My Top 3 Most Wanted Games

So now that E3 has come and gone, and we are excited once again about what is coming out in the near future, I just wanted to touch on what games I am most excited about. There are more than a couple that I can't wait for but I thought I would quickly recap the ones I am most excited for.

3) Horizon - PS4

Guerrilla Games is best known for their work on the Killzone franchise but they are finally breaking out of that bubble and working on a brand new IP and it looks stellar. Horizon is a post-post apocalyptic action RPG and from what i've seen and read so far, it should be pretty amazing. Graphically the game looks insane already, and it follows the main character as she journeys across the landscape taking on giant robot dinosaurs (that's basically what they are). It looks like it mixes things like the Witcher with Monster Hunter, and you can get pieces from the robots you take down and use them to craft new gear and such, like a MH game. Definitely can't wait for this to come out.

2) Last Guardian - PS4

This game originally was announced almost a decade ago, originally for the PS3, and it seemed to die, but thankfully Sony has brought it back. It is from what used to be known as Team Ico, a small team, and it's about a boy and his umm, bird cat monster thing, as you traverse desolate castles and build a bond between the two. You should just watch the video and then you'll know what i'm talking about. Ico and Shadow of the Colossus are two of my all time favourite games so I am very happy to see that this isn't dead.

1) Fire Emblem Fates - 3DS

I love the Fire Emblem series. I love strategy RPGs and this series has been at the top of my list for about a decade now, and thankfully since Fire Emblem Awakening did so good we are getting a new one. Apparently there are two versions that you can get, a White one and a Black one, with the White version being the traditional one starring characters like Marth and Lucina and so forth, and is a bit more straightforward. The other version, Black, is apparently a bit more of a challenge. Thing is you buy one of them, and if you want the second one you pay an extra $20 to unlock it. I am very excited for this game, even if I don't like how they're handling the versions. However, there is so much content to the game and things like online vs modes, so we will definitely get a solid bang for the buck. This is out in the spring and it will definitely give me something to do when i'm gaming on the go.

What is going on with Nintendo?

So I haven't talked about the Nintendo E3 press conference, or digital event, as it's been a couple crazy weeks since then, but thought I would share some thoughts on what's gone on.

Mostly, I was pretty disappointed.

If you read this blog at all then you'd know that I am a big Nintendo fan. I'm a dad and just want nothing more than to play Nintendo games with my kids as they grow up, as I grew up on the games and love them and love the new games. I look forward to E3 time and seeing what is coming up from Nintendo, but sadly, there's not a lot really, especially for Wii U.

I know that they have stated that they don't like to show off games in the far off future like Sony or Microsoft do, and that's also probably because they're making games for the new system, the NX, and are more focused on that. But when you don't even show off anything to tease with the new Zelda game that they have insisted is still coming out next year, well I was pretty bummed.

The new Star Fox looks pretty underwhelming in my opinion. I'm sure it'll be fun, but when it comes out in November I'll be playing Battlefront more than likely. At least Xenoblade Chronicles X is out in December just after my birthday, which I am excited for. They did show off Yoshi's Wooly World, which looks cute, and for some reason is out all over the world except for North America. Guessing they wanted to stagger the release so they had some bigger titles for the fall, plus to give them time to make Yoshi amiibo for us? There was a new Animal Crossing party game teased but mostly looks to once again make use of amiibo, and gameplay wise looks like a less skilled version of Mario Party (so even more so based on chance than regular Mario Party). There was a lot more for 3DS, but the "Metroid" game looks pretty bland, and the new Zelda 3DS game is also not that interesting to me.

Not sure what I was really hoping for, but it just seemed that a number of the games were made to sell me amiibo, or were just some generic titles with IP slapped on it. I know that they are aware of the general disappointment that was in the air following the digital event, and have said they will do better to communicate better and create better experiences, and I believe them, but still after that event i'm still bummed about release calendar for Nintendo games for the rest of this year.

Maybe next year will be better.

On Destiny

I just went back and looked at what I had written about Destiny, after having played the Alpha and the Beta. It's been about ten months since the game came out, and while I have also picked up a number of games here and there, really the bulk of my time still goes into Destiny.

It has definitely not quite lived up to my original hype, and has fallen quite short as far as the story goes. There's hints of greatness still in the game, stories that are waiting to be told, but for whatever reason it just hasn't happened yet. The original lead writer on the game left a little bit before the game came out, and many have hypothesized that the original story that Bungie wanted to tell had some ambiguous greys in it and wasn't strictly a black and white affair with guardians of light versus the Darkness. The theories do make some sense and I can see having had that story scrapped and moving eventually towards something else happen, and the patch job was a bunch of grimoire cards that were hastily written up and tossed on the website.

Regardless, Destiny has been a great social experience and that is why I have put hundreds and hundreds of hours into the game. I've gotten to play and stay in touch with my brothers back in Alberta, my former coworkers, game with new coworkers, but mostly meet a ton of new friends in the clans I have been a part of, whether it be Dads of Destiny or my favourite Christian chums in Below the Cross. I have done countless raids, done my weeklies every week, even participated in a couple Iron Banner events even though I'm terrible at pvp, but I still have fun because of the people I play with.

Lately there's been a lot of controversy over the pricing of the upcoming expansion the Taken King, and especially the pricing of the legendary versions that have some exclusive items attached. I'm kind of interested in the class items but not for the money, and after the uproar and lashing back against Bungie I'm glad they have at least put the items up for sale, even if the price point is pretty steep, I think anyways. A lot of people are saying they are done with the game, have moved on, but I'm pretty sure i'll pick it up. Because it's about the social experience for me and I still have fun with the game. Just hoping that they start to fulfill on the game I had originally gotten excited for and add a great story, because the opportunity is there, and hopefully Taken King gets it back on track.