The Off Topic Lounge: Summer of Nothing Edition

It's been freezing here too.

We went to a family birthday party on Saturday and major grocery shopping Sunday.

On the gaming front I beat a boss at the end of Arc Rise Fantasia that took me a few tries to beat. I also got through the last dungeon and saved at a save point that I assume is the last boss. I didn't go any further to actually see.

Also beat another dungeon in A Link Between Worlds and in Links Awakening. I was productive.

So Wreck... Does too cold in Texas mean 40 degrees and cloudy? :P

I kid...

I wish winter would just end. I'm so sick of bundling up so much every morning.

@roboccs: haha I wish :( West Texas has no windbreaks at all so it gets really cold here sometimes, -2 windchill on Sunday, bleeeeh, I am ready for 102 degree summer days :(

We managed to get in a place that's 200 bucks cheaper than what we're in now for a better neighborhood and only slightly less space, woo! The sooner we get this Dave Ramsey stuff finished the sooner I can buy every single console haha

Woohoo!! Beat Arc Rise Fantasia this morning! Check another one off the list!

Took me 70 hours but I ended up really liking the game. Not as good as Xenoblade but it's right up there with my favorite wii games. Some typical JRPG annoyances but I surprisengly didn't get burned out at all from them.

Now I need to decide what game to play next... Do I play Last Story, try Skyward Sword again, for finally get through the Mass Effect trilogy? I'm halfway through ME2 and I'm leaning in that direction. I do hear TLS is short but annoying, and I've got 2 Zelda's going on 3DS now so I'll probably hold off on SS.

So excited that the last boss didn't take more than 1 try like some of the other ones did. I love beating games.

@roboccs: man I really need to start arc ride fantasia again, I really enjoyed what I played of it, I don't remember why I stopped, grats on beating it! You have to play TLS! The side quests are great, the city is fun to explore since new stuff comes up as you progress, and it gives you a really nice satisfying epilogue. The online is surprisingly good too, as is character customization in single player.

@roboccs: I would go with Mass Effect next.

You're already playing Zelda and just finished an RPG. That and Mass Effect is pretty awesome. :P

@moltenix: I agree with pretty much everything you said there although I still call the Mass Effect games RPGs.

I've beaten ME2 before. Then I got ME 1 when it came to PS3 and beat that. Now I was half way done with ME2 again when I just stopped playing it for no reason. So I need to finish me2 again then beat me3.

@ttualumni13: You should go for it. I started and then stopped for no reason. Then after 9 months I started over and loved it. I'm really glad I did. I'll eventually do Last Story, but I think I'll take a little break from JRPGs for my console gaming. Almost 80 hours of Xenoblade and 70 of Arc Rise consecutively is a lot over the last 6 or so months. I may end up playing all of the above because I can do the off tv play on my WiiU, can't do that with my ps3. At least I know I have a lot of great options.

So I was browsing Twitter and saw someone going off on Alex Navarro because of his South Park review... I'm dying here.

@roboccs: lol that's a REALLY good point, I'd be burned out at that point too. I did that playing through DCKR a lot in feb and now I don't want to play tropical freeze lmao... Fail.

My first fanboy scream this year is from Arkham Knight

@_hazbro_: That's actually hilarious! I was only ever a casual South Park fan... But the game does actually look pretty entertaining.

I pretty much had the opposite reaction despite the fact that I liked the first two. It's a new gen so I'm expecting new things.

Almost nothing about the new consoles makes me excited. I don't really want to play games that are essentially the same as the last generation but that's all it's been so far.

At least my 3DS keeps me happy.

@_hazbro_: So far my 3DS is keeping me happy too, so glad I got it.

As for the next gen, there's nothing out yet that looks that amazing to me. I'm still really enjoying the wii/PS3 gen. Still have a backlog that I've been pretty productive with lately. It takes me months to finish a game but that's not really a bad thing to me.

I find I'm much more productive playing in the morning. I can get a good coffee buzz and grind away. When I was playing at night, I was tired to got distracted by tv so I wasn't really playing as much as I wanted too. I've got a good routine down now where I've been able to get productive game time in.

Lack of interesting games and $65-$70 for new games have me completely uninterested in next-gen for now. Although to be fair, there's nothing exciting for 3DS/WiiU coming out for a while either.

Might be a good time for me to try out some of those free PS+ games for PS3.

I finished Donkey Kong, so next on my list is Guacamelee. It just got announced for WiiU, but I got it in a Humble Bundle and I figure it's worth checking out.

@JordanElek: How tough is World 6? How much am I gonna hate the final boss level?

Keep in mind, I've already gotten a ton of game-overs up to 6-1. Not individual deaths, but game-overs. Yes, i'm that bad. :P

@moltenix: That too. Paying $59.99 and barely getting the same deals as the US was already annoying. I'm not willing to pay $80 for a game (Ontario tax included).

@moltenix: I never dipped below 90 lives after I racked up 99 of them in the first world, so I'm probably not the best person to ask. :p

And I beat the final boss in two or three tries. I honestly didn't have much trouble with anything in the game.

Here's my Dankey Kang review. I still can't believe I was the least excited person in this lounge about Tropical Freeze, but I'm the one who ended up loving it. Same thing happened with The Wonderful 101.

@JordanElek: good write-up! I must have missed this, how long have you been reviewing for that site? Has playing games for reviews changed the way you play/look at games?

They contacted me about the same time Jason started his site, which is why I've bounced back and forth between those two sites for reviews.

The only thing that changes when I play a game for review is that I try to master it no matter what. I feel like I have an obligation to know the game inside and out if I'm going to officially publish my thoughts on it.

I chose to review Theatrhythm and HarmoKnight after I had already played them, so the reviews for those were born out of the fact that I had already mastered them. The Wonderful 101 and Donkey Kong were games I bought specifically for review, and I definitely liked W101 more because of it. I would've bought DK later if I hadn't reviewed it, but I would've played it in the same way, maybe just not condensed into a two-week period.

@JordanElek: good stuff! I always wondered, I feel like I would become more aware of a games flaws if I was playing it to do a review. When I'm just playing and having fun it's easy to overlook flaws unless the game is boring and can't distract from them. I think it would make me too jaded haha.

@JordanElek: Nah, I've always been the least excited for DKTF... Never had any intention of playing it. It looks pretty but completely uninteresting to me. I may check out your review though.

@ttualumni13: You don't have to review games like that, though. My first mission is to describe how the game works and how well it works, because that's always what I read reviews for. I want to know a game's overall structure and how the mechanics fit into that, so that's what I focus on in my reviews.

But I haven't reviewed a bad game yet. HarmoKnight is the least good game I've reviewed, but the flaws in that game would've been apparent regardless of the review. In fact, I decided to write a review because I was so disappointed in how close to the mark it came to being a great game.

And the last line of that review is one of my favorites ever.

MAY??!?!! :p

I've never really thought the game looked that great. It's not like you want to stand on vistas and stare at the beautiful artwork throughout the game. Bravely Default makes me do that in each of the towns, but Donkey Kong never really did.

What makes it great is how... never mind. Now you HAVE to read the review to see the end of that thought. ;)

The more I think about it, there really isn't muc at all that excites me this gen outside of X and Elder Scolls online. The hardware and monthly fees don't seem worth it, and handhelds now are providing better and better experiences at marginal prices. Maybe Japan figured it ou early in switching over to handhelds :P

@JordanElek: Nice tease there! You belong in the media :P

How did the website know to contact you? Did they read your work somewhere else first?

@ttualumni13: I agree that there's not much "next gen" content to be that excited about. X, Zelda, and FFXV are the main things on my radar. Otherwise there's still good stuff coming to "last gen" including another Tales of game for PS3 and if I'm not mistaken, Dragon Age Inquisition is still coming to PS3 along with a next gen version.

Also, the handhelds have come a long way. It's so great to be able to play in little spurts if I have to. Being able to close the 3DS on a whim to pause things is so convenient.

@ttualumni13: I think Dark Souls 2, Mario Kart 8, and X are the only games on my radar right now, unless I'm forgetting something. It's kind of nice, because I have a good backlog to catch up on.

Great stuff!

I agree with your comment on how sometimes you have to replay a level over and over again to get things just right to advance.

It is especially present on the "K" levels of each worlds and I don't see it as a flaw. It reminds me of the old Megaman games and their trial-and-error ways. It is more of a design choice.

It's a lot like Megaman, you're right. Megaman and DKC both introduce level mechanics in easy ways at the beginning, then throw harder versions at you later on, assuming you learned from the first encounter. Both of them do it in subtle ways, sometimes, and it's easy to not even notice if you're not paying enough attention.

I picked up Killzone: Mercenary tonight, I narrowed it down as the next game purchase I wanted, and holy crap I have a hard time believing this is a handheld game. The detail, lighting, and stuff going on all at once with enemies bearing down on me is crazy. Gameplay is fast and fun, shooting is very satisfying, and the melee moves are just awesome. I got really bored of Killzone 2, but 3 was really fun and Mercenary has been even moreso!

@ttualumni13: That's awesome that you're getting good use of the Vita, it looks like a great piece of hardware... It'll really pay dividends if you ever get a PS4.

I've jumped right back into ME2, my last save was from September but I already had 20 hours in. Didn't realize I had gotten that far. I forgot how great these games are. Bioware is so great at creating a great atmosphere. It has been a few years since I originally beat ME2 so I've forgotten a lot of the story. I know I don't need to do all of the side missions and whatnot but I can't bring myself to let down my squad mates. Because you know... This stuff is real :P

Hopefully in the next few weeks I'll be diving into ME3.

I preordered Dark Souls 2 for $40 on PC via Green Man Gaming, and Lightning Returns ended up being bad, so my 360 is being boxed up for good this time, I think.

Do any of you guys get nostalgic or regretful or whatever when boxing up old consoles? I know some people do, but I don't whatsoever. I couldn't have been happier to box away my Wii, though that was different because I just magicked my Wii into my WiiU so it's not really gone.

But I was excited to box up my 360 the first time, knowing it might come out again, and I'm even more excited this time. It just means newer and better things are here and this jet engine doesn't need to take up space any more.

@JordanElek: Nah, I don't get too nostalgic when I box them up, or regretful because when I'm boxing one up, it's because I have a new one. I get nostalgic when I pull it out later for whatever reason because I relive the memories of those games.

Lately I haven't boxed up much, I usually move the old one to my basement tv if I want to play it for whatever reason. Plus like you, I just play the wii on my WiiU.

So did you play LRFF13 and not like it or just do by reviews and user feedback?

I boxed up my Xbox360 and said "fu" and never looked back.

Still regret getting one instead of a PS3.

I played the demo, which is why my 360 was back out in the first place. The battle system seemed good, but the structure of the game described by people who have played it is so repulsive to me that a good battle system alone couldn't save it.

There aren't any experience points, so the only point in engaging in that battle system is to fight specific enemies for side quests, and that's just dumb. The limited time system also discourages you from doing too many unnecessary things, so it's like the whole game is just begging you to avoid the best part about it -- the battle system -- as much as possible.

And the story lost me when it got stupid at the beginning of XIII-2.

So I have zero interest in that game. It sucks, because that battle system is amazing, and I loved FFXIII so much.

@JordanElek: I don't really get sad because I don't box them up haha. Anytime I'm done with a console for the gen, I'll bundle it with some games and sell it to a new student on campus looking for cheap entertainment for the dorms, get more than GameStop gives and they get it cheaper than other places sell it, so its a win/win. The Wii will probably be the first console I've ever held onto much longer into the next gen, and honestly it'll probably be the first I don't get rid of period.

@roboccs: Heck yeah, I've been very pleasantly surprised with the library once I actually started looking into it, I really only got it to be a PS4 accessory. Mercenary is amazing so far, the online is robust, and then with games like FFX-XD HD, Borderlands 2 (never played the second, only played the first with friends and enjoyed it, Minecraft, The Walking Dead (with season 2 coming soon), among others are ones I really want to pick up soon. It'll definitely keep me busy.

Finally beat the final boss of Tropical Freeze... after like maybe 20 tries? :P

Now i'm just going back to unlock the hidden levels. I'm gonna have to miss out on the levels unlocked by getting all the KONG letters though.. that ain't happening!

I woke up forgetting that we moved the clocks forward last night by an hour. I woke up confused. Then got angry that we moved the clocks forward and I lost an hour of sleep.

Now sadness :(.

@_hazbro_: I hear ya! I'll be all off for a week now! At least it's a sign that winter is almost over.

@roboccs: I can't wait. The other day it was +1C outside ... and I felt warm walking outside. We've had that stupid "polar vortex" chill for almost two months now.

I want +10C to +15C please.

Sorry, I don't know Fahrenheit lol.

@_hazbro_: I hear you about that polar vortex. I just hope when all this snow melts that it doesn't flood too bad. Don't need my house to float down the street :P

I finished Guacamelee already. It's a pretty fun game, despite having a weird style that never clicked with me. It's like they chose the Mexican theme out of a hat and applied it to a game that already existed or something.

But the game gets really fun about halfway through, and it's only five hours long, so getting to the fun part isn't too much of a slog.

If you can get it for less than $10, go for it. It does a pretty good Metroid impression in terms of the gameplay, on a smaller scale and without the cool atmosphere.

Ugh, time change. I'm going to love having more light after work to bike and do stuff outside, but for now it sucks on Monday -_-

@ttualumni13: Yeah I woke up not wanting to get out of bed, too early.

so nice out today! i wanna go do things, instead of working :(

@starwarsjunky: no joke! Mid 70s here today, one good thing about the time change is more time out of work with nice weather! Good bike weather for us!

We are just out of daylight savings here in Brazil, so it is getting dark pretty early.

I also love the extra hour of light. I wish they would just declare that we will be on daylight savings all around the year. =P