Summer is for action games

On 08/29/2018 at 05:11 PM by Ranger1

Wow, it has been a long time since I wrote a new blog post! I've been busy with work, Beau, gaming, and the movie watching project I started a couple of years ago.

In my last blog post, I had just finished Tales of Berseria and started Tales of Vesperia. I played through most of Vesperia, really enjoying myself even if I never could figure out how to pull of the combos and special attacks. And then it got to be May and for whatever reason, I stopped playing. So it sits, still unfinished, with only the last dungeon and boss battle(s) standing between me and completion of the main story. And here is where I realized that I have seasons for game genres. Winter is for long ass JRPGs, and by the time May hit, I had no desire to finish playing that game or any other RPG.

I tried getting into a few other games, a few of freebies on Games wirh Gold (Brave, Cars 2, Lego Indiana Jones 2, SVC Streets of Rage, Forza Horizon, Sacred 3, Sonic Transformed), but none really grabbed me. I did snag a couple of Lego games I already owned on Xbox 360 for my PS4 - Harry Potter Collection and Jurassic World (I'll admit I did it for the easy platinum trophies), and I played a few of the dlc levels for Marvel Super Heroes 2 (Black Panther, Cloak and Dagger, The Runaways, and Infinity War), and still nothing grabbed me.

Two weeks ago, the weather was horrible, and I just wanted to game. So I went back to Tomb Raider (the reboot) to see if I couldn't finally get past that one level I've been stuck on for the past five years. I'll admit to going to a walkthrough. All it took was changing my play style from kamikaze to run, hide, and pick the enemies off one by one. By midnight, I'd finished the game and found all the goodies. My nephew had given me a couple of his favorite games from his PS4 collection just before he sold his PS4, and one of them was Rise of the Tomb Raider. The next morning, I realized I wasn't done tomb raiding, so in went Rise. And much fun was had. Took me eight days for the game itself, and then I spent some time trophy hunting and playing some of the dlc that came with the copy that Sawyer gave me. I finally had enough on Friday night.

When I finish a game that I've spent a lot of time on, I frequently have a hard time deciding what to play next. I'm still feeling guilty about not finishing Tales of Vesperia, but I'm just not into playing an RPG right now. It came down to Batman Arkham City and Horizon Zero Dawn. Since Arkham City has been on Mount Backlog longer, that's what got chosen yesterday morning. I have no idea how far along in the game I am, but I'm sure enjoying myself. I am finding that, after playing both Tomb Raiders, the controls for Batman aren't as fluid as they are for Lara. Or maybe it's just because I'm playing on the 360 and not on the PS4. I dunno, but Lara did what I wanted her to do much better than Batman is doing.

Well, I'm off to do something. Game, walk the dog, do the laundry, something like that. Have a great weekend!

Cary Woodham

08/29/2018 at 09:39 PM

I saw the new Tomb Raider movie on Netflix and wrote about it on my last blog.

I just reviewed a game you might be interested in reading about, too:

http://www.gamerdad.com/blog/2018/08/29/little-dragons-cafe-ps4-switch/

Ranger1

08/31/2018 at 11:12 AM

Cary, are you sure it was the new Tomb Raider on Netflix and not the Angelina Jolie one from 2001? I had to get the new one through Netflix DVD. The new one is kind of a cross between the first and second reboot games. I wish I hadn't seen it before playing Rise of the Tomb Raider, because there was a bit of a spoiler in the movie.

As always, I love your reviews. However, Animal Crossing is pretty much the only sim I've ever really been able to get into, and it's a love/hate realtionship, lol.

08/31/2018 at 12:53 PM

Yes it was the new Tomb Raider movie I saw, and I got it through the Netflix DVD service. Sorry, I kind of roll that and the digital Netflix all into one, even though I guess they're not. It's still weird for me to get into the habit of watching Netflix shows on my PS4. I still miss the days of mom and pop local video rental places. I'm just old fashioned. I actually didn't sign up for Netflix until the very last brick and mortar video place in our town closed down.

Animal Crossing (GameCube) is one of my top five favorite games of all time, right on up there with Pac-Man, so you know how I feel about it.

09/01/2018 at 08:05 AM

Yeah, I do the dvd and streaming thing with Netflix, too, because the only way I can watch a lot of classic movies is on DVD. And our local library has a bunch of movies, but their classics section is pretty sparse.

I love Animal Crossing, but I hate how you have to play every day or your flowers all die and your villagers move out. I just started playing Wild World again (I think that's the DS one), and I spent an hour and a half pulling weeds and then ten minutes killing cockroaches in my house. Sigh.

KnightDriver

08/29/2018 at 11:22 PM

JRPGs are for winter, action games for summer. I like those ideas.

So, you have a PS4?

08/30/2018 at 08:13 AM

I do have a PS4. We're friends, too, lol. And I still play my 360.

08/30/2018 at 11:15 PM

I'm breaking out the 360 next month. The PS4 is still in storage at the moment though. It's be back up and running in a month or so. I wish I could get Dragon Quest XI though. I'd break it out right now.

Matt Snee Staff Writer

08/30/2018 at 03:51 AM

how is Beau doing?

I like Arkham City. Never finished it, but I played through most of it about three times on different platforms. Great game. Not perfect, but has some great moments.

I'm lookinf forward to playing Vesperia again when the remastered version comes to Switch. It's my favorite Tales game... don't know why, I just really like it.

I'd like to play Horizon Zero Dawn sometime.

08/31/2018 at 10:59 AM

Beau's good. He's a brat and I have to dog-proof the house every time I leave, or he gets mad because I left him home and he gets into mischief.

I like Vesperia, but it hasn't grabbed me the same way a bunch of other Tales games have. It's on my list to finish as soon as I feel like playing an RPG again, though. And I still have Xillia 2 to finish, as well. By the way, did you know that the voice actor who did Flynn's voice is the same one who did Jude's voice?

I played the intro level to Horizon Zero Dawn and it was awesome. It will be next up after Arkham City, I think.

Super Step Contributing Writer

08/30/2018 at 08:02 PM

Arkham Knight is a bit more fluid in terms of control, which I'd say has to do with the time between City and TR and Knight coming out.

In any case: welcome to the dark side. Leave those RPGs alone. Play nothing but action games all the times. Sssshhhhh. It's gonna be great.

08/31/2018 at 10:55 AM

But I LOVE my rpgs, lol. Just not during the summer.

Yeah, I knew that it was because I was going from a recent game to an older game. Told my friend/neighbor/coworker/adopted little brother that same thing yesterday.

08/31/2018 at 05:51 PM

Your adopted little brother sounds like a cool guy. He should play Yakuza 0.

09/01/2018 at 08:06 AM

It's not his kind of game. Trust me on that one.

09/01/2018 at 06:25 PM

People only think Yakuza's not for them cause they have never experienced true joy. Quote me on that one. Hmph.

09/01/2018 at 06:35 PM

I'm sure I'd like it, not sure Michael would.

09/01/2018 at 08:35 PM

If I'm being serious it's a bit of an acquired taste and best for people who enjoy some oddball Japanese humor.

If I'm being Yakuza fan #1, Michael needs to get over himself and understand the greatness of the one true Messiah, Kiryu.

Homelessrook

08/30/2018 at 08:19 PM

I’ve been playin Pong and Minish cap on my GBASP.

I really want a PS4 but I have a couple of other things I want and saving for.

08/31/2018 at 10:53 AM

It's a lot easier to buy spiffy new toys when one doesn't have a family to support. I used some of the money my dad left me to buy the PS4.

I hauled out a bunch of my DS games yesterday, quite a few that I started and never finished. Need to fix that. But of course I grabbed the never ending Animal Crack Crossing, lol.

PixlBit