For the last two years on this blog I have backed up my excitement for the entertainment media offerings of the month of June by writing down some of said offerings in a dedicated post. While this year’s version of the month doesn’t look quite as good in this department as, say, last year’s, when The Last of Us and Animal Crossing: New Leaf dropped on consecutive days, I’m still able to bring together ten releases for which I am suitably keen. I would be jumping out of my skin waiting for June to come around even without any of these – the FIFA World Cup is nearly here, after all – but they just make the idea of the month even sweeter. Here are ten of the things that will be available to us this June (in chronological order): Continue reading →
Perhaps fittingly, this article took me a long time to complete.
Some games take a bit longer to finish than others. Occasionally, a lot longer. A game you might enjoy isn’t necessarily compelling all the time, so sometimes you may need to take a long break. When you add the many distractions that life brings onto an already long game completion time, you might just find that several months pass you by before you have the chance to go back and finish what you left hanging long ago. On the other hand, sometimes you’ll try pretty consistently to finish something, but your skill level just isn’t up to the task. Only plenty of practice and determination will see you over the finish line (as in life). And then there are the games that just won’t end. Either way, finishing a game you started a long time ago is nearly always immensely satisfying.
This list is dedicated to those games that have taken me real effort to complete throughout my own personal gaming history.
Three clarifications:
One, this list does not take into account how long it took me to “get to 100% completion” in a particular game, but rather how long it took to reach the end credits of its story mode/campaign/etc.
Two, a game needs to have taken me at least 3 months to complete to be eligible for this list.
Three, this list is ranked by effort rather than length. Though I have included approximations of how long each game took to finish, this time figure does not determine the order of the list. Less quantifiable factors went into deciding how much of an effort each game represented to me.
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10. Sonic Adventure 2: Battle (Gamecube ~6 months)
Any fan of Sonic Adventure 2 Battle will tell you that the game has a ton of content, the most appealing of which comprises what is quite possibly the most in-depth Tamagotchi-style pet simulator systems ever put into a videogame. The Chao Garden was a notoriously addictive time sink for most players of the Dreamcast/Gamecube favourite and it was the primary reason that it took me so long to reach the end of the actual story. Sure, the release of Super Smash Bros Melee a mere two weeks after the Gamecube version launched certainly got in the way, as did my skill level and some confusing late level design (Crazy Gadget, anyone?). But above all, it was those damn adorable Chao that kept me from making a serious push to finish both of the game’s parallel storylines. When the game’s “epilogue campaign” then appeared, it came as a genuine surprise and a formidable challenge, so my satisfaction at the end credits only increased.
At the minute I’m playing through Watch_Dogs, Ubisoft’s long-hyped open world game focused on hacking the creepily prescient virtual operating system responsible for running an entire city. I’m having a lot of fun with it, as it has some cool ideas for combat and exploration that leverage the unique idea at the heart of the game. However, none of the extensive preview coverage I watched or read before the game’s release has prepared me for some of the crazy ways that the game’s developers push the idea of a super-digitised world through side missions and activities. Regardless of whether or not I end up reviewing – or even finishing – the game, I wanted to highlight the ridiculousness of some of the stuff I never expected to be doing in Watch_Dogs, but that is keeping me moored in Act I of the game’s story: .
Giant Flower Bouncing
This was actually one of the first things I did in the game, launching me right into completely unexpected territory. Several street vendors offer you the ability to take part in “digital trips”, which are pretty much self-explanatory. They transport protagonist Aiden Pearce into the world of a bad acid trip, changing up the game’s mechanics in the name of the kinds of minigames you’d normally only see in a Japanese-developed title. The trip aptly named “Psychedelic” has you bouncing belly-first from giant blooming flower to giant blooming flower, using the control stick to angle your trajectory and trying to land as close to the middle of each flower as possible. It’s actually quite difficult and there are plenty of levels to play through.
In case you missed it, just over a week ago Nintendo dropped a completely unannounced half-hour Nintendo Direct broadcast focusing entirely on their upcoming Wii U mega-title Mario Kart 8 (You can watch the whole thing below). I thought my fondness for the Mario Kart series had peaked a decade ago with the excellent Mario Kart DS, but this rather incredible recent information rush has really grabbed my attention. I’ve given it some thought over the last week and that all-too-rare feeling that something special is coming has well and truly set in. Here are five reasons why 8 might just be the magic number come the end of this month.
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Wonderfully ambitious online features
Nintendo had some pretty impressive online player numbers in the heyday of Mario Kart Wii, even if they never really called much attention to them, and it’s obvious that they want those players back. I have never seen such an ambitious suite of planned online features for a Nintendo game. According to the Direct, players can customise the item sets, karts, difficulty and more that they want for their own personal online tournaments, which can be set to repeat at a certain time every week so that you and your friends can meet for regular sessions. The same can be done for public tournaments, meaning if you want to race in a matchmaking environment without items at all, you can. Astoundingly, Nintendo has also managed to allow for video replay editing that can be uploaded straight to YouTube, a feature that is still missing from the PS4, although the Xbox One added it earlier this year. Now the only question remains, will it run smoothly? If so, I shall dance a merry jig in my living room, because not only will that make for some intense races, it also means good things for the upcoming Super Smash Bros for Wii U.
Time to close out the week with a kendo enthusiast, accomplished D&D dungeon master and manchester expert.
—Written by BrotherMiles—
—Edited/formatted by Vagrantesque—
Good Evening Internet,
Let me start off by thanking Ryan for having me here and allowing me to yell into the aether. Love the work you’re doing here Ryan!
In the spirit of my argument.
The thought I want to present to you tonight, Internet, is that remakes of your beloved games don’t have to be evil, nor does the act of undertaking the resurrection of an old franchise constitute a scheme to cut your purse. As long as the developer is using the original as an inspiration rather than a commodity then I am a happy man.
So we are coming to the end of another Guest Week and here is the well-informed opinion of a man I’ve known for over a decade.
—Written by Opinion_Invalid—
—Edited/formatted by Vagrantesque—
Firstly, a massive thank you to the author of this blog – Ryan (Vagrantesque), for allowing me the opportunity to voice my personal opinions with a top-ten countdown. I have made every effort to ensure that the accuracy of the information in this article is correct, however I cannot vouch for its total reliability. Please note that I have not included every individual release that each of these voice actors have been involved in – I have resolved to simply listing the first/most appropriate film, television show or videogame from which I am familiar with their work…
No. 10 Harry Shearer
Voice of:Seymour Skinner, Montgomery Burns, Waylon Smithers, Ned Flanders, Reverend Lovejoy, and many more (The Simpsons)
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Harry Shearer, of This Is Spinal Tap fame, provides the voice behind a very replete roster of Springfield denizens – largely comprised of the more sophisticated male roles in the popular television series. Hugely impressive is Shearer’s incredibly diverse range of inflections individualised for each particular part, along with the remarkable ability to alternate freely between the dialogue of Mr Burns and Waylon Smithers in a single take of recording. Equally deserving of mention is Dan Castellaneta and Hank Azaria, both of whom dub the voices behind a mind-boggling number of characters in the show.
Here we have a post from someone who recently entered the wonderful world of game design. You can find a link to her personal blog below.
—Written by Blizz117—
—Edited/formatted by Vagrantesque—
Single or multiplayer video games – which do you prefer?
Is this even a legit question? Well that depends on the person you’re asking I suppose. Just a little background knowledge of me: My area of study is Games Design so this question forms part of a group assignment I’m currently working on. That is why I picked this particular topic to discuss (and also I’m very indecisive on choosing what to talk about so learning stuff from college is awesome sauce). I’ve already written in depth about my group assignment so there is no point in discussing it in further detail here, you can totes read it in my blog (janettewritesaboutstuff.wordpress.com, #shamelesslyselfpromote).
Day number two. Here’s a friend of mine who has recently followed the light at the end of the Steam-powered tunnel.
—Written by CrAk3rs—
—Edited/formatted by Vagrantesque—
Steam and sales – two words that are burnt into the minds of the lucky people who are part of the glorious PC Master Race, (sorry console kids). The sales are those of legend, creating hysteria, hype and pandemonium, ravaging our wallets of the hard earned cash that we have so long worked for. But Steam hasn’t always been the go-to marketplace for PC. Believe it or not there once was a time where people were highly critical of the platform.
Let’s kick the week off with a writer whose general observation blog partially inspired me to get writing several years ago.
—Written by Soapman—
—Edited/formatted by Vagrantesque—
Games are made and games are ruined by their finale. Rage, for example, is a gloriously fun game, but its finale leaves a bitter taste in the mouth, and I find myself unwilling to play it again, knowing its ending. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, however, despite being one of my least favourite Zelda games, has such a fantastic, frantic, and dramatic finale, that I find myself constantly wanting to play the game again, just to beat the boss. It is therefore the finale, in particular the boss, which I discuss in the following collection of words.
X-2 is download-only on the Vita version, but you won’t be playing it anyway.
. Those Al Bhed bastards.
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They have the most annoying goalkeeper I have ever seen, ever, in anything. I just want to take his polygon-encrusted face and slam it into a locker until he decides never to play Blitzball again. Ugh. But the game from which he hails is great fun.
