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The Lego Movie Videogame (Wii U): COMPLETED!

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tumblr_n6eqkywexu1svmpf2o1_1280I do love a good Lego game. I’m actually quite keen on the bad ones too, although there aren’t really any. None I’ve played, anyway, and I don’t count any Lego game that isn’t the now-standard collect everything smash everything OCDfest style Lego game.

However, despite all of them (even the Harry Potter ones) being generally fantastic, most are full of bugs. Very few have failed to not lock up my console at least once, and most have scripting errors where triggered events don’t trigger. This game, however, is the very worst when it comes to bugs. So. Many. Bugs. It’s like that bit in Wreck-It Ralph where all the eggs hatch.

Bugs, not limited to the following:

  • Console lockups (Wii U needs unplugging)
  • Controls simply not working
  • Player 1 suddenly controlling player 2 (and player 2′s controller doing nothing)
  • Wii U gamepad suddenly not showing that player’s screen
  • Scripted sequences not happening
  • Sound disappearing completely from cut scenes
  • Level music “running out”, leaving just sound effects
  • Being able to collect 4 of 3 instruction sheets
  • Being unable to progress past the level end score roundup thing
  • Getting stuck in scenery
  • The 10th gold brick in the bonus level (on top of the desk) not appearing
  • Being unable to grapple on Batman/Wonder Woman grapple points
  • Indestructible Micro Managers (which you have to defeat to progress)
  • Getting trapped in Brickburg hub was Lord Business with his big legs on
  • On screen prompts telling me to press Z or C when using a Controller Pro. Got that a lot. And B, when they mean Y
  • The dancing minigame not accepting any input from either controller
  • Being stuck as Angry Unikitty forever, meaning I can’t progress as she’s too big to enter a door
  • Once the game deciding I wanted to play split screen on the TV half way through a level instead of a screen each like for the whole of the rest of the game

Dance_magic_danceBUGS. And that’s not my only complaint. This game is really short. I think the previous most shortestest Lego game I’ve 100%ed was Lego Pirates of the Caribbean (which also happens to be the previous most buggiestest too), which I think took about 9 hours to finish, and about 30 to 100%. Lego Movie took 8 hours to finish, and 12 hours to reach where I am now at about 82%. The rest is just gold instruction manual and hidden pants mop up – I’ve done all the red bricks and characters already!

Dell_tasticBut none of this really matters because the game is great. The characters and cutscenes (mostly ripped right from the film) are great. It’s all great. But not Everything is Awesome, sadly.

Perhaps the release date was tight as it needed to tie in with the film. Perhaps it’s a bit simplified because it’s aimed a little more at kids than previous titles. Maybe it’s just the Wii U version hampered by all the bugs (although I suspect not). Whatever it is holding it back is a shame, but even the worst Lego game is still a great Lego game.

Completed – Unfinished Swan

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I think the kids enjoyed this game more than me, the girls enjoyed helping me find the various balloons to collect.  They were slightly frightened by the forest levels but luckily I quickly ran through those.

Once I had collected 30 balloons I unlocked the hose which saves your fingers from RSI strain.

The story I think is about Monroe coping with the loss of his Mother but unlike Brothers A Tale of Two Sons it did not tug at me emotionally through the gameplay.

I did however enjoy the Journey Easter Egg in the game, the story unfolding through scattered letters & the gameplay mechanics changing through the various levels.

Looking forward to the of the WiiU where I can see more enjoyment coming from local play with the kids.

Completed – Brothers A Tale of Two Sons – *SPOILER ALERT*

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*SPOILER ALERT*


DO NOT CONTINUE READING FURTHER BECAUSE I WILL DISCUSS SPOILERS ABOUT THE GAME.







PS+ is such a good deal that I am baffled with the games Sony give away. Brothers A Tale of Two Sons was on quite a few Games of the Year 2013 lists so it was on my list to purchase at some point but luckily was given away in March with PS+.

The game starts off with a sad opening showing the brothers mother drowning & the younger brother struggling to save her. Back to the present day, their father falls ill & you have to take him to the village doctor. This sequence introduces you to the unique control method, where you control both characters.
The older brother using the left thumbstick & the younger the right thumbstick. It takes a while to get familiar with the control, I found it easier having the older brother in front & the younger running behind.

The Doctor tasks you with finding a cure for your father's illness & thus begins the game. You will journey through many obstacles, see strange lands & creatures, enjoy the simple puzzles & fun sequences like the gliding plane.

One of these sequences has you saving a damsel in distress & you follow her away from danger in the hope she is leading you to the cure for your father but she transform into a spider and during the boss fight the older brother is wounded.

Upon reaching the tree of life you rest your wounded brother up against a log & rush up to retrieve some healing water. What follows is easily the most emotional sequence I have seen in a video game since Aeris dying in Final Fantasy 7.

You return to find your brother dead, you try to give him the water but nothing happens. A Flashback shows you hugging your older brother before the camera pans down to show the dead body. The game then shows you digging a grave & you have to drag your brothers body to the grave. Then bury it with four piles of earth, you will always remember how many piles of earth because this moment will stick with you forever.

You return to the village with the help of the griffin. Upon reaching the shoreline you realise you can't cross the water. The younger brother has always been scared of the water because of his mother drowning & it was only with the help of his older brother was he able to swim.

I ran around the shoreline thinking there must be another way to get across? The mothers spirit appears to comfort the younger brother, damm this game is tugging at my heart strings !!

I then pressed up on the left analogue stick & the younger brother swam across, using the strength of his older brother memories he made it across & gave the cure to the doctor.

The final sequence shows the father breaking down in tears in front of the tombstones of his wife & son but the younger brother stares into the distance.

Breathe .. what a game !!

So much emotion, I spent ages thinking & reading up about the game afterwards. The older brother dying? The younger brother summoning the courage to swim? The damsel in distress?


Edge (Wii U): COMPLETED!

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tumblr_n6761hae9e1svmpf2o1_1280None of the levels are especially hard, so it was only a matter of time before my play on this, sporadic as it was, brought me to the end.

Some levels were fun, and overall the game is good, but a few levels are ruined by making walls and floors move without giving you time to react. You have no option but to die, because you don’t know what is coming next. Sure, dying isn’t that terrible here – you’ve no limit on lives and you can still S rank a level even if you peg it multiple times – but those levels where you only progress a little bit further each attempt then die because something else unexpected happens, over and over, take something from the formula.

Still, it was less than two quid, kept me entertained for several hours (over many weeks), and the music and art style are both fantastic. Even if there aren’t enough tracks so they repeat just a little too frequently.

I’ve still got the bonus levels (bonus == optional) to finish off, so it’s not all over yet, but the main two game modes are done, so it’s completed in by book.

Scram Kitty and His Buddy on Rails (Wii U): COMPLETED!

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First_quadkitty_completion_It has been a long time since I’ve been hooked on a shooter. Obviously, Scram Kitty isn’t just a shooter. It’s more a… erm, puzzle game? Platformer? All of the above?

It’s damn hard, that much is certain. So how come I got hooked on a shooter (not my sort of thing) which was damn hard (I’m a wuss with hard games)? Aside from it not being a shooter, of course. Despite all the shooting.

tumblr_n659sjjtjt1svmpf2o1_1280I don’t know. Some of it is the gorgeous pixel art. Some is probably the clever game mechanics of being stuck to rails and every surface having gravity. Some is the gotta catch ‘em all gameplay. The main thing is it’s addictive and I just wanted to keep playing.

Having now completed it, I’m not sure I’m as compelled to keep saving kitties as I was. You need 70 to open up the last level, and I suspect it’s 100 in total to get them all. I just don’t have the skill to do that. Hitting 70 was a struggle, and, truth be told, once I hit 50 I thought I was done. As fun as the game is, and as great as it feels to get all the kitties in a level, I just can’t bear to spend hours more chasing the same cat over and over.

tumblr_n659s4grt11svmpf2o1_1280I don’t think that matters though. I’ve had lots of fun and really enjoyed it. It’s definitely one of the better games on the Wii U eShop, and I can fully recommend it to anyone – shooter fan or not. It’s unique, stylish and rewarding.

And it’s full of cats. What’s not to love?