I played through Metal Gear Solid (1) late last year, and it drove me crazy...in the worst way. I thought the story was awful, the gameplay was frustrating at best and maddening at worst. I really want to get to Metal Gear Solid V based on what I heard about it when it came out, and I think I could like MGS4 based on what was said about it. However, it's really hard getting through the early ga...
I'm on to my 3rd "To Play" list of 2016, and I'm happy to say that this method is really working for me! I'm getting through a lot of smaller games (or pieces of DLC) and really feeling good about the little time I'm able to put into games. I really wanted to play Firewatch and The Witness day-one. However, I held myself to my lists, and I'm glad I did. I missed the initial hype of the games, b...
I'm going to post soon about some of the games I recently played, but I'm just going to post something quick about what has already worked on my new "To Play" List strategy for 2016 and what I'm already revising. What is Working I've already worked through 3 games and am finishing up a fourth. They are all the shorter games on my list (under 8 hours), and it is so encouraging to be working thro...
As I've done previously, my Game of the Year list consists of the best games I played this year, regardless of what year they were released. I continue to play a lot of older games on my backlog, and I think it is more interesting to rank all the games I played, rather than just the few that were actually released this year. Honorable Mentions Beyond Eyes I love everything that Beyond Eyes stan...
It seems like I always try to start the year strong with writing on my blog, but I always slow down and stop half-way through the year. That may happen again this year... But I'm going to try to at least post every 2 weeks... My biggest "gaming goal" for this year, however, is to get a better system for playing through my backlog. This system isn't directly supposed to lead to me playing more g...
There has been a ton of buzz about Cities: Skylines , and I nearly bought it a couple times when I saw some good deals. However, as I stated in my previous blog entry , the purpose of these "What I'm Playing Instead" entries is to force me to buy less games and, instead, play games I already own that are in my backlog. I've spent hundreds of dollars over the last few years in Steam sales, on pr...
This is the first in a new series of posts I'm going to be doing. As I've mentioned in other posts, my second kid came along last December. Having two kids, on its own, is pretty demanding. However, my son also came early, requiring three weeks in the NICU and was born with a heart defect that required open-heart surgery a couple weeks ago. So, I've had even less time and money for games. There...
I am going to make a GOTY List for 2014. I just haven't done it yet...because I want to finish Far Cry 4 first. I started Far Cry 4 in 2014, and the only reason I haven't at least finished the campaign is because I haven't had a lot of gaming time since my son was born (I know I keep saying it, but it's because it is true!!)...and because I got the flu for a few days. So, since no one is waitin...
Papers, Please was made for the touch screen! My Week in Gaming 12/22-12/28 Far Cry 4 I got a few more hours into Far Cry 4, and I'm enjoying it more. I am not the type of gamer that enjoys just cruising around open worlds. I have to feel like there is a purpose to me being there. Getting more into the story and side missions of Far Cry 4 helps me a lot to really get invested in the world and,...
Following my son's birth and my return to gaming (well, at least a few hours a week...), I had a choice to make on what game to spend my time on. These were my choices: Dragon Age: Inquisition Far Cry 4 Alien: Isolation Dragon Age: Inquisition may have been my most anticipated game of 2014. If not the most anticipated, it was tied for most anticipated. However, the controls really bum me out. I...
I'm posting this so that I have a post every single week, but I didn't play a single second of any game this week due to the birth of my son. Gaming will start again (to some extent) next week...
My son was born on 12/2. So, gaming has been non-existent since then. :P My Week in Gaming 12/1-12/7 Dragon Age: Inquisition I was able to play one more hour of this on Monday before my son was born on Tuesday...
I really wish I could have stayed home and played a TON of Dragon Age during Thanksgiving, but, alas, I had to travel to family... :) My Week in Gaming 11/24-11/30 Banished I played about a half-hour of Banished, just enough to complete the tutorials. This was going to be my "Thanksgiving game," as it takes place in a colony-type setting. However, I just didn't get the time to get into it. I re...
Once again, I'm behind on blogs. This time, I have the best excuse, though, as my son was born two weeks ago. :) I'm going to...once again...catch up now with separate weekly updates... My Week in Gaming 11/17-11/23 Dragon Age: Inquisition I have anticipated Dragon Age Inquisition so much that I was scared to jump into this game without several hours put aside. So, I didn't play this until Thur...
Man, I haven't done a blog entry in several weeks. I'm going to catch up now with separate weekly updates... My Week in Gaming 11/10-11/16 Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor I finally finished Shadow of Mordor. The last two missions were laughably easy. However, I honestly appreciated it, because I was ready to move past the game, at that point. I definitely had a lot of fun, but a lot of the tasks...
Just more Shadow of Mordor so I can get it out of my way for Dragon Age: Inquisition and Far Cry 4 . :D :D My Week in Gaming 11/3-11/9 Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor I'm so close to finishing, I can taste it. I just have a couple missions left, which I'll finish this week...
Man, I haven't done a blog entry in several weeks. I'm going to catch up now with separate weekly updates... My Week in Gaming 10/27-11/2 Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor I've been blasting my way through all the side content on the second map of the game, building up my character just like I did in the first half. Still fun, though I'm ready to complete the game and move on. Spirits of Spring Th...
My Week in Gaming 10/20-10/26 Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor I played a few more hours of Shadow of Mordor. I feel okay putting it down for a bit to sneak in a couple smaller games, as I know I'll be going back to it refreshed. The Vanishing of Ethan Carter The ending of this game was disappointing to me. I was trying not to build it up too much, but I still ended up disappointed. Overall, it's...
I need to start writing these earlier so I'm not writing about the last week as I'm wrapping up another week... My Week in Gaming 10/13-10/19 Hitman Go I played a few more levels in Hitman Go. Not much else to say. It's been fun, but I'm not sure if I'll last the whole way through. Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor I really like Shadow of Mordor, but I have found that it actually makes me anxious...
My week was pretty much Shadow of Mordor, but that's okay with me. :) My Week in Gaming 10/6-10/12 Hitman Go I got Hitman Go for free in some IGN promotion. I'm liking it, though I'm not sure if I'll really end up finishing all of the levels. Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor I'm still playing Shadow of Mordor. I play it for 30 minutes or an hour at a time and have been focusing on the side-missio...
Shadow of Mordor creeped into my Fall List at the last minute, and I'm glad it did. :) My Week in Gaming 9/29-10/5 Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor I'm really loving Shadow of Mordor. I've put many hours in, just trying to level-up my character. My one complaint about the game is that it really makes me believe I'm underpowered. Some of the captains are so difficult, especially with other enemies...
I started my Fall Backlog List last week with both Wasteland 2 and Wolfenstein: The New Order. My Week in Gaming 9/22-9/28 Analogue: A Hate Story I finished Analogue last week. I did enjoy it, though it didn't really resonate with me that much. I definitely didn't like it as much as Digital: A Love Story or even Don't Take it Personally, Babe, It Just Ain't Your Story . I still am going to play...
Last week, I used some of my gaming time to watch the Wasteland "Let's Play" I mentioned previously as well as trying to finish up reading Dragon Age: The Masked Empire. I know novels based in videogame worlds can be really awful, but I have enjoyed the Dragon Age novels, because I have enjoyed the games. Also, I don't get obsessed with lore of videogames I play, but I do tend to want to absorb...
I'm gearing up for Wasteland 2 , which will at the beginning of my Fall playlist. I didn't get very far into my Summer List , unfortunately, but that's to be expected at this point in my life with one kid and another on the way. :) I knew I wouldn't complete all 50 games I put on the Summer List, but I did think I'd at least get halfway through it. Oh well... With Grand Theft Auto V not coming...
I wasn't able to get in as much gaming as I'd like last week, but I did play a few games. I always like playing shorter games (or even just episodes of episodic games), because I feel a nice sense of completion. There was a time when I said I was going to finish at least one small game a week while also working through longer games. However, that maybe a goal for another time, as my schedule is...
Last week, I was finally able to get more gaming in during the week. However, I played the exact two games I had played the week before. This week, I have big plans to play Act III of Kentucky Route Zero , the last chapter of The Walking Dead: Season Two , and start Uncharted 3 . My Week in Gaming 8/25-8/31 Bravely Default I put a couple more hours into this last week. I've had some fun playing...
Due to a very busy couple weeks and a trip in between, I didn't get a lot of gaming in. However, I did get a few hours to play. My Week in Gaming 8/18-8/24 Bravely Default I got about 15 hours into Bravely Default before putting it down for some other games. I really enjoyed the first dozen hours of it, but it did start to get a little long for me. The dialog is pretty bad, and the pacing of th...
I've had a very busy couple weeks. So, I'm behind on these blog entries. However, I want to keep each week separate, so I'll be posting a couple weeks back to back today, in different entries... My Week in Gaming 8/11-8/17 Batman: Arkham Origins I wrapped up my time with Arkham Origins this week with the Cold, Cold Heart DLC. I had a lot of fun with Origins, even more than Arkham City . Even th...
I only played one game this week, but it was a good one. I'm working my way down my Summer Backlog list. Of course, I wish I could play more games and complete them faster, but it is nice to see progress on my Completed Games list. I skipped Valiant Hearts this week to play Blackwell Epiphany , because I wanted to see the last game in the Blackwell series. I will get to VH this week after playi...
Somehow, I forgot to post this last week... For consistency, I'm still going to post it now and then post another one for last week... My Week in Gaming 7/28-8/3 Assassin's Creed: Freedom Cry I completed this in just a couple days, as it is only about 5 hours long, but that was perfect for me. It told a concise, impactful story that I appreciated. Some of the missions were frustrating due to od...
Last week, I finally completed Escape from Monkey Island! I'm so glad to have that behind me... I also played the fourth episode of The Walking Dead: Season Two. And the new game I'm playing is Murdered: Soul Suspect. My Week in Gaming 7/21-7/27 Escape from Monkey Island My wife and I finally finished it!!! I have to admit that the last couple hours of the game were good and sent me out feeling...
Last week was not a great week for gaming for me. I was very busy and just didn't have time to play anything but some more Escape from Monkey Island...which I really, really, really wanted to finish...but I didn't due to lack of time... I WILL finish it this week!!! This week, I'm also going to play the next episode of The Walking Dead: Season Two and play Murdered: Soul Suspect . My Week in Ga...
Once again, I didn't get to my blog this week until basically the end of the week... Next week, I will post this early in the week and hopefully keep up that trend!! Also, I'll admit that some of the text below is duplicated from my Games I Completed in 2014 list. I didn't really feel I had something different to say on those games, at this point. Since, I'm not currently trying to give any ful...
I didn't get to play a lot of games last week due to the holiday weekend. Also, I didn't get to post this sooner than now due to a busy week. However, here is what I played last week and my thoughts on those games. My Week in Gaming 6/30-7/6 Escape from Monkey Island I really struggled with this game in the beginning. The game doesn't give very much direction on what to accomplish next. Sometim...
I want to start posting a short weekly blog just noting down some thoughts on games I played the last week. Sometimes, I don't play new games every week, so some games may get repeated. However, I should have something new to say about them, even if it is just where I'm at in the game. :) Also, I keep track of all games I complete on HowLongToBeat . However, I think the lists here at Giant Bomb...
I didn't just want to do a "Best Games of E3 2014" list, and when I found myself very positively surprised at a couple of games, I decided to make this list. This list isn't about games being first announced at E3 or having some new announcement, necessarily. They are just games that had some element that surprised me in a positive way. By the way, if this was a list of E3 games I'm most excite...
I just realized I didn't put Transistor , Super Mario 3D Land , Wolfenstein: The New Order , or The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds on this list... I made some edits to fit the first three in, because I know I want them on here, and it was just an oversight on my part last night. :) I also removed Nidhogg, because I played a few levels of the single-player and realized how much it is NOT...
In my last post , I briefly posted about the new PC I built. I originally hadn't planned on building a new PC until later this year. However, it was Watch Dogs that caused me to build now. That is definitely the first "Next Gen" game I've been interested in that has really raised the bar when it comes to the hardware that is needed to run it even moderately well. With my new PC, I should be abl...
First of all, I really hope I can start posting to this blog more. I was posting to a WordPress-hosted blog, but I just don't have the time to keep that up. Instead of just not writing anything, I think I'll just try to keep up a blog here with smaller posts every so often and see how it goes... Anyway, as the title of this post attests, I have a new PC! Here's a picture of all the boxes: Here'...
* Originally posted on my personal site * This year, I really tried to play a lot of new releases. However, I didn't get a chance to play as many new releases as I would have liked. That's not to say that my year was bad. My daughter was born, making it the best year ever...so far... So, yeah, I'm not complaining about losing some gaming time. :D However, the truth is that I don't have the time...