Well, the moon didn't grow a face and crash into the planet, the aliens didn't come and turn on a doomsday machine, there haven't been any crazy natural disasters, and no meteors have hit, so I think we're good.
So, I just thought I'd talk about a few things real quick:
God of War
So I beat the original God of War, and I gotta say, it was a pretty decent game, but not for the reasons I asociate with God of War after having played III first. See, I played III because it had great boss fights, decent combat, and it was an incredible spectacle.
The original really doesn't do any of those things.
The combat is very dated, the graphics are really, really awful (it's really hard to believe this game came out in 2005), even in HD (I have the Collection), and the boss fights just aren't there. In fact, there's only three in the game. While the ones that are there are fun (with the exception of the Ares fight), they aren't on the level that God of War III's are.
This was pretty jarring for me, and I had trouble enjoying the game after the Hydra.
But, at the advice of others, I kept playing, and ultimately finished the game, and had a pretty good time. What I ultimately enjoyed God of War for was the puzzles, surprisingly enough. The Temple of Pandora was fantastic, and that pretty much made the game for me.
I also didn't despise Kratos. Which was pretty shocking, and the story, while fairly basic, wasn't bad. So it's been pretty interesting to see what God of War was vs. what it became.
Will I write a review? Maybe. I keep saying I want to review all these games and I never do, but I hope to find the motivation. Ditto for Pandaland and Halo 4.
As it is, I'd recommend it to someone who hasn't played God of War before, and those who have played the later games. Just know what you're getting into.
Halo 4
My dislike for Halo 4's story (and honestly, most of its writing), is pretty well known by now. As is my dislike for the rehashed lameness that is Spartan Ops. And some of the multiplayer additions (like ordinance drops, random power weapon spawns, etc).
But for all that, I like the multiplayer. Or at least, I thought I did.
See, I can't be bothered to play it lately.
Maybe it's the lack of bros to play with on a regular basis. Maybe I'm just burned out on Halo. Maybe the changes bother me more than I thought they did, because the idea of playing Reach excites me more than the idea of Halo 4. It's probably a combination of all these things.
Once, the idea of more Halo, forever, pleased me. Now, not so much. And I seriously begin to wonder if I'll be picking up the next one. At this rate? Probably not.
Just some thoughts.
Bastion
I've been playing Bastion in between bouts of God of War and Pandaland, and it's a game that reminds me of why I love video games. Between the brilliant narration (and great writing), the beautiful art, the wonderful soundtrack, the fun combat, and good level design, Bastion has a little something for everyone, and I'm sorry I put the game on hold for so long.
And, more than anything else, Bastion has made me rethink my stance on indie games in general, which was that, generally, they're not worth my time or money (though this year in general helped with that, too).
So props to Supergiant.
You've Met With a Terrible Fate, Haven't You?
In case you missed it, there was a website going around the forums for a last few days called terriblefate.com which hosted an image of Majora's Mask, a countdown, today's date, and the the ominous line above.
Needless to say, a lot of people where wondering what the hell was going on.
Well, as it turns out, it was a collaboration by a number of people to remix key parts of Majora's Mask's sountrack. They plan to do the entire thing eventually, but right now they have ten tracks, and they're incredible.
The best part? It's completely free. You can donate if you like, though.
Everyone should go check it out, especially if you're a Zelda fan.
Terrible Fate, Clocktown, Majora's Wrath, and Time's End are standouts, personally. Beautiful stuff.
Happy Apocalypse.
-DL out