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Bastion (360): COMPLETED!

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A beautiful game. Gorgeous to look at. Fantastic music. Fun to play. Somewhat short, and incredibly easy (I didn’t die at all, ever), but really, really good.

After a few levels, I’d settled on the Fang Repeater and Machete as my weapon paring of choice. I set my special attack as the spinning shield thing, but frankly, I never needed it. Of course, I’d pick up other weapons along the way, but until I found the Calamity Cannon I swapped back to my mainstays as soon as possible. Both sword and gun were upgraded almost completely by the end, and tore through pretty much everything in seconds or less.

Spoilers follow…

The final few levels were a bit different from the rest of the game. Not only did I acquire the ability to jump (which was needed for about three minutes, when the game momentarily became a platformer), but I also picked up a massive battering ram, which replaced all my weapons until near the end of the level.

I chose to rescue Zulf, and then a slow walk to the skyway, whilst being shot at a lot until the Ura decided not to attack any more, and then chose the “evacuate” ending.

And then stupidly started New Game+, which meant I couldn’t return to the Bastion just prior to the final level and get the other ending. Tch.

Bastion (360)

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After finishing Rayman, I found myself without a “currently playing” console game. Sure, I have a few that I’ve finished but not 100%ed, that I could have returned to (like Lego Harry Potter 2, Skylanders, or more Rayman), and yeah, I’ve Luigi’s Mansion on the go for “on the go”, and sure, I have The Wonderful 101 sat there unplayed… but I thought I’d play Bastion.

I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. I’d been told it was good, and I’d read it was “a bit like Diablo” (which I’ve never really played), and some people said Heroes of Ruin was quite similar and I have played that, but I didn’t expect it to be exactly like Skylanders.

OK, that’s an exaggeration. But it is very similar. Levels set in the sky. A narrator. A hub world you gradually built on using items called “cores”. Lots of barrels and chests and boxes in each level to smash and get money from. Upgrades to your weapons that you spend money on. Characters that gradually populate the hub world. Similar weapons. No jump button. Similar enemies. Similar graphical style.

You may say it’s all coincidence. You may say it’s a disservice to say Bastion is like Skylanders. But the fact remains – they are very, very similar. In a good way. Because I liked Skylanders and I like this.

I’m not terribly far in yet, having only just rescued the first guy and built the first building on the east half of the Bastion itself. I’ve currently settled on the bow and machete as my weapons of choice, with a mirror shield as a special. I’m really enjoying plowing through all the enemies, and the narrator is brilliant (and doesn’t interrupt what you’re doing so much as on Skylanders).

Rayman Legends (Wii U): COMPLETED!

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raymanlegendsBy “completed”, I of course mean, I’ve got to the end credits. See. I don’t have all 700 teensies, or a million lums, or have done all the Origin levels (I haven’t even unlocked most of them) or opened Living Dead Party, but I’ve completed the story.

I played about 60% of the game in co-op with my daughter, which was fun. She generally took on the role of Murfy for those levels where he’s a part, and she did a pretty good job too – even on the harder levels. The last 40% of the game, though, I played through myself.

It’s a great title. It’s better than Origins (not least because it contains Origins), plays fantastically, looks beautiful, and is challenging without being impossible. It is somewhat easier than Origins, however, with the final boss being something of a walkover. This was only slightly disappointing though.

However, despite all the fun and greatness, there’s a niggle that it isn’t quite as good as lots of people have said. I’m not sure what. It feels much bigger than it actually is, which might be it. Or it could be the lower difficulty. Or maybe the shortage of the excellent music levels. I don’t know.

I’m glad I got the Wii U version, though, as the 360/PS3 versions would really be missing out with the lack of proper Murfy levels and two-screen co-op. And everything said, I haven’t actually paid for it, so that was a bonus too!

Need for Speed: Most Wanted U (Wii U): COMPLETED!

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nfsmwuI am Most Wanted! As the saucy minx on the game purred to tell me. I beat the Konigseggsegssgg and took it down to claim it as my own, and that was it – fourteen hours of credits, followed by being dumped back in the game to play some more, only in an invisible car.

And play some more I did. Firstly, to find all of the remaining jack spots (I had about 15 remaining – only one was difficult to find, and that was because it was several floors up in a building), and then I set out to find the three green pipes and the special paint jobbed cars within.

There are still a lot of races and events to do, and I’ve barely played online. I did for a bit this evening, but it’s not as fun as in Burnout Paradise. In fact, that sort of rings true for the whole game. It is really, really good. I love it, and the graphics are fantastic, and I really enjoyed the soundtrack and having “real” cars, but ultimately, it’s Burnout Paradise 2. Only with a seemingly smaller, less varied world, fewer event and event types, no “make your own route” point-to-point races, and no Guns ‘n’ Roses.