Quick Update

Since the last time I posted something, I've been mostly focused on Dead Space 3 and Pokemon Y.  I also put a little more time into Rayman Legends, and I'm that much closer to completely finishing it.

This art reminds me how good Dead Space 3 can look.  When you are floating around in space trying to find parts, you get beautiful views of planets and space junk.  Unfortunately, you don't get enough time in space in my opinion.

Dead Space 3 was fun.  I think the reviews are a little harsh, but the consensus is correct.  This is not as good as Dead Space 2 if you are looking for a survival horror experience.  I felt as if the game was pushing me into encounters with tons of enemies rather than scaring me and putting me in surprising situations that were uncomfortable.  I also continue to enjoy the anti-gravity parts of the game where you float around an area that has no sound trying to defeat enemies that sneak up on you while you try and accomplish an objective without air or gravity.  Sadly, after the first several chapters of the game, you get sent to a planet never to do things in space the rest of the campaign.  Why Visceral made the decision to do this is a mystery to me.  The game is called Dead SPACE.  Why would you take that out?

But I still enjoyed it enough to run through the entire campaign over a weekend, and it's a fairly decent sized campaign.  I think I missed some of the optional missions, and I haven't done the co-op missions yet, but I clocked about 12 hours into the campaign.  I imagine you could get several more hours in by being more thorough than I was.  That being said, if you don't enjoy the action as much and you really need that survival horror feel, I could see you growing impatient and not wanting to spend extra time on it.

The bottom line is that it's a solid game.  I've played a lot worse, and the game does look good.  The story was satisfying enough for me.  And you can probably get it for cheap.  But play Dead Space 1 and 2 (especially 2, which is one of my favorite games of all time) before moving on to this.  If you find the action in those games unsatisfying, you might be turned off by this game.

Go ahead and search for Pokemon X on Google without the Y.  Make sure there are small children in the room.

A couple weeks ago I downloaded Pokemon Y (only because others I knew bought X) since I had some eShop credit and a spur of the moment pledge to purchase the game in exchange for borrowing Beyond Two Souls.  I sort of dismissed it as a gimmick and that I was past Pokemon.  I was wrong.

This game is super addictive.  I played Pokemon way back on Game Boy with Pokemon Blue (I think...now I can't even remember), so I knew what I was getting into.  But they did a great job modernizing this game, in particular with the online features.  The fact that you can trade Pokemon and battle with people throughout the world is a huge leap for the series.  It probably should have already happened by now, but now that it's here the game is a much more robust experience.

It's a simple RPG...it won't really challenge you.  But the beauty of the game is you can really play it in the way you want.  Like a particular kind of Pokemon?  Just train a bunch of them and ride them the whole way.  Want to use different Pokemon at different times?  The Experience Share item allows you to build different parties without boring grinding.  The main objective of the game and the story are extremely basic.  In fact, I would say the plot borders on stupid and ridiculous.  It's definitely got that Japanese tone where they talk about cleansing the world and ultimate weapons and other tropes.  But this game is targeted to a wide audience including children, so I expected broad themes.

If you like RPGs, collecting things, handheld experiences, multiplayer, etc., you can't go wrong with it.  It's one of the best games of the year.

That's where I'm at right now.  This weekend I plan on putting more time into a few things if I can.  NBA 2K14, Batman Arkham Origins, Spelunky, and Tales of Xillia are all possibilities.