Well, I honestly didn't think it'd happen, but somehow I've been sucked back into Starcraft 2, just like I did on spring break two years ago. Of course, that was largely due to the release of Heart of the Swarm, and with a release date for the next expansion nowhere in sight, what was it that got me back into the game? Honestly, I can't say for sure, and I've tried a few times since March of 2013 to get invested in the game again. I've been unsuccessful, only playing a few bot matches here and there before burning out. Now though, I've started the Wings of Liberty campaign for what must be the third or fourth time. Not only that, I've been making a real effort to improve my tactics against bots, and the progress I'm seeing and new strategies I've been adopting are reason enough to keep going. It took a few hours, but I can safely say that I'm once again hopelessly addicted to Starcraft 2.

So what was my experience back when Heart of the Swarm was released? I, like many people I'm sure, found my interest reignited at the prospect of not only new units and tweaks to the multiplayer, but also new campaign content. While I'm sure the statistics for people who play Starcraft 2 for the campaign are very low, I've always found the single-player content Blizzard puts out to be extremely rewarding. You can easily get base-building gameplay from AI skirmishes and multiplayer, but the campaign throws balance out the window. It becomes a power fantasy of monumental proportions, throwing dozens of unique units and abilities at the player, giving them a whole lot to mess around with which isn't available in the multiplayer. The mission structure is also nothing to sneeze at, with unique objectives at every turn. It made the lengthy campaign in the first game engaging throughout, and is largely what encouraged me to pick up the expansion at launch.

But of course, the campaign does end eventually, and while hours of enjoyment can be garnered from going back and replaying missions for achievements (and at higher difficulties), curiosity about the other half of the game was inevitable for me. The terrifyingly high skill-ceiling in Starcraft 2 multiplayer has always interested me, and while I doubt I'll ever be invested enough to make it up the ranks; getting better against AI has remained enjoyable for years. Each time I start another AI skirmish, I hone my skills just a little bit more, and every time I think of new strategies. Perhaps I built a supply depot slightly late, and as a result I was supply blocked. Watching footage of the game is also helpful, and is a great source for finding new strategies to employ later on.

In any case, I've loved getting back into what I consider to be a damn-near perfect game, and undoubtedly the best strategy game I've ever played. I'm planning to continue through the Wings of Liberty campaign today, and maybe do a few more AI matches. I'd also like to learn Protoss at some point, but that may have to wait until I have more basic strategy down.

First: a little bit of background. Tactical RPG's have always interested me, and I've dabbled with the genre here and there, but haven't ever become truly invested in any particular game. Most of the time, I find an abundance of dialogue to be extremely off-putting in these types of games. I prefer gameplay over story, which I've devoted entire blogs to in the past, and I also tend to prefer gameplay experiences where I have free reign to do what I want. Disgaea then, seemed like a great choice, what with it's intricate systems and dizzying amount of content: the series always seemed straight up my alley. I wanted to wait however, until I had a portable system to play the game on, as this seemed the best option for me. So yesterday, I bought Disgaea 4, and have spent a good amount of time today trying to wrap my head around it's many gameplay systems. There are a few aspects I can say for sure that I love, but with every few battles a multitude of questions pop in to my head. It was probably a bad idea to jump into one of the most feature-heavy entries in the series, but there you have it. I'll go over my experience in as much detail as possible, while touching on a few of the most prominent questions I have about the game.

Right off the bat, I LOVE the open-ended nature of Disgaea 4. While there are a set order of story missions that need to be progressed through, revisiting certain ones to try out new strategies was greatly appreciated. Most of the time, my first run of a map was fairly rusty, and successive tries offered up opportunities to try new tactics. I love the hub world structure as well, which reminds me of something like Demon's Souls, with an easy way to buy and sell items and abilities between battles. But even though I'm enjoying the core combat and gameplay loop, new concepts were heaped on at such a rate that I quickly became confused. Lifting and throwing units, while fairly self-explanatory, is very difficult to get a hang of, at least for me. There have been a few situations where I've used the system successfully, but many times I felt like I was using it for the sake of using it. Of course, this will likely be solved with more practice, and as such isn't really a big problem right now.

I'm not entirely clear however, on whether I should be making new characters. The ones I started with are well-rounded enough that I don't really feel the need, but neglecting the option seems dangerous. Should I wait until I have enough Mana to make very powerful characters, or simply spam lower level ones? Right now I'm content with leveling up my existing team, but I can't imagine this will be effective for the majority of the game. I've also been wondering where the best maps are for grinding, and if I even need to grind at all (I'm currently at the second episode). Also, what happens once the story missions are over? I'm assuming there is some kind of MMO-esque endgame that involves leveling characters, and that is when the majority of grinding will take place, but I'm not entirely sure.

But perhaps the biggest puzzle to face right now is the Cam-pain HQ. The tutorial for this aspect of gameplay was very short, and didn't really give much insight to the benefits of it. How does populating tiles on the map help me, and should I be prioritizing making characters to fill said tiles? I'm starting to understand the benefits of senate requests, but since they cost Mana, should I be prioritizing them or learning new abilities and Evilities? I've held one senate hearing so far which was successful and allowed me to buy higher level items from the shop, a big help. Maybe all I really need is more time to get a hang of all of the systems, but right now the entertainment and confusion levels are about equal for me. Aside from the questions I've already asked, do you have any tips for a newcomer? How important is fusing monsters and making them into weapons (another system which confused me to no end)? In any case, I'm going to keep on trucking and hopefully post about my progress in the future, so stay tuned.

Recently, I've had the urge to start getting into puzzle games. I'm talking straight-forward, addictive 2D puzzle games, along the lines (no pun intended) of Tetris and Lumines. The urge could have come as a result of the GB crew playing Puyo Puyo Tetris on multiple occasions, but whatever the reason, I'm happy for it. I'm always keen to play a game while listening to my own music, and puzzle games fit the bill perfectly. I'll go over a bit of what I've been playing, and also ask for suggestions on where to go next.

I tried Puzzle Fighter for the first time today, and while I've only played a few games so far, I'm starting to really like it. I'm playing the GBA version, and while the learning curve was initially steep, I knocked the difficulty down a notch and started having fun. Many block-based puzzle games tend to bleed together for me, but Puzzle Fighter is unique enough to stand on it's own legs. I still feel like I'm missing something though, some kind of strategy beyond simply building up colours to be destroyed. Something tells me there's a way to do special attacks, but I have no idea how as of right now. I'll probably come back to the game in the future, but right now I expect to dedicate most of my time to Lumines.

The Vita version to be exact, and luckily Lumines is a series which I have some prior experience with. Last year, around March, I played a shit ton of the game, becoming hopelessly addicted. I eventually stopped, but I'm expecting to be pulled right back in when I give the game another try. The biggest barrier to entry for me with Lumines is the length of a game. Once you've gotten the hang of it, a single go can take upwards of 45 minutes, which is a bit of a commitment. Sure, this is true for Tetris as well to a certain extent, but I always felt Lumines to be more of a time commitment than most puzzle games. Besides Tetris though, it's the puzzle game I'm best at, and the one that will probably take up most of my time.

I have a few other games on my list to try, with the highest priority being Puyo Puyo or Dr. Mario. I'm not sure which is the best version of each, but I will likely be going with the GBA ones. I have next to no experience with both games, but I've also heard great things about them. My question to you is, what are some of your favorite puzzle games? Do you have any in mind that you would like to recommend? Thanks!

Around mid-October of last year, I stopped playing games regularly. Of course there have been times over the years when my playing habits have risen and declined, but never to this degree. For a long period of time, I found difficulty in sitting down with a game for more than 15 minutes. I tried new games, went back to old ones that I loved, all with very minimal success. I would still play games with friends occasionally, but until late December, I had other hobbies. Throughout this gaming dry-period for me, I wrote even more, and listened to music in all of my free-time. For a while I thought I had simply grown out of games, but this couldn’t have been further from the truth. The game that got me back into the hobby is irrelevant, as I’ve now realized what exactly held me back from games for so long.

From what I can tell, playing games takes a hell of a lot of patience, something I didn’t possess, or didn’t realize I needed for a long period of time. After forcing myself to spend an hour or two with a new game, I started to learn the mechanics; and gradually became more invested until I couldn’t tear myself away. After this I began to play other games for longer periods of time, and reached roughly where I was before. I’m now hopelessly obsessed with what may be one of the most promising and varied forms of entertainment ever. If you’ve ever had the same issue as me, perhaps some of this will help to get you back into gaming. You may not even want to get back into it, which is fine too; but I can say with certainty that I’m glad the medium sucked me back in.

In the process of getting back into games though, I started to recognize some of my preferences. My love of gameplay and relative indifference with narrative was detailed in a previous post, which was an important step. This year was an extremely disappointing one for me in terms of new releases, but there’s no reason 2015 can’t buck the trend of broken or uninspired releases that peppered the market in 2014. Atmosphere is also very important to me, one of the reasons PT was my favorite game (demo?) of this year, and why I’m currently on my fourth playthrough of Fallout 3. Here’s hoping next year will deliver on these elements, and finally prove why the new consoles are worth buying.

I love games, and I expect to love them for years to come, but sometimes I have to look to the past to find valuable experiences. As I’ve started to do more and more gaming on my laptop, I’ve become increasingly interested in older PC titles. I’ve loved classic shooters like Shadow Warrior, Duke Nukem 3D and Doom, but I’d also like to branch off into other genres. I’ve tried and failed to get into CRPG’s like Baldur’s Gate multiple times, but if there are any, more accessible PC games you could reccomend, don’t hesitate to do so! I recently got into X-COM: UFO Defense, which has proved both brutal and rewarding, with the former occasionally overshadowing the latter. My biggest problem with the game so far has been figuring out what I do and don’t need to research and manufacture in the Geoscape. I feel confident in saying I’ve got a loose grasp of the turn-based ground battles, but figuring when and what to buy in the Geoscape has been tough. If anyone has any suggestions, or helpful guides to refer me to, it would be greatly appreciated!

I’ve also been playing a bit of Alpha Centauri, and I expect I’ll put up a post about that in the near future. In any case, what older PC games do you remember fondly, and think would be easy to get into?

Mere seconds into Duke Nukem 3D, and the action has begun. There is no opening cutscene, nothing to set the stage for the ensuing chaos, only the player, a pistol, and angry aliens. The question is, does this” shoot first, ask questions later” approach work to the game’s advantage? After spending some time with Duke 3D, and other classic FPS’s, my answer is a resounding yes. Perhaps my attention span has deteriorated after years of playing games, but the increasing focus on narrative in FPS campaigns left me extremely tired of the genre. Sure, I enjoyed Bioshock Infinite, up until the last hour or so, and Wolfenstein: The New Order was the same case, but I can’t help wishing story was once again tossed aside in favor of gameplay, in the case of FPS’s.

But it’s not just the focus on gameplay in Duke Nukem that appeals to me more than just about any other FPS in recent memory. The level design here is exquisite, and while it can get fairly confusing at times, the maze-like structure is something seen very rarely in modern shooters. While games like The New Order have offered wide-open environments with multiple approaches to combat, the game never really had me scratching my head like Duke 3D does. This may sound like a negative (how could confusing level design possibly be a good thing?), but in Duke Nukem’s case, the sense of accomplishment garnered from learning it’s intricate levels back to front is simply unmatched in many modern shooters. After a few tries, the player begins to memorize enemy placement, and the game gradually becomes more methodical. Turn 90 degrees to shoot an enemy here, shoot this wall with a rocket launcher to reveal a secret, drop down to find a keycard here; the game starts to become more of a puzzle than a straight-up run and gun shooter, and it’s brilliant.

What Duke Nukem possesses (and what The New Order had to a lesser degree) is an overall game-y nature. What I mean by this is that Duke Nukem is, first and foremost, a piece of entertainment, and is enjoyed as a game; nothing more, nothing less. While the trend towards deeper stories and more relatable characters in games is certainly admirable, it’s also made me feel increasingly out of touch with the medium. I’m sorry, but when I sit down to play a game, I’d much rather be instantly entertained than sit through backstory and character development. Of course I’m not saying this is a flaw of the industry, just that the current trend’s aren’t particularly to my liking. By staying focussed, as opposed to spreading out in a hundred directions at once, Duke Nukem 3D feels extremely tight and concise. As games become more complicated I fear we’ll lose some of the qualities that were held dear decades ago.

This isn’t to say Duke Nukem 3D is a simple game, or that say, Bioshock Infinite is a more complicated one, but the latter did a whole lot less to entertain me. I’ve found plenty to enjoy in modern games, and story-focussed ones as well, but I feel the Duke Nukem 3D approach to gameplay has been mostly lost in recent years. Maybe there is no longer a market for it’s brand of action, and if that’s the case, so be it. Luckily I still have a wealth of classic, gameplay heavy PC experiences that I’ve yet to sink my teeth into (X-COM: UFO Defense, you’re next!).

Any thoughts on this? Let me know what you think and comment!

It’s been a while since I’ve posted on Giantbomb, so I thought I’d write a bit about the games I’ve purchased recently. I’ve gone on something of a shopping spree, and now face the problem(?) of deciding which of my newly acquired games I’m going to dedicate my time to. While Far Cry 4 has been fantastic so far, I’ve got quite a few other games to tackle.

First is The Long Dark, which has gone above and beyond my expectations so far: an expertly crafted, accessible survival game with a great art-style. So far, I haven’t made much progress, with my best run being a meager two days or so, but I hope to jump back in soon. The game is one of the most immersive I’ve played in quite some time, and the fact it takes place in the Canadian wilderness is only icing on the cake. Sure, I’m a bit of a sucker for snowy environments, but I firmly believe The Long Dark is a step in the right direction for survival games, offering significant threat in wildlife and nothing else. The game makes me somewhat curious about other recent survival games, namely The Forest. I’m not entirely sure my computer can run it though, so I guess I’ll stick with The Long Dark for a while longer. Don’t Starve is another option, and one that could no doubt run on my computer. I’ve heard mixed things about the game, but it’s current low price point is certainly appealing.

I’m expecting to play Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes tonight, which I got for a steal at seven dollars. The game is now infamous for it’s short length, but seeing as I didn’t pay much for it; this doesn’t really bother me. The focus on gameplay as opposed to cutscenes is also intriguing for me. While I’ve always enjoyed the insane nature of the MGS narrative, the fairly substantial gameplay changes in Ground Zeroes make me more excited for that aspect of the game. Unfortunately the ending has been ruined for me, but I doubt this will impede on my enjoyment of the game much. It’s been a while since I’ve played a brand new, big-budget stealth game, so Ground Zeroes will be a treat.

I also bought Age of Empires II: HD Edition, a game which I have little nostalgia for, but have heard great things about. I’m always game for a fantastic RTS, and AoE II is legendary in this regard. My only worry is that the game’s age may limit my enjoyment, but normally this problem vanishes as I spend more time with the game in question. I’ve played more Age of Mythologies than Empires, but hopefully my familiarity with one game will translate over to the other. In any case, I’m excited to jump in and get addicted!

My last recent purchase was Saints Row 2, of all things. My reasoning behind this was a combination of love for the third game, hearing great things about the second, and the fact it only cost me two dollars. In fact, from what I can tell reading forums, many people prefer 2 to 3, which I wasn’t expecting. It was a bit of a headache to get the game working on PC, but after fiddling with some notepad files the game became playable. I haven’t played much so far, but I’ve had a lot of fun with this crazy, and fairly strange game. The focus on pure entertainment as opposed to realism is very appealing to me, setting the game apart from it’s contemporaries (and perhaps even beating them outright).

Those are all the games I’ve bought recently, feel free to comment if you have anything to say about them.

After the critical and commercial success of Far Cry 3, it’s unsurprising that the sequel is, well, unsurprising. From the leveling and crafting systems to all aspects of mission structure, Far Cry 4 is largely content with repeating the successes of it’s predecessor. Luckily, after the two year break since 3 I’m more than happy to jump back into this phenomenal formula. The core game is solid but it’s the addictive, varied and masterfully accessible nature of the game that resulted in my 4 hour playing sessions.

Far Cry 4 is similar to other Ubisoft open-world games in a number of ways. You can climb towers to reveal sections of the map, complete a variety of side-missions, and have a number of options when tackling combat situations. The thing that sets the game apart though is what happens between said missions. At any given time, the player could be ambushed by an eagle from the sky, a massive predatory fish from the sea, or numerous other types of wildlife. The amount of vehicles available from the get-go is staggering, with everything from helicopters to tuk-tuks at the player’s disposal. Hundreds of activities are waiting to be discovered around every corner, and the in-depth progress tracker (which shows what will unlock from each objective) always offers incentive. Unlike many other open-world games I’ve played recently, Far Cry 3 and 4 (while fairly large in scope) have never seemed overly daunting. Every step towards 100% completion seems entirely achievable, and no facet of gameplay is a chore.

Of course, the core gameplay of Far Cry 4 is enjoyable as well, offering a nice balance between run-and-gun and stealth options. The varied arsenal is also commendable, including one of my favorite video game bow-and-arrows ever. While shooting itself isn’t as engaging as say, Wolfenstein: The New Order, it gets the job done and never gets in the way of the more engaging aspects of the game. Stealth is similarly enjoyable, even if enemy behaviour is at times too unpredictable, making for some frustrating encounters. But the beauty of the game is that (for the most part) if stealth doesn’t work, it isn’t mandatory. If one approach isn’t working out, several others are always at the player’s disposal. Sure, this style of player-driven gameplay is nothing new in today’s marketplace, but never has it felt as intuitive and well-implemented as in Far Cry 4.

The story missions are nothing to sneeze at either, with some staggering variety being offered up after a few hours of gameplay. The places these missions take the player, while similar in concept to the previous game, never fail to surprise and excite. In a gaming landscape where many open-world games are content with unimaginative, point A to B quests, Far Cry 4 is a breath of fresh air. I won’t spoil the details of these quests here, but rest assured they don’t disappoint, even after the previous game’s stellar variety. My only complaint of the missions would be their occasionally restrictive nature (for example: only allowing stealth gameplay). While this is often to facilitate a certain narrative thread, robbing the player of the variety that worked so well earlier on is only a negative for me.

So, while Far Cry 4 is essentially Far Cry 3.5, the variety, wow-factor, and pure entertainment on offer here is unchanged from it’s predecessor. At this point, I can’t say I’ve played a better game in 2014, making Far Cry 4 a must-have for any and all people with even a passing interest in games.

[Please be aware that most of my album impressions are from first listen. This is not so much an in-depth critique, as it is my initial thoughts of an album]

From what I can tell, repetition is at the heart of traditional Black Metal. In many cases, it is what drives the hypnotic atmosphere forward on many of the most famous Black Metal releases. After gradually warming up to Extreme Metal, I could never fully grasp the appeal of it's (arguably) most bleak sub-genre. Thankfully, I can say that I've finally been able to break through the surface with Darkthrone's Under a Funeral Moon. For the most part the entire album follows the aforementioned framework. While I can't say I was incorrect in saying Black Metal is fairly repetitive, I was completely missing the point. Death Metal is able to fulfill my desire for long, intricate guitar riffs, while Black Metal is much more atmosphere focussed. I couldn't imagine listening to this music in the Summer, but right now, as rain pours outside, this album fits perfectly.

I can't say Under a Funeral Moon got me into Black Metal because it's particularily different form other early Black Metal releases. The grimy production characteristic of the genre is present, and it only works to further intenify an overall feeling of ever increasing darkness. Sure, the framework of many of these tracks are fairly simplistic, but the feeling they create is definitely not. Take "Summer of the Diabolical Holocaust" for example, a track which has perhaps one of my favorite riffs on the entire album. The mood never lets up, baraging the listener with intense blastbeats and tortured vocals. The way that all the elements of a great Black Metal track melt together is something that I found unappealing at first. But once I realized the true purpose of this wall of sound, I was hooked, and this track was the catalyst.

Darkthrone also uses a deep, pounding drum at certain points on the album. I can't say I know what kind of drum it is, but everytime it's used it places itself at the forefront. I loved this aspect of the album, and it was used sparingly enough that it didn't grow uninteresting. I'm having trouble finding much else to say about the album because, in all honesty, words don't do it justice. Many of the tracks sound fairly similar on first listen, but I would say this album definitely gets better with successive listens. It epitomizes Black Metal as a genre, but I can't say it's the best choice for a first time listener.

That being said I really can't pick out any Black Metal album that works as a "gateway drug" so to speak. Pretty much all Black Metal I've heard is damn close to impenetrable on first listen, especially if you don't have any affinity for Metal in general. If I could give one suggestion though, it would be to try and avoid listening to Black Metal on a sunny day. More than any other genre I've listened to, Black Metal benefits from the listener's surroudings. Wait for a day when the weather is particularily drab, and go for a walk if possible. Being surrounded by nature heightens the atmosphere of these albums, especially when accompanied by fog or (best of all) torrential rain. Now, I'm not going to say you aren't allowed to listen to Black Metal if you live somewhere where this bleak weather is extremely rare, but it helps to introduce yourself to the ideologies of the genre.

I've gotten a bit off track here, so I'll finish by declaring once and for all, that I have gotten into Black Metal. Darkthrone has dragged me down into an abyss filled with blast-beats and corpse paint, and I couldn't be happier.

Recently, music has completely taken over my writing habits. Not only have I stopped writing about games, I've found myself playing them less and less, as they often require me to pay attention to a storyline. I realize this sounds kind of stupid, but basically everything I do now is governed by whether I can listen to music simultaneously. Of course I'm still playing Destiny, because it can be enjoyed while listening to music, but I'm sick of writing about it. I've been hesitant to post my album thoughts on Giantbomb, because the site's focused on games mostly. I'd still like to get my writing out there though, so for anyone who happens to be listening, I'm going to unleash a torrent of music reviews onto my Giantbomb blog. I'll put a few in the Off-topic forums as well, if I think they're good enough.

I previously said I felt there weren't enough good games coming out this year, which I would like to correct. Not only are there some great games coming out this year, they are genuinely unique from each other, and it seems like there will be something for everyone before the year is up.

Destiny of course, is up for debate. While a lot of people (including me) have been sucked into this MMO/FPS experience. Without a doubt, Destiny has the best combat of any MMO I've ever played, and this alone has made the grind worthwhile. There's a huge difference between grinding faction rep by hitting hotkeys for hours, and getting headshots while enemies rush you from all directions. Sure the loot needs some serious work, as well as the instantly noticeable lack of content. But if the last patch was any indication, it seems like Bungie is putting in the effort to make the game more enjoyable.

Shadow of Mordor, which I've only played about 10 minutes of so far, is a far different experience. I don't know much about the game myself, because I've barely played any of it, but from what I've heard it seems the game has some seriously impressive tricks up it's sleeve. I'm interested to see how the Nemesis system works, because only hearing people talk about it hasn't really convinced me that it'll be a worthwhile feature. If it's even half the game that Batman Arkham Asylum was when it came out, I'll be satisfied. I bring up Batman because Shadow of Mordor has been said to borrow heavily from it, my main worry is that it won't be able to carve out it's own identity. Nevertheless the game sounds fun.

Alien Isolation, while supposedly having some serious issues, also sounds extremely interesting. The original Alien is one of my favorite movies of all time, and the idea of exploring an environment similar to the Nostromo on PS4 sound phenomenal. I'll pick it up once it goes down in price, but Alien Isolation is another unique experience from the holiday season, and there's still a good amount of time until the avalanche of holiday games is over.

So yes, this year is shaping up to be better than 2013, in terms of a wide variety of interesting, quality games.