What VIDEO GAME(s) have you been playing?

There was(is?) a big sale on Origin, so I bought Mass Effect 3 and Dragon Age: Inquisition. I've played a bit more of ME3 (landed on my first other planet) than DA:I (killed the first big demon thing) but I can see they're playing true to type from previous installations. Both still have a character creation screen that uses different lighting than in-game meaning it all looks a bit wrong when you get in there. In the case of DA:I it was impossible to even see the scars (at full intensity), maybe that's a PC bug though.

Mass Effect always had that thing where you never know if the next door you open triggers some plot event that shuts off half the map or destroys the planet, and that's still there. In Dragon Age I can already see those endless hours of wandering for resources ahead- just running to the temple at the start, there are lumps of iron ore tucked away a minute or two off the story path, and you don't know what isn't there until you've looked. I didn't use the turn by turn combat, just the button mashing.

For now I'm going to stick with Mass Effect 3. It's nice to be on the Normandy 2 again. I had to download a mod manager to enable joypad support on PC but it's working well.

All this talk about about open world games is giving me a headache. I also prefer games with rails and more structure. My son plays Skyrim, Destiny, and Red Dead Redemption on the XB1. I absolutely no longer have the patience for these games where you wander around endlessly and mine resources or do side missions. I've watched him play them for hours. These are way too boring for me. Rather, I've been attracted to games like Bayonneta, Devil May Cry, and arcade style games like Pinball FX 2.

Nier Automata should be your next purchase. I would be playing it but the Switch came yesterday so there's that...

I am also a more structured gamer, as a rule. I've always preferred to know what I should be doing next. I think this is why Breath of the Wild has taken a hold of me, because it's a far cry from most of the games I usually enjoy. I don't know if that means it's just a very good example of an open world game, or whether the Zelda IP is overcoming my bias here.

I am a little overwhelmed at the moment. Games that look fantastic include Torment (played the opening, it's great so far), Horizon: Zero Dawn, Breath of the Wild. I am potentially interested in Nier, the battles in general look much better than the last iteration, but Platinum often requires more precision from their players than I can provide. And then Mass Effect and Persona 5 come out soon!

Too much.

Still pounding away at Hitman. I've hit Level 20 Mastery in the first three episodes. Halfway done. I've logged 60 hours with it so far; and I'll probably put that much more in the next 3 episodes. And that's without doing any of the escalation missions, which I will go back to when I finish the rest of the episodes.

I feel a little bummed that I didn't get to play these as they were coming out, so I'm definitely looking forward to season 2.

I'm definitely going to scoop up Hitman at some point in the future... but I still have a lot more Nazi testicles to destroy in Sniper Elite 4.

Picked up Fast RMX for the Switch. If looking for another game to play on the Zelda machine, this should be it (and Snipperclips!). I spent most of the weekend stoned out of my mind on T3s, and felt like I was shooting through a tunnel in a 2001 style freak out sequence of speed and colour. Maybe not the most technically advanced racer compared to Wipeout, but the AI is hard as fuck and it brings back good memories of F-Zero. Looks beautiful on the Switch screen, and probably pairs well with peyote.

"Love You To Bits," free this week on the App Store.

A nice casual puzzle game, cute theme and gorgeous graphics.

I spent a couple hours playing Bound on PlayStation VR.

There is a definite vibe that you would get from playing Journey.
But the aesthetic immediately brings back to my mind buried deep in my subconscious, a quality from the late 80's. Art you might find reading Omni magazine and the polygonal quality of computer animation of that period, but much smoother.

Your anthropomorphic alien ballerina pirouettes, sashays, ballons, pique turns, etc. Your way through a roiling geomorphic landscape. I thought the idea of playing as a ribbon dancing ballerina to be weird, but watching it was mesmerizing.

It won't garner the same response as Journey did half a decade ago, but if you enjoyed the telaxing experience of Journey, Flower, Flow or Abzū, this game will be right up your alley. The VR isn't necessary to play it, but if you have access it is recommended.

I got the touch controllers for Oculus Rift this weekend, because they dropped to half price, and (sucks to be me) are now also included with the Rift.

VR before the touch controllers was a cool, new experience. With the controllers it's something else entirely. I spent a good deal of the weekend playing Robo Recall.



I suck at the game, but I was having endless fun with it. Still just sitting at the desk, this thing is amazing, and I'm building a new PC and clearing space to go into "room size" VR.

Still playing Witcher III. I'm liking it a lot. I'm definitely getting my money's worth out of this - the game's environment is huge.

I've got to get back to the Witcher 3 soon. I keep putting it off. For some reason I stopped playing early last year in the middle of a really interesting part, involving a particular Baron and I don't know why I didn't continue. I sometimes have a hard time investing my time in these long games and I'm not sure why.

Currently I'm playing Uncharted 4. The gameplay is average and typical of the series, but man am I impressed with the animation and story. It's not going to win any Academy Awards, but as games like this go it's pretty good. I really think the character animations in particular are really impressive, especially at conveying emotions and body language. I've never seen anything in another game quite like it.

Yeah, I am witching like a motherfucker still. Geralt just has a lot of flat out great dialogue.

Still playing SHENZHEN I/O. Something really satisfying in this game if you are even a little algorithmically inclined. I got stuck on something today and went back to my old CADs and made some improvements. This game is super fun if you "get it."

Played some NUCLEAR THRONE. That's a fun game right there. It's like SMASH TV all grown up and somehow sent back to 8-bit at the same time? Keep dying in the dark, but I know I will get there.

Dabbled in STARDEW VALLEY. Meh.