been wanting to try Hearthstone for a while, glad to hear it’s easy to get in to. I think the iPad version (fairly sure Blizz said they’re doing that) will be killer.
I recently finished Amnesia (my first horror game, fittingly) and now I’m jumping in between achievement hunting in Counter-Strike Source and Garry’s Mod.
The nice thing about CS:S’s achievements is you can get 99% of them with bots, so I don’t have to, y’know, get my ass whooped by every AWP-wielding child that crosses my path.
I’ve actually been playing some Fire Emblem for the 3DS! I don’t know what it is about that type of game, but it just scratches a great sweet spot for me.
I managed to pick up Max Payne 3 on PSN for 5 bucks. Slogging through the game right now; however, it’s just so full of bugs here and there that’s its a pain. Also managed to buy Biohazard, Operation Raccoon City (JP Version) for a cheap price. It’s actually pretty good.
I got up to the grindy slog fest part of Bravely Default that Mitch was talking about, but I haven’t bothered getting any further. im sure ill finish it one of these days.
I recently picked up Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc (Nice title Japan -_-) for the Vita. Its a murder mystery game in the same vein as the 999 and Zero’s Escape series and I seem to enjoy that sort of story immensely. Although its much more linear, but if you like those sorts of games, why not? 🙂
I’ve also picked up Nidhogg on Steam, a multiplayer fencing and sprinting game. Playing against a friend is frantic and stupidly fun considering how advanced the controls and tactics can be.
@Vanilla Bear is it really that bad? 🙁
It would be a shame if that killed the game for me since I’m really digging it so far.
I’ve recently been playing BioShock: Infinite and Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood.
BioShock: Infinite – wow, I’ve never been this excited when playing a game in YEARS, the presentation is surprising, even for BioShock. I also appreciate how well the main character’s voice is used in the game, just the little things like returning hellos to NPCs or reactions to situations, it really adds to the BioShock cinematic feel. The game is so full of life and interesting crap that I forget it’s just programmed software, it brings out the gaming-child in me.
As for Earned in Blood, to me it feels like the Brothers in Arms series is mostly forgotten or unsung, I don’t know anyone else who knows about it. Nevertheless I love the BiA series and if you’re into anything World War 2 or true tactical FPS, you’ve got to try the series. The game is all about commanding your squads and flanking your enemy, but the story and game design is pretty interesting. The games are only a couple o’ bucks on Steam, might want to pick up BIA: Road to Hill 30 and give it a try. Earned in Blood is the sequel to Hill 30 through the eyes of another soldier and so far it’s pretty good. If you’ve seen the Band of Brothers TV series, it’s pretty much “Band of Brothers: The Videogame” or something.
(BiA on Steam: http://store.steampowered.com/app/15190/ )
I’m wall-of-texting here but Infinite is just awesome and Brothers in Arms is a series I’ve been with since them ol’ PS2 days. Thanks for reading! Now for replies:
@drellassassin Hearthstone sounds nice, I’ll have to try it some time.
@trogador Amnesia, good series. I still need to beat A Machine for Pigs, though I have to recover the balls to do it. But I’ll get there!
@Mitch I’ve yet to try a single Splinter Cell game, but I’ll have to fix that at some point since I’m into that kind of genre.
@Jack Morgan – Brothers in Arms. Now that is a game that I haven’t heard in a long time. I remember Road to Hill 30 was fantastic, and while my memory of it now is a little hazy, I do recall that it was the first game to make me cry.
@drellassassin Glad someone here knows of it. I had Road to Hill 30 on the PS2 a good few years back, fantastic game indeed. One of the greatest games I’ve ever played. I got back into it on PC when I found out the series was on Steam.
You should check out Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway when you have the time, there’s a lot of references and plot points relating to Road to Hill 30. The graphics and such are pretty nice, too.
A couple of weeks ago I finished Half Life 2 on hard mode which had been on my hit list for a long time now. There is something about that game that always manages to scratch an itch.
I have now moved on to Psychonauts and even though I am only a couple of hours in it doesn’t disappoint. I have also just downloaded Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People Episode 1 on to my laptop to play during my lunch breaks…….I have A LOT of games in my steam account to catch up on…..
I’ve been working on my kickstarter backlog – just finished Broken Sword, starting in on Broken Age and Shadowrun Returns, or maybe Banner Saga. Dilemmas. Interspersed with sporadic bursts of Spelunky, which I’m unrelentingly terrible at, and Super Meat Boy, which has suddenly clicked with me after collecting dust in my Steam library for a couple of years. I did get in on the Titanfall PC beta for a little bit, but at the risk of blasphemy…it didn’t really sell me. I dunno, maybe the campaign mode will convince me otherwise.
With the little proto-gamers, I’ve also been playing Dust: An Elysian Tail, Octodad, and a little bit of Hearthstone, all of which have been a blast. Octodad’s replayability factor tails off pretty sharply, but I don’t remember the last time we all laughed as hard as we did during that first playthrough.
@Mitch
Not really, just a little boring I guess. Maybe it is just me. I seem to be finding some of the dialogue insufferable as well :\