{"id":3932,"date":"2012-05-31T07:08:33","date_gmt":"2012-05-31T11:08:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.calvertgames.com\/cgblog\/?p=3932"},"modified":"2012-05-31T07:08:33","modified_gmt":"2012-05-31T11:08:33","slug":"now-playing-end-of-may-edition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.calvertgames.com\/cgblog\/2012\/05\/31\/now-playing-end-of-may-edition\/","title":{"rendered":"Now Playing (End of May Edition)"},"content":{"rendered":"

As summer starts to bloom, I finally decided to pick up Flower<\/a> as part of the recent ThatGameCompany sale ($4.89 via PS+ discount). What a wonderful experience; when games become art, they really become immersive media, moving beyond the realm of typical game-playing sessions and evolving into said experience<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I haven\u2019t spent a ton of time with it (too many other distractions as you can see from this post), but I would say that it is a stronger outing than their initial flOw, but not as emotionally captivating as their recent Journey outing. Wow; I\u2019m becoming a softie in my old age.<\/p>\n

Final Fantasy XIII (some XIII-2)<\/strong>
\nI swore to myself (seriously) and told my boys that I wouldn\u2019t start XIII-2 until I finished the mainline FF XIII story. Two years after its initial release, I finally got around to doing the needful.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not sure if I will actually Platinum FF XIII; I probably don\u2019t have the time or strength of character to grind, grind, grind. With that said, I am still plugging along and having a good time with it. At some point I will have to put it down and fully focus of XIII-2; until then, I hope to pick up another \u201cyou have put too much time into this game\u201d trophy or two.<\/p>\n

Dungeons & Dragons: Daggerdale<\/strong>
\nSpeaking of RPGs, Daggerdale was just released on the PSN. It is the rare purchase for me to actually pick something up day one at full price; in this case $14.99.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a sucker for fun hack-and-slash experiences, and this one carries the full backing of the Dungeons & Dragons 4E rules system.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m only a couple of hours in, so I can\u2019t really comment on the game play mechanics, but playing with the human warrior is pretty much what I expected. Pick up a quest, smash barrels for treasure, fight some bad guys (goblins and skeletons so far), rinse and repeat. I\u2019m at level 2, and have only died once by stupidly falling off a high ledge while fighting a skeleton. I forced Mr. Bones off the ledge and thought I would follow; to my death.<\/p>\n

Madden 12<\/strong>
\nI have been playing this one a little here and there in order to satisfy my football gaming jones, but mostly to finish it out and pick up the Platinum. I only need the 2 Ultimate Team (10 and 20) games played and I will score a new shiny. The truth is that I swore I would stay away from Ultimate Team so that I wouldn\u2019t be tempted to throw real money at virtual cards. For the most part that has worked, but I did have one weak moment; money was sitting in my wallet, so I did flip some for a Gold pack. Yes, I\u2019m weak.<\/p>\n

For the most part Madden is a super easy Platinum. Over the holiday weekend I finished off a couple of the trophies with help from my two oldest boys \u2013 yes, we \u201cgamed\u201d (err cheated) the system by turning down the CPU AI to be weak as a kitten, but we had a good time playing, which is what life (and gaming) is all about. Speaking of quality family gaming \u2026<\/p>\n

LittleBigPlanent 2<\/strong>
\nI haven\u2019t played this one is a while, but it\u2019s a great game to play with my boys (all three \u2013 13, 9.11, and 5). LBP provides infinite possibilities, is fun creative outlet, hilarious at times (watching each other die or do otherwise stupid tricks), etc.<\/p>\n

Speaking of LBP, I\u2019m still anxiously looking forward to the Vita version<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Waiting Game \u2026<\/strong>
\nAs I wait on my \u201cAtelier Meruru: The Apprentice of Arland Limited Edition: Grand Finale Set<\/a>\u201d NIS America store, to arrive today or tomorrow, I keep looking at my backlog of RPGs and shake my head. I\u2019ll never get to them all, but it is a nice problem to have. At the same time, I start looking forward to the next round of Gust instant classics (i.e. Atelier Ayesha<\/a>). I\u2019m hopeless \u2026<\/p>\n

Same for Gravity Rush<\/a> (Vita \u2013 June 12); it has received extremely positive reviews<\/a>, but not sure that it will be a system seller or marketed as such. I\u2019ll be happy with a quality game that provides some new Vita experiences.<\/p>\n

\"Share\"\/<\/a>\n