This is a very special edition of Games of the week, as this episode, for one week only, it will be rushed! That’s right, you’ll be getting all the thrill of your regular games of the week section, but even more slapdash and last-minute than usual. This is what happens when your humble editor has been too busy stuffing his fat face with cake instead of doing his damn job. Like it matters anyway, nobody reads this bit.
Speaking of reading, we played games this week. As always, hit the jump for the bit that people actually pays attention to.
Razak: I have been playing The Wizard of Oz: Beyond the Yellow Brick Road. Yes, you read that right. It showed up on my doorstep so I’m playing it. It’s actually not terrible and as far as game design goes unliike anything I’ve played before. However, I’m not that into obscure Japanese/Gothic Lolita/Steampunk/children’s literature RPGs so it’s possibly its just a bunch of cliche gaming approaches that I’ve never encountered before because of my lack of experience with the genre.
Also A Boy and his Blob, and let me just say AAAAAWWWWW.
Zimmerman: I’ve been playing a ton of Demon’s Souls again this week. I’m just about ready to try and finish my first run-through but — despite having invested an unreasonable number of hours into the game — I’m giving serious consideration to starting from scratch with the knowledge that I’ve acquired but using a completely different character build to keep me on my toes. I’m torn.
Holmes: Playing Wii Fit Plus, Domino Rally, and Ju-On: The Grudge for review. Reviews for all three games could be up by the time you read this. Also bought Obscure 2 for the Wii ($14), Samurai Showdown Anthology for the Wii ($20) and Major Minor’s Majestic March ($12) all new. They were all worth the price, but in the case of Obscure and MMMM, just barely.
Also played an unhealthy amount of Critter Crunch. I love this game. I really love it.
Also tried to get back into Contact, a DS game that I initially enjoyed, then abandoned years ago. I’m totally stuck and have no idea what I’m supposed to do, but it’s still pretty fun.
Sterling: Demon’s Souls is my reason for existing. I’m still not a very high level, but that’s mainly because I’ve been taking it really slowly. I can absorb hours into that game and still not feel like I’ve done very much. Even then, I still feel incredibly satisfied with the time I’ve wasted. It truly is an amazing title, and I think it’ll be a tough contest between that and Dragon Age for my RPG of the year.
Other than that, more Rock Band Unplugged and Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. So yeah.
Holmes: Oh crap, I forgot to mention A Boy and his Blob and Half-minute Hero. Both great games that I want to dedicate some serious time to once I clear the rest of my schedule.
Concelmo: After playing through the original Uncharted again in preparation for its sequel, I picked up Uncharted 2: Among Thieves this week and have been playing it pretty much nonstop. It is amazing. Seriously, I love it so much.
I also played more Shatter and decided it might be my favorite game of the year. I also think I will play this game every week until the day I die (you have no idea how obsessed I am), so you may see me mention this game in every single one of these posts.
Grim: Dead Space! I’m replaying it for the 3rd or 4th time to get the last two Achievements: only using the default weapon and completing the game on the hardest difficulty. Beyond that, I was trying to finish the third island in PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe, but getting those final rainbows is driving me insane. There’s always one guy that gets through my defense. Always.
Cantler: Street Fightans IV, Super Puzzle Fightans, Professor Layton and the Diabolical box, and some E4. The more I play SFIV, the more I appreciate it. It wasn’t initially very high on my list of favorite Street Fighters, but I think that’s changed over the past few weeks. Brad Nicholson and I have been pounding the shit out of each other every now and then and it’s been great fun.
Bennett: Mostly just a lot of PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe, but yesterday for our Extra Life charity I also played Rock Band 2, Plants Vs Zombies, Resident Evil 4, I Maed a Game With Zombies in it and all kinds of other good stuff.
Burch: Uncharted 2 is equally as good as Uncharted is not-good.
Which is to say, very.
Ross: Mostly just been playing Borderlands, and a touch of Demon’s Souls.
That’s good to hear Anthony. I assumed since I didn’t like the first Uncharted I wouldn’t like this one either. I’m gonna borrow it from someone when they finish, I think.
