Get in real close and push each others' buttons.
Every party has an energy. You can feel it wax and wane when people come and go, eat and drink, and talk or uncomfortably look around. The greatest way to completely sap a party’s energy at any stage is to flip on the TV– even if it is to play a “party” video game. Thankfully, Spin the Bottle: Bumpie’s Party may be the solution for people who want to try to integrate a video game into their next social gathering… even if the event has a few non-gamers in attendance.
A great party never just happens.
If there’s one thing the Etrian Odyssey series requires, it’s time. Even though the games eschew the game clocks we’ve become accustomed to, most people who play through to the end (and beyond) estimate that they spend more than a hundred hours exploring the unforgiving dungeons. If you plow into a game of this scope with only the most basic of parties and expect to stay engaged for that amount of time, you’ll likely give up and walk away. Creating a party with unique tactics and strategies is pivotal to be successful and to have fun with these games since the story is minimal to the point of being a secondary concern.
All of this has happened before, and all of this will happen again.
Much like the sequel to Evil Dead, Corpse Party: Book of Shadows opens up to a very familiar scene. In fact, it’s basically the same start to the previous game. Unlike that second Evil Dead, the characters in this story are vaguely aware that they’ve been in this situation before, but not soon enough to seal their collective fates once again. Yep, it’s back to the cursed and deadly Heavenly Host Elementary school. If you're into Japanese culture, you'll notice a lot of plot devices involving déjà vu. This whole game feels like one massive case of déjà vu, and I’m just not feeling it this time around.
Be thankful that I didn't delve deep into my cheesy love song collection for this episode.
Hey folks, Julian here. I hope you had a great Valentine's Day (or Single Awareness Day if you're like the Pantsless Ones). I wanted to do something special for this episode, but my original idea was love stories in video games. Yawn. Instead, I asked Patrick to come up with an off the wall and eclectic idea, in the way that Patrick does. He did not disappoint, and it's a shame that Rob wasn't able to join us because of BLIZZARD 2013!!!
Well, it’s a party game…
For better or worse, Ubisoft shows up at most new consoles on day one like an excited but clueless child on the first day of school: brand new pencils, lunch box, and folders, but also torn jeans, hole-y sneakers, unkempt hair, and the same mustard-stained shirt they wear every week. Hey kid, did you get yourself ready for launch day in the dark? With the Nintendo Wii U, Ubisoft is looking sharp with a range of heavy hitters like Assassin’s Creed 3, to new creative new work like ZombiU, and then you have their recurring badge of mediocrity in the form of Rabbids Land. The Rabbids have made a zany name for themselves over the years and their newest outing is more akin to games like Mario Party than anything else. I can say after spending some time with it that it’s not a great game, but it’s not terrible. Rabbids Land is a party game, and that’s that.