PixlBit

So the week is almost over and I finally get around to a What Is Chris Playing Blog, but better late than never, right? Last night I took another game off Mount Backlog which is good, but then I stayed up way too late roaming through the free play but more of that in a bit. For now let’s get started.

 

Lego Ninjago Movie The Videogame - Switch

I really have no idea what the actual game name is but last night I finished it. I wasn’t going to, but I started playing around the time Jeopardy started at 7:30pm and didn’t stop until 1:00am. I did take a break to eat dinner, find my power supply for the Switch and brush my teeth before calling it a night. During this time I even tried playing the Switch having the Switch sit on a table while I held the Joycons and surprisingly the controls felt good, better than the Wii, but the screen looked a lot smaller.

As for the game itself, overall it’s not bad. I didn’t have any connection to the characters or the series so I zoned out during the cut scenes and anything story related. The game play is different from the conventional Lego game. The action relies on combos and mixing up the combos because the AI adapts to the constant button mashing. You get rewarded for this by having stud multipliers during the combos as upgrading your combo’s power. Ninjago also changes the way the game is played. Instead of having Levels with a Story Mode and a Free Mode, the Free Mode is now open world of the Ninjago Island. At first this was odd because I kept looking for a Free Play option on the Story Level landmarks but after checking out Google, this became really addictive because I could just roam around and collect Gold Bricks, Minifigures (they come in blind bags which is fun product placement), and red scrolls (the red bricks). Also there is no True Believer status per level. Instead there is a True Believer like progress bar on top of the screen but at the time of this entry I have not filled it. I’ll let you know what happens once that is filled.

I can’t talk about a Lego game without mentioning glitches. There was a point in the game I had to reset the game because I could not swap between characters but I couldn’t access their Ninjago powers. There was the usual camera problems and a couple of times when I was performing a combo it was behind a wall and I couldn’t swing the camera around, and this was frustrating. During loading of the later sections the animated Lego model of the environment would flicker, and there would be frame slowdown while rotating the model.

 

I see a throne 

I like this game a lot more than The Lego Movie video game because it’s different. I like that they took a different approach to this game especially since there is Lego Marvel 2 on store shelves. Some portions did take some practice but the tutorial scrolls helped out a lot, and the icons under the minifigure names did help to see who could do what. I still need to find some figures but as of right now, I can open the majority of closed off portions with the collection I have. Lego Ninjago is a solid Lego title that I enjoyed.

 

Toren - Steam

 

I jumped into this game over the weekend and other than a few control issues (it could have been my fault but I take no blame because I’m writing this ;) ). I like this game. It’s a puzzle where your character will eat it a couple of times but you can figure out the puzzle and continue to make progress in the story. The key to this, is to actually pay attention to the old guy who helps you. As you progress within the game your character ages and I am almost at adult. I stopped right before the next Dream sequence because I think this was the time WrestleMania was about to start. I also think I’m halfway through the game because I have half the achievements for the game.

 

Tomb Raider Go - Steam

 

This is my go-to casual puzzle game if I can’t find anything to play. I tried a little bit on iOS but either it was Freemium or had an artificial ceiling like a certain number of moves or something that slows the gameplay down. On Steam I’m enjoying it a lot more because I don’t have the same problems as I did on a tablet. Anyways I play a few levels, get my puzzle fix and then jump into NBA Live 2K18.

 

Rocket League - Switch

 

My favorite soccer game on the Switch (I don’t own FIFA). I kind of have the feel of the game again so I am zipping around in Season. I don’t think I will take part in the Multiplayer Tournament stuff but I will play couch multiplayer. I might pick up the Pro Controllers for this especially if Family wants to play. It might be cheaper just to connect my laptop to the TV and play it on Steam with an extra $20 generic 360 Controller. Anyways fun game, playing with the Mario skin.

 

Arms - Switch

Finished the Tournament with four more characters and I have the volleyball game figured out (at least against AI). This was a problem but now I seem to breeze through it. I’m still trying to unlock the different gloves for each character and well it’s going to take a while.

 

Oceanhorn - Switch

 

Another game I played before wrestling, this time before NXT Takeover on Saturday. I played through the home island and upgraded my character from Level 1 to Level 2. The home island is kind of a tutorial where you learn what you can do, reading signs, roaming around, and talking to the old guy on the island who gives you more information about the bad guy who forced your father to flee. Also you learn that if you throw containers you can find coins, open treasure chests for coins, and whack bad guy animals and get blue diamonds. The more you collect the faster you level up. The coins are for later when you can buy weapons, potions, fireworks and other fun things. I unlocked a couple of new islands and that’s where I left the game.

 

Alright Pixlpeeps I am off. Have a good rest of the week!

 

That’s all for now, more later!

-Chris