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| Where? Oh, never mind, it's just Rebecca Black again |
Two posts in as many days? Blasphemy! But yes, it is true. I have decided to write yet another post, and in a short period of time no less. Clearly the world is ending. But in making this bold decision I have come to the realization (again) that I'm just not good at coming up with topics to write about. Every time I write, I want it to be some sweeping digression and or introspection, but can never come up with something interesting enough for me to write about. So today, I'm just going to write about a whole bunch of things! Specifically, the things that I've been doing lately in my free time.
And of course by that I mean primarily what video games I'm playing.
Bit Trip Runner
A friend of mine, as well as a fellow blogger, listed this in his top 10 of 2010, and rightfully so. Unlike him, I only just picked it up, and off of Steam instead of WiiWare. Though I'm sure it feels a little different in terms of controls, it's still the same, really fun game. It's a demanding and very much reflex based piece of entertainment, one where I often found myself repeating a level over and over in order to perfect a maneuver, only to find myself promptly being sent back to start by the very next obstacle. One of the reasons why the game is so demanding is that there are no save points or checkpoints in the level; it's just a straight shot from the left side of the world to the right, and if you mess up you start over from the beginning. Luckily, most of the levels are fairly short, only lasting a minute or two tops. However, there was one level in the first world that was easily close to five minutes long, and that long a level so early in the game was devastating. Regardless, it's a very fun and rewarding game, and with fantastic music from Anamanaguchi. At a very cheap $10, it's definitely been worth the price.
Fallout 3
Yes, yes, I know, I'm only a few years late on this one. But seriously, I picked the game up when it came out back in 2008, but just like with Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, I kinda just lost interest over time. I did what I felt like doing, but eventually something else called to me, and the game kinda just got put on the back burner. After getting my Xbox back into my room after a certain incident in the first semester of this year involving my very unhygienic original roommate, I decided it'd be fun to play this game a little bit again. There isn't much to talk about here as most people who read this already know most of what there is to know about Fallout; that it's Oblivion with guns, that I'm a loser who didn't blow up Megaton, and that Bloody Mess is a perk that's just plain fun in a very childish way. You shoot things, things go boom, and then body parts everywhere! Yay! Though I do find that I kinda suck at this game. Within each quest, specifically in dialogue portions, I try to do too many options at once, sometimes screwing things up big time, like making the Underworld completely inaccessible. Woops.
League of Legends
Right now I'm kind of on a WoW hiatus. I'm trying not to admit that I've gotten a little bit of burn out from that game, but I think that might be the case. Right now it's simply on again off again, and usually only log on for raids, if that. That leaves only League of Legends as my primary go to game for free time. League of Legends, also rather cleverly known as LoL, fulfills a rather niche genre of video games, that of the Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA). In fact, it's so niche that there's only really three games of it's kind; Defense of the Ancients, or DoTA, Heroes of Newarth, and League of Legends. DoTA is the original MOBA; basically you play as a unique character on a team with other players. You and the NPCs on your team need to push to the enemy's base and destroy it in order to win. DoTA was originally just a custom map for Warcraft 3, but gained some major notoriety, including tournaments for just that map, and eventually the development teams moved on to work on what is today HoN and LoL. Though the community at times is less than ideal, LoL is a very fun and enjoyable game, and is free to play. You earn points from playing which you use to permanently unlock the champions you can play as or to unlock runes, items that you apply outside of the actual game in order to boost your stats in game. You also earn experience in order to level up your account in a sort of meta game. Leveling up your account grants you access to masteries and rune slots; masteries act as talent points of sorts that are applied in game, and you can unlock up to 30 different rune slots to use. You can also spend money to unlock champions and buy skins for them, or to purchase boosts to earned experience and influence points, the currency earned from playing games regularly. Though not exactly the easiest game to pick up, LoL has proved to me at least that I can keep coming back to it again and again and enjoy it.
Also, AAAAAAGHHH ACRONYMS AAAAAAHHH
Monday Night Combat
Another console market game turned PC game, Monday Night Combat is a game I only recently picked up. It's 3rd person shooter, but sort of in the same goofy mindset as Team Fortress. It's basically a mix between a DoTA styled game (aren't you glad I taught you that earlier?), a shooter, and a tower defense game. It features two modes, Crossfire and Blitz. Crossfire is a 6v6 match where the two opposing teams are trying to destroy the enemy team's Moneyball. Both teams have AI controlled bots that will move towards the enemy team's base and attack their bots, towers, players, and ultimately, their Moneyball. Players have access to six different classes, each unique enough to be interesting, with a few different skills as well as the ability to spawn bots and create and upgrade turrets. Blitz basically plays out as a tower defense, where instead of an enemy team four players face off against waves of bots. Oh, and the whole thing is set in the future, where arena combat has replaced traditional sports. All the different maps take place in stadiums, with obnoxious announcer and all, and a very strange tradition where attacking the mascot as he leaps onto the field is actually very beneficial. It's a bizarre and hilarious game, but in the short time I've owned it I've been greatly entertained.
Pokemon: White Version
Last on this list is Pokemon, and really, what kind of a nerd would I be if I didn't include it? I got a copy of White, and I've really been enjoying this newest version of Darwin meets cockfighting. Though some Pokemon feel a little lacking in the creativity department, overall they're not too bad. The new Pokemon that don't suck are actually pretty cool, and the new features added are pretty nice, like having different music in battle depending on how it's going, and having different 3-D effects to really flesh out the world. There isn't much to say about Pokemon that really needs to be said, as most people at this point either will keep buying new Pokemon games or have stopped after the first generation. Also, I'm getting tired and running out of things to say. Pokemon fun, game good. Ooogh ugh.
Honorable Mentions
World of Warcraft
Like I said earlier, kinda burned out of WoW for now. I really love the changes they've done with Cataclysm, but it's rare for me to have played a game for coming on close to five, maybe six, years at this point, let alone nearly continuously for two years of that. An expensive hobby over time to be sure, but a lot of fun, and I've made many really good friends through it, people I play other games online with, such as...
Minecraft
Minecraft is where I go when I'm feeling particularly creative (almost never) or when I feel like riding on an infinitely looping roller coaster for an undefined period of time (almost always). I used to play a lot more, but primarily on shared online servers. Each server has in turn been wiped, as has all my progress on each server. It was pretty crushing the first time, losing an underground arena I'd been working on for practically two weeks, and each time after that only further rubbed sulfur into my wounds. I really only play this of and on at this point.
Call of Duty 2: Modern Warfare
I do succumb to the mindless shooter disease every once in a while. I am only human, believe it or not (shocking, I know).
GTA IV
Because who doesn't enjoy running over crowds of pedestrians and then gunning down the cops that try to come after you for running over said crowds of pedestrians, and then going home to play a video game where you get to kill people and steal cars? I mean, what?
Soul Calibur IV
Only really play this game with one person, and right now our match record from last week over three different sessions is 60 to 6 (bet you can't guess who has the 60, oh wait it's me). Mitsurugi > Siegfried
Dear god, no. Never again. A fantastic game by all means, but my testicles quite simply aren't large enough for this game. Way too scary. It's taken me a week and a half to stop thinking about it and get back to mental normalcy. Cannot praise it enough for being a brilliantly executed game, but also cannot stay far enough way from it for fear of never being able to sleep or be in dark spaces ever again Though this video sure makes me feel much better about my own terror from this game. Also, I highly recommend Tobuscus' Let's Play series of the game, for those who want to see the game but not actually witness the terror first hand or alone.
I think that more or less covers everything I've been doing that doesn't actually impact my life (save for that last unspeakable game) of late. A brief list, that I somehow managed to extend as long as I have. Actual informative and interesting blog post, or large collection of bullshit?
You be the judge.
Though not gonna lie, probably the second choice.
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