Call of Duty: Ghosts, Lego Marvel Super Heroes (PS4), Disney Infinity (PS3) (Incredibles)-
There's nothing like sneaking downstairs before the kids are awake and playing a little Ghosts to make you feel like you're getting away with something. In total, I gained around 7 levels from the double XP weekend, going from 23-30. I started getting a better feel for the maps and posting some better scores, and felt like I was improving just enough to think, "yeah, I should totally get the season pass." I have a bunch of credit in various places (paypal, Amazon, PSN wallet), so we'll see.
Dearest Martha,
I write you this letter from the homestead. The children are home again from school.
AGAIN.
It is too cold to send them out of doors, so they must find other ways to pass the time.
Mostly it involves yelling.
It is so very loud here, my dear.
So. Very. Loud.
Now, it's not a fair comparison, since Lego is very mission/level based and Infinity has more open-world freedom. But, even though I will never tire of punching little Lego men in the face, I think Infinity does multiplayer better. And it's all because of the camera. Infinity simply cuts the screen in half. I do my thing (Missions, progressing the story) my little co-op partner does his (wandering, collecting toys, hoverboarding everywhere). Lego Marvel puts us both on the same screen, but whenever one of us starts to move too far away from the other, the screen (dynamically, arbitrarily?) cuts in whatever way it sees fit. So when I'm Hulk-smashing things on the ground and he's flying around as Iron Man, it can get a little nauseating. And he's ALWAYS flying around. Thank the gods for Lego Marvel's mid-level save points. We've had to stop on more than one occasion due to a little "screen-sickness." (Maybe it was the screen, maybe it was just the bickering. "Come over here!" "No, I need you over here!" "Stop moving!" "Switch to Thor!" "No, Thor!")
Tuesday 1/28
Lego Marvel, Final Fantasy Tactics-
More sub-zero daytime highs, more days off from school. A little more Lego Marvel, at the young Mr.'s request. We're getting through about 1% of the game per sitting, so we'll finish it. Eventually. I think we have Lego games from the Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean, Batman, and now Marvel series'. The only ones I think I've finished to 100% completion are the original Star Wars games and Indiana Jones. And that was with my eldest. And of course there were no trophies on those...grrrrrr.
FF Tactics is really starting to pull me in. Probably to the detriment of other games. A decision needs to be made soon: continue on and beat this game again, or play another "tactical RPG" to get that same fix. I have saves from X-Com Enemy Within, Shadowrun Returns, and Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgement that I could go back to. But I'm also remembering why this was a game I would leave work early to play. (Just by an hour or so. One quick battle before the wife gets home.)
Wednesday 1/29
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, Final Fantasy Tactics-
Wow. Yeah. Beat Brothers, got 100% all trophies or whatever. But, as a father of two young boys of around the same age as the characters in the game, this game should come with a warning label or something. Emotionally devastating. But in a good way? Either way, I'm glad I played it and definitely understand what the hype was about.
Stab. Slash. Counter-Attack. Arrow. Potion. Potion. Phoenix Down. Slash. (Almost wanted to turn that into a Haiku, but those are played out, right?) I love these types of games because it's never about quick reflexes or memorizing the perfect route/line. It's about thinking through all of the variables and then deciding your move. So, if you fail, you can only blame your stupid brain and not your diminishing old-man reflexes.
Games finished YTD: 2
Thursday 1/30
Final Fantasy Tactics-
Optimization
I can spend hours, or days
Just in menu screens
Sorry, I can't resist the need to 'ku.
Friday 1/31
Call of Duty: Ghosts, Paint it Back-
Oh, Ghosts, you tricky so-and-so, you turned on the double xp in Extinction Mode just to taunt me, didn't you? I have already prestiged in this mode once, but a few more matches won't hurt none. I still haven't beaten it yet, but I don't see how that's possible playing with randoms. Too many lone-wolves, not enough cooperation and communication. It's still fun to shoot the aliens though. This mode may be what gets me to buy the season pass. I'm hoping the price is right on ebay.
Paint it Back is becoming my new go-to quick game. I wish it had a little more "stakes" to it. Picross has the timer and the five strikes before you had to try again. PiB just has the grim eventuality that I will conquer all puzzles. Just, one or two at a time over the next __ hundred days.
I had an Amazon Promo code that was expiring today, so I used it on Tomb Raider (on sale for $9. -$5 Amazon promo credit, -$4 Amazon trade-in credit = $0.) The new one, not the PS1 game. I still have that in the basement somewhere. (And, of course, I've never finished it.)
I'm still not sure if I should count this as money spent, considering I used the promo code and previous Amazon credit to get the game for free. I wouldn't have bought it without either of those.
YTD Spending: $18.25 (ACTUAL YTD spending, subtracting anything bought with any type of credit: $6.25)
Saturday 2/1
Lego Marvel, Paint it Back-
Chip, chip, chipping away at both of these.
