Mass Effect 2

So Mass Effect 2 came out on the 26th. I got it at a midnight launch and played it until 6:00 am. I have since been playing it at least 2 or 3 hours a day. Suffice to say… I like it.

I found the first Mass Effect pretty addictive too, which is strange because I don’t really like sci-fi, especially Star Trek-esque space operas. And that’s exactly what Mass Effect is. And yet these games suck me right in, it helps that you can design and direct your own Commander Shepard, getting to pretty much decide who this person is. And I have to say when I got to see my Shepard again (because you can import your ME1 character) I was elated. I guess I got pretty attached to her over the course of the first game, and she hasn’t changed. She’s still a Vanguard and still a crazily equal mix of Paragon and Renegade.

Bayonetta

Bayonetta is a difficult game to describe, at the same time I can sum it up in a single word: camp. It’s pure, unadulterated camp. It’s outrageously over-the-top absolutely revels in being so. This is a very self-aware game that seems to seek to above all be entertaining and it does this very well.

On top of that it has the best action control scheme yet seen in a game. I’m serious. It’s not a God of War ripoff, it’s everything Devil May Cry 4 should have been except with hot chicks with guns on their shoes and a ludicrous sense of style. So, yeah, it’s pretty rad.

Assassin’s Creed 2

I have really waited all year for this game. The first Assassin’s Creed was really a love-it-or-hate-it title, and I loved it! Sure the narrative had a few problems and the ending was retarded, but that doesn’t stop me from being a fan. It’s the core of the game what really matters anyway.

So speaking less favorable aspects, the game begins with a prime-time TV-like recap of Assassin’s Creed 1 narrated in the first person by Desmond, the man in the Animus machine experiencing the lives of his ancestors through genetic memory. It works alright as a way to catch up people who didn’t play the first game but it starts to get a little embarrassing as it goes on.

Then you begin in the present-day setting in control of said Desmond. The sci-fi plot going on in the background of Assassin’s Creed is still weak. It still just serves as a glorified device to explain your health, invisible walls, the HUD, time skips, and other abstract gameplay and cinematic elements, and it shows. I was however pleased to see that events take place here that I had assumed would be the subject of the third game because at this point I don’t think I’d like to see the series go into the future as Ubisoft initially seemed to have planned. These events also serve as your primary tutorial, which is mercifully short and nothing like the first game which forced you to ass about in a nebulous purgatory listening to a voice drone on about every single little gameplay control before it would let you into the game. 

Batman: Arkham Asylum

I’m not sure what to think of this game. On the one hand, it does a really good job of making you feel like you are Batman. On the other hand, the one-sometimes-two button combat system is boring and tires to make you feel like you’re accomplishing alot when the game is practically playing itself. Though thinking back, the game is stuffed full of delicious references and tidbits of the Batman universe and is heavily influenced by the 90’s cartoon series. But, then again, the boss battles are lame and dull. But, then again, again, Batman doesn’t speak in a retarded gravelly voice and we get treated to hilariously delivered dialog by Mark Hamil, one of the most overlooked all-time great Jokers.

But, despite my hatred of superhero comics and superheros in general, I am a Batman fangirl. And you kind of have to be a fan to enjoy this game. It’s good, but not great. So far it’s worth the rental to me.

Muramasa: The Demon Blade

Muramasa’s release snuck up on me! It came out yesterday, and despite having listed the release as September 8th in my top 5 year-end game picks post I for some reason thought it was coming out in October. But no matter, I played it for a while last night and enjoyed it immensely. Muramasa is a feast for the eyes, which sounds like a strange thing to say about a Wii game but like Vanillaware’s PS2 titles GrimGrimoire and Odin Sphere the entire game is constructed out of gorgeous hand-drawn digital artwork and animation.

In terms of  gameplay Muramasa is clearly a spritiual successor to Odin Sphere but with many notable improvements. In fact I think I’d love to see this team keep making games in this style using various mythological sources. However, Muramasa’s localization seems a rather lacking compared to Odin Sphere’s and even GrimGrimoire’s, but I’ll get to that later in the article.

Kya: Dark Lineage

What do you get when you mix a splash of American McGee’s Alice with a dash of NiGHTS: into dreams, a large helping of Legend of Zelda and wrap it all in a decent coming-of-age fantasy story with some daddy issues and Tarzan-esque vine surfing thrown in?

Well you get a pretty nifty little Playstation 2 game called Kya: Dark Lineage that I picked up some time ago for five bucks. I’ve been playing alot of PS2 lately and between bouts of Katamari Damacy I’ve mostly been checking out games I missed (like Prince of Persia: Sands of Time. Yes. I hadn’t played it til recently.)

I heard about Kya from a Games Radar aritcle and it piqued my interest. I’ve only played about 4 or 5 hours of it total (and I’m currently stuck actually) so consider this a first impression.

The Sims 3

I’m kind of overdue for a review on this due to website problems but dagnabbit I’m gonna review it anyway! I have a weakness for games like this and so naturally I’ve been a Sims player from the first iteration of the franchise.

In Sims 1 I only really liked to design houses and kill off my Sims in amusing ways. In Sims 2 the gameplay was actually engaging and hilarious and I ended up playing the game properly… well, most of the time. So I’m probably going to end up comparing the next evolution in ridiculous life simulation, The Sims 3, to Sims 2 quite a bit.