'Tis the Season for Portable Games

I'm reaching the end of a trip to my hometown to see my family, which means I have spent several days away from my home… and from my gaming consoles. To get my holiday fix, I've been relying on my 3DS and PS Vita. Somehow it feels right to be playing portable games at Christmastime. One of the best Christmas gifts I've ever received—and the one I most vividly remember—was the original Gameboy that sparked my obsession with Tetris.

This season, I have played three games that have proved to be excellent portable experiences. They have gotten me through the airport, through seemingly endless family gatherings, and through the hours spent at the homes of relatives who have no internet (or who cannot find their passwords). These games are:

1) Child of Light

Although Child of Light is clearly modeled on JRPGs, it does not match them in length. (If we're being honest, it doesn't match them in depth, either.) But the short length of the game and its frequent chapter breaks make it manageable while on a long family visit. You can definitely knock out a significant chunk of the game whenever you break free of the family maelstrom. I'm on chapter eight out of ten, and I haven't needed to put in an exorbitant amount of time.

Aurora from Child of Light
(Image taken from childoflight.wikia.com)

Unfortunately, Child of Light does not offer manual saves. But it does autosave every time I adjust my characters' skill points and oculi. Even when I've had to suddenly quit because family responsibilities called, I've never lost too much progress, and it was easy to pick up where I left off. This may be the most portable RPG I have ever played.

2) Animal Crossing: New Leaf

Animal Crossing is one of those games that I come back to every few months, and it's the first life sim I've ever truly enjoyed. I'm not committed enough to visit my town every single day… but I might return during a specific season to try and catch an elusive fish. My interest in Animal Crossing tends to spike around the holidays. I think it's because this game is perfect to pick up and play when surrounded by family. Even when you can't play for long, you can get something accomplished, whether it's digging up fossils or solidifying relationships with your neighbors. Animal Crossing also doesn't consume too much mental desk space. If a relative walks into the room while I'm playing and starts talking to me, I can welcome the distraction without having problems more serious than scaring off a bug or losing a fish on my line. Animal Crossing is also cute, so I never feel awkward when my grandma asks what I'm playing.

3) Theatrhythm Final Fantasy

My most beloved game of this holiday season is definitely Theatrhythm Final Fantasy, a rhythm game based on music from the Final Fantasy series. I received it as an early Christmas gift, and I've been crazy about it ever since. I loathe being stuck in airports, but this game made the time fly by so fast that I barely noticed. This magic seems to result from the fact that Theatrhythm is highly absorbing, but you focus on perfecting individual songs or sets of songs rather than on a deep storyline. Even if you have to stop suddenly because it's time to board the plane, you aren't going to be quitting in the middle of a complicated quest.

So cute! So addictive!
(Image taken from gameinformer.com)

The game is also extra appealing to me because, as a lifelong Final Fantasy player, I have fond memories of a lot of the music and characters. Back in the day, my brother and I rented FFVI from Blockbuster so often that I'm surprised we never just went out and bought it. And I won't lie, I got a little misty when I heard "Aerith's Theme" from FFVII for the first time in many years. It's been fun during the Christmas season to relive some of my fondest childhood memories, many of which center on gaming.

I'm almost looking forward to playing my way through another day of air travel tomorrow.

Almost.

Amiibo: What a Bummer

I've been very excited about Nintendo's Amiibo toys. We ordered several from the first set, and have had a blast at home training them up as Super Smash Bros. allies and sparring partners. Also, what's not to love about having little toy versions of your favorite Nintendo characters?

Amiibo figures may be toys, but unfortunately they aren't all fun and games. I figured that a few characters would become rare—Marth, for example, is not necessarily a favorite character among children and would only have limited use in non-Smash Bros. games. But things have really gotten out of hand, and it's got me feeling sick of Amiibo figures altogether. 

Back in November, I preordered three Amiibo figures: Captain Falcon and Little Mac from Target, and Lucario from Toys R Us. I have now been screwed out of all three of them, because my orders were canceled early yesterday morning without any explanation or recourse. Lucario was a Toys R Us exclusive, and thus can't be found at a different store. But I'm livid about Captain Falcon and Little Mac. Target, if you weren't going to hold up your end of the bargain, why didn't you say so early enough for me to preorder from somebody else? 

NO CAPTAIN FALCON FOR YOU.
(Image taken from IGN.)

A combination of low Amiibo stock and toy scalpers has started to cause problems for everyone, not just me. And I'm not the only one feeling massively turned off by the experience. The market for Amiibo figures is already excruciatingly tight, but rather than promise more product in the near future, Nintendo suggested that it has "discontinued" several Amiibo figures—and that they may never return. For all my anger at the retailers who have failed to live up to their pre-order promises, the real culprit in all of this is Nintendo. 

Nintendo has had a bad year in terms of profits, and it's far behind XBox and PlayStation in terms of console sales. But things were really looking up. High quality games like Mario Kart 8, Bayonetta 2, and Super Smash Bros. Wii U have been generating both goodwill and console sales. Plus, new Zelda and Star Fox games are on the docket for next year. 

Unfortunately, my goodwill towards Nintendo is pretty much in the gutter right now. In my home, we've consistently purchased and enjoyed Nintendo products even when every gaming news outlet was speculating about the company's impending doom. Rather than keep up the steady production of fun, quality games for families to play, Nintendo went for a cash grab and created products that are inaccessible to average people. Many of the Amiibos being sold right now will probably remain suspended in their original packaging for decades to come, hoarded by toy scalpers and avid collectors who would pay $25,000 for a legless Peach Amiibo. 

Nintendo's greed is also going to create a separate problem: How are we supposed to fully enjoy Nintendo games that feature Amiibo support, if it's not possible to access the full range of Amiibos? Nintendo is maneuvering itself into a position where it needs to either reduce Amiibo interaction with games—which makes the figures pointless for people who actually want to play with them—or accept the fact that large numbers of Nintendo fans will be unable to enjoy Nintendo products in their entirety. 

It's clear that Nintendo has already thought of this, to some extent. Miyamoto recently hinted that Amiibo cards might enter the market as an alternative to rare or discontinued Amiibo figures. But this solution isn't sounding so hot to me right now. Even if there are Amiibo cards, I'll know that Nintendo created a product and restricted its supply, knowing that it would be devoured by collectors and speculators. Regular players like me will always be second best. 

The Raven is Old School Fun

I spent this morning playing the first chapter of The Raven: Legacy of a Master Thief. Graphically, the game has nothing on other games released within the past few years. But in terms of its story and atmosphere, The Raven is refreshing and packed with charm.

Your character is Constable Zellner, an aging, overweight, and sweet man who doesn't seem to be the likeliest of heroes. In the first scene of the game, you are sitting on the Orient Express reading a detective novel and having a friendly chat with a playful little boy. But when an opportunity comes to investigate the crimes of the "Raven's Heir"—the copycat of a world-famous burglar infamous for daring heists—you are not content to sit on the sidelines.

The Raven creates a fantastic atmosphere that brings old-school mystery novels to mind, and its characters and music are all well written and voiced. This makes up for the clunky point-and-click game interface. When playing on a console, some of the clumsiness of the gameplay is extra jarring. Zellner does not walk around smoothly, and it's easy to find yourself meandering around like a drunk person. There were times when I could not get Zellner to examine what I wanted him to examine. Transitions between areas were also awkward. When going from place to place, Zellner would usually have to backtrack to a fixed point and then proceed in accordance with a pre-set animation.

But awkward gameplay moments won't deter me from finishing The Raven. I love a good mystery, and it's a blast to follow along with the story and make connections between the clues I'm finding along the way. I also love that the character I'm playing is so unusual, compared to most video game protagonists. Zellner isn't flashy, and he's definitely a goofball. But he's also quietly badass. In The Raven, even a man who has never left his home country of Switzerland might turn out to be a keen detective who gets to have a crazy adventure. I love that, and I'm excited to see where the rest of the game takes me.

I'm Glad Witcher 3 Is Delayed

We've all been waiting for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt for a long time now. The game was initially supposed to arrive this year, but was then delayed to February 24, 2015. Yesterday, CD Projekt announced that the game would be delayed for another three months. Its new release date is set for May 19.

The developers explained their choice in an open letter, which explains that the game is not only ambitious, but "the most important game in our studio's history." They need the extra 12 weeks to fix any remaining bugs and to ensure that this game is an incredible experience for everyone.

I'm just glad they were honest. After a season in which new games, most notably AC Unity, have been released with major flaws, everyone is sick of buying games that don't work right out of the box.

I have high expectations of this game. (Thanks to GameSpot for image.)

When I buy a video game, I want to have an amazing experience. I appreciate CD Projekt's honesty, and I trust them to deliver in May. By then, the school year will be nearly over, and summer break will be upon me…

Love and Inquisition: Dragon Age Romances

I never thought I'd enjoy romances as much as I have during my playthrough of Dragon Age: Inquisition. They impress me on a number of levels because they are mature, well-written, and deeply human. My tendency to flirt shamelessly with everyone at the beginning of the game also caused me to surprise myself: I ended up choosing Sera as my in-game romance.

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD. ALSO SEX.

In real life, I am a straight woman. My initial romantic preferences within the game were Cullen (what a cutie!) and Blackwall (dark and mysterious!). It still disappoints me that Varric is not an option. But Cullen seemed like he was going to provide a classic cute romance (my perusal of YouTube confirms this). And Blackwall's talk of duty and seriousness made me think that he was going to be too typically broody and difficult for the romance to be any fun. (My perusal of YouTube confirmed this, as well.)

Sera, though? Sera was different. I think I ended up choosing her because I liked what she would bring out in my Inquisitor's character. In a game as serious as Inquisition, which is full of war and politics and death and the end of the world, I loved the idea of playing as someone who still took time to be a person and to live a little. Sera's friendship and romance scenes appealed deeply to me because to romance Sera is to loosen up. It is also to accept Sera as she is—as a possible embarrassment at a fancy ball, as an incorrigible prankster, as someone who is as damaged as she is bold and rebellious. You don't fix Sera, or change her. You just take her as she is. And she is awesome.

Also, Sera's sex scene is just the best. Why should sex always be so serious? Humans have all kinds of sex—it can be riotous, celebratory, and just plain fun. Below, "the good part" starts at about 3:30.

Other romances in Inquisition are also spectacular. Cassandra's secret love of romance and poetry makes for great entertainment, and it's fun to tease her even while you respect her tremendously as a warrior. If you're playing as a male Inquisitor, Dorian makes for a witty, challenging, and lovable partner. And Iron Bull definitely steals the show in terms of most hilarious relationship reveal:

What I love best about Iron Bull, though, is how that sex scene ends—especially if you get embarrassed in front of your friends and claim you were just having a fling. If you publicly declare your love for Iron Bull, then the romance continues. But if you balk, he breaks up with you, and handles it with such incredible maturity that you will immediately regret your rejection of him:

I think I love Inquisition's romances so much because they feel idealized, yet real. In the real world, we aren't all so in touch with our feelings and the feelings of others. We don't always connect and build mature, interesting, respectful relationships. Sex often embarrasses us. But a lot of us wish it weren't so, and we strive to be better partners. I want more of the relationships that I see—in books, on the silver screen, and in the games that I play—to be written with this kind of variety and joy.

The Game Awards Sucked

I feel a little rude putting this way, but I'm nothing if not honest. The Game Awards show last night? It sucked.

When I watch an awards show, I want to see a real show—bring me your best, your most glamorous, your most exciting. Especially when it comes to video games, because what is more exciting than a really good video game? I have high expectations of games as part of an evolving art form. Apparently those expectations are not shared by whoever planned The Game Awards.

My number one complaint about this award show is that rather than show me cool behind-the-scenes features or serious interviews with developers and art directors, I got a whole bunch of ads. And even the ads weren't that great. You can't call your brief gameplay demo of Bloodborne a "world premiere" when I've been watching teaser footage of it for months and thinking about preordering it at Gamestop. And Hazelight Games? I thought highly of Brothers, but this "teaser" is lame. Fast forward to 1:25 to watch some dudes on a train:

That's it? Seriously? This is an awards show. Bring your A-Game.

Not only were the ads and "world premieres" tremendously underwhelming, but they obscured the point of the award show: AWARDS. On several occasions, awards were noted in passing during backstage interviews, rather than in real time onstage. This was especially true of Nintendo awards—Nintendo picked up two major wins last night, Best Fighting Game (for Super Smash Bros.) and Developer of the Year—and I found out about them both very offhandedly in an interview with Reggie Fils-Aime. In a year when it's been popular to hate on Nintendo, I think it's classless to deny them a well-earned moment in the sun. At least I got to watch Mario Kart 8 take Best Sports/Racing Game. Valiant Hearts similarly got the short shrift, despite winning two awards of its own. That's a shame, because the game has such a different feel from the other stuff that came out this year.

The Game Awards also suffered from weird inconsistencies that made the whole show feel "off." While gamers are not known for their fashion sense (and neither am I), it was off-putting to see people in suits juxtaposed with people in sweatshirts. It's like the game industry is not entirely sure how it wants to present itself to the world, so it ends up looking like nothing in particular. While I'm generally all for casual wear, the traditionalist in me feels that award shows should be different. Step it up, and show the world your most professional face. It was especially jarring to see highly made-up, dressed-up women standing next to men who could have rolled in from Mom's basement. The imbalance may not be intentional, but it's there, and it's weird.

The Game Awards had a few good moments, too. One of the highlights of the show, for me, was getting to hear from Dragon Age: Inquisition's Cassandra and Varric. That clip was funny, well-made, and worthy of the game that would be announced as GOTY. It was gratifying to see Ken and Roberta Williams get some love. Best of all, Reggie Fils-Aime took the mic at the end to present something I have been looking forward to: Legend of Zelda for the Wii U. Not only did we get to see awesome gameplay footage, but we were also promised both Zelda Wii U and a new Star Fox sometime next year. I guess the best announcements of the night were saved for last.

When I think back on The Game Awards, what I see is a missed opportunity. It seems to me that the gaming industry wants to be taken more seriously—games are art, and they expand and comment on the human experience in deep ways. They therefore deserve rich discussion, serious criticism, and award shows. The Oscars can be ridiculous, but they also celebrate truly moving performances and appreciate the magic that film brings to our lives. I love getting a chance to watch writers, makeup artists, costume designers, and sound professionals get their due. Gaming is similarly full of interesting behind-the-scenes action. But largely, The Game Awards chose to showcase the more commercial side of gaming. The show was a hodgepodge of trailers and plugs for a massive Steam sale. Next time, I'm hoping for a richer experience.

Mii Talk: Why I Didn't Rate You "Fantastic"

The Nintendo 3DS Street Pass feature is generally a lot of fun. This weekend was especially great because it was National Street Pass Weekend! I get a little thrill every time I fill in a new region on my map, or when I come across someone who has a particularly desirable puzzle piece. Miis are cute, and Nintendo has obviously designed all of the Mii Plaza animations to give off a warm and friendly vibe.

In fact, you could say that Nintendo goes out of its way to keep things clean—there are pretty serious limitations on how you can communicate with other Wii U and 3DS users who are not your friends. The nastiest dialogue choice you have when playing Mario Kart online is basically "No fair!" Even microphone time among friends while playing Super Smash Bros. is strictly limited.

But it's unavoidable. People will still go out of their way to be assholes. 

If you encounter someone's Mii more than once, you have the opportunity to give that Mii one of two ratings: "Fantastic!" or "OK, I guess…" This rating cannot always be based on actually knowing the person. If I've picked your Mii up a couple of times because we go to the same Burger King, then I have no idea what you're like as a human being. 

I almost always choose to give a "fantastic" rating. Why not brighten someone's day? I already know that we both like video games, so we probably have a lot in common. But there are always exceptions. When I deny that sweet, sweet "fantastic" rating to Miis that I encounter, I do so for two main reasons:

1) You're cocky. If your Mii comment is "Get on my level," or perhaps the ever-classy "f u n00b," I am going to think you're rude. Probably because you are. You get a pass if your comment is obviously playful—I can grin at a "Hail to the king, baby!" or "Settle it in SMASH."

2) You're outright mean. I've encountered several Miis who say things like "your stupid" (sic) or "hey ugly." Seriously? Maybe that seemed funny because you were planning to Street Pass your little brother, but your Mii is also saying that to everyone else you encounter. You're a jerk, and "OK, I guess…" is too nice a rating for you. 

Nintendo goes to tremendous efforts to keep things clean on its network, sometimes at the expense of fun. But when it comes to Street Pass, I'm glad they work to maintain a friendly environment. Sometimes a random Mii saying "u suk" provides enough insight into someone else's personality. No need to see more.

I Love/Hate Dragon Age: Inquisition

It's been a long time since a game obsessed me as much as Dragon Age: Inquisition does. So far I have spent hours running around Thedas, listening to my companions banter, helping the needy, and flirting. Lots of flirting. I am definitely going to finish the game, and I may replay it.

But the weirdest thing about playing Dragon Age is how uneven my relationship with the game is. I love some parts of it, but not others. Unfortunately, the part I hate the most is combat. Maybe it would be easier on a PC, but on the PS4 I loathe the tactical cam and don't find it fun at all. I also don't think the skill trees are all that interesting. There are fewer natural-feeling uses for stealth and traps than there were in Skyrim, which is the king of all addictive games for me. Every time I have to go through a fighting sequence, it feels like a slog. Exploring can be fun, but the geography of some areas is confusing, and I get tired of trudging around trying to get past yet another mountain range. On top of that, a few of the collection missions are less than intuitive—I am going for my Tempest specialization right now, and the hunt for essence containment apparatuses is infuriating.

I keep going back to Dragon Age, despite the combat mechanics, because the story segments are awesome. I perk up whenever I talk to one of my companions at Skyhold and get a cutscene or special mission. Goofing round with Iron Bull, Varric, Sera, and Cassandra is hilarious enough to be a game in itself. I find myself investing hours of time in less preferred activities—like engaging in combat—so that I can get back to what matters to me, which is expanding my influence and building relationships with my in-game friends.

Dragon Age's Power and Influence mechanics also feel a little wasted to me. To progress through Dragon Age: Inquisition, you can't just go around killing things (although that is part of it). You also have to gain Power and Influence points so that you can unlock missions and acquire "Inquisition Perks," which are bonuses that rack up as you become increasingly influential. But all of that movement-building is ultimately a gateway to more combat—no matter how big your movement becomes, you ultimately have to build your party and take down the bad guys yourself. I wish that all of the influence I've wracked up could be used for something more game changing than that. More politics, please!

For me, the best missions in Dragon Age: Inquisition don't involve big bosses or perfectly-crafted combinations of skill perks. I'd rather unlock codex entries, wrangle with nobility, or use my influence to acquire the next installment in one of Varric's book series. But even if the game can't be all "fun parts," I will play through all 90 or so hours of Dragon Age: Inquisition because of how much I enjoy the people of Thedas and their stories.

New Nintendo 3DS: Worth It?

When I first heard that Nintendo was releasing a "new" 3DS, I was upset. My limited edition Zelda 3DS XL is barely a year old, and it's already going to be obsolete? Aren't you supposed to wait more than three years before switching consoles on your consumers?

Even as I read strong reviews of the New 3DS, I am still experiencing feelings of resentment. When Playstation released a slim version of the Vita, it didn't bother me because I didn't have to replace my own much-beloved device. But with Xenoblade getting a port for the new 3DS only, I can see the writing on the wall. If I want to keep up with 3DS games, I'm going to have to upgrade.

Thanks for the image, Polygon!

In an attempt to cheer myself up, here are some of benefits that will come with acquiring a new 3DS:

1) Better processing power. Early reports indicate that the New 3DS is significantly faster than the current 3DS system. It will be much quicker and easier to navigate between games and the home screen.

2) Right analog stick (sort of). To help with camera angle adjustments, Nintendo has given the New 3DS a little nub on the right side that will function as a right analog stick. Early adopters say that the analog nub is tiny and that it feels kind of like the mouse navigator on a Thinkpad. While that isn't everyone's cup of tea, I feel good about it.

3) Buttons have been improved and relocated for easier use. The Start and Select buttons have been moved to the right side and are going to be normal buttons, instead of those awkward flat ones on either side of the home button. The L and R buttons are also going to be more usable.

4) Amiibo support! I've acquired a couple of shiny new toys, and I want more chances to play with them.

5) Better 3D viewing. One of the most irritating things about the current version of the 3DS is that its 3D is actually very limited. Move your head too far to one side or the other, and you'll be asking yourself how much you drank today. I tend to play with the 3D off if the game doesn't require it. So far, however, it seems that the New 3DS has vastly improved as a 3D device. You will be able to move your head and neck a lot more before the 3D spell is broken, and the whole experience is supposed to be significantly more enjoyable.

6) The new control scheme and higher processing power might allow better new games... and better ports from Nintendo's back catalog. In exchange for buying a New 3DS, players will gain access to even more fun. At least, they had better.

Video Games I'd Never Admit to Playing

I am a proud gamer, and I don't typically hide the fact that I spend hours of my free time with a controller in my hands. There are a few games, however, that I'd never admit to playing—if, of course, I ever played them. Just as I would never let anyone catch me watching a Disney sequel or reading 50 Shades of Gray, some games just need to remain a secret.

1) Monster Monpiece

When I first heard about Monster Monpiece for the PS Vita, I was really excited. I love trading card games, and I was hoping that this would be like a video game Magic: The Gathering. Alas, it turned out to be a game I would never, ever play in public. The monsters who fight for you in Monster Monpiece are represented as scantily-clad, probably-underage girls. Even worse, to level them up... you have to rub them. And I'm not talking about giving them a pat on the head. 

I'm willing to do a lot of things for the sake of a video game, but jerking off my PS Vita isn't one of them. At least as far as you know. 

2) Cooking Mama

Games in the Mama series, which include Cooking Mama and Babysitting Mama, definitely have a fan base. But if I had ever played one of these games, I would never admit it to you. As a modern woman, I can't escape the feeling that whenever someone plays this game, it sets womankind back by about sixty years. 

Is this game a trap designed to lure women back into the kitchen?  

3) Bulletstorm

Bulletstorm is a shamelessly crass shooter in which the characters are stunningly obsessed with dicks. I don't know about you, but I'd never play a game with such childish dialogue.

Nope. Never. 

4) Hannah Montana: The Movie

Is the platinum really worth it? Really?

It is if you like Hannah Montana. Don't worry, I won't tell on you.

Things I Hope Not to See in Far Cry 4

Be Warned: Spoilers for Far Cry 3. 

The moment of truth is almost here: Far Cry 4 arrives tomorrow, and I can't wait to go and pick up my preorder. In preparation, I've been finishing up Far Cry 3. Although I enjoyed the game immensely, I stopped playing it for a while. When I look back on it, I did so for some very specific reasons—and I hope I don't run into the same issues while playing the next installment in the series. Here, then, is my list of things I hope not to see in Far Cry 4:

1) A ridiculous "romance" with an "exotic" woman.

I was enjoying FC3 so much until things with Citra got weird. Not only was Jason being a huge asshole to his girlfriend, but I lost a ton of respect for Citra. I mean, I guess I should have known we would end up with a boob shot and some dry humping when I first saw her in her slinky loincloth outfit. But I was holding out hope that she'd be a strong leader instead of a fetish object. Please don't let me have to sit through this again in FC4.

NO. 

2) Mission bottlenecks.

About halfway through FC3, you go through a string of missions that never seem to end. You are sent on a series of repeated encounters with Vaas, with no opportunity to go back to the sandbox that makes the game so enjoyable. It's just one task after another that you have to move through with workmanlike determination. I quit playing the game for a while at this point because I just didn't feel motivated to keep going. Here's hoping I get to spend more time trampling people while riding an elephant, and less time slogging through "content."

3) Annoying platforming puzzles.

While I appreciate the developers' desire to make radio towers varied and interesting, I absolutely hated several of the platforming sequences, especially on Hoyt's island. Not only does this game not have precise platforming controls, but it is unclear which beams you can walk on and which you can't. When I needed to jump longer distances, it wasn't a guarantee that Jason would grab hold of the next surface like he was supposed to, which made the task of getting to the top unreasonably frustrating. If we're going to see radio tower platforming in Far Cry 4, I also want to see more precise controls and more intuitive pathways.

I loved Far Cry 3, warts and all. And I have no doubt that I have many hours of pure fun ahead of me when I pick up Far Cry 4. But I'll have a lot more fun without the T&A.

Far Cry 4 Sneak Peek

Last night, I went to Durham's Museum of Life and Science for an adults-only event devoted to games and game theory. The event featured local game game developers, a Duke professor who gave some short talks on game theory, a room where people were playing J. S. Joust with Playstation Move, and—best of all for me—a demo of Far Cry 4 hosted by some of the developers who worked on the game. Here is what I learned:

1) Daniel Solis of Smart Play Games creates card games that are both competitive and nonviolent. He had a booth last night where he was showing off his newest game, Belle of the Ball, in which players attempt to get high scores by admitting party guests who are compatible and turning others away. Several of his other card games were also on display, including one called Nine Lives in which players attempt to rescue stray cats without getting scratched. These games looked like a lot of fun, and I'm thinking about acquiring one to test with students at my school's game club.

2) Playing prisoner's dilemma games with your boyfriend really sucks. (Or is it just my boyfriend?)

3) J.S. Joust is so much fun! I had always neglected the Playstation Move and seen it as a pointless accessory, but watching people play Joust and then trying it myself was absolutely hilarious. The point of the game is to move in time with some classical music and hold your controller steady—while getting close enough to others to jostle their controllers and get them "out." My favorite moment was probably when I saw one guy reach out to shake another player's hand... only to shake it so hard that it threw his new friend's other hand off balance for a surprise elimination.

4) The Far Cry 4 development team is awesome, and it looks like their game will be awesome. I had never spoken to game developers before, and I was very impressed with the experience I had last night. The guys who were there to represent Far Cry were open, friendly, and excited about their handiwork. I'm normally a little bit shy about trying video games for the first time in front of other people, but they created a relaxed and welcoming environment that helped me overcome that.

We were allowed to play a limited version of multiplayer, in which one side represents the stealthy, magic-wielding Rakshasa and the other represents the gun- and machinery-heavy Golden Path. After each round, teams switch sides, which encourages versatility. The elephant battles are real, and they are awesome. My favorite moment, though, was probably when I accidentally summoned a bear to act as my ally. How cool is that? So far, I'm definitely more excited about playing as the Rakshasa, whose stealth, animal summoning, and archery tricks are going to make me feel like a badass.

Overall, I had a good night last night. I'm so glad that I preordered Far Cry 4 and will be picking it up on Tuesday. I'm not only excited about the single player campaign, but I'm also genuinely excited about multiplayer for the first time ever.

AC Unity: First Impressions

Despite the bad reviews and shady press embargo, I purchased Assassin's Creed: Unity last night. And you know what? I'm having a damn good time playing it. I haven't progressed too far into the story yet, but that's mostly because I've been running around making trouble in a beautifully rendered Paris during the French Revolution.

Here are my impressions so far:

1) Generally, the game is working fine for me. (It's the PS4 version.) My load times are a little on the long side, but otherwise everything is running smoothly. The graphics are gorgeous. The buildings, furniture, and clothes look amazing. The characters don't look quite as good as their surroundings, but I'm not going to complain.

2) The controls are (somewhat) better. Stealth mode and the downward climbing command have drastically improved my gameplay experience. It's nice to finally be able to sneak around like we should have been able to right from the beginning of the series. Plus, the combat feels better somehow, and it comes with deliciously violent animations.

On the negative side, however, Arno suffers from many of the same flaws as his predecessors: He is a bit too "sticky" and often decides to parkour onto things against my will, especially when he is on the run. He also leaps onto things I definitely did not order him to. During a mission, this trait can be extremely frustrating.

3) So far, Arno is interesting and charming. He's another scruffy European with roguish tendencies, so he reminds me a bit of Ezio. That's not necessarily a bad thing.

4) The murder mystery side quests are a lot of fun. I'm probably going to spend a lot of my time looking for crimes to solve! The historically-entrenched side missions have also been highly entertaining. Usually I prefer to skip side activities or come back to them later, but I think I'll be spending a lot of time on them in Unity.

Verdict:

I haven't finished AC Unity in its entirety—not even close—but I am enjoying myself right now. If you like Assassin's Creed games, this entry in the series is probably worth the risk. Even if you get glitches like this:

(Image borrowed from Hikaru)

Review: Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc

I originally picked up Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc because I was crazy about Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward and wanted a similar experience that involved puzzles, investigations, and deep interactions with interesting characters. While Danganronpa might not be quite as deep or as challenging as Zero Escape, I had an absolute blast playing the game and am very excited to play the sequel.

In Danganronpa, you play as Makoto Naegi, an average teenager who has been invited to attend the elite Hope's Peak Academy. The school serves as a launching point for extremely successful high school students, all of whom possess "ultimate" talents that range from "ultimate fanfic creator" to "ultimate pop star." Makoto has no obvious talents, and is labeled as the "ultimate lucky student" because he won a lottery to gain admission to Hope's Peak.

Unfortunately, Makoto soon begins to question his luck—and discover his true talents—when the first day of school turns into a deadly game. The headmaster, a sadistic bear named Monokuma, informs Makoto and his fellow students that they have a choice: They can live out the rest of their lives within the walls of Hope's Peak, or they can attempt to "graduate." Only one student is able to graduate, and must do so by murdering a fellow student and getting away with the crime after a class investigation and trial.

Danganronpa allows you to strike a fun balance between getting to know your new classmates and wondering which one of them will be the next die or kill someone. The writing is quirky and had me laughing out loud despite the dark subject matter, and even the characters who ultimately disappointed me had some redeeming qualities. (These qualities are further drawn out in "school mode," which takes place in an alternate timeline and can be accessed after you beat the main story.) As you lose friends and progress through the story, you also slowly solve the mysteries that surround the school and the deadly game within.

The game's murder puzzles are also a good deal of fun, and they become increasingly elaborate. If you're looking for a Zero Escape-level challenge, you will be disappointed. While many of that game's puzzles frustrated and even infuriated me before I figured them out, Danganronpa very smoothly led me to every relevant clue and helped me piece all of the information together. Even when I went into a class trial before I was 100% certain of what happened, the natural progression of the trial eventually guided me to the correct solution.

Although solving the actual murders is not particularly difficult, Danganronpa's class trials offer added challenges because they take on the form of minigames. Rather than simply lay out what happened, Makoto is forced to spot contradictions in his classmates' arguments and shatter them with "truth bullets" that represent various pieces of evidence. At times, fellow students will not even listen to him and he is forced to overcome their stubbornness by playing a rhythm game. These minigames become incrementally more challenging as the story progresses.

After the main story, Danganronpa offers "school mode," which allows you to socialize with the characters from the game and obtain special endings for each of them. Unfortunately, school mode becomes extremely drawn out and repetitive, and I was relieved to finally round up all of the endings so that I could be finished with it.

Overall, Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc is one of my favorite PS Vita titles. The story is crazy, the characters are genuinely interesting, and the puzzles are delightful. This is also not a game that takes itself too seriously—it pokes plenty of fun at itself, at video game tropes, and at anime stereotypes. Most importantly, the main story kept me engrossed all the way through. Definitely give it a shot.

Online Multiplayer: Dare I?

While I play a lot of video games, I almost never use online multiplayer features. I feel anxious about the other players that I will encounter online. Websites like Fat, Ugly or Slutty give an unpleasant taste of what to expect from some fellow gamers. I don't want to receive creepy messages from strangers on the internet. I'm also a little bit shy about my gaming skills. I'm not bad at games, but I also can't put in the hours it takes to be extremely skilled. If I play online, will I find that I'm unable to have fun because I get hassled all the time by more experienced players?

The ongoing nastiness of GamerGate does not encourage me to take the plunge into online multiplayer. Recently, I've seen too much of the underbelly of gamer culture—a culture in which female developers are doxxed and in which any developer can receive death threats for making small changes to weapons stats in Call of Duty. Will playing games online with other people just add stress to my life and make games less fun for me?

All concerns aside, I am finally seeing multiplayer add-ons that are tempting me to make my first foray into playing with others. Far Cry 4 will be introducing "Battles of Kyrat," and the multiplayer modes look like a lot of fun. I'm particularly interested in playing as the Rakshasa, because it looks like I'll be able to sneak around, shoot people with arrows, and indulge in some Dishonored-style teleportation. Assassin's Creed: Unity is going to include a co-op mode that respects individual playstyles while also encouraging teamwork. I'm hoping to find kindred spirits who want to plan satisfying assassinations together.

Despite my concerns, I've decided to give multiplayer a shot. I even ordered my very first gaming headset! Here's hoping that my gaming life expands in new and exciting ways.

Video Games for Students?

As a teacher of teenage students, I have discovered that almost every single boy likes to play video games—and many of the girls do, too. It can feel like pulling teeth to get them to read, write, or focus on work for significant lengths of time, but they are definitely willing to spend hours of free time with controllers in hand.

I often wonder: Would it be possible to help my students become deeper thinkers and better problem solvers by having them play video games? I would love to have the funding to provide all of my students with a 3DS and a copy of a Professor Layton game, or to be able to watch them experience the joys of Portal. (Apparently, Portal 2 actually does help kids to become smarter.)

In an ideal world, here are five games I would love for my students to play:

1) Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney 

If it were appropriate to give Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc to high school students, I might go for that one instead, but let's get real—some of the jokes in that game are just a little too dirty for a school setting. Phoenix Wright, though, has the potential to be a lot of fun. This game is very text heavy, which means a lot of reading is involved. The game is also full of clever crime-solving puzzles that require the player to interview witnesses, gather evidence at crime scenes, and properly time objections in court. Plus, the characters are quirky, hilarious, and dramatic enough to keep the game entertaining. I'd really love to see my students experience a game like this and grapple with its challenges.

2) Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward

This is another text-heavy game with a terrifying premise: You are trapped with eight other people, and it's not guaranteed that everyone will escape alive. Not only do you need to solve challenging room-escape puzzles, but you must make reality TV-style choices to ally with or betray your fellow competitors—with potentially life-threatening consequences. The story is deep and the characters are fascinating. While I find the puzzles in this game extremely challenging, and worry that they could frustrate my students, I'd really love to see them swapping ideas and striving to come up with solutions together.

3) Final Fantasy Tactics 

FFT is still my all-time favorite game, even after many years of gaming. Not only does it have a fairly deep story about childhood friendships and class conflict, but the combat is satisfyingly complicated. To be truly successful at the game, you need to choose the correct combination of job classes, skills, and equipment. There is also plenty of room for experimentation and for choosing play styles that work for you. Final Fantasy Tactics is the sort of game that would take my students beyond first person shooters and teach them to control multiple characters on varying battlefields.

4) Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch 

Playing Ni No Kuni is like getting to live in a really good kids' movie for a while. The animation is great, the music is great, and the story is great. The main character, Oliver, experiences a deep loss when his mother dies, and is then transported to an alternate world where he believes he may have a chance of saving her. The combat system interesting due to the use of various party members who can attack, use magic spells, or deploy familiars. But more importantly, to advance in the game, you have to actually talk to NPCs throughout the game and figure out how to solve their problems. And to get every single spell in the game, you must read a lot and collect pages from the Wizard's Companion—a book that provides added information about Ni No Kuni's world and gives it great depth. This game has a compelling story and encourages deep interaction with its world. My students would be repairing people's broken hearts and collecting alchemy recipes in no time.

5) The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Not only is Ocarina of Time one of the best video games ever made, but it would be an excellent game for students to play. There is enough text dialogue to get them reading, and the story is worth it—the lore of Hyrule is deep, and you come to care about places like Kakariko Village and Lon Lon Ranch. The game's world is full of secrets and the temples are full of interesting puzzles. Players must choose the correct weapons, ocarina songs, and patterns of time travel to advance the story. While a few of my students have played this game, many are too young to have experienced it. It would delight me to introduce them to a true classic.

There are, of course, many other games that would be great matches for students who need to read more and work on problem solving skills. I believe that allowing them to do so through video games would make learning more engaging for them, and that it could potentially be a gateway to getting my students to confront intellectual challenges and to feel more comfortable with the written word. Maybe one day I'll get funding to test my theory!

Nintendo: An Alternative to Trophy Support

In a world where gamers are known by their gamer scores and trophy counts, Nintendo is an anomaly. The Wii U and 3DS do not have the achievement systems that trophy hunters crave, and none seem to be forthcoming. I think this is a good thing—but I also think that Nintendo could take one step towards recognizing gamers' most impressive feats.

Gaming has become a lot more fun for me since I stopped caring about trophies. The hunt for achievements was causing me to spend too much time on activities I didn't want to do—and it was discouraging me from playing games that didn't "count" because they didn't increase my horde of electronic precious metals. 

Unlike Playstation or XBox, Nintendo always seems to prioritize lighthearted fun over "serious" and "hardcore" gaming, which is part of what makes Nintendo games so different and enjoyable for me. The lack of trophy support helps me to relax and enjoy myself without feeling like there are gaming standards that I have to meet. It's just me and my game, and I get to do what I want to do without any external pressures.

There is, however, one way that Nintendo could incorporate "achievements" into its games in way that doesn't go overboard or suck all the casual fun out of gaming. What am I proposing? Fancy Mii accessories!

I enjoy picking up other people's Miis when I'm out and about with my 3DS, and I definitely enjoy all of the goofy hats our digital avatars can wear. However, I loathe Find Mii and all of the similar Mii Plaza games that allow players to earn different silly hats. I would like for my Mii to wear a hat that truly means something. 

My proposal is this: Nintendo should offer special, snazzy Mii accessories to players who reach certain heights of gameplay. For example, a golden Mario hat would have been a fitting reward for collecting one million coins in New Super Mario Bros 2. A Professor Layton top hat could become available to players who finish a Layton game with a certain high number of picarats. Nintendo's games feel lighthearted and fun, but they can also be extremely difficult, and it would be a blast to reach a gaming goal and then be rewarded with a special hat that conferred serious bragging rights.

The cute Find Mii hats should be accessible to everyone. But Nintendo should had Mii accessories with a little extra oomph to reward highly accomplished (and goal driven) gamers.  

Review: Infamous (PS3)

Given that Infamous: Second Sοn is currently the most exciting game available for the PS4, I thought I should play through the other two games in the series as preparation. I will be getting a PS4 for my birthday this year! As a fan of the Sly Cooper games, I already trusted Sucker Punch to deliver a solid gaming experience, and the first Infamous is exactly that: solid, with some really exciting moments added in to keep me going.

Infamous is a game well worth playing. When it starts, you are Cole MacGrath, a lowly bike messenger  in Empire City who is sent to deliver a package—a package that turns out to be a bomb that destroys five city blocks. Not only do you survive, but you find that you are imbued with electrical powers that become more powerful by the day. Not only are the powers fun to play with, but the game lets you choose what to do with them: Will you become a superhero, or a supervillain? The choices you make will affect your karma, and by extension your character's abilities and appearance.

The overall story of the game is good no matter what path you choose. Most of the major plot points play out via Cole's phone. Throughout the game you have conversations with Cole's girlfriend, Trish, his best friend, Zeke, and a government agent named Moya whose intentions are not entirely clear. Zeke and Trish have their own concerns and internal conflicts, so Cole's conversations with them make his story extremely compelling. To flesh out Cole's world, there are satellite "dead drops" around town that provide endlessly interesting background information. I also found myself enjoying Cole's comments to himself when discovering exciting new powers—he enjoyed testing out his new abilities just as much as I did.

Sucker Punch clearly put a lot of thought into the powers that you develop in Infamous, and they are a hell of a lot of fun. While at the beginning of the game you can only shoot bolts of electricity from your hands, you can eventually hover in the air, grind along rails and electrical wires, conjure up an electric shield, and throw electric grenades into clusters of enemies. What's not to love?

The game falls short, however, in its repetitive mission structure. While Infamous is billed as a "sandbox" game because you roam freely throughout its urban setting, there aren't any people to really interact with. There are only collectibles to hunt for and main or side missions to complete. There were certain types of side mission that reappeared throughout the game, and I found myself groaning whenever I encountered one. My most intense hatred is reserved for "Satellite Uplinks," during which you rush from point to point under very strict time limits. Infamous has pretty good controls, but Cole has very floaty jumps and will stick to anything when he climbs. Extremely precise platforming was not easy for me.

Game fatigue was also a constant affliction in the late stages of Infamous. Towards the end of my playthrough, I found myself only able to complete 1-2 missions per session because I was losing focus and feeling ready for something new. How many more tar trucks or toxic hot air balloons do I really need to destroy before I am allowed to move on to the next thing?

Cole's karmic choices also left something to be desired, for me at least. Although the hero-or-villain mechanic is generally awesome, I was left disappointed that there was no space to be an antihero. The game actively encourages you to max out your karma, whether in the good direction or the evil one. There is no way to remain comfortably in the middle. Cole is not good person who occasionally does bad things, nor is he a monster with just a bit of love in his heart. Also, I won't give spoilers for the few people who haven't yet played the game, but some of the choices I had to make did not seem as black-and-white (or, in this case, red-and-blue) as the game suggests.

Overall, Infamous is a great game and I do not regret the time I spent playing it. Infamous 2 is in my to-play list and I plan to tackle it soon. Infamous can get a little bit old once you've played a good part of the way through. But the story is great, and Cole's powers are a blast to play with. Definitely give it a shot.

Playstation Trophies: Kicking the Habit

I am a perfectionist and a born competitor. I like to win, and I win a lot. And I won't lie—I get a thrill when I hear that little *ding* and see a trophy pop up when I'm playing my PS3 or my Vita.

But I need to kick this habit now, before it sucks all of the fun out of my gaming life. Here's why:

1) One thing that is true about winning, in your professional life or in your personal one, is that it takes work. Trophies are no different. Even easy platinums require you to put in the time and effort to read the trophy list and develop a strategy for completing it. And some trophies are nothing but a giant pain in the ass. Death mode on Sound Shapes drove me so crazy that I had to take a gaming break for a couple of days. And at some point, a game just isn't fun anymore—I will never plat even the relatively easy Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time because there is no way I am going sit and play those awful arcade games until I get a high score. I'm finally playing Infamous right now, and you have got to be kidding me if you think I'm going to work on the stunt list or worry about whether I have killed enough enemies while standing on a moving vehicle. I have ruined many of my life's pleasures by getting too competitive, and hell if I'm going to ruin games for myself, too.

2) Planning your game around trophies screws up the way you play. Not only do you end up seeing spoilers because you don't want to miss a missable trophy, but you are sometimes forced to choose activities and play styles you might otherwise ignore. In Dishonored, for example, you have to play the game at least twice to get all of the trophies, and in one playthrough you won't even get to use any of the sweet supernatural upgrades. There is great fun in a challenge, but a trophy list can feel less like a challenge and more like a prescription. I want to feel free to play the way I want to play, without confronting the silent judgment of a trophy unobtained.

3) An emphasis on trophies makes you ignore great games that happen to lack trophy support. I am already falling prey to this problem. When my activity on the PSN is largely reported based on trophies earned, it makes me more likely to prioritize games that allow me to earn trophies. This also means that I am missing out on some sweet games, like Oblivion or Valkyria Chronicles or even older PSN classics like Jeanne D'Arc. And we aren't even taking into account the wonders of the 3DS, which has no trophy support but does have killer games like Fire Emblem, Shin Megami Tensei IV, Super Mario 3D Land, and the list goes on.

4) Trophies determine your obsessions for you, rather than letting you develop them yourself. I am actually a collector by nature. I have spent hours grinding in Final Fantasy Tactics so that I can have at least one party member become a master of every single job class. In Ocarina of Time, I combed Hyrule for every heart piece and skulltula. I am thinking about getting the 3DS version so I can do it again. So I've got it in me to play the hell out of a game purely because I want to. But knowing there is a trophy list is almost like having an invader come into my gaming experience and decide for me when my game is truly done and how I should finish it.

I know that trophies are making games less fun for me, and I know that they negatively affect the way I play. But it's hard to quit. I do love watching my level go up on the PSN, and I love silently creeping up on higher-level friends and then passing them by. Even more than that, I love "objective" markers of how successful I am at things. My PSN level is modest right now, but I've only had my PS3 since November. I could always do more... But I could also just enjoy the ride and stress about other stuff instead.

Will I ever get up the nerve to turn off trophy notifications? Or am I a hopeless addict? There may not be a happy medium, here.

Review: Virtue's Last Reward (PS Vita)

Virtue's Last Reward, sequel to the DS game 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors, is not your typical gameplay experience. The graphics are comparatively plain, you don't fight anyone, and you read on-screen text more than you do anything else. That said, Virtue's Last Reward is one of the most riveting video games I have ever played.

At the start of the game, you wake up to discover that you've been kidnapped and trapped in an elevator by a malicious stranger who speaks with you via a maniacal AI rabbit. As it turns out, eight other people have also been abducted—and you are all being forced to play a deadly game. If you win, you can escape captivity. If you lose, you die. In addition to solving puzzles, you must participate in reality TV-style votes. Will your teammates ally with you for your mutual benefit, or will they betray you for a chance at their own freedom? Will you turn out to be a traitor yourself?

As the game progresses, the plot becomes increasingly intricate as you come to know your fellow competitors and as you make use of the game's flowchart system. After you naturally play to one of the game's endings on your own, you are permitted to travel back to pivotal moments and to make different choices. Ultimately, you will reach the true ending, and it will blow your mind. The very last plot twist lost me a little, but aside from that, I was more than glad to be along for this ride. 

There's no denying that this game is clunky. Looking around rooms and zooming in on objects during puzzle sequences can feel a bit stilted. (The PS Vita's touchscreen really helped with this, though.) The game's puzzles are tough, in part because they are not entirely intuitive. For example, I occasionally found myself stumped until I finally realized that two seemingly unrelated items in my inventory needed to be combined. The story sequences were so long that once I got going, there was no convenient place to save the game if real life interrupted me. 

Despite these minor flaws, however, Virtue's Last Reward is amazing. I haven't been this challenged and entertained in a long time, nor have I been so interested in collecting even the smallest insights into the minds of video game characters. If a bestselling thriller novel combined with a brilliant puzzler sounds appealing to you, this one is a winner.

Sympathy for the Devil: Idealism in Ni No Kuni

I had a blast playing Ni No Kuni, so much so that I continued to play it long after my confrontation with the official final boss. My familiars gained levels and evolved, I hunted down lost items, I enjoyed the stellar soundtrack, and I continued to visit the in-game locations that I loved the most. This game charmed me from the first few minutes of play, and it held on to me until there was basically nothing left to do.

What was so wonderful about Ni No Kuni? It's an all-around great game, and I didn't find anything to complain about. But its world especially drew me in because it was so damned nice.

Ni No Kuni is a game that believes everyone is truly good at heart. People who are hateful, cruel, or uncaring aren't that way because they are inherently flawed. Instead, they are heartbroken, and all you have to do to help them is find surpluses of the qualities they lack (including enthusiasm, kindness, courage, restraint, belief, confidence, ambition, and love) and then magically collect and share them. Even the worst enemies usually begin with good intentions, and while you have to fight them first, you can eventually end up having reasonable conversations with them. No one is so irrevocably broken that there is no redemption to be found. Oliver, the main character of the story, is a sweet boy who brings out the best in everyone.

Despite its idealism about the inherent goodness of other people, however, Ni No Kuni is not without true emotional weight. The story begins because Oliver's mother has died, and he travels to a parallel world with the goal of saving her. It is never clear whether Oliver's travels between worlds are "real," or whether they are part of a fantasy that he concocts to comfort himself after an unfathomable loss. No matter how you want to view the story, it does not offer any easy fixes for Oliver's grief. Even if most people turn out to be good in the end, Ni No Kuni allows its characters to experience real loss, including death, love that is impaired by serious obstacles, and, in one case, even the heartbreak of estrangement from family. Hearts can be fixed, but that doesn't mean everything can be repaired with a wave of a magic wand.

Ultimately, Ni No Kuni teaches the art of being soft and open to the world, but still tough. From the mouths of babes, I guess.

Harder!: On Fetishizing Difficult Games

As I've gotten back into more regular gaming, I have come to notice a somewhat vexing trend: the fetishization of difficulty in video games. There is, of course, nothing wrong with enjoying games that are hard. Dark Souls II is bringing joy to countless gamers right now as I type.

But I'm tired of getting the impression that gamers who don't permanently exist on the brink of rage quitting (or allegedly breeze through the hardest of difficulties) are somehow inferior. This drove me crazy in the weeks leading up to Thief's release—no one wanted to talk about the game itself, only how hard gamers could make it for themselves. And of course, the harder you made it, the more "real" your experience was. When I read reviews of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, the game's atmosphere and fun factor sometimes seem to take a backseat to discussions of how hard the game is. IGN's Jose Otero praises the game for creating challenging yet achievable levels, but also can't resist an extra claim to badassery: 

To help welcome novice players, there’s a helpful item shop in each stage where you can purchase potions, balloons, and shields that will keep you alive longer. These items help alot, but I made a conscious effort not to use them. I challenged myself to finish Tropical Freeze on my own terms.

Way to make people feel judged for liking the balloon store. I remember seeing similar attitudes about Super Mario 3D Land on the 3DS—the first half of the game is nothing, that half is for babies, the special levels are where the real game begins. Recently, I've seen several tweets and articles that ask the question, "What's the hardest game you've ever played?"

Games are for fun, no matter what level of difficulty you prefer. If harder games mean more fun for you, that's great. But that's not the be all and end all of gaming. I love to play games, but I am not exceptionally skilled. I like a challenge, but I often start games on easy because it takes time for me to adjust to new controls. I don't even know how many times I have died playing Super Mario 3D Land, and sometimes I was relieved to see that Super Tanooki suit. Why do I constantly get the impression that I'm supposed to feel bad about that?

For every gamer who wants a brutal experience, there is a gamer like me—probably several more gamers like me. I just want to unwind and have a good time, or maybe have some friendly competition if I'm in the mood. I'd rather connect with a game emotionally without fretting about the difficulty level. There are many ways to love gaming, all of them true and pure.

Review: Thomas Was Alone (PS Vita)

Not every game involves hundreds of hours of play or countless agonizing deaths—some games make for a pleasant afternoon ride that is engaging without being overly demanding. Thomas Was Alone is one of those games. It is short, sweet, and satisfying.

This puzzle platformer is as minimalist as it gets. The characters you control are quadrilaterals that vary in terms of size, shape, and jumping abilities. They travel through a world made up of equally minimalistic black shapes with gray backgrounds. But Thomas Was Alone's aesthetics are deceptively simple: The game tells the story of several AI creations who have been discarded by their human programmers and who must make their own way through an increasingly hostile digital world. The colorful shapes you pilot are actually characters with personalities, and Danny Wallace's good-humored narration makes you feel like you have actually gotten to know each one. The squares and rectangles you meet throughout the game have flawed but lovable personalities, and experience jealousy, insecurity, megalomania, friendship, and even love.

Thomas Was Alone has notably smooth, precise gameplay. It is full of puzzles with fun mechanics that involve different sorts of jumps, as well as abilities to float and defy gravity. None of the puzzles will make you tear your hair out, and only a few need to be completed under time pressure. The game isn't particularly challenging, but that's okay—I found that the mild difficulty level led to a smooth, meditative ride. The trance is deepened by a quality soundtrack that complements the gameplay without ever intruding on it. At times, the ride is a little too smooth. I actually found myself stunned to reach the end, because I never registered any powerful climactic or concluding moments. But in the end, that didn't detract from my fun.

Verdict: If you like puzzles and platformers, Thomas Was Alone is an excellent choice. The game is short, it's sweet, and it doesn't overstay its welcome. I found myself truly enjoying the story and rooting for its quadrilateral protagonists. My afternoon with Thomas Was Alone was an afternoon very well spent.

Review: Proteus (PS Vita)

I put my first day of Spring Break relaxation to good use by giving Proteus a thorough playthrough. When Proteus was first released as a PC game, it provoked several discussions of whether it counted as a game at all. The "goal" of the game is simply to explore a pixellated island full of plants, wildlife, and passing seasons. There are no requirements, no battles, and no ways to interact with the world except to walk and sit. On the PS Vita, you can also adjust colors using the rear touchpad, which is a nice added feature. An entire playthrough takes about an hour, if you're taking your time.

While Proteus does not have particularly impressive graphics, the visuals of the game are only one component of the experience. As you explore the island, the soundtrack changes in response to your movements. What plants do you examine, and what animals do you try to approach? Are you on the beach, or on top of a snowy mountain? The sounds you hear will change accordingly.

While this game tends to be a love it or hate it affair, I would say that it is mediocre. I have no issue with games that are all about the experience—Proteus has been compared to Flower and Journey, both of which I enjoyed tremendously. Given that the game's soundtrack evolves in response to the player's actions, I would also compare Proteus to Sound Shapes, a music-based platformer.

Proteus, however, falls short of these other games. It can provide a few hours of amusement (I gave it three playthroughs so that I could see a few different islands and find out whether the game would grow on me), but ultimately it isn't much to write home about. I will probably never bother to play it again. The graphics are pretty crappy, the music is nothing revelatory, and at a whopping $13.99, the game is ludicrously overpriced on the PSN. After reading several reviews in which the writers claimed to have laughed out loud in delight, to have rekindled childhood curiosity, or to have been reminded of hiking in the wilderness, I expected a lot more from my time with Proteus. You might get more out of it if you can insert more of yourself into it, but I found myself feeling alienated from the game's environment because possible interactions with it were so limited.

Verdict: Proteus might be worth playing if it goes on sale and if you're into "experience" games, but you're better off replaying Journey.

Honeyed Words and Skyrim Skill Trees

I have spent well over 100 hours playing Skyrim, and most of those hours were nonstop fun. The rest were spent grinding to improve my smithing skills. Making dwarven bows and enchanting them is profitable and great for levels and perks, but I would rather be out adventuring. And there is no way you could convince me to sit around practicing alchemy.

The sad reality is that Skyrim's most delightful skills (for me, anyway) are terrible perk investments. Lockpicking is not worth the perk points. Pickpocketing requires many points you before you can experience the joy of stealing the armor right off of your enemy's back—and that's if you can sneak up on someone in the first place. Additionally, Skyrim's leveling system guarantees that thieving skills are not the ones you want to develop early in the game. If combat skills aren't your primary concern, you can gain too many levels without improving as a fighter, then end up hopelessly disadvantaged during dungeon crawls. While it is fun to roleplay as a thief, overcommitment to stealth skills is Skyrim suicide.

But it doesn't have to be this way. Why not create more complex dungeons with more alternate routes and expanded possibilities for stealth? Picking locks could then be good for something other than the occasional shortcut or access to extra loot. Pickpocketing could be developed further by offering more opportunities to sneak up on enemies who carry important items or access keys.

Most wonderful of all would be improvements to the ultimate power of the Dragonborn: Speech. If the Dovahkiin can force dragons to the ground with her voice, then why can't she also use her speech skills for purposes aside from commerce and the occasional persuasion or intimidation check? I'd love to see scenarios in which I can sweet talk bandits and convince them to turn on each other, or even use speech skills to assist with pickpocketing. Perhaps people who have come to like or trust me could let down their guard and become less sensitive to a little thievery. If busted while breaking into someone's house, I could talk my way out of trouble. Speech could even have come into play during the civil war questline, which includes several raids conducted as part of a group of soldiers. Imagine being able to better rally and command the soldiers around you, or even being able to convince enemy soldiers to turn on each other without your allies having to do much of anything.

It's cruel to include skill trees that are so potentially interesting, but then squander the opportunity by forcing players to focus on other skill sets to ensure success in key parts of the game. I want to see an Elder Scrolls game in which all major skill sets (warrior, thief, mage) offer viable paths to victory.

In Defense of Thief

On February 25, Thief was released to a chorus of crappy reviews. At best, it has been called entertaining but flawed. At worst, it's been called an abomination.

I am not saying the game is perfect. Sometimes the sound cuts out, which is irritating. The in-game map is unhelpful and finding your way around can be a pain (although things get easier once you've spent time exploring The City). The half-baked supernatural plot line is unimpressive.

But none of these things is a death knell. Skyrim was buggy as hell, had repetitive dialogue (arrow in the knee, anyone?), and included some rather silly plot threads. We still loved it to death.

The truth is, I've been having a blast playing Thief. A lot of love went into creating this game's world. While a dark, oppressive atmosphere is consistent throughout, Thief's level design has enough nuance to keep things interesting. The warm red tones of a brothel, the dark mystery of ruins under The City, a house full of secret passages, and a terrifying abandoned asylum all held my attention. Propaganda posters are pasted to the walls throughout The City, and there are hundreds of collectible documents that give you further insight into Garrett's world (as well as tip you off to some good looting opportunities). Most of the game's collectables are intricately designed and have stories and meanings behind them. The paintings that you collect are just awful enough to convince you that they are high art. I love them.

In addition to its visual richness, Thief immerses you in sound. Although the audio does cut out sometimes, the game sounds amazing—Garret softly pads along various surfaces, opens and closes drawers and cabinets, and deploys his thieving tools with sound effects that immersed me in his world. And for all of the nostalgia for Garrett's old voice, I love the voice actor in the reboot. Garrett is a man of few words, but the words he does say are expressive and believable. During the prologue, he shows tremendous frustration with Erin while also showing tremendous restraint. When speaking to Basso, he remains laconic but is still somehow affectionate. He speaks to employers like Ector, Orion, and Vittori professionally and without asking too many questions—as a professional thief should. Basso, too, is extremely likable, and I wanted to see a lot more of him. Not only does he provide some much-needed levity in a dark and serious game, but he also brings out the best in Garrett.

Thief's actual gameplay is also hugely enjoyable. I have not had any issues with the controls, and I generally feel one with Garrett as I guide him through the game world. The swoop move never gets old, and close calls while robbing unsuspecting people blind have not yet ceased to thrill me. The AI is a lot smarter than the reviews led me to believe, and several of the game's scenarios presented me with real challenges. I love that I can adjust the difficulty or re-attempt missions using different playstyles,  and these options add a lot of replay value.

If you ask me, Thief is a tremendously enjoyable game, and one that is well worth your time if you're into stealth. So why do my own feelings seem to be in opposition to those of the rest of the internet?

I think Thief was crippled by the huge expectations that were placed on it by fans of the original trilogy, and by Eidos Montreal's desire to rise to those expectations. The demand for the original voice actor, the hate for new game features that are completely normal in other current games, and the obsession with whether the game would be hard enough ultimately guaranteed that no one was going to be satisfied. Because Thief is the only Thief game I have ever played, I don't come to it with the same perspective. It may not be like the good old days, but I'm guessing it probably never was. Still, if you want to roll like they did in 1998, Steam is probably having a sale right now.

Dying for a PS4—Just Not Now

I have been a gamer since my brother and I received our first Game Boys for Christmas, but I haven't been playing much since I started grad school. That all changed last year, when I decided it was time to buy myself a new console. Even though the PS4 was about to launch, I purchased a PS3 instead. So far, I haven't regretted it. The PS3 has an enormous catalogue of games that will continue to expand for another year, and my to-play list is intimidatingly deep. There is a lot of talk about next-gen graphics, but I am sufficiently impressed with Uncharted 3.

That, and every time I walk into a Gamestop to look at the PS4 game selection, I end up feeling disappointed. If you don't like sports games or shooters, your current PS4 options are downright depressing. Knack received middling reviews, while South Park: The Stick of Truth and Tales of Symphonia just came out for the PS3. Thief, Rayman Legends, Tomb Raider, Flower, and Assassin's Creed IV are also available on consoles other than the PS4. Meanwhile, all of the PS4 games that truly excite me won't drop until much later in the year. Witcher 3, The Order: 1886, and Shadow of Mordor are all on my wish list, but they won't be out until the end of next December, just in time to deplete my Christmas money. I will probably cave in and get myself a PS4 in time to play Elder Scrolls Online, but that's a lot of months to spend playing just one game.

There's no disputing that the PS4 is hugely popular and that everyone wants one. I myself want one in the near future. Over 6 million of them have sold so far. But what the hell is everyone playing right now? Would even more consoles have sold if there had been more diversity among launch titles?