Games this week:

• Xbox 360 - Borderlands, Portal
• Playstation 2 - Persona 3 FES

I almost forgot again! Still Monday. My weekends are very busy lately, and probably always will be, so I forget by the time Monday rolls around. I'm bad about it.

Anyway! Borderlands continues to be amazing, nothing much to be said there. I'm level 28 and I just killed Reaver. On my way to have a little chat with Krom. w3rd!

Played some Portal with the little lady, because I feel it's important to show that game off whenever I get the chance. Being short, we're almost done with it, though. I'll have to go buy a copy of Portal 2 so she can see that game with me, aussi.

In a similar vein, started a New Game Plus of Persona 3 with my ladyfriend so I can show that off and gauge her interest in such games. We named the character Wally Fushigi, 'cause why not, and we'll see what kind of person he develops into. So far, it seems like a nice guy because Rebekah doesn't want to choose the mean dialogue options.

And that's it. More gaming this week, I'm sure! Borderlands is too great not to keep playing.

Game this week:

• Xbox 360 - Borderlands

It's still Monday. Shut up.

So, all I've played this past week is Borderlands. This game is great, y'all. I am level 24 and whoopin' ass. I played a little multiplayer with Tebo on Thursday, that was exciting. Local co-op is weird, though, the way the screen is split vertically instead of horizontally is a very odd choice. But still fun, although he had some 20+ levels on me, so, he could one-shot pretty much everything. Still wicked fun. Plus watching them explode whenever he shot something was damned funny. Nothing much more to say on it, though. It's a really, really good game. There's level progression, loot lust, a big world, satisfying kills, entertaining writing, and a really pretty art style. It's just good.

And that's it. See y'all next week.

Games this week:

• Xbox 360 - Borderlands
• Wii - Kirby's Epic Yarn

Almost forgot about it today. How awful!

So, Borderlands, ja? Holy crow, yo, that's a good game. I finally just sat and put the hours into it, leveled up to 15 or 16, and geez. It's that kind o' game where I keep saying to myself, "One more level. One more mission. Just one more, then I'll totally go to bed." I'm a sucker for a leveling system, though. You let me rack up experience points and give me a meter I can watch fill and I'll probably love it. The actual mechanics feel a little bit loose, but, serviceable. Certainly hasn't stopped me from playing it. I do wish that the lower level enemies would just go away or give way to ones that offer more experience. Once they start only giving me 1 XP per kill they're just a nuisance.

And Kirby's Epic Yarn may be the cutest thing in the whole gods damned world. It's just so pretty and adorable, you guys. Unfortunately, it definitely seems to be designed for kids. It's really easy so far and you literally can not die. But it's cute, so it's worth it. Oh, my gods, the dinosaurs!

And then that's it for this past week. More to come!

Games this week:

• Playstation 3 - Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
• Xbox 360 - Borderlands

Hello! Look, I played games again this week! Yay!

So, Metal Gear Solid 4. Beat it. And... it's so much fun to play, even if it did become a lot like a third-person shooter, it's still fun. But the god damned cut scenes. Especially the finale, it ends some three times. And each subsequent ending is worse, until I basically came away despising the end of that game. Still a lot of fun to play, but, man... the 1.5 to 2 hour ending cut scene is brutal.

Also played another half hour of Borderlands. Not terribly much to say yet, I'm only an hour into it and level five, so, not much is going on. Pretty fun to play, though the shooting is missing something I can't put my finger on yet. When I figure it out, I'll let y'all know.

And then... that's it. Sort of easing back into the whole video game playing thing. See y'all next week!

Games this week:

• Xbox 360 - Borderlands, Shadows of the Damned

Yeah, I got struck with a social life this week. Started a new relationship with a new, wonderful young lady. Went to some shows of a local band, Brian Wolf Band, that were pretty great. Saw some friends I haven't seen in a while. So, I barely played anything. But... here we go.

I started Borderlands. Quite late to the party, but, what're you gonna do? I tried to jump right in the co-op, but, that was a little much. Plus there's a whole opening video that seems to only play in single player. So, I started the single player and played about half an hour.

Also played a little Shadows of the Damned to show it to the new ladyfriend, because I'm cool like that. That game is so crazy and funny, I'm thinking about just playing it again anyway. Anyway, played that for about half an hour, aussi.

And that's it! Perhaps more gaming this coming week? Hard to say, what with them holidays coming up. We'll see, take care 'til next week!

Games this week:

• Playstation 3 - Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
• Xbox 360 - Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Lost Odyssey
• Nintendo Wii - New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Super Smash Bros. Brawl
• PSP - Persona 2: Innocent Sin

Holy crap. It's worth mentioning now that several of these games were barely played, but, in the interest of completeness...

Played a bunch more Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. I am loving this game. It is far superior to Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, in my opinion. Holy crow, the cut scenes, though. I thought EVA would never stop talking. Hideo Kojima needs to work on his delivery of exposition.

I replayed Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, 'cause I wanted to. That game's still quite fun and the story is... explosive. And then when I was done with that, I started up Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 partly to replay it, but also because I never did play through it on Veteran difficulty. I got through most of the first one on Veteran, let's see how far I can get through this one. I also barely remember the story from MW2, so, it'll be good to get it again.

And some more Lost Odyssey! As it turns out, that wasn't the end of the game and I did, in fact, return to the world map after getting through the dungeon. Also, now I have to sail the White Boa's slow ass around the world. It's necessary to continue the game. So, I may as well stop and hit some of the optional dungeons, ja? Which is where I'm at.

I played a couple games for a short time on my Wii. Which is remarkable, because it seems to get very little use these days. I should really play it more. But, anyway, earlier in the week the roommate and I played a couple levels of New Super Mario Bros. Wii. It gets a little cluttered with just two people, I can only imagine how crazy is gets with four players on screen at once. And then, on Saturday I had a terrific new friend over and we played a couple levels of it, aussi. And Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Not to give away my social life too much, but Brawl is far more fun when you're playing it with someone else. I haven't touched that game in something like a year, either, so getting back into the swing of things took a couple rounds. But so much, it was a great night.

And... okay, I almost shouldn't list Persona 2: Innocent Sin. I literally played one battle, then saved it and turned it off. So, there's that this week.

And that's the last for this week. Seems like a lot. Wasn't actually, I promise. See y'all next week.

Games this week:

• Playstation 3 - Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
• Xbox 360 - Lost Odyssey, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
• PSP - Persona 2: Innocent Sin

Hello! So, the big one this week is probably Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. I finally got around to renting it, because I only play the campaign so it's really not worth buying it at full price. So, for two bucks a night, and with me only having it one night, perfect! The campaign is as expected at this point for Modern Warfare: bombastic with a point or two that's supposed to make you realize the atrocities and horrors of war and/or terrorism. It's about the same as Modern Warfare 2, but obviously with less of a punch due to that. But, don't think that means I didn't enjoy it, it was a lot of fun! It's just trying too hard to be shocking anymore, because that's what's expected of it. The bit with the lorry was still a little heart-wrenching and surprising, though completely expected and predictable. Still brought me down a bit. And I continue my tradition of playing nothing but the single-player campaign. I have yet to even open the multiplayer menu in a Call of Duty game, and I can live with that. That's why I rent it or wait for it to be less than $30.

Picked Lost Odyssey back up and slogged through the rest of disc three. I think the last two or three hours of disc three are designed specifically to test whether or not the player -really- wants to see the end of the game. The beginning of disc four also has a bizarre difficulty spike that comes out of nowhere, but, that's been more manageable. I believe I'm in the final dungeon, what with a prompt coming up letting me know I could go back to the world map if I entered, so, was I REALLY sure? And, actually, let's talk about that for a moment, but before I break into this let me say I am excited to start wrapping the story up and seeing how it ends. And I really hope they show SPOILER their home world END SPOILER. So, at the same time they open up the final dungeon, all these side-mission dungeons open up, they're spread out all over the map, and just start a-glowin'. In addition, you're also given this very large, very gods damned slow vessel that's necessary to break through the ice surrounding the final dungeon. Sure, why not, I don't have to drive it far. You're also told by the game that you can press B and break out into your smaller, faster ship, but you can't break through the ice. Okay, cool, I'll just bust out and those extra dungeons and then come back, dock with the White Boa, and break through the ice. Oh, this entrance is behind ice? Huh, okay, well, I'll come over here with the White Boa later. It'll take seemingly forever to get there, but, it's just one dunge-- oh, the rest are also behind ice? So, all (except one) of the bonus dungeons are only accessible by the White Boa, the slowest ship in all of ever? The White Boa, which could literally take five or more minutes of just holding the left stick forward, and ONLY that, to reach my destination? Well... fuck you very much and no thank you. I don't think I ever want to play a game with sailing in it again, ugh. Okay, my little rant's over.

Continued on my Metal Gear Solid 4 journey. And this game is WAY more fun that Metal Gear Solid 3, holy crow. I'm in the second act and I'm just rollin' with the rebels, sniping EVERY motherfucker I come across. It's glorious and so much fun. I will say this, I am in love with how domestic Otacon and Snake are. Always gives me a chuckle. Even more so, how gods damned old and grumpy Snake is. XD I love grumpy, old men. Too damned funny.

Persona 2: Innocent Sin continues to be more of the same, but, I'm still enjoying it. I am burning through that game very slowly, but, I'm gettin' there. It's not like I have some backlog of PSP games to get through, though.

And that's where we are for this week. See y'all next week!

This is going to be very short, I barely played games this week. There was a lot more sitting and watching Netflix. I just couldn't muster up anything to even interact with a video game, haha.

Games this week:

• Playstation 3 - Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
• Nintendo Wii - New Super Mario Bros. Wii
• PSP - Persona 2: Innocent Sin

So! I got New Super Mario Bros. Wii for my birthday, about a week early, and played a little bit. Beat the first world, but, that's it so far. That game is much harder than previous Mario platformers have been and I'm loving it, even if it can be a little frustrating at times. And I really enjoy the sounds, like the applause when you collect all of the red coins and the one-up sound effect playing through the Wii remote speaker. And that's all on that. Oh, and Yoshi! Hells yes.

Started Metal Gear Solid 4 on Saturday, I've played maybe an hour of it, if that. It's crazy on a level that you don't often see in video games and I'm loving that. We'll see if I enjoy actually playing it, though, or if it'll be Metal Gear Solid 3 all over again. I have reservations, but, I'm hoping to be pleasantly surprised.

And I played a bunch more Persona 2, several hours more. And it remains the same. I did finally get to summon a few new Personas! And it only took, like, 10 hours into the game. Ten and a half. I will say that I feel it's quite clear why the Persona series didn't really grab a strong foothold until the third one. The third one is amazing, and the fourth even more so. The first two have some great ideas but are struggling with certain implementations of certain systems within the game. Some choices were made in these earlier games that can be frustrating or downright baffling. Good writing, though, if a little heavy-handed at times.

And that's it. I did a little bullshitting to keep it from being too short, I hope it's appreciated! See everyone next week.

Games this week:

• Xbox 360 - Lost Odyssey, Halo: Reach
• Playstation 2 - The Suffering
• PSP - Persona 2: Innocent Sin

Video games!

So, let's start with The Suffering! Finished it. That ending was certainly surprising. I was expecting one thing but it went another way entirely. Very confusing, though. I must have missed something earlier in the game, or forgotten it, because it references a character that I don't know at all. Also, the last two hours of it were brutally glitchy. Invisible geometry would pop up often and I'd have to go around something I can't see in the middle of an open area. Enemy animations got weird in a broken way and a few times the enemies themselves would just pop in instead of doing their appearance animation. In one instance I walked through a door and the walls of the room weren't there anymore. The doors, stairs, and floor were still intact but I could now see way further than the programmers ever intended me to and I was stuck a foot into the room on invisible walls that had sprung up. Luckily, backing out of the room and re-entering fixed it. The weirdest, though, was this instance: I stepped through a door into an open courtyard and saw a hulking monstrosity that I know is only damageable by explosives; bullets are useless against his armored hide. So, I lobbed a stick of lit dynamite at him. Only, the dynamite didn't appear. I had pulled my arm back and thrown and there was now one less stick of dynamite in my inventory... but I'll try it again, as this brute's still lumbering toward me. But again, nothing. I fire some shots with my gun, knowing they're useless but needing to find out what's going on. Nothing. I empty the clip but not a single shot fires. I reload and try again, noting that my ammo count is now down one clip, and fire every bullet. I can even feel the recoil from the gun, but nothing comes out. Yeah, I don't know what that glitch was, exactly, but, everything I did never actually left my character and went out to do damage. Performed the animation, decreased my inventory appropriately, but nothing. Fun game, though, just weird how glitchy it was at the end.

Lost Odyssey. I hit a damning point in this RPG. I've been forced to play as other characters in my party for the past couple hours with it. Characters who are severely underleveled because I don't like them so I don't use them. Oh, also, I don't like them. Currently it has stuck me with an all-magic-caster party, except for little Mack, whose physical attacks are damn near useless. So, what that means is that my whole party dies in about... one to three hits. Unless I have every character constantly healing, and that's not moving the battle forward at all. It's just a matter of time before I run out of necessary MP to cast those healing spells and just die anyway. So, I'm stuck at this part. I guess I'll have to stop and level all these characters up as best I can. I tried just pushing through until my party's reunited and I can go back to ignoring them, but, that isn't working.

Started playing the Halo: Reach campaign on co-op with a mate o' mine. Happy to see Bungie continue the proud Halo tradition of not explaining the extra character. There are seven members of Noble team now, what of it? Noble 1, Noble 2, Noble 3, Noble 4, Noble 5, Noble 6, and Noble 6-Also. Want to fight about it?

And of course I played a little more of Persona 2: Innocent Sin. Nothing new to say on that. other than I think I straight up dislike the demon conversation system. I think it's an awful way to get new Persona to fight with. I will admit that's personal preference, though, not necessarily something inherently wrong with the system.

And that's it. See everyone next week!

Games this week:

• Playstation 3 - Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
• Playstation 2 - The Suffering
• Xbox 360 - Lost Odyssey

Fun-filled weekend! I finally picked up the first two Uncharted games and played them both back-to-back this weekend.

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune is pretty darn good. The story and characters are amazing. Top-notch voice-acting and plenty of surprises. It's ostensibly Indiana Jones for a new generation. The platforming and world traversal stuff is fun and lends an epic scale to practically everything you do. The hand-to-hand combat is brutal and satisfying. But I don't particularly care for the shooting. It's not great, but, I'm willing to chalk that up to personal preference. it gets you through the awesome story, but, it was enough that I can't say I loved it.

Now, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, on the other hand, is absolutely fantastic. It starts with Nathan waking up in a wrecked train dangling over a cliff edge with a large, bleeding wound in his stomach. The first half of the game is done in flashback to get you back up to the point where your train ride goes completely awry. And, let me take a moment to say that I don't care for that part. You replay a small section of the game again, but, with different dialogue. The differences just stuck out to me. But, it's a small complaint. Uncharted 2 takes everything from the first game and ramps it up. Which makes the shooting mechanic more bearable. That's kind of mean, the shooting's actually decent in this one, I enjoyed far more than the first. And the game is absolutely gorgeous. Playing these two one after the other really gave me an appreciation for the work put into it in the intervening two years. And some day, I'll get Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception.

I played more of games I'm currently in the middle of, but it was a whole lot of Uncharted, really. But let's give them their mention!

I played some more Lost Odyssey. Same, same. Game's fun.

And, played some more of The Suffering. It's still pretty fun. A lot of disturbing imagery centered around his murdered children. The game's kind of coasting at this point. I'm still not sure what the hell's going on and it's a little bit confusing. I don't know if I'm missing anything or if it's just a game that doesn't say anything until the end. We shall see!

And that's it this week. I somehow managed to not play any Persona 2: Innocent Sin. But I'm not done with it! I have not given up, I will finish it.