My brain is so mushy this week that I didn’t even realize it was Saturday — hence the usual Friday post occurring today instead. We still have two days to go until the work week begins for most people, so what’s on the agenda for you folks?
I’m a few hours in to Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas, which I have mixed feelings about. On one hand, it’s actually quite good because it blatantly borrows a lot of its gameplay elements and inspiration from The Legend of Zelda series. This isn’t necessarily bad, because I love Zelda. Who doesn’t?
My problem, I guess, is that four hours in I’ve yet to do anything I haven’t already done a hundred times in almost any Zelda game. No matter how much I enjoy Nobuo Uetmatsu’s OST or how charming I find the game overall, I’ve yet to shake the felling of deja vu.
You’re a silent boy who wakes up to find his father missing, obtaining his sword and shield in the process. There’s special items like bombs and a bow & arrow, and even spells. Like the top-down Zelda games, there’s no NYAH-HUYAH-YAH roll, but you can dash for short periods of time. You find treasure chests with heart pieces, to which discovering four of them will extend your life meter by 1 heart icon. You can break clay pots and cut down tall grass for hearts, coins, and item refills, and there’s even a boat to ride from island to island, like in Wind Waker. You can’t manually control said boat, but rather pick an island you’ve discovered on the map and watch as your boat drifts along on its on.
I received a review key for Oceanhorn, so I’ll reserve judgment for my final verdict until I finish it, but right now I’m somewhere between “This is like Zelda, which is awesome!” and “This is TOO much like Zelda that I’ve yet to be excited by anything.”
I also received a review key for Mount & Blade: Warband on Xbox One, which originally launched on PC in 2010. I gave it a shot last night and it was a bit too overwhelming to jump in to on a whim, so I’m going to hold off until I have a few hours free. I’ve never played the PC version, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. It’s not very pretty, it’s fairly clunky, and there’s a whole lot of text to read, so yeah… definitely not a game to play on a whim.
The Ratchet & Clank remake on PS4 arrived from GameFly the other day, but I’ve yet to play it. I’m trying to chip away at these reviews while doing the who college thing, which leaves little time for things I *want* to play. Not that the games I review are bad or anything, but I use these opportunities to better my writing and help out smaller indie teams that could use a little extra exposure.
I have reviews coming for Jotun: Valhalla Edition, Emily Wants to Play, Oceanhorn, and Mount & Blade: Warband, so there’s definitely a light at the end of the tunnel.
So what about you? What are you playing this weekend?
Cheap Boss Attack 
I just have to say you’re phenomenal with keeping up with your games AND school (even though your brain might be mush). Oceanhorn sounds exactly like Zelda. Hopefully something will deviate from that classic at some point? I’m all for paying homage, but that should just be the stepping stone to something a bit different.
Ah it’s not even worth mentioning what I’m playing at this point is it? I AM making progress though. Speaking of Zelda, I’m also watching a Let’s Play of Spirit Tracks, which is quite charming. I just finished one of Phantom Hourglass based on the LPer stating at the start of ST that it was the direct sequel to PH.
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Spirit Tracks and Phantom Hourglass are the only two Zelda games I’ve yet to touch, and I was thinking of watching an LP as well! Can you toss me a link of the one you watched?
Here’s hoping Oceanhorn eventually becomes more than just a lesser-polished Zelda clone/homage with Uematsu’s music. I hate to sound like I’m not having a good time, because I am enjoying it… I just wish it did more to differentiate itself.
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Sure! https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTDkTyrV8OQvm6xv_lS8DDY57sQFOah4A
This is the link for Phantom Hourglass. I actually just discovered this guy in searching for it. He’s from the UK and is so super upbeat and excited. He’s also an excellent voice actor. I love his “old man” voice. The right attitude is so important in Let’s Plays.
Well at least it does have Uematsu’s music. That alone is making me want to check it out!
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I’m giving Dark Souls 3 a good break. Don’t know when I’ll pick it up again. This weekend will most likely be a Total War: Warhammer weekend. I’m addicted to it and every time I say one more turn I play 50 :).
I’m also playing more Warframe because there’s some new content coming soon and I want to be prepared for it.
I’m also making my way through the Bioshock remaster. It’s the same fantastic game that looks better in some areas and worse too. I think it’s one of the weaker remasters we’ve gotten, but I got it for free so I can’t complain.
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Yeah, I read your remaster thoughts and it’s a shame the free update on PC isn’t really up to snuff. Though I guess it beats having to pay the full $60 on consoles =\
I *almost* installed Warframe again last night, but I think I’ll wait until fall break when I actually have time.
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Warframe takes a lot of time. I recommend waiting if you don’t have time to invest. It takes a few hours to really get anything done.
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Mount & Blade is a very deep game in its own right. You can also play online, group up with other people, go down paths. It’s like a multiplayer action game with RPG elements. Which can be a little clunky, but fun.
Personally I prefer Chivalry. It’s much more action oriented. Like Battlefield in Medieval times. M&B goes for more historical authenticity where Chivalry has a fictional kingdom in the backdrop, but still taking place in the middle ages. What really hooked me with Chivalry is the melee system. There really isn’t anything like it. Which is why I’m intrigued to see what happens with Mirage: Arcane Warfare, as it’s Torn Banner’s next game.
You can get either of those on XB1/PS4 now. If you end up loving Warband, you may even break your no computer games code, to buy the upcoming PC only (for now) sequel. It’s also supposed to be very good, expanding on pretty much everything Warband does. Better UI, resourcing, mission paths, combat, you name it. The stuff they showed at E3 was pretty impressive.
As for me, I found a SEALED copy of Circus Atari at a town sponsored tag sale. Which means I may fire up my loose one a bit tomorrow night. I also have two Atari 2600 games that came with no labels. I found the other day. One by Parker Bros. One by Activision. Could be common fodder like another Frogger cartridge, and Boxing cartridge. But I could have landed gold by inadvertently getting Super Cobra, and Double Dragon. (Yes. There was a port of Double Dragon on the Atari 2600.)
So there will probably be a lot of craft beer, and Atari. But probably a lot of Toxikk, and Overwatch as well. Both games are pretty addictive, albeit in different ways. I love making my friends groan when Robo Biker Santa gets POTG.
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Mount & Blade would clearly fare better on PC. I know my girlfriend owns all of the ones on Steam, after buying a bundle of them from Humble or something. If I dig in enough where I’m comfortable reviewing it, and enjoy it, I’ll probably give the PC version a shot with some of those snazzy mods. So far it just doesn’t seem very console friendly.
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I broke down and decided to buy Overwatch on the PS4 after playing on the free weekend. Bought a copy for myself and one of my best friends who’s basically trapped in her house.
It’s frustrating to play a game that has no campaign because all of these characters are interacting with humorous dialogue and I don’t get a lot of it. I know the story is told through the videos and the comic strips and while that’s awesome we still get it, it’s still super annoying that a company that’s usually amazing with in-game stories and giving campaigns- Blizzard- didn’t give us a campaign in this one.
But ah well. I’m having fun with it. I mostly play as Ana, but have been trying out D.va and Hanzo as well. I’ve dabbled in Mercy since I unlocked her legendary Devil skin in a loot box and I wanted to show off how epic it was, and I gave Mcree a shot (badumtss) but couldn’t get the hang of him.
Mostly I play against AI because I’m only like level 15. I might play tonight but chances are I’ll go work on FFXIV for the Yokai Watch event. Tomorrow I’ll be visiting my grandpa SO on the road trip there I’ll probably be continuing the Four White Mage adventure on FFI. Good news, they’re all level 15. Better news, I got the Zeus Gauntlet and it’s helping a TON. Bad news, I have to grind a bit before I can move on. Ice Cave is next and I barely made it through the Castle of Ordeals in one piece. …. I may go back to the Castle to grind, actually, now that I have the Zeus Gauntlet.
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I hear a lot of good stuff about Overwatch, but I know deep down it’s not for me.
Good luck on the FF1 grind!
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I didn’t think Overwatch was for me but honesty it’s a lot of fun to play with friends. If you ever get it, lemme know.
Thanks man! I’m slowly making my way through lmao
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Eh, I highly doubt I’ll ever get it. So many other things to play that actually appeal to me, most of which being long-as-fuck RPGs lol.
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Overwatch grows on you. Especially once you find a character you gel with, though I recommend getting behind at least two since some are better to play when attacking vs defending, and vice versa. Still it’s always great when my friends get upset after I play Torbjorn on defense, and get Play Of The Game. They go “Your turrets did all the work.” Then I like to scream “YAY! ROBO SANTA!” into the chat when that happens. Fun times.
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My favorite is to do a explode-and-run on D.va, or get the other team through the walls on Hanzo. I regret nothing. One D.va game, I racked up 46 eliminations against the medium AI
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Mount & Blade looks cool. I look forward to reading your review. This weekend I have been playing MeiQ: The Labyrinth of Death. So far I have cleared two of the towers, although I have suffered a few defeats. Clearly I suck because everyone says that the game is a cakewalk.
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MeiQ is tricky until you find the right Guardian pieces. Once I could attack with every ability on both of my arms each turn, or use any attack six times, I was breezing through the game.
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Ah okay, that makes sense. Most games get harder as you progress further, but some get easier as you unlock more abilities that allow you to become overpowered.
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Yeah, as long as you make it a point to explore every map you come across, you should find enough parts to make a ridiculously over-powered Guardian… unless the treasure is randomized. In that case, it’s up to RNGeesus!
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