This is an extended weekend for a lot of us, so how do you plan on spending it? A lot of new games just came out, Labor Day is Monday, it’s starting to cool down outside, and stores are already beginning to stock Halloween costumes. It’s only a matter of time before pumpkin spice nation takes over and we’re bombarded by the holiday rush of games that signify the end of yet another year.
I ended up picking up Mad Max and Metal Gear Solid V, but I’ve only managed to put a few hours in to one of them. I opted to go with Mad Max first since it’s supposedly cut and dry. I’m three weeks in to a full load of college classes and I’m just not prepared to dive in to Metal Gear quite yet. Aside from the optional racing missions being a bit lame, I’d say I’m enjoying it. It’s really nothing other games haven’t offered already (or even done better), but it’s still a really enjoyable open world action game. Combat is fun and brutal–even if Max is a bit overpowered in Fury mode. Customizing and mowing people down in my Magnum Opus is a blast, and few things rival the feeling of yanking a driver through their own windshield with a harpoon gun.
Another game I’ve been digging lately is the newly released turn-based roguelike Quest of Dungeons on Xbox One. I should have our review up shortly, but it’s basically a turn-based Gauntlet that takes place on a tile floor. Every time you move or take an action, the enemy does as well. If you’ve ever played the obscure PSone RPG Azure Dreams, it’s very similar. There’s procedurally generated floors and boss fights, so some attempts have ended after only 5 minutes of unlucky RNG, but I’ve almost finished it once. Once. It’s a hard game, and it’s been my go-to as of late if I just want to take a break from homework or something. One day I hope to last longer than 44 minutes (insert “that’s what she said!” joke here).
So what about you folks? What games are you diving in to this weekend?
What's Your Tag? 
I’ll probably be putting some time into Toxikk, as I mentioned in my commentary I spent the $18 on the Early Access, and a new update just came out. Other than that, I’m sure I’ll be catching up on Splatoon as I’ve been busy, and have fallen behind the pack. I’ll definitely be playing some Smash. You stop playing any given fighter for an extended amount of time, and you’re guaranteed to suck again.
I feel that way about fighters and competitive shooters. They’re just not genres you can play casually and still feel good at. I think that’s the allure of Splatoon, though. I know it’s still a team-based competitive shooter, but (from what I’ve gathered on Twitter, at least) it’s accessible enough that you don’t need to play it avidly to be competent.
That’s really what’s drawn me away from both of those genres. I loved Killer Instinct when I got the Xbox One at launch, but I just found myself getting destroyed online since I didn’t really want to *commit* to the game that often. No matter how much I enjoyed playing it offline, it clearly wasn’t enough to buy season 2. I enjoyed MKX offline as well, with the story mode, the living towers, etc., but I ended up returning it within the 7 day time frame (Gamestop’s used game policy) because I knew I just wouldn’t play it online. Also the same reason I never picked up Smash Bros.
Honestly I still keep any fighter I buy around, and keep the roster/stages updated. Because when I do have the rare time someone comes over I want them to be able to use anybody (I never get the useless stuff though like the costumes.) And when you play with people you know you don’t have to be the Brock Lesnar of _________ to enjoy it. Competitive shooters too. Though the best bet for that are PC versions of games that support LAN. That’s part of what makes Arena shooters so fun many of them did, or do. Or you can play P2P with maybe six friends without it getting too laggy. Splatoon doesn’t provide LAN obviously, and it has the modern conventions like unlocking weapons with XP, and such. But because none of the modes focus on killing people, but painting the map, or the areas, you can have the worst aim on Earth, and still win. The campaign is fun too, even if the final Boss goes makes the game go from normal difficulty to 100 seemingly instantly. Also going back to the fighters, Smash certainly has high level play with everything you’d expect from a competitive game (Zoning, character balance, Frame Data, etc.) but it was also designed with simple fun with items, and zany stages in mind. So between the items, 8 player pandemonium, etc. Online competition shouldn’t scare anyone off. Plus there’s all the Single Player stuff even in the new one that can keep you busy for days, like the targets, home run sandbag thing, arcade mode, and so on. I guess my long winded point is that even if you suck at any one of these games they’re still a blast with friends, and family. Plus some of these games hold value, so trying to rebuy them in 5 years may be head scratchy to you when you see they go for $70 used, and upwards of $300 new.
Yeah, if I had local friends who were in to those genres I’d be more inclined to buy and/or keep them. I live in the middle of nowhere currently, and the people I gamed with growing up are all online now. We’ve all kind of drifted away from both genres online, seemingly sucked in to the plethora of MMO’s or whatever co-op games we find (Diablo, Borderlands, Halo, Gears, etc.).
But against the random combatants online, yes, you seemingly need to play every few days to not become rusty.
Gears!
If you’re looking for people to play with, hit us up on Twitter @whatsyourtag. I know 2 of us (Miles and Ryan) have been hitting it pretty hard.