It's been a minute since I jabbered about games. No university classes this quarter, just studying at Khanacademy.org and spending a bit too much time on social media. The biggest change from last update is that I bought the newest model of Switch. It was 15% off or so at Rakuten, and then I combed eBay over for a few days to land on some game lots. As always, I never have any reason to ever pay the full $59.99 + tax for a new game. OfferUp, Craigslist, eBay and Rakuten have come through to make sure I don't do so. OfferUp would be preferable if they could reinstate my account that failed because I don't have a traditional phone number. So, I used eBay to save 15% or so. They are real buzzkills when it comes to adding tax to your transitions, but I think that was my state's decision to tax all internet sales. Bummer.
Switch: Link's Awakening
I've started the original 3 times and have gotten lost between the 2nd and 3rd dungeons. More recently, I started Oracle of Seasons, one of the sequel duos to this game for the GBA and made it all the way to the sixth dungeon. Something about the GBA games just have less direction and I end up getting lost enough to lose interest completely. With this gorgeous, toy-model-style Switch remake, I've had a great time completing it.
Another reason I haven't completed any of the GBA titles: it's annoying to change items every other screen. Thankfully, Link's Awakening put this shit to bed: dedicated sword, dash and shield buttons, rather than making the ever-so-stupid choice of 'do I want to be able to fight enemies, or jump over/run away from them?'
The overworld theme is orchestral, as is the item-finding sound, and I'm not a fan of the Switch's version of the secret chime, but the dungeon music is fantastic! In particular, there's a REALLY good level called the Face Shrine that was my favorite part of the experience. I may play through Hero Mode before selling this game, as the regular game was quite easy. My first playthrough had two deaths at the very first boss. The rest of them, I was able to take hits while figuring out to beat them, adapt, and kill without dying.
For a little more replayability, there's a dungeon editor, but it's restricted to the system you're playing on, with no online way of sharing. This is whack, and really only extends value to consoles that are shared with multiple people. We got it for $48 after tax and shipping, and it's hard to justify that price tag for this short experience.
Switch: Cuphead
Finally! I wasn't about to go crying back to Xbox to play this. It's pretty baffling that this title broke exclusivity and didn't go to all platforms, but whatever; I got it for Switch. This game is most famous for the art direction and difficulty; both of which I truly appreciate. The game is laid out into platforming levels, fights, and objective maps. So far, beating the levels is a lot like Contra, where you can make it through if you keep dying and remembering enemy patterns. Levels are only a few minutes if played successfully, even if you're dying for an hour to learn the best approaches. This is really well-made, but my main enjoyment is the fights. The developers realized that boss fights are awesome and gave us a game that's almost 50% boss fights; and that is awesome in my book!
Switch: Mario + Rabbids
This is a tactical RPG and fun as hell. The levels aren't too challenging, and the game doesn't punish you for taking easy mode (replenishing health before battle or taking an HP boost). The game is incredibly colorful, the Rabbids are silly, and the characters all play differently. My only complaint is that you MUST play as Mario, and can't have a party of 3 non-Rabbids; you must mix the two...races. *Cough*. It ties into the setting, which is a mixup of both worlds, but I'm surprised that even after beating the game, I can't approach it in a completely free choice of party members.
You know, if Nintendo isn't going to make another game with Princess Peach as the main character, at least she's treated like royalty. She plays like a tank in Smash Bros, and she does in this game, too. She joins your party with double health, deals a shitload of area damage, and is definitely not a damsel in distress. She was a fixture in my party for the majority of the game, but with Mario a dev-decided fixture, that meant I couldn't also have Luigi. Luigi is a very mobile glass cannon, and will freaking kill you.
One other pleasant surprise is the quality of the music. The game is zany and occasionally cute, but when the boss music kicks in, you know it's not messing around. The bosses are all vastly different and really fun. I know Nintendo doesn't hand out collaborations too often, but they did good in having Ubisoft handle this one. I'll be getting the extra episode and looking forward to a sequel, or maybe another merge with other Nintendo IP.
PS4: Call of Duty, Modern Warfare (2019)
Tango down. Nice kill. I had such a great time with Infinite Warfare that I had to get this for the campaign. It's a pretty tight story with a few main characters as opposed to a large-scale war. The game looks and sounds amazing, though I will say that Infinite Warfare had much more imagination in its art direction. Probably because it was a few decades in the future, so imagination was required. The game's setting is interesting in that they fabricate your allied Arabs in the country of Urzikstan, but blatantly name the terrorists Russian. What's the point of being partially PC? Thanks to a 150GB(!) install, the playthrough is seamless, alternating between female commanding officers and subordinate men who do all the bloody work. There's one woman you play for a short period who is the hardest of them all, though: Farah Karim. She is absolutely cool as shit, and two of the missions build her background. Good stuff, there.
The trophy list has no collectibles and no online requirements, but one of them defines the Call of Duty experience. I always think of these games as playable Michael Bay, and that's cool. One of the trophies, called The Golden Path was really amazing to do. There's a mission where you cut power to a building, and go through in night vision, alternating between killing and checking fire. The trophy requires you not to take damage and to only use one bullet per threat, silencer and laser scope and all. It really shapes the experience to be a mixture of being tactical and responsive; which is an experience I've felt the most viscerally with CoD games over anything else.
I will be skipping the multiplayer experience, as the community sucks. Reddit has nothing but complaints, PC elitism (multiplayer is cross-platform), and actually playing is just not as fun as Apex Legends or Overwatch. Selling imminent.
PS4: Batman: Arkham Knight
This was a free PS+ earlier this summer, and quite fun. I feel like the writing wasn't quite as good as the previous Arkham games, but the dome combat, driving and stealth are all still there. The boss fights were virtually non-existant (remember that Mr Freeze fight in Arkham City?) and I never mastered using gadgets in combat. There is proper camera lovemaking to the Batmobile, though.
This game is also bringing in my first time in a while of not wanting to bother with the platinum: Riddler collectibles are too numerous and not particularly interesting. However, there is a side story with Catwoman and Riddler Trials, which are pretty interesting puzzles to solve and driving challenges. Plus, Catwoman has a nice butt and so does Harley.
For a free or heavily discounted game, it's hard to do better than Batman: Arkham Knight.
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