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Slowly, but steadily I spent a few hours a week gaming. In the past months I nailed Fable 2 (bleh), Tales of Symphonia; Down of New World, Final Fantasy XIII-2 (oh YEAAAAAH) and am currently busy with The Last of Us (review in progress).
Fable 2 was quite a let down..I kept playing because I do not like to leave things unfinished. The art style is super cute, charming and adorable, but the game by fat does not live up to my expectations. Too simple, too limited. I would give it a 7, I guess. No playable value for me.
Tales of Symphonia: Down of New World I enjoyed much more. Although Tales series always follow a standard formula and seem to not want to take any risks or deviate from its roots wthatsoever, I still quite enjoyed it. I absolutely love the dialogues and art style. The story in Tales are always somewhat similar...2 fractions battling for the power in the world, where balance is disrupted by some sort of crystals being compromised, utilised or abused. There is always a theme in these games that humans ruin their world themselves and it is true, but I cant help seeing ears of the same ideas being reused over and over again. Japanese game makers get much more fixated on characters and details. They think they are oh so versatile, but do they notice how all their games are similar to each other in so many ways story-wise? And yet I love them. I always buy them and always play them..It is such a ZEN to play TALES. In 1 week Tales of Xillia finally come out in Europe and, of course, I am going to get it.
After Tales I wanted something more down to Earth and gave another try to Grand Theft Auto IV A game that is considered to be one of the best, if not the best, of its generation..Most reviewers gave it 10 out of 10..And I must say it is a mystery to me why...I remember I bought it as soon as it came out, played it for a few hours and dropped it, there were better kids on the block. Now, several years later I tried it again and just couldn't finish it even that I do not like to stop in the middle of something (so it nust have been quite boring and unbearable for me)..Well, I think I know what it is...I appreciate the crafted story, rich dialogues and free world, but I came to a conclusion that I just can't force myself to play a "renegade". I just don't play "nasty" even for experience to see how it will play out. I always tend to play as paragon, unless an opponent in the game is such an ass that I just have to teach him a lesson with occasional but well-placed butt kicking. In GTA you play a criminal who advances in life by means of shady deeds and acts..I dont enjoy this. I might have been able to bare with it longer to see how the game would play out and see if I can make more conscious choices in the story, but another total let down for me is car chasing..I get that it is one of the main aspect of the game, but in my opinion driving mechanics suck!..So after a few hours during another regular chase I just game up..hate driving those cars..So have to admit, I quitted GTA IV and do not plan to come back to it. Not my cup of tea. I still consider getting GTA V, but lets wait for reviews and see some gameplay 1st..it is surely about another 3 criminals, but this will be a much more modern game and I expect Rockstar to make a giant leap forward with the story and world possibilities. I loved L.A. Noire after all.
So, there I set, surrounded by a selection of yet unplayed games and had my usual luxury problem: which one to pick this time. :) After several elimination rounds I ended up with FFXIII-2.
I wasn't too excited or expecting much as FFXIII wasn't my favourite by a long shot...The story was SO messed up, badly explained and meladramatic as well as liniar that I wasn't over the moon with my second FF experience (after FFXII). I liked the battle system and characters are very pretty, but it is not enough to win my heart over with the game, alright..As meh as FFXIII was for me..I got completely enchanted and mesmerised by sequel: FFXIII-2. THIS game was made especially for me and is for sure one of my favourites. I totally LOVED the story! This time travel idea is exactly what I want. I loved Noel's character and Moogle. Serah is somewhat more boring and I do not understand some of her choices (being away from Snow), I still liked her quite a lot. Noel and her made an awesome team. Noel is one of my favourite characters in gaming: great personality, finally direct to the point (a lot of FF characters are so freaking vague!!!), loyal, fast, open and, of course, very handsome haha :) I got really addicted to FF and wanted to complete it on every possible level from every world they visited, to every puzzle, every quest, every monster, every location to every little hidden secret. I rarely do ti in games, mainly caring to experience the story, but this game got me hooked and still has enormous replayable value. Crystarium - character progression system - was totally awesome to play with..Taming and developing monsters with unique abilities, deciding on strategies, grouping and experimenting with paradigms - it was a blast! I waited for every cutscene, loved the graphics and all little space drift puzzles..Story made so much more sense this time. I will definitely play FFXIII-2 again. Game is also gives you illusion of freedom, allowing to jump between different times and locations. What I liked the least in the game is how stupid Snow was this time over. Such a dush. I quite liked him in the first game, but here he was arrogant, egoistic short-minded prick..What I like even less are the rumours about the 3rd and final instalment in FFXIII series. The Lightening Returns come to Europe in Feb 2014. One part of me is very anxious to play it, but another has strong reservations. I heard that it will be much more difficult (Demon Souls level and we all know how unforgiving that game is:), I also suspect that Snow is an antagonist in 3rd game (maybe he turns out this way after Serah's death?) I am pretty sure, though that Serah will live after all..He also looks seriously older. But Lightning (stupid name) also battles Noel and I like him, so we will see what's cooking yet...Anyways, FFXIII-2 is superb and I totally loved it!