Hello there!

On 12/16/2017 at 12:28 PM by Ranger1

It's been a long time since I've written a blog. I got overwhelmed with the large number of blogs my friends had written and that I didn't have time to read or comment on. Plus, I went through a long period of not gaming and didn't feel like I had anything to contribute. So I deleted 2000+ notices in my inbox and am starting from scratch.

Like I said, haven't been gaming a whole lot. I did play through Sleeping Dogs again on my PS4 this summer. Ditto the Tomb Raider reboot. I got stuck in the exact same level as I did when I played the game when it came out. I hate that level. It's the one with wave after wave of Oni, and I die over and oevr and over again. I also bought a bunch of games during various PSN sales, some were good, some not so much. A bunch of them were games that people here recommended to me back in February: King's Quest, Grim Fandango, Day of theTentacle, Broken Age, and Tearaway Unfolded. I started Day of the Tentacle and got distracted, and I was really enjoying Tearaway Unfolded until I got to the last set of levels. I keep dying in the same spot. I hate that. Games that I bought and really enjoyed are What Remains of Edith Finch, Submerged, and Flower (yes, I have it on PS3, but it was under $2). I also picked up Dreamfall Chapters, because I loved the first two games so much. I also have Mahjong Deluxe 3 for when I need something simple and relaxing. Other games that I picked up and aven't managed to muster a ton of enthusiasm for are: Anoxemia (started out fun, but got confusing in some spots), the Mega Man Legacy Collection (I suck at this game in the worst way), Another World (another game I suck at and keep dying in the same spot).

Games that I've bought on disc:

Tales of Berseria - I love the Tales games, but I wasn't in the right mood at the time to play it through)

The Last Guardian - I want to love this game, but the contextual controls leave a lot to be desired

Lego City Undercover - may be my all-time favorite Lego game. I spent more time on this game than I have on many RPGs that I've played, resulting in getting 100% and my second Platinum Trophy.

Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy - Like what I've played, even if I die a lot.

Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 - I finished the story levels, and am in the mopping up portion of my play-through. I like it, but I don't love it. The story is kind of meh, but I do like the hub world, The web-swinging characters and the vehicles are hard to control, making some races almost impossible to finish. There are the usual bugs found in Lego games.

My nephew Sawyer also gave me a couple of his PS4 games, since he'd bought them on Steam - Rise of the Tomb Raider and Batman Arkham Knight. Haven't played either one yet, but looking forward to them both.

I also bought DQ VIII for my 3DS. I played it and finished all but the bonus dungeon in new game+ on my PS2, but wanted to revisit. I'm loving it all over again, but I do miss the full orchestral soundtrack.

Hoping to not be such a stranger in the future.

Matt Snee Staff Writer

12/16/2017 at 03:23 PM

more later...

Ranger1

12/16/2017 at 09:10 PM

Promises, promises.

12/17/2017 at 11:41 AM

yeah DQVIII without the orchestral soundtrack isn't the same... but it's still such a fine game. I got to get back to it. I got a switch a couple months ago and have mostly been playing that.

I went to San Francisco last weekend to see some friends and had fun. Gonna travel more I think. Eventually I'll make it to Portland, maybe in the Spring... my old friend Kendra lives there with her husband and two kids and I haven't seen her for SOOO long.

Glad to hear from you. Hope you come around more often!

12/17/2017 at 12:09 PM

Now that I don't have all those unread blogs hanging over my read, I think I'll definitely be back more.

Good to see you're doing more traveling. It would be great to see you up here. As Andrew can attest, I know some awesome game stores.

KnightDriver

12/16/2017 at 08:49 PM

I played one of the Dreamfall games on 360 a bunch of years ago. I liked the graphics in that game. I'd be willing to try it again, especially if it gets added to backward compatibility. Or maybe it has already?

Mahjong. One day I was looking for something casual to play and couldn't think of anything. I think I'll try that next time.

I was beginning to think the Lego games were getting the bugs out when I played the first Lego Marvel Super Heroes and didn't run into any bugs. I guess it wasn't a trend.

I have to go back to Undercover. I rented it, loved it, but didn't finish it. I'll get a copy sometime when I can.

I'll probably never get rid of my PS2 because of DQVIII. Your making me want to hook it up again.

12/16/2017 at 09:14 PM

I found several bugs in the first Lego Marvel Super Heroes. I don't remember what they were now, but i do remember how mad they made me.

As for Dreamfall, the first one was PC only, the second was PC and original Xbox. I don't think there was ever a game for the 360. I actually played the second one first, because I didn't own a computer at the time. The first one's pretty cheap on Steam and doesn't require a whole lot to run it. I imagine the second one is avalable there, too.

And I just checked wikipedia and I was wrong. They released The Longest Journey on the Xbox Store as an Xbox Originals for the 360.

12/17/2017 at 09:15 PM

I think I only played about a dozen hours of LMSH, so maybe that wasn't long enough to get some bugs. I remember the whole game crashing a few times though, now I think of it.

Ok, I definitely played the Original Xbox one. It was that long ago, apparently.

Cary Woodham

12/17/2017 at 12:10 AM

Good to hear from you. You know I never write long blogs, ha ha! :)

12/17/2017 at 11:15 AM

I've missed this place and the people here. Not to mention not having any idea what's going on in the gaming world.

Halochief90

12/17/2017 at 04:21 PM

Have you used the save states on Mega Man Legacy Collection? That pretty much takes all the frustration away.

I also hated the controls in the Last Guardian and the frustrating puzzles, but I still wound up loving upon finishing the game.

Good to hear from you!

12/17/2017 at 11:05 PM

Save states? Tell me more...

I'll go back and finish The Last Guardian. I just got mad and rage quit at one point and then got distracted by the next shiny game. I mean, I bought the PS4 just for that one game.

12/18/2017 at 06:16 AM

You go into the select menu while you play the game. Save the game and you can load it exactly where you left Mega Man: mid-boss, mid-jump, you name it!

12/18/2017 at 10:24 AM

THANK YOU!!!

Super Step Contributing Writer

12/26/2017 at 12:00 PM

I got N Sane Trilogy for Christmas and bought Lego city undercover on sale. Only thing I don't like about the latter is the constant stopping for explanations on where to go.

12/26/2017 at 12:20 PM

Yeah, that was a pain. I liked the Lego games better before they had lengthy cut scenes with talking, to be honest.

12/26/2017 at 09:54 PM

I actually think the cutscenes are really funny and charming. It's when I'm in the middle of the game and they stop everything because they (admittedly, with good reason given the target market) assume I'm five and bring the game to a screeching halt to tell me exactly what to do and where to go that just ... Ugh.

12/27/2017 at 12:13 AM

Yeah, not having my hand held is a good thing.

PixlBit