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2014 Review inc Game of the Year

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I completed 24 games this year (excl DLC) compared to 28 in 2013.

Champ Man (iOS)
Mass Effect 2 (360)
Deadlight (360)
Dust Elysian Tail (360)
Army of Two Devil's Cartel (360)
Danger Boat (iOS)
Football Chairman (iOS)
Deus Ex Human Revolution (360)
Pocket Mine (iOS)
Dice Jockey (iOS)
Ridiculous Fishing (iOS)
Disco Zoo (iOS)
Mass Effect 3 (360)
Portal (360)
Brothers A Tale of Two Sons (PS3)
Unfinished Swan (PS3)
Dead Island Riptide (360)
Epic Astro Story (iOS)
Monument Valley (iOS)
Kiwanuka (iOS)
Walking Dead Season 2 (PS3)
Destiny (PS4)
Wolfenstein New Order (PS4)
Ghost Recon Future Soldier (360)

Highlights throughout the year have been the completion of the Mass Effect Trilogy, Deus Ex Human Revolution, Brothers A Tale of Two Sons, Monument Valley & Destiny. I did spend a lot of time with Destiny (200 hours+) but the game could & should have been so much more. Destiny did however get me playing the PS4 again which I had not really touched since completing AC Black Flag last year.

The game of the year for me is another game from my back catalogue on the 360. Deus Ex Human Revolution is a sci-fi RPG, you are Adam Jenson and after an attack are rebuilt into robocop. You then go after your attackers using the skills & upgrades you unlock in the game to complete the various missions. I usually went for a stealth gameplay approach but the boss fights forced you to use a more full on attack style. The remastered edition of the game did rebalance the boss fights but it was a very buggy release with many issues on the 360 inc corrupted saves so I played the original release.

It has been a real disappointed this year that games are being released not fully tested like Drive_Club, AC Unity, The Crew etc. The rush to release a game for the Xmas shopping window was more important than the quality of the game. Hopefully this will be a lesson learnt for the industry & we won't get any more rush releases in 2015.

I failed on a few predictions I set last year the Vita I ended up selling without a single game completed, I really do not play portable consoles that don't fit in my pocket. I've also written off for now my Steam pile of shame. I don't have the time & I have enough to play on the consoles without thinking about gaming on a PC. 

Mobile gaming with a few exceptions like Monument Valley & Kiwanuka is now just turn based multiplayer like Carcassonne, Lost Cities, Ticket to Ride etc.

Splurge I lost interest in keeping track of what I was spending, I know that I have sold more than I've purchased this year & more important for me is not buying games to store on a shelf but to play.

Predictions then for 2015.

I will be finished with the 360/PS3 back catalogue leaving the PS4 for gaming only.

I'm not ignoring the WiiU but there is nothing I want to play on the console & it really is just the replacement of the 'family Wii console'. However I have enjoyed the time I've spent playing or should I say losing to the kids in Mario Kart 8.

History tells that I will be weak & purchase the XB1 console at some point maybe if & when it hits the £200 mark.

Happy New Year.

Pop’n TwinBee: Rainbow Bell Adventures (Wii U): COMPLETED!

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What_do_these_3_Deadmau5_heads_actually_doIn a (very) late entry into completed games in the year 2014, I give you Pop’n TwinBee: Rainbow Bell Adventures! It’s not a shoot ‘em up like the other Pop’n TwinBee games – instead being a platformer with some elements borrowed from the likes of Castle of Illusion, Sonic the Hedgehog and Super Mario World, but somehow totally different from all of them.

RistarWhereas in the shooter games in the series you pilot a cute spacecraft and take down other cute spacecraft (like a chibi-1941), you pilot a cute spacecraft who runs and jumps around levels punching things and hitting foes with a big hammer. No, really.

I have played it before, a long time ago in an incomprehensible Japanese form, but something made me want to buy the Wii U English eShop version a couple of days ago. I never got very far previously, but made an effort to complete it this time.

ReznorAnd it was great! I did find it pretty easy, most of the bosses especially so, but there were a couple of levels I was stuck on for ages. They were both maze-like and I just couldn’t find the right exit. One of them involved lots of pipes, none of which seemed to take me to the exit which I’d clearly seen but was unable to reach. Another was made up almost entirely of destructible blocks, and although I could locate the exit without much issue, the key on that stage (which you can use to open doors to bonus areas on other stages) was apparently inaccessible. After 20 minutes I gave up looking for a way in.

Death_Egg_ZoneWhich means I finished without collecting all the keys. I don’t think they’re necessary for anything special, though, so I’m not too bothered.

In all, it’s a strange but enjoyable (and very Japanese) game, with varied levels, and it’s a shame I missed it first time round and never paid it much attention until now. Perhaps it’s the way it’s a spin-off, as they often don’t fare too well, but in TwinBee’s case, it’s well worth a look.

Pop’n TwinBee: Rainbow Bell Adventures (Wii U): COMPLETED!

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What_do_these_3_Deadmau5_heads_actually_doIn a (very) late entry into completed games in the year 2014, I give you Pop’n TwinBee: Rainbow Bell Adventures! It’s not a shoot ‘em up like the other Pop’n TwinBee games – instead being a platformer with some elements borrowed from the likes of Castle of Illusion, Sonic the Hedgehog and Super Mario World, but somehow totally different from all of them.

RistarWhereas in the shooter games in the series you pilot a cute spacecraft and take down other cute spacecraft (like a chibi-1941), you pilot a cute spacecraft who runs and jumps around levels punching things and hitting foes with a big hammer. No, really.

I have played it before, a long time ago in an incomprehensible Japanese form, but something made me want to buy the Wii U English eShop version a couple of days ago. I never got very far previously, but made an effort to complete it this time.

ReznorAnd it was great! I did find it pretty easy, most of the bosses especially so, but there were a couple of levels I was stuck on for ages. They were both maze-like and I just couldn’t find the right exit. One of them involved lots of pipes, none of which seemed to take me to the exit which I’d clearly seen but was unable to reach. Another was made up almost entirely of destructible blocks, and although I could locate the exit without much issue, the key on that stage (which you can use to open doors to bonus areas on other stages) was apparently inaccessible. After 20 minutes I gave up looking for a way in.

Death_Egg_ZoneWhich means I finished without collecting all the keys. I don’t think they’re necessary for anything special, though, so I’m not too bothered.

In all, it’s a strange but enjoyable (and very Japanese) game, with varied levels, and it’s a shame I missed it first time round and never paid it much attention until now. Perhaps it’s the way it’s a spin-off, as they often don’t fare too well, but in TwinBee’s case, it’s well worth a look.

Mid Week Challenge 311214

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Every Wednesday on UGVM someone (usually Zo) will post the MWC (Mid Week Challenge). Here you set yourself weekly challenges to encourage you to play. The following week you report back on how you done on the previous week challenges & set yourself some new challenges to try and complete.

This Week
1. Complete Knack - I think I've only got two chapters to go.
2. Reach Act 3 in Watch_Dogs - not sure how many story missions I need to complete. Keep getting side tracked by gang hideouts & various other icons.
3. Get back to playing Destiny - I've not played for over a week. PSN being down & holidays have messed up my gaming timetable.

Things I’ve been playing recently

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Fantasy Life (3DS)

I_m_a_pretty_boy__t_httpt.coZ9NL1XkMp4It’s like 8 RPGs in one! I chose my first life to be a Paladin, applying the logic that any combat required in the other lives may benefit from my skills as a trained killer. Or something. I’m not very far in, only a couple of hours, but I’m already engrossed in the seemingly endless number of sidequests (which, unlike most RPGs, actually affect your progression in the game in a big way), and the game is both charming and interesting. I think I’ve guessed the real identity of Flutter the butterfly already, though, but then perhaps I’m meant to.

A “doom stone” has just smashed into the roof of my house, which can’t be a good thing. Now I have to go off and find another one.

Persona 4 Golden (Vita)

tumblr_ngyez0p4no1svmpf2o1_1280It took a lot of attempts, but I finally managed to defeat the boss at the top of Yukiko’s castle. Having done so, I asked around about it and it seems that having all your characters on around level 15 (the same level Yukiko is when she joins your party afterwards) is recommended.

All mine were on 10 or 11. Yeah, that’ll be why it was hard.

Once_you_pop___t_httpt.cof7YNA00Kv7I’m a bit concerned about the inability to grind and the forced time limit on defeating each boss before the fog claims the next victim, but I’ve been assured that you can still grind as much as you want (until you run low on SP) by revisiting completed dungeons and never leaving. So, after rescuing Yukiko I spent some time redoing her castle to level up. Reached a new boss at the end of it, which can wipe out my entire party in a single hit. Methinks I should probably avoid him for a bit…

Super Smash Bros U (Wii U)

WIN (1)I’ve barely touched it so far, but have played through some of the single player modes a bit, and had a few fights online (which, sadly, were so badly lagged they were impossible to play), but I can already see that the huge amount of content and collectables will keep me coming back. Hopefully it’ll be a return to the greatness of the Gamecube game, as the Wii one wasn’t great (although I put that mainly down to the controls).

Scribble Shooter (Vita)

tumblr_ngwlhdv8j01svmpf2o1_1280This may be a demo, but it’s hard to tell. It’s a Playstation Home Arcade game, but there doesn’t seem to be a way to purchase the full version so I don’t know if it’s just very, very short or what. It was quite good fun but over very quickly.

Wipeout 2D (Vita)

tumblr_ngwk8xmxnc1svmpf2o1_1280Another Playstation Home Arcade game. It’s exactly what it suggests – Wipeout in 2D. It plays like Super Sprint, but the handling feels terrible and I didn’t really enjoy it. Motorstorm RC is a billion times better, and the similar F-Zero themed minigame in Nintendoland is what Wipeout 2D wishes it was.

Hyrule Warriors (Wii U)

One_left_to_open__Probably_6__of_the_game_complete_overall.Of course. This just keeps on giving! I’ve a single square in Adventure Mode left to open now, and it’s proving pretty difficult. I’m having to level up some rarely used characters to build up to another attempt, but I keep getting sidetracked and hunt for better weapons and stuff instead.

I’ve bought my first Amiibo this week, and, which Hyrule Warriors in mind, it had to be Link. He unlocked the Spinner weapon which is awesome to use. Sadly, it’s only a Level 1 weapon so only does 80 damage. It’s kind of made up for with Link himself being on Level 112, but a 420 damage Spinner would be nice!

Apparently I can use the Amiibo once a day to unlock more stuff, so I’ll be giving that a go.

Hello Kitty Happy Happy Family (Demo) (3DS)

tumblr_ngoy7mbxfj1svmpf2o1_1280Sadly, not a return to form for Kitty. I was hoping for something more like the fantastic (truthfully) Hello Kitty Roller Rescue, or even the GBA Happy Party Pals game, but no – it’s a sub-Cooking Mama set of rubbish minigames. What a shame, although I did expect this was how it was going to be.

Weapon Shop de Omasse (3DS)

tumblr_nh7nfs6h1d1svmpf2o1_400All the Level 5 Guild 01/02 games have been on offer recently, so I picked this up cheap along with The Starship Damrey. I haven’t played it a great deal yet, only through the tutorial and as far as the french bloke and the two girls returning from their quests. Seems quite good so far though – a sort of rhythm action game where you make the weapons and level them up by sending them out with adventurers. It’s pretty funny too, especially the almost Twitter-like Grindcast, which updates you on the quests your customers go on.