What We Played #42

A frenzy is how Dan describes his gaming this week. Top of list is the almost-too-good-for-words Journey which he says “is the best thing since Jesus battled Superman on the moon”. I must have missed that particular comic but Journey is garnering such worthy praise from so many sources that Jenova Chen probably could get away with founding a religion; a religion based on awesome, emotional, thought-provoking gaming experiences that speak to the individuals playing them.

When not surfing Journey’s dunes Dan’s “also been struggling to wrap [his] head around the combos in BlazBlue on the Vita”. Fighting games are renowned for being somewhat impenetrable but he says of BlazBlue that it “is about as noob friendly as some clever analogy I can’t think of”. Despite that he’s happy to call it the system’s best fighting game.

The Last Story, “which is a brilliant game marred by some technical isues” has seen itself finished. His final criticism is that it lacks those special “Oh, wow!” environments that made Xenoblade Chronicles extra special. To change things up a bit he turned to Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus “which has aged really well although it still has a camera crafted by Satan himself”.

Lastly Dan, like many of us, has been playing a lot of MotorStorm RC. Though he is man enough to admit what most are too proud to:

Actually, I’ve been pressing “start – restart” a lot on MotorStorm RC. I hate/love that game!

In stark contrast to Dan’s vast swath of gaming, Kris has played “FIFA”, continuing his assault on the Championship with his local side, Brighton and Hove Albion. Stepping away from football, he’s also watch ”stupid amounts of SNL on Netflix.”

Aran’s been playing more UFC 3 and continues to have his butt handed to him when he ventures online. In Skyrim he’s got to the point where dragons are a minor inconvenience but small groups of chaurus are decidedly deadly. Then there’s MGS 4 where it’s being stealthy that’s the problem.

For relief he’s turned to the non-competitive environment of Netflix on the PS3 where his viewing has included Arrested Development and Always Sunny in Philadelphia. His Battlestar Galactica Blu-rays have been getting a spin too. If you’re not familiar with the series it’s the one where a rag-tag fugitive fleet of Quarian ships flees from the Geth invasion of their colonies as their former slaves stage a bloody uprising.

My own gaming has seen a core a Gran Turismo 5 and a couple of longer than intended – just one more turn – Civilisation 5 sessions swamped by PS Vita gaming. In no particular order that’s included Everybody’s Golf, Rayman Origins, Top Darts, Hustle Kings, Escape Plan, WipEout 2048, Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Super Stardust Delta and MotorStorm RC.

You’ll know by now that we’re all enamoured of MotorStorm RC’s sheer playability and “I will beat you this time” leaderboard-encouraged ‘friendly’ rivalries. I’ve not played much in the way of golf games since the days of Links 386 back in the early 1990s but I’m quite enjoying Everybody’s Golf even if the characters get a little too excited about birdies. This week’s PS Vita highlight for me though is Rayman Origins. Not only is it a rock-solid platformer but the artwork is just amazing, especially when you make the most of the ability to pinch-to-zoom.

Toby has finally gotten around to playing Batman: Arkham City “and so far it’s been a great experience”.

The things I loved about Arkham Asylum have stayed (such as the individual character biographies) and the things I wished were in Arkham Asylum have arrived. It’s official; nothing is cooler than preparing to be pumped full of lead before dropping a smoke pellet and flying off into the sky.

Completing his preparations for next week Jim has finished his Insanity play through of Mass Effect 2 with all crew members still in attendance at the end. His PS Vita’s been taken for a spin with Frobisher Says and Uncharted. The quality of the system’s launch titles has him looking forward to what we’ll see on it over the coming years.

What have you been playing this week? Have you been enjoying your first full week of PS Vita ownership? Maybe you’ve been taking advantage of some of the ridiculously great value PSP offers the NGP’s launch has spawned? Perhaps you’ve been chowing down on some of the non-participatory content your consoles serve up for your consumption?