Glog Entry Feed

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim on PC by Mirkon

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 09:15:33 GMT

Posted Feb 2, 2012 9:15 AM for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim on PC by Mirkon

Following up on a quest objective, I found myself at the opening of a cave. I heard the adventurers, as they heard me -- I crept behind a rock, and saw a human and a lizard-dude split up, looking for the source of the noise. I assumed they were hostile (most things in Skyrim are), so I opened up some lightning on the lizardman; he shot some lightning back at me, and destroyed me utterly.

... continued in full entry

Rating:

Currently playing
Finally made it to Winterhold

Hacker Evolution on PC by Mirkon

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 08:05:50 GMT

Posted Jan 25, 2012 8:05 AM for Hacker Evolution on PC by Mirkon

I would like the idea of a hacking-simulator game -- even when the superficially-realistic mechanics are in most cases simplified to the point of "crack" and "decrypt" commands. There's something magical about playing a game whose only input is a text console, and not having to imagine caves, or ogres, or whatever. It's a computer, and my enemies are other computers. It's perfect.

... continued in full entry

Rating:

Currently not playing
Got to level 2?

Assassin's Creed: Revelations on PC by Mirkon

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 05:05:58 GMT

Posted Jan 23, 2012 5:05 AM for Assassin's Creed: Revelations on PC by Mirkon

The tower defense segments are clearly unfinished, and the assassin recruit system, while improved from Brotherhood, could still use some work to really polish it up. But Revelations gets what props I give it, mainly because it finally iterates on what I would consider the really important part of Assassin's Creed -- that is, assassination, by way of infiltrating Templar lairs. And it actually culls a lot of the garbage that's accumulated in the franchise, like the retarded Subject 16 puzzles.

... continued in full entry

Rating:

Currently complete

Mass Effect 3 on PC by Mirkon

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 23:37:44 GMT

Posted Jan 22, 2012 11:37 PM for Mass Effect 3 on PC by Mirkon

Requires Origin? That's unfortunate. Admittedly, I haven't had any personal experience with EA's new-ish game marketplace/platform -- because of all the people I know who have dealt with it, none of them have had anything nice, or even tolerable to say about it. Battlefield 3's PC version UI is a well-documented clusterfuck. And Star Wars: The Old Republic, apparently, requires registration and authentication on Origin even though the game itself has no presence on or functional link with it.

... continued in full entry

Currently anticipating

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning on PC by Mirkon

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 04:44:52 GMT

Posted Jan 20, 2012 4:44 AM for Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning on PC by Mirkon

My absolute first impression was not favorable -- the Kingdoms of Amalur demo requires you to have, and sign in with, an EA account. I imagine this is vital for (among EA's other marketing purposes) the advertised item unlocks, particularly those that'll apply to Mass Effect 3, but even in today's era of always-online fuck-you DRM, it's still typical to allow an Offline/No-Signin mode. Kind of a letdown, here.

... continued in full entry

Currently anticipating
Played through the demo

Assassin's Creed: Revelations on PC by Mirkon

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 07:59:27 GMT

Posted Jan 19, 2012 7:59 AM for Assassin's Creed: Revelations on PC by Mirkon

Last week I opined that Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood represented a further step along its predecessor's path of adding half-baked features, neglecting the core game, and generally ignoring subtlety and meaning in favor of bullet points. In that light, what's surprised me most about Assassin's Creed: Revelations so far is that it actually attempts to extend the free-running and sneaking gameplay that's barely seen any refinement since the first game -- and that it succeeds.

... continued in full entry

Rating:

Currently playing
Sequence 4

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood on PC by Mirkon

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 08:33:33 GMT

Posted Jan 11, 2012 8:33 AM for Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood on PC by Mirkon

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood is an iterative step along the path set forth by Assassin's Creed 2. It makes minimal improvements to the existing game formula, largely adding half-cocked new features instead; it tosses away some unneeded cruft, like subtlety, and pacing; and it continues the franchise's descent into vapid, absurd storytelling. ... continued in full entry
Rating:	Currently complete Finished the campaign, and a few of the extra things

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim on PC by Mirkon

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 04:43:55 GMT

Posted Jan 4, 2012 4:43 AM for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim on PC by Mirkon

Oblivion (or, what I saw of other people playing it) didn't impress me, nor did Fallout 3. And frankly, I have less respect for Bethesda's development acumen than just about anyone else's. But the noise around Skyrim was getting way too loud for me to ignore. ... continued in full entry
Rating: - Rating Updated	Currently playing Slew my first dragon!

Solar 2 on PC by Mirkon

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 06:58:37 GMT

Posted Jan 2, 2012 6:58 AM for Solar 2 on PC by Mirkon

Solar 2 is a game about assimilating and/or crushing the opposition, wherein said opposition is made up of outer space shit. That is, asteroids, planets, stars, you know. At its core, the goal of the game is to keep absorbing lesser bodies until you get to black hole density, and can consume the entire universe; then the big crunch leads to a big bang, and it starts all over again. And this sandbox experience is surprisingly fun, in the same way that flOw allows you to grow from an insignificant spec into a big intergalactic-schoolyard bully.

... continued in full entry

Rating:

Currently complete
100% story mission completion

Hoard on PC by Mirkon

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 06:29:49 GMT

Posted Jan 2, 2012 6:29 AM for Hoard on PC by Mirkon

Given a pleasant-looking aesthetic and, uh, controllable dragons, this was a painless purchase from the Steam holiday sale. And I was impressed by the game's mechanics, which are solid and fun to boot -- progress feels swift and meaningful, and there's never a shortage of tasks to attend to on the map. I'd definitely encourage you to try the tutorials in the free demo.

... continued in full entry

Rating:

Currently not playing
Won a few AI matches

Anomaly: Warzone Earth on PC by Mirkon

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 04:59:47 GMT

Posted Jan 1, 2012 4:59 AM for Anomaly: Warzone Earth on PC by Mirkon

While "reverse tower defense" is all but the game's tagline, that doesn't really describe it well at all. In Anomaly: Warzone Earth, you're not throwing units at a defensive wall -- in fact, you're trying desperately to preserve the lives of a small group of units, as you weave them through chokepoints and take out enemies strategically. And while some missions require planning in the form of your unit loadout, generally the game is much more about real-time tactical decision making, revolving around commander powerups (such as a decoy to draw enemy fire away). Also, you can upgrade units with money you make, from killing enemies and finding mineral deposits. Basically it's an RTS with a very low army limit.

... continued in full entry

Rating:

Currently complete
Finished on Casual

Kirby Mass Attack on DS by Mirkon

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 10:03:59 GMT

Posted Dec 31, 2011 10:03 AM for Kirby Mass Attack on DS by Mirkon

Yes, while your Kirby army is still building up, the game is pretty basic and boring -- unfortunately, even a full complement of 10 Kirbys plays pretty shallow. There simply aren't that many mechanics to exploit: just leading the army around by touch, or flicking individual Kirbys around, which is pretty difficult to do with any precision since they're all clustered together. Boss battles have the most complexity, where you'll have to lead the group away from obstacles, then rapidly sling them at a weak point when it opens. That's it.

... continued in full entry

Rating:

Currently not playing
Finished the first set of stages

Frozen Synapse on PC by Mirkon

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 09:14:53 GMT

Posted Dec 31, 2011 9:14 AM for Frozen Synapse on PC by Mirkon

The game mechanics are neat, and I am a fan of the presentation -- not just the cyber-blue aesthetics, but also (and especially) the excellent soundtrack. But I just don't care for the balance of it. I'm still super-early in the campaign, so I wouldn't exactly call it "hard," but it does require a level of attention and intricacy that I'm not really willing to spend ~~on a video game~~ (edit: yeah I guess that's not true).

... continued in full entry

Currently not playing
Did some skirmish, finished the first couple campaign missions

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition on DS by Mirkon

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 18:03:35 GMT

Posted Dec 26, 2011 6:03 PM for The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition on DS by Mirkon

Less content, no story (as far as I know), worse controls, lower-fidelity graphics and sound; but I'd expected this downloadable port of the original GBA Four Swords to come up short when compared to Four Swords Adventures. What I didn't expect was, in single-player mode, you can't control all four Links; you only get two.

What's the point? I'm not at all interested in a Zelda Two Swords. It needs more swords. And if I have to meet up with other players to get them, well, no thank you.

Currently not playing

StreetPass Mii Plaza on 3DS by Mirkon

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 17:57:40 GMT

Posted Dec 26, 2011 5:57 PM for StreetPass Mii Plaza on 3DS by Mirkon

At first, this was one of the most interesting parts of my new 3DS -- specifically, the Find Mii game. Tossing co-workers' and strangers' Miis at ghosts, in what is effectively a stripped-down turn-based RPG, is a really neat idea; and there's even a little depth in it in the form of level-ups and magic spells. Plus, the Puzzle Swap game is a nice little collection activity to eat up a few minutes. But both of these games ultimately lose that spark of intrigue as they scale poorly.

... continued in full entry

Currently not playing
Finished one run of Find Mii

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D on 3DS by Mirkon

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 07:11:46 GMT

Posted Dec 22, 2011 7:11 AM for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D on 3DS by Mirkon

I expect that first-timers will not be as pleased with OoT 3D as those who have played it before. As I mentioned, there were a number of instances where I got by purely because I remembered what I was supposed to do; Navi's advice wasn't super-helpful, and knocking around Hyrule to figure out my next step would have been more than a bit frustrating. ... continued in full entry
Rating:	Currently complete Put a sword in Ganon's head

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D on 3DS by Mirkon

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 08:06:07 GMT

Posted Dec 19, 2011 8:06 AM for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D on 3DS by Mirkon

Confession time: I only just got my own 3DS the other week. Of course, waiting to get one not only netted me a nice price break, but an awesome-looking unit as well. Plus, I can exploit this timing in order to directly compare Skyward Sword with its most ancient-yet-relevant predecessor (more on this later). ... continued in full entry
Rating:	Currently playing Got the Light Arrows

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword on Wii by Mirkon

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 04:57:53 GMT

Posted Dec 14, 2011 4:57 AM for The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword on Wii by Mirkon

Some reviews (and official press pieces) have thrown around the phrase "best Zelda ever" for Skyward Sword, but for my money, no -- it doesn't really come close. While there are some aspects of this adventure that really stand out, I feel that overall - and crucially, in the areas I would consider most important to the Zelda franchise - Skyward Sword feels pretty lacking. It's still a good game for sure, so long as you're willing to forgive its more obvious faults for the eventual payoff; but to me, this installment is less triumphant than it is an opportunity to learn.

... continued in full entry

Rating:

Currently complete
Saved Zelda, AGAIN.

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition on DS by Mirkon

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 08:53:44 GMT

Posted Dec 13, 2011 8:53 AM for The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition on DS by Mirkon


	Currently anticipating

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance on Xbox 360 by Mirkon

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 00:10:12 GMT

Posted Dec 12, 2011 12:10 AM for Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance on Xbox 360 by Mirkon

I'm lukewarm on Metal Gear, and the reveal of Platinum Games being behind this is slightly intriguing, but what's really got me interested is how much the VGA reveal trailer reminds me of No More Heroes. At least, the villain is channeling Travis Touchdown in his hardass nihilistic attitude, and the trailer is cut in the same way Goichi Suda emulates Quentin Tarantino.

If the rest of the game is like this, I might be able to put up with some overlong cutscenes of it; and hopefully, the slice-and-dice gameplay is at least as well-implemented as Vanquish.

Currently anticipating