The third title of the Pikmin series released two weeks ago. I was a huge fan of the first game, and I always thought the series was the quality I’ve come to expect from Shigeru Miyamoto. I actually bought my Gamecube when Pikmin released  on December 2, 2001 as it was the first title I was interested in enough to buy the console. It is still to date one of the only Real Time Strategy games I enjoy. Though it is hard to compare it to other RTS games, which might be why I enjoy it. Continue reading Pikmin 3 Review →

The last DS Zelda game released on December 7th, 2009. I got it at launch and played the first few dungeons, but ultimately lost interest in the game as other games came out. After I finally went back to finish Skyward Sword, I decided I would go back and finish Spirit Tracks as well. I don’t like having unfinished Zelda games on my plate. Continue reading The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks Review →

This review has been a long time coming. Skyward Sword released November 18th, 2011 which was a year and a half ago from now. Given how big a fan of the Zelda franchise I am, one would assume I would have played through the game in a matter of days. That however was not the case. Even today I have not completed the game, though I am now at the end. This can be attributed to a number of things. I didn’t finish it in the first place because I hadn’t really been all that interested in it when it was launching. It came out in the middle of a new Assassin’s Creed and Elder Scrolls titles, and while I am a bigger Zelda fan that any of the other franchises, I had been uphappy with the focus on motion controls and character that felt more at home in anime than Zelda. This meant that when it did come out, I spent very little time on it and instead opted to spend my gaming hours on other titles. The next mistake was playing the game with Tyler. I love playing games with Tyler, but I need to remember to only play games that I’ve already played before with her. Playing with her means I can’t play when she isn’t here, and if she isn’t feeling like it, I’m out of luck. Continue reading The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Review →

I started Dishonored about a week ago, and despite being a Bethesda game, it is quite short. I completed my first playthrough of the game in around 10 hours, but I’ve already started another playthrough. My first impressions of the game were… different than I expected. I had anticipated something from Bethesda playing more like Skyrim, but Bethesda only published the game; Arkane Studios actual made it.This immediately begins to make sense as the game feels very much like Bioshock, and Arkane Studios made Bioshock II. However, as I love the Bioshock series, a game that plays like it is hardly bad. Continue reading Dishonored Review →

Skyrim originally launched November 11th, 2011. Between it, Assassin’s Creed Revelations, Zelda: Skyward Sword, and the release of SWTOR a month later, I never really got the time on it I wanted. I came to the Elder Scroll series through Fallout, but had only played Oblivion before Skyrim. I’ve never taken the time to play through the previous three titles like I had done for Fallout. Regardless, I did enjoy Oblivion quite a bit so I was pretty excited about Skyrim. After the hype of SWTOR wore off and I allowed myself to get back to other games, Skyrim always seems to be at the top of the list to get done. I’ve picked it back up and stopped again half a dozen times since it’s release. In that time, three different DLC’s have been released for the game adding even more hours to the game. However, after one year and three months, I finally “finished” the game. As anybody who has played Bethesda games before can tell you, you could spend a lifetime completing every quest in a given title, but I completed enough of it that I feel ok to finally move on to other things. Continue reading Skyrim Review →

Halo 4 released last Tuesday, and as I’ve been a little skeptical about the story changes the 343 Studios has been making. Having now played through the entire campaign twice, I’m not really pleased with the new direction the story is taking, but it was less drastic than I feared. The new direction the story is taking has opened it to a large array of future possibilities, and has recaptured my interest in the franchise. That alone should say something for the games quality. Continue reading Halo 4 Review →

Assassin’s Creed III launched last Tuesday, and with Ezio’s story arc all wrapped up, the new ancestor Desmond is following is Connor; a half English, half Iroquois Assassin in 18th century America during the Revolutionary War. I was immediately intrigued by the timeline, and it has been very cool to see so many historical events and characters from America’s beginnings. However, I have found Conner himself to be somewhat lacking. While Ezio was a man who could see the big picture of events and how they would affect the whole world, Conner cares little for anything beyond protecting his village of 20 Iroquois. His entire motivation in the game isn’t to stop the Templar’s, or help the Revolution, or stop tyranny. He is only interested in stopping whomever would threaten his peoples village, or claiming revenge on anybody he feels has wronged him. It just so happens that in doing so, he is by coincidence killing Templar’s and helping the Revolution. It seems like Ezio and Altaïr would be able to take a step back and view the big picture, and make the decisions that needed to be made. Continue reading Assassin’s Creed III Review →

Let me preface this review with the knowledge that I loathe 3D. I don’t like it in my movies, and I don’t really like it in my games. I’ve always found it kind of gimmicky, and any movie that needs it to stand out shouldn’t have been noticed in the first place. Furthermore, I will often go out of my way to see the 2D version of a movie to avoid the head-ache inducing glasses you are required to wear. Continue reading The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D Review →

Up until I played Fallout 3, I had never played a Bethesda title before. When Fallout 3 released I had never even considered playing it. Sometime in 2009, Braden has borrowed the game from a friend in the Air Force and really enjoyed it. While talking on the phone with me about the games he had been playing lately, he highly recommended it. At the time, Ken and I were using Gamefly to rent new titles, and I mentioned wanting to add it to the list. Ken told me he had downloaded a pirated PC version, and that he didn’t really think it was the kind of game I would like. Furthermore, he really didn’t think too much of it himself. By this point, Ken and my game tastes had fallen so far out of sync that I decided to try it anyways, and I am very glad that I did. Continue reading Fallout 3 Review →

Halo is a series I always seem to come back to. I bought the original game back in 2003 shortly after I purchased an Xbox. At the time I only had one controller, and my impressions of the game were less than stellar. Once I had additional controllers and got to play both co-op campaign and multiplayer with the friends, we all fell in love with it.  I followed the series ever since, and have purchased every title on the day it launched. However, ever since Bungue split from Microsoft to do their own thing, and the rights to Halo went to 343 studios, I’ve been sort of nervous. There first Halo title is actual a re-release of the original title for the Xbox 360 with updated graphics. I am usually pretty wary of remakes made by different studios, especially since the fiasco with Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes. They took a totally awesome game with the idea to add updated graphics. Seems like a pretty awesome no-brainer. The problem is when you get a completely new team working on a game they didn’t make with their own ideas on how it should have been made, and they start changing things. Twin Snakes didn’t even feel like Metal Gear Solid anymore. Continue reading Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary Review →