I returned to ReCore, after having played the demo in 2017, a few weeks ago on a random spin of the "Surprise Me" button on Xbox and enjoyed it enough to keep going with it all that week. Check it out.
Last year there was a game that came out that I really wanted to review called Arcade Paradise. I requested a review code three different times and was denied each time! I really wanted to review it, too, because it’s a time management sim where you must run a laundromat business, but you are secretly running an arcade in the back with dozens of fictional arcade games you can actually play! I actually had an idea for a business that was half laundromat, half arcade, and I was going to called it Quarters: Good Clean Fun. So this game really resonated with me. If I had gotten a chance to review it last year, it definitely would’ve showed up on my Game of the Year list somewhere. But this year I used some Christmas present PlayStation Store points to buy it, and sure it was only 20 bucks so I was kind of cheap, but this stuff adds up if you’re not careful. Anyway, so now that I’ve played the game, I thought I’d write a blog about the arcade cabinets you can play on it. Oh yeah, and slight spoiler alerts here and there, but I don’t think it matters much.
After ejoying Halo Infinite's open world exploration, I decided that was one of my favorite things in games, and so I dug up an old series to get back into, Just Cause.
My friend and I got back into Halo Infinite now that it has full campaign co-op. Maybe that got added a few months ago or even earlier, but we're into it now.
Somehow I got in the mood to play some lego games before and after Xmas. So I streamed Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga and then got back to scouring the world of Lego City Undercover.
Willow is a 1988 dark fantasy movie I never watched as a child. Yet the name still rings a nostalgic bell in my brain. Strangely, I didn’t consciously pay it much attention until I stumbled across the NES game sometime in the mid-2000s. But seeing the name and characters on the cover felt deeply familiar in a way I still grapple to understand. Maybe I saw the movie poster and heard its name in passing as a kid but didn’t think much of it until discovering the video game later in life. Initially released by Capcom in 1989, Willow was a calculated attempt to create a game with broader appeal since it was based on a property with characters familiar to its audience. Fortunately for Capcom, those calculations were entirely correct.
I played The Maw when it came out in 2009. It is still downloadable on Xbox Series X|S and I did so to see if I had left any achievements on the table. I did one but it is a very tricky and annoying chievo that I have little interest in getting now - details to ensue. Anyway, this is a long favorite Twisted Pixel game of mine, a sequel of which I would dearly love to see, as unlikely as it probably is. Check it out.
Boy this has been one roller coaster of a year, with lots of ups and downs. But it’s the end of the year so you know what that means? It’s time for my “Best Games of 2021 Awards Show!” Keep in mind that this is my list only and no other outside opinions contributed. And if a game isn’t on this list, it either just didn’t appeal to me as much or I haven’t had a chance to play it yet. Ok with that out of the way, let’s begin!
I’d like to say this year’s been better than the last, but it really hasn’t. Even though it’s improved, we’re still having to deal with a lot of COVID crap. And then we found out my mom had breast cancer late last year and we had to deal with the surgeries this year. Luckily she’s cancer free now, which is a miraculous and wonderful thing, and I thank God everyday for that. But man it sure was rough for a couple of months there. You have no idea. But anyway, around this time of year I like to make a list of my best games SO FAR, because usually the AAA titles are released later in the year during the holiday season, and the titles that came out earlier tend to be forgotten. So here’s when those games get their due. Keep in mind that this is my list only and no other outside opinions contributed. And if a game isn’t on this list, it either just didn’t appeal to me as much or I haven’t had a chance to play it yet. Ok with that out of the way, let’s begin!
A lot of jumping around from game to game, as usual.
Got another batch of games I’ve recently reviewed over at GamerDad.com. Please click on and read as many as you can and maybe even post a ‘like’ or comment or two. I’d appreciate it. OK let’s begin.
Since Portal hit the scene around a decade ago, it’s inspired a variety of other games that have chosen to use the first person perspective for puzzle solving and storytelling, rather than the typical shooting. The Spectrum Retreat is one such game and it does well in both telling an interesting story and providing some great puzzles. However, these two elements rarely coalesce and more often feel like oil and water, separated naturally by the construct of the experience. Though it’s too bad the two don’t come together, what’s presented is still compelling thanks to ever evolving puzzle constructs and the gradual realization of what's going on in The Spectrum Retreat.
Today I played some retro titles on Wii, watched some more Clone Wars episodes, played the Lego Star Wars take on them, and finally dug into Batman Arkham Origins.
I've had stuff to write about, Beau is just keeping me very busy. Snee asked for a new dog blog, so there will be some of that to go along with everything else.
Yes, I'm finally playing the Gothic Horror Lovecraftian excellence that is Bloodborne!
Coming from a Souls series fan, it might seem odd that I waited so long, but I didn't own a PS4 until recently and I was also waiting for DLC which seemed appear just around the corner.
I've only had one real good weekend with game and barely made much progress, but I've been picking away at it all week, and it is defintely pulling me in and making it hard to put down. I don't have a final verdict for the game yet, but it's definitly a pretty game. There are some annoyances like the consumables farming in particluar, but I've managed to make progress regardless.
I've been playing Battlefront inbetween to break up the stressfullnes Souls games tends to put on me when I play them, so it's all good. Yes, I actually enjoye Battlefront despite what the internet says about EA's price gouging practices, but I don't play it in marathon sessions and just pick up short matches here and there, plus the game looks and sounds divine. 
I'm also enjoying FREEDOM WARS, which is a weird as Japanese game that I can't really explaing in a sentence because I'm stupid. It's a squad based action game that mixes melee and gun combat where you take on missions to defeat giant ass monster enemies like in Monster Hunter. You also have this wierd bungie cord harpoon attached to your hand so you can grapple on to a giant boss and go to town on it. If you've seen Attack on Titan, then you pretty much get the idea. It's unique and I've never played anything like it. It's also free on PS+ this month as well as Gauntlet and Kings Quest.
In 2011, I said that Batman: Arkham City was one of the best superhero games ever made. A few years before that, I said that Arkham Asylum was the new standard that licensed games should live up to. Since then, few series have done so. Yet somehow, every Arkham game rises above the rest. Arkham Knight is no exception. It takes some of the best of what was established in the past games and puts it all together to form one of the most gripping games I’ve played in quite a while.
With a myriad of wrestling games available on the Nintendo 64, even the now-defunct Extreme Championship Wrestling got their own game. Released in the year 2000 however, there was no shortage of competition. Does Acclaim's wrestling game stack up to the series from AKI/THQ?
I just beat Metroid Prime for the second time a half an hour ago. So I figured I'd end the month with one of gaming's greatest series, and one of my favorites. Granted, I have not played every Metroid to completion so I won't be able to get everything on here. But I think I have enough on each one to give something interesting.
Well I've been thinking about this a lot after one of my anime reviewers decided to up sticks and go on to something bigger and better so I figured "New Year, why not?"
I finally got the game to work for more than five minutes. In fact, I played it until about 4:30AM today and finished it.
Since they’ve hit the scene, I think I’ve built up something of a love affair with indie developer, Drinkbox Studios. They have an uncanny ability to create not only compelling gameplay, but memorable and humorous worlds and characters. Guacamelee is easily their greatest achievement yet, and the new Super Turbo Championship Edition only makes it better. Just the name alone should give you a perfect indication of the tongue-in-cheek humor Drinkbox imbues into their creations.