Games I’ve Been Playing Over The Break

I know posting has slowed to a crawl lately and that’s on me. I’ve been sick, in fact, the whole family came down with coughing and fever. It was touch and go for my littlest one but thankfully we didn’t need to take him to the ER like we feared. But being sick isn’t without its advantages: it gave me a headstart on my holiday gaming.

I’ve been playing a lot of games. Well, to be accurate, I should say that I’ve put in a lot of game time over a handful of games during the holiday break. Here’s what I’ve been playing with a few micro reviews:

The Last of Us and The Last of Us: Left Behind

This originally came out for the PS3 and then remastered for PS4. I skipped a whole two generations of games (PS2 and PS3) due to growing my family but now that they are a bit older and can wipe their own asses, I’m glad some of the gems are being remastered/re-released for PS4, like The Last of Us and its DLC Left Behind. And I gotta say, I really enjoyed this game. The story, acting, direction, all top notch. It more than deserves all the accolades it has received. Definitely for mature audiences as there is quite a bit of violence and gore. With the sequel coming out next year, I really wanted to finish both the main game and the DLC before that came out. What a ride it was. I may or may not go back to get more trophies at some point, but I have too many other games in the backlog to get to. Like…

Rise of the Tomb Raider

Another one for mature audiences. Tomb Raider was one of the first games I bought for the original PlayStation system. This revamp though, is on a whole other level. Rise of the Tomb Raider tickles my exploration fancy, but there seems to be a ton more action and battles against humans than there are puzzles and caverns to explore. Despite that, I’m about 30% of the way in and enjoying every second. I’ll probably have to pick up Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition at some point. And I’m half-expecting the third installment to be named Dawn of the Tomb Raider.

PaRappa the Rapper Remastered

This one was another one of my original PSOne games, and when I saw PaRappa The Rapper Remastered on PlayStation store, nostalgia kicked into overdrive. And it’s remastered? Done deal. However, I was disappointed to see that the game uses the original PS1 cinematics and that the “remastered” portions are only the songs you rap to. The wiggle room on the button presses seem to be non-existent; you have to be pretty damn precise when it comes to hitting the correct button on the mark to maintain your rating. It was $14.99 so I’m not out a lot of money, and the songs are still as catchy as I remember them to be. Butter butter butter joins the bowl! That being said, it’s kind of hard for me to recommend it.

RIVE: Ultimate Edition for Nintendo Switch

Yes, I’m still playing this. I’m still working through the challenges and trying to get the achievements. After playing RIVE on both the PS4 and Switch versions, I think Two Tribes nerfed the Switch edition slightly, even on hard difficulty. Some stages seem a tad easier. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still brutal, but slightly less so on the Switch than on the PS4.

Splatoon 2

Splatoon 2 is still my favorite shooter. I did the recent Sweater vs. Socks Splatfest but haven’t put in all nighters like I used to. There’s a bunch of new weapons and stages so I’ll have to head back to Inkopolis soon. One of my favorite games on Switch and if you’re a new Switch owner from a holiday gift and looking for a fun multiplayer game, you can’t go wrong.

LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2

I actually gave up on this one. One thing that bugged me about myself is that I’d start games and rarely finish them. The Last of Us? That was actually my third time starting the game over again before I finally followed it through to the end. This game though? I’ve actually given up on LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 and I am okay with it. That should tell you how I feel about that game. I still have to finish the review. I’ve written most of it, just need to get the photos and videos downloaded/uploaded.

I should call myself the Slowpoke Gamer because there’s a ton of games on my backlog I want to play. Rise of the Tomb Raider is taking up my nights the past couple of days, but the other games on my to play/to finish list are Super Mario Odyssey, Breath of the Wild, Horizon Zero Dawn, the Uncharted franchise, Floor Kids, Song of the Deep just to name a few (Floor Kids received some pretty good reviews, so it may be one of those sleeper hits that people mistakenly overlook, kinda like RIVE). One of my goals during the break was to finish TLOU at least, so I’m feeling pretty good about that.

And yes, I still have a bunch of LEGO reviews to do too. Sigh… the pile never ends does it.