FFXIII Pulls a Koji Cutter on Me

A little game called Final Fantasy XIII came out yesterday and ever since I got it yesterday it's been my life. Oh sure I managed to ride my bike this morning, but other than that it's been all Lightning, Snow and Vanille. I knew it was coming, I knew how much time I would invest. I knew it was going to become my biggest chunk of time.

I'm not going to hammer this one out like I did with Mass Effect 2. I'm going to take my time and enjoy what is sure to be an epic story. Sazh is definitely my favorite character. He looks cool, he has a baby chocobo living in his hair and he plays the grizzled veteran and comic relief. From what I've played so far this game is proving to be very enjoyable. I didn't like the combat system at first as it seemed really limited. As I progressed further in the game and opened up new elements of the battle mechanics, it's really grown on me. The battles play out much more strategically with the switching between 'paradigm' groups. The environments are a little lacking. Imaginative surely, but just too weird for me to enjoy. The characters and environments don't really blend well so far. Maybe I'll find a place I really like, but XIII's world doesn't compare to those of X or XII. The story has legs, that's for sure, and has the potential to really pick up. I'm sure that by the end it will be as classic as those of the other Final Fantasy. At least this one doesn't bait and switch by making you play as the character who is the least involved in the story coughVAANcough.
It's weird to get achievement points from a Final Fantasy. Really weird.


While I'm at it I may as well take a look at all the games that I've played since losing my job, eh? I've played a few and I may as well give a quick rundown on them. Even though I'm playing them for the first time these games aren't all brand new.

UFC 2009 Undisputed

Got this from Glyde the other day. I'm not very far into it, career mode wise anyway, but the fighting in this is fun. It's just smash, smash, smash and hope you knock the other guy out. Honestly it's as simple as that right now as I haven't figured out the ground and submission mechanic yet. The graphics are good, better than the Smackdown vs Raw series, and the knockouts are spectacular. To watch Brock Lesnar's eyes roll into his head and see his mouthguard fly halfway across the ring after a head kick is priceless.

Ghostbusters

Also picked this game up from Glyde. Entertaining game for a fan of the movies. Voice work is decent, if a little phoned in (though Dan Akroyd did a fantastic job). The gameplay is pretty standard stuff with a few cool touches. Busting ghosts is a childhood dream come true. I've never so closely lived out the dream that 7-year old me had. It's a decent game filtered through a layer of nostalgia and comes out a fun experience. Fighting the Stay Puft Marshmellow Man is the best thing I've done all year!

Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition

Yes this was my personal game of the year back in 2008. I played the hell out of it back then I might add. Until recently (these last few days in fact) I had not had a chance at several of the DLC. However I borrowed the second disc from Sir Gerald and it turns out that's all you need. It gives you the DLC whether or not it's registered to you. Which means you get them for free if you can borrow it from somebody. Amazing hack. Anyway I played The Pitt and Mothership Zeta. The Pitt was pretty cool since it introduced us to another major American city (Pittsburgh) and an entirely different atmosphere than the Capital Wasteland. Walking around the apartments and scaffolding of The Pitt was a nice change from the flatlands of the waste. Plus the circular saw weapon is gruesome. Mothership Zeta was sorta 'meh' for me. Just didn't add enough for me. Sure I can get samurai armor and alien rifles, but it just didn't thrill me. Anyway, the DLC was fun to try out for a few hours. Nice to play this game again.

Way of the Samurai 3

Highly underrated game, though I can understand why. I spent a lot of my first unemployed month playing this when I wasn't looking for work. Hard to get into at first because there is absolutely no direction. Once you figure out the gameplay, how to power yourself up and how to advance the story at your own pace, this game gets good. Learning new sword styles is fun due to the immense amount of weaponry at your disposal (over 100). The story line branches in so many places that you'll never see the same scenes twice. Hell you might see a scene one playthrough and never see it again. Kill off a character and it changes the rest of the game. I killed off Osei early on once and later on Shinnosuke hunted me down and challenged me to a duel! It's fun if enough time is invested. I'm a fan, I'm a real fan. This is better than the second one, but not as good as the first. Few games give you so much freedom, both in what you do and how you affect the story.