Week: End: Game: On 01.18.2014

Welcome back to another edition of Week: End Game: On! What games are the Dojo staffers playing this weekend? Read on to find out!

Anthony Vigna

For those that are unaware, I’ve been without my 3DS XL for over a month! After noticing damage on my system, I sent it in to Nintendo for repair and received it three weeks later with unfixed damages. It goes without saying that I was ridiculously upset about the state it was in, especially because I’m itching to try out A Link Between Worlds, so I had to send it in for repair once more.

Because of this turn of events, I’ve been extremely limited in my gaming options. To hold me off until I get my system back, I’ve been playing Puzzle and Dragons on iPhone daily. The game is a really cool JRPG that uses puzzle elements of Bejeweled for issuing attacks and the monster catching elements of Pokémon for forming elemental teams in every dungeon. I’m not the biggest fan of its micro-transaction set-up, but this issue will be solved once the west finally gets Puzzle and Dragons Z on 3DS. I hope developer GungHo pinpoints a release date for it soon! I also picked up a used copy of Puzzle Quest 2 on DS, which plays like Puzzle and Dragons without the monster catching and more of a focus on customizable classes. Unfortunately, the only way I can play it is by using my original, bulky DS! But I’ll trudge on for the sake of the game, since I’ve enjoyed it immensely so far.

Jon Stevens

Unlike Anthony, I’m lucky enough to currently have a fully functioning 3DS and so will be engrossed in a combination of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds and Wii U this weekend. Both of these were Christmas presents and for some reason I’ve been neglecting them for far too long in favour of the real world.

I’ve been traveling a lot recently though and so far have really enjoyed the small size of the first few dungeons in A Link Between Worlds. The bite sized chunks are just perfect for train journeys– although I do still feel slightly offended when the game advises me to take a break. While sailing the seas again in Wii U’s HD remake is great fun, there’s nothing like sitting down to a brand new Zelda game!

Nicolas Vestre

Not quite so long ago, I groggily woke up at 2 a.m. to use the facilities. As I was walking out of my room to the bathroom, I knocked down my Wii U off my TV desk onto the ground! Even in a sleepy stupor, I could comprehend what just happened (not to mention it woke up the entire household). The first thing I did was inspect for physical damage to the system itself; amazingly, there was only one tiny scratch! My Wii U was vertical, and seemed to have landed on the supports on the bottom of it (one of them went flying across the room). The next step was to try everything imaginable, from connecting to the Internet to reading Wii U and Wii discs (including dual layers); all systems go! It’s like my Wii U has gotten a new lease on life. It would be such a shame to have to send it in again, since it’s only been home for a couple of months since my launch day Wii U was replaced.

Needless to say, I put the Wii U in a place where it will never get knocked down again. Let’s hope it lasts a long time!

Besides my Wii U taking a tumble, I spent many hours trying to get my PS3 to update LittleBigPlanet 2, all to no avail. I gave my PS3 a static IP address, power cycled my router and modem twice, and put my PS3 in the DMZ, but nothing worked! The only next step was to phone Sony, where the representative got me to power cycle my router (again) and use the automatic settings to connect to Wi-Fi. The download started immediately. All those hours painstakingly spent looking for a solution, and that’s what fixed it? Oh well– I hope I never have to give another second of consideration to this matter ever again.

Other than going insane because of my PS3, I’ve been playing Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, where I’ve finally made a decent chunk of progress. I just fought a giant Wiggler that was full of rage (his words), and didn’t really have an issue with him. I should mention that I’ve been wearing the original boots, hammer and armor since the beginning of the game, just to make it a bit more challenging. I’ve completed every available Expert Challenge so far, with the aim of getting all 1,000 points. I can’t wait to get back into the game!

Besides that, I’m going to use my 24-hour trial in Wii Sports Club to play some tennis with my sister. I just got a Luigi Wii Remote Plus (yay for green!), my first Wii Remote purchase in seven years, so it should be extra fun serving tennis balls with that.

Lastly, things in Animal Crossing: New Leaf are going great. I’ve made tons of Snowmen, Snowboys, Snowmams and a couple of Snowtykes. I couldn’t be bothered to catch all those snowflakes for Snowmam, so I built a couple of them in my mom’s town, and she gave me all the Ice furniture in exchange. Now I’m trying to win bingos with Snowman, but the odds always seem stacked against me. After getting all the Snowman items, I’ll move onto building Snowboys. I’ve bred some more flowers, including Purple Tulips, Black Cosmos, and others. My next step will probably be to breed Carnations.

Now to wait until March to catch a Loach and finish my fishing encyclopedia…

Andy Hoover

Does it count when I use my Wii U to watch Hulu? If so then I will probably be finishing up watching Attack on Titan sometime this weekend.

As for gaming, I’m not really 100% sure at this point. I just finished up all the races in Forza 5 finally so I’ll be moving on to something else very shortly. The most obvious choice is probably Super Mario 3D World; I’ve already put quite a bit of time into the game but there is still a lot of the late game content I need to work on. Then again, there are also a slew of games across numerous platforms that I have barely touched or, in far too many cases, not even started yet, so getting some time in there would also be helpful.

Or perhaps I will finally check out the Bravely Default demo and decide whether or not I’ll invest in the full game. I’ve heard many fantastic things about it, but I don’t really know if I’m in the mood for an old-school JRPG at the moment.

Oh well, I’ll think of something.

Robert Marrujo

I’m back in Call of Duty mode, lately, but I’ve been avoiding Ghosts and playing Black Ops II, instead. There are still quite a few people playing it on Wii U, and the competition remains fierce. I’ve been having trouble getting into Ghosts. I don’t have a flatscreen TV, and for some reason, Ghosts is only viewable in widescreen, so everything looks too tiny. Plus, I don’t know, Ghosts just feels like a step backwards compared to Black Ops II. I think everyone just needs to accept that Treyarch is THE Call of Duty developer now. Infinity Ward has really become second fiddle since the mediocre online multiplayer of Modern Warfare 3.

In terms of handhelds, I’m really having fun replaying the Sonic Advance games on Game Boy Advance. I dug out my Micro and got it all charged up to play the games. Anyone who wants to talk smack about Sonic games being awful for “years” really needs a reality check. There have been some great Sonic games since the end of the Dreamcast era, you just have to know where to look. Along with these, the Sonic Rush titles are another solid pair of Blue Blur titles. They’re next once I’m done with the GBA trilogy!

Anthony Pershkin

This week I’ve played through the entirety of Killer is Dead for the second time. While the balance of Scarlett’s challenge missions is still a little bit random, overall I really enjoyed the Hard difficulty mode. I would even go as far as to say that if you’re starting your first playthrough, you better off choosing the higher difficulty. What amazes me the most about this game is how it doesn’t really have a very deep combat system, yet it feels so fluid and satisfying. Suda51 and his team are improving with every game they make, so I can’t wait to see what they can pull off with Lily Bergamo on PS4.
Other than that, I’ve been doing a lot of game hunting. I finally found a copy of The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie’s Revenge. You know, that weird character action game from Capcom about Jack Skellington. Also, I bought Gitaroo Man Lives!, Ape Escape 3, and Custom Robo Arena. I always liked the original GamecCube Custom Robo, so I’m curious to see how does the sequel compare to it.

What about you? What games will you be playing this weekend? Let us know in the comments!