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Welcome to another installment of Week: End Game: On! What games are the staff playing this weekend? Read on to find out!
Anthony Pelone
Lately, it’s been all about Star Fox Zero for me. I’m a huge Star Fox 64 fan, and I’m quite tickled at how much the new game lifts from it. Not everything it introduces is perfect, but I’m amazed I initially went from “I’m not sure I’m feeling these controls…” to grinning like an idiot by the end. Sector B, Fortuna, and Fichina are my favorite missions by far, and I loooove the Star Wolf encounters! By the way, many have said the controls for the Walker are too hard, but I’ve found them to be quite natural. Anyone else feel the same way?
Aside from that, I’ve been diving into the realm of NES JRPGs. I’ve finally entered the realms of Final Fantasy and Dragon Warrior (or should I say Dragon Quest?). Well, “finally” might be a bit late, as I’ve actually been plugging away at them for the past couple months. I’m right at the end of Dragon Warrior, but I’ve only just now reached the fire dungeon in Final Fantasy. For me, it’s great researching how the JRPG was kicked off by these two famous titles, but I prefer Final Fantasy’s team battle system as opposed to Dragon Warrior’s emphasis on level-grinding. Regardless, I’m looking forward to their second entries!
Marc Deschamps
Glad to see I’m not the only member of the team enjoying Star Fox Zero. It amazes me that this game has gotten some bad reviews! It’s a lot of fun, and it’s also the best game in the franchise we’ve gotten since the N64 days! The control scheme certainly does take some getting used to, but I’m finding that I really like the use of the Wii U GamePad for the cockpit view. The more I play the game, the more natural it becomes switching between the two viewpoints. It’s actually pretty clever!
Even though I’ve wrapped up my review of Pokkén Tournament, I’ve still been spending a bit of time with the fighter. I’m getting better online with Chandelure, and my losses tend to be fairly close (though I do still have the occasional clock-cleaning). I don’t really see the Ghost-type Pokémon pop up all that often online, so I think that does give me a slight advantage. Still, I’ve fallen quite a few times to Pikachu Libre!
My replay of Pokémon Red is in the home stretch, as well. I just cleared Victory Road, but my team for the Elite Four just needs a little more training, first. Outside of a pair of minor alterations, I’ll be facing the League with the same team I had on my first play through WAY back in 1999! That includes Charizard, Fearow, Hitmonlee and Electabuzz with Vileplume (in place of Gloom) and Starmie (in place of Articuno). As much as I’m enjoying my replay, there are definitely some things I miss about the newer iterations: for one, that little Pokéball icon that tells you which Pokémon you’ve already caught! I’ve caught a few duplicate Pokémon unintentionally lately, and I’m finding I really miss that small, yet important, addition. Also, I nearly missed out on catching Moltres because I didn’t have enough room in my PC box! Thankfully I saved beforehand! As much as I love Red and Blue, I’m definitely thankful for how far this series has progressed!
I’m also still playing Shovel Knight, as well. The old-school gameplay is great, but it can be really daunting at the same time. I’m happy I just came off my review of Mega Man Legacy Collection, because it’s helped me get back into the groove of this type of game. As a gamer that grew up in the late days of the NES, I really am impressed by Shovel Knight‘s authenticity. It really feels like a title that would have come out back in 1991 or ’92!
Jon Stevens
“Welcome back Commander…”
I’ve finally gone ahead and bought X-Com 2 this week and so have been trying my hardest to push back against the alien occupation. I loved the game’s prequel (having never played the originals) and, for me, it’s one of the best turn based strategy series’ out there at the moment– well, at least until the new Fire Emblem games are released in the UK, that is.
Besides that, having just bought the excellent new Nintendo-centred Humble Bundle, I plan on playing Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse this weekend. I’ve never actually played a game in the series, but the series is well known for producing some excellent 2D platformers, so I thought it was time that I tried one of them. I’ll have to share my thoughts on this next week once I’ve finally given it a go!
Robert Marrujo
Star. Fox. Zero. Wow. It’s been a real thrill getting back into an Arwing and blasting fools in space. I’ll admit, I’m still not 100 percent sold on the motion controls; I haven’t found them to be nearly worth the hassle that they are to use from a gameplay standpoint. That said, they do work, and the bulk of my time playing has been primarily centered around normal shooting versus this new fangled GamePad waggling.
It’s gorgeous, by the way. Back when I previewed it at this past E3, it wasn’t nearly as pretty to look at as it is now. The water shimmering as I zoomed into Corneria really blew my mind. I’m pretty curious as to how damned good the graphics on NX will be considering how impressive Nintendo’s first-party Wii U games have looked.
Beyond that, I’m looking forward to booing up Pokémon Rumble World. I greatly enjoyed the free-to-play version, but being free of the constraints of that irritating pay model will probably only make the game that much better. I have fun with these sort of mindless brawling games, and the Pokémon veneer only makes such an experience all the more better.
What games are you playing this weekend? Let us know in the comments!
