A Quest Daxelman Must Take! -or- Crap I have to Play in 2011

So, we’re in 2011, aren’t we? Big things are going to happen this year; I’ll be graduating highschool, hopefully off to the college of my choice, grabbing life by the horns as I fend for myself for the first time in the cruel, cold world and I’ll be able to enter contests legally, but most of all, it’ll be a big year in gaming; new motion stuff on the HD consoles, 3D gaming, new handhelds, and all the mobile, 99 cent stuff; gaming is going to be huge in 2011, so I have to get organized. Allegedly, best way to do that is in blog from, right?

Hey, at least it’s not one of those nasty looking Blog-Between-Blog things I do, so that makes this blog 10 times better.

In any case, I’ve decided to compile a list of games I need to play or complete, along with some peripherals I want to experience, and generally badassery that I need to be a part of, because everything is better when you have it all organized nice and neat in an online blog.

Let’s do this.

Games Daxelman NEEDS to Complete :



Mass Effect 2

I bought this motherfucker in March of last year. Since then I’ve logged about 25 hours spread across two playthroughs. The first one fell to the digital abyss because I’m fucking lazy, and the second one is going to fall to the same abyss because I’m lazy. Hell, my second one has a female Shepard, and everyone LOVES female Shepard. In any case, this game is high priority on my list, because Mass Effect 3 is dropping in November, and I don’t want to be late for that.



Borderlands

This is a game I put some significant time into, but then dropped for absolutely no reason what so ever. Maybe it’s because the voice chat in game is completely broken. Maybe it’s because I could never find anyone who wanted to do story missions without throwing down duals in the middle of boss fights. Maybe it’s because I could never find a gun better than my lvl 25 SMG that spits fire, and I’m a level 32 Hunter, but whatever the case, I did have fun rolling around Pandora, and I should give the game the finish it deserves. Maybe when I finish it, I’ll jump on some of the DLC.



Grand Theft Auto IV

I’ve bought this game twice; once on sale on the PC and another on sale on Amazon for the PS3 (which was the Lock Box Bundle, which came with a steel box and an art book for 14 bucks). There is no reason why I can’t finish the game. Setting wise, I actually feel like this is a nice departure from the usual “lol” that Grand Theft Auto is known for. Soundtrack wise, GTAIV has the best theme song of the last decade. I’ll finish this one, and then get on to The Ballad of Gay Tony, because IM GETTING ARAB MONEY!



Tales of Monkey Island

This one is kind of a conundrum; I finished Chapter I and started Chapter II, but I just never got across to finishing the rest. The game sports all that Tell Tale is known for; generally funny dialogue, clever but not mind breaking puzzles, and really funny-ass moments. I haven’t laughed so hard at a PC game in years the way I laughed at the beginning of Chapter I, and I really needed that chuckle when it came in my life. The least I could do for Tell Tale from bringing me back up is to finish the rest of what’s sure to be an excellent adventure game.



Torchlight

I played Diablo back in 2001, and I don’t even remember what I thought of the game, but since then, I haven’t really touched a game like it until 2009, when I picked up Torchlight in the Holiday Steam Sale. Since then, I played it in burst mode for about a week, enjoying the hell of the game, but I haven’t really sat down and proceeded to complete it yet. I’ll do my best to rectify that this year. You know, until Torchlight 2 comes out; then it’s co-op all the way man.

Honorable Mentions (Shit that needs to be completed or recompleted)

Bit.Trip: BEAT, Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People, Uncharted II: Among Thieves, Mirror’s Edge, Shank, Puzzle Agent, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Machinarium, and many more on my Steam Games list.

Games Daxelman Should Get Back Into:



Battlefield: Bad Company 2

I’m a huge advocate of teamwork based gameplay. It makes me feel as if I don’t suck as much. I do not always have to focus on killing people; healing, spotting, fixing tanks, I can do it all. A game that reminds me a lot of Team Fortress 2 in terms of not feeling like a useless piece of junk all the time, Bad Company 2 is a game I really need to get accompanied with again. I did try the multiplayer for awhile, but the lack of vocalism on the PC turned me off. Maybe with the introduction of the new Vietnam multiplayer pack, I might drop some money on a PS3 copy and play with you guys.



BlazBlue

This game single handedly brought me into fighting games, seriously. It’s a game that I actually saw myself getting better and better at over time. A game that I sat and played with the PS3 FNF crew and grew to love to death each and every one of you sick bastards. A game I thought about making my own fightstick for. Yeah, BlazBlue added a new favorite genre to my ranks, and hell, it caused me to buy Super Street Fighter IV. I haven’t played it in a while. I need to dust of my rusty-ness and get back in the nitty-gritty.

Also, Noel is my Waifu!



Burnout Paradise

This is the racing game of the generation; Not Gran Turismo 5, not Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, not Forza 3; Burnout Paradise reigns king of all racing games in my book. No other racing game have I dropped more than 100+ hours into. No other racing game have I ever stuck with so much to the point of it being the only thing I did for weeks. It’s my apex of racing titles, who’s only challenger might be DiRT 2 or DiRT 3, and even then, nothing beats riding around at 120+ miles per hour in a van, in oncoming traffic.



Pokemon

It’s sad that I have to put this here. Back when I could connect to the Nintendo Wifi connection, I logged close to 450 hours in Pokemon Diamond. I was wheelin’ and dealin’ and battelin’ and losin’. But when we upgraded our router, it seemed as if WEP, the DS’s only security encryption, was impossible, and so were my chances of going online. As a side effect, I dropped off of the Pokemon bandwagon, instead choosing to help others with their games. I got back into it for a little when Heart Gold/Soul Silver came out, but as I didn’t have compatible Wifi, the game quickly stopped receiving attention. Times are changing though, with the advent of the 3DS, and most likely a price drop on the other DS models, it’s about time I jumped on a used DSi so I can access the WiFi Connection when I get Pokemon Black, hopefully. Or maybe I’ll get a phone that allows for WiFi tethering, who knows.

Honorable Mentions (Shit that needs to played at least one more time)

Pixel Junk Eden, Wipeout HD, Marvel Vs Capcom 2, Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, Audiosurf Beat Hazard, Garry’s Mod, DEFCON, Half Life 2/Episode 1/Episode 2

New Games Daxelman Wants to Play But (Possiblly) Won’t Because He’s Strapped for Cash:



Brink

If you haven’t read my impressions, go ahead and give it a read. It pretty much explains why I’m looking forward to this FPS. Teamwork is the name of the game here, and what I lack in killing ability, I make up for in healing, fixing, and being a general nuisance for the other team. It feels so nice to feel useful.



Portal 2

Portals? Check. Glados? Check. Robots? Check. Co-Op? SOLD! It’s Portal, it’s longer than the original, it look’s packed with content, and it’s got cute-as-fuck robot co-op! The only thing that would make this deal sweeter is if it was free. Well, it kinda is now. Kinda. Sorta. I’m so buying this game.



Bulletstorm

FUCK YEAH This game looks awesome from top to bottom. From the arcade points based gameplay, to the co-op modes, to Steven Blum, this is everything I want in a game, and more. It helps that the demo comes out on my birthday. Yeah, that helps a lot.



Homefront

Another FPS? Deal with it.

To be completely honest, I wasn’t really excited for Homefront when I first heard about it. Interesting premise, yes, but otherwise, I had bigger FPS’s on my list. But then I read this interview, and I become instantly more enamored with the title. It seems as if the developers really want to create an enthralling single player experience, and using Half Life 2 as a back drop should prove to help out their cause. I hope they can deliver, because if they do, Homefront might have one of the best well told and presented stories in 2011.



Radiant Historia

Oh look, a DS Game!

I’ve been looking at this game since I first saw it on Amazon last year, deciding whether or not I should drop the money for a preorder. It seems as I should have a long time ago, as first run copies come with piano renditions of the games beautiful soundtrack. Couple that with a nifty time travel mechanic and an interesting battle system and I’d say this would be an RPG to get for my DS. Lord knows I need more RPG’s in general.



Pokemon White

Look at that badass up there.

Anyways, I’ve already got Black on preorder, but there’s a multitude of stuff in White that’s not in Black that I eventually want to check out. Plus, I can’t be politically correct unless I have both versions. Otherwise, just fill this with the usual “It’s Pokemon, it’s bound to be great!” and you’ll get the picture.



Honorable Mentions (more shit that has me hot for 2011 that would make this blog unbearably long):

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, DOTA 2, BlazBlue: Continuum Shift II, DiRT 3, Need For Speed Shift 2: Unleashed, Dragon Age 2, Mass Effect 3, Guild Wars 2, Uncharted 3: Drakes Deception, Torchlight II, Duke Nukem Forever, The Legend Of Zelda: Skyward Sword, and more stuff I can’t remember but you can help in the comments!

Holy mother of all that is sacred; that is a lot of video games.

Add to that list that I want to try and hit PAX this year, I want to be a part of the BYOC festivities at QuakeCon, I need to buy some sort of new DS, be it a 3DS or a DSi, and I want to get a PSP so I can play some Persona, and hopefully I’ll be going to college, it’s going to take the GNP of a small country to satisfy myself this year. I probably won’t get to every game I want to on this list, but I wrote it down so I could look at it and have some sort of goal to work towards this year. And that’s what New Year’s Resolutions are about, right?

So if you’ve stuck through all of this rambling and listing off of games, I congratulate you. This is a lot of writing for a list of what I want to play, but I’m glad you decided to take the time out to read it all, and I hope it’s given you some sort of goal to work toward to in 2011 as well. So, now that we’ve established all of this, who’s ready to start a global crime syndicate with me so I can earn enough money to support all of this gaming I want to do?