Games I've finished in 2013:

1/15 - ZombiU [Wii U]

2/13 - Omerta: City of Gangsters [PC]

2/29 - Valkyria Chronicles [PS3]

3/19 - Batman: Arkham City [PC]

3/23 - Orcs Must Die! 2 [PC]

3/29 - Mass Effect 3: Citadel DLC [PC]

4/3 - Dead Space 3 [PC]

4/10 - Dead Space 3: Awakening DLC [PC]

4/25 - Surgeon Simulator 2013 [PC]

4/29 - Professor Layton and the Curious Village [3DS]

5/1 - Theatrhythm Final Fantasy [3DS]

5/3 - Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon [PC]

5/11 - Metro: Last Light [PC]

6/5 - Prime World: Defenders [PC]

6/16 - The Swapper [PC]

6/28 - State of Decay [X360]

7/1 - The Last of Us [PS3]

7/3 - Tomb Raider [PC]

7/3 - The Walking Dead: 400 Days [PC]

7/13 - Dark [PC]

7/14 - Hotline Miami [PC]

7/18 - Metro: Last Light Faction Pack DLC [PC]

7/28 - Shadowrun Returns [PC]

In hindsight, it seems unthinkable that a universe of Shadowrun's cyberpunk/fantasy stature has gone so unheralded in the world of gaming. Since the 16-bit era, almost two decades have passed without a game properly set in the tabletop RPG's world. Ultimately, the people have spoken, crowd-funding a Kickstarter to the tune of $1.8 million in April of 2012. The demand was there; all that was needed was the game. Fast-forward to July of 2013 and Shadowrun Returns.

This new iteration serves as somewhat of a spiritual successor to 1993s SNES release. Its an isometric RPG heavily dependent on character conversations. Shadowrun Returns even makes several nods to the original title, including variations on the music from the SNES game, and even an appearance from classic games protagonist Jake Armitage as an NPC. Nostalgia is not the only positive factor driving this game, but there are enough misses that it certainly wont please everyone.

Read the rest of the review here!

7/30 - Rise of the Triad [PC]

My Gaming Trend video review:

8/2 - Guacamelee [VITA]

I finally sat down over the last few nights and finished playing through Guacamelee. What a great game.

The art style is fantastic and the game is legitimately funny. The platforming was challenging but not unreasonable, and the game was generous with the checkpoints. Even better, falling off a ledge into a pit or a pool of acid didn't require you to jump back to a checkpoint - just back from the ledge you were last on. It took all the frustration out of platforming and kept it fun.

The combat was up to par as well. The rate at which you unlocked new moves was gradual enough to make it easy to work them in to your regular combat routine, but they also came often enough to get you excited when you found one. Some of the combos that would seem ridiculously daunting at first started to come out naturally during the arena battles.

When it was over, I definitely wanted more. And since I got the "sad" ending, I think I'll be continuing to play this for a bit.