If I’ve done my job correctly as a Xenoblade Evangelist and the proprietor of xenoblade.quartertothree.com, you should be sitting down to play Xenoblade Chronicles sometime soon. If so, I’m a bit envious. You can only discover how cool this game is for the first time once. Enjoy.
To help you enjoy it more, following are a few tips. Spoiler free, of course.
After the jump, the thing I wish I’d known when I started playing Continue reading →
I find myself gravitating more and more of late to levels that stretch beyond the usual jumping puzzles and platforms. Not that there’s anything wrong with platforming (can you say it like that?), of course, I’m just in a phase that calls for different challenges than bounce pads and grappling hooks usually provide. Unfortunately this can lead me into community levels that are beyond my ability.
Such is the case with Perfect Cell: V2 Remake, which feels like it’s making me use separate halves of my brain simultaneously. But I don’t care when a level is too hard, especially when I get the sense that I will eventually turn the corner. I’m almost there with this one, and I like that. So, you know what? Strike the word ‘unfortunately’ from that above paragraph. If I’m going to expect the level designers to stretch, I should expect the same of myself.
A creepy scientist named, uh, Creepy Scientist, has experienced something called the YLoD. My sackboy naturally feels bad for the guy–who wouldn’t?–and allows himself to be miniaturized and transported into the scientist’s PS3 in order to fix it. The result, Electric Momentum, has some of the coolest and quickest platforming I’ve played in a long time. That little spark in the middle of the screenshot there? That’s my boy, translated into electricity for a moment.
Bring your reflexes.
Last week, I reviewed Journey. If you gauge an article by the quantity of comments in the comments section, it was Quarter to Three’s most successful article. If you gauge an article by the quality of the comments in the comments section, it was Quarter to Three’s least successful article.
In case some of the people who posted comments stuck around, I thought I should answer some of their questions and address some of their concerns. But rather than wade into the morass of comments, I present it here as a FAQ for the Journey review.
After the jump, everything you always wanted to know about the Journey review and weren’t afraid to ask in expletive riddled language Continue reading →
Maybe it’s the jaunty Toy Story music juxtaposed against my little stick dude getting splatted by a speeding car doodle. Or maybe it’s the fact that the designer gives me the option to instantly become a cat in order to avoid being blown up by a cannon. Or perhaps it’s the part with the jumping truck doodle where you blow the horn and scare away the giant. Or the part where the notebook page tears away (pictured). Whatever it is, Paper World 2: Doodle hit the spot this week. It scratched a similar itch as last week’s community level, where I just needed to try something different.
Speaking of something different…
After the jump, I’m in the shit Continue reading →
Two consecutive weeks of jaunty music and Muppets. I’m all cuted out, and so is my sackboy. We’re looking for something simple, yet challenging. Enough with all the jumping for now too. Platforms, platforms, platforms. What else ya got?
A puzzle? Okay. I’m listening. What are the directions? “Get the block to fall into the square hole to progress to the next level.” Um…you’ll have to forgive me if I think that sounds a little boring. “Inspired by the flash game ‘Bloxorz’.” Well, I’ve never heard of that. I guess I’ll give it a try.
BlockThing 3D. Exactly what I needed. Thanks, AliensWearHats. Although I must admit I wish you’d capitalized that first ‘s’ in your PSN name, instead of the ‘w’. Something to consider for the future.
In the Normandy’s engineering bay, crew member Cortez talks about the fate of his husband, killed in an attack by invading aliens. Cortez is a dude. With a husband. Shepherd doesn’t bat an eye as yet another “how’s your family?” dialogue unfolds. It’s clumsy, but only because it’s by Bioware. Not because it’s about a gay couple. Part of the beauty of Bioware is that they’re equal opportunity clumsy writers, regardless of sexual orientation.
There’s also a point on Citadel Station where a woman is talking about her asari lover — all asari are chicks — and the tension it causes with her family. I understand Shepard himself/herself can even get into gay relationships. This has been the case all along with the main characters in Dragon Ages, Mass Effects, and maybe even earlier (were there gay characters in the Old Republic games?). I don’t know this firsthand, not because I have any aversion to a particular lifestyle. Instead, my aversion is to ridiculous romance mechanics, gay, straight, or interspecies.
So does this matter?
After the jump, a long — but important — story Continue reading →
There has been a lot of controversy regarding the community that plays fighting games recently regarding misogyny, with two high-profile incidents in the past week: a sexual harassment incident shown on webstream via a reality show used to promote Street Fighter X Tekken called Cross Assault, and another incident that led to a top player getting sanctioned and sponsorship pulled from a series of tournies out in NorCal. I’ve seen a wide variety of reactions to the scandals, everything from folks attempting to whitewash this away as inherent to the scene, to folks saying the whole community needs to be destroyed. I figured I’d write this to show why folks still care, as I recently got a chance to hit my first modern major tournament after many years of playing these games, which have been a big part of my life.
After the jump, my attempt to become famous ends up mad salty for my efforts Continue reading →
Why do we always come here
I guess we’ll never know
It’s like a kind of torture
To have to watch the show
Let’s see…adorable Muppets? Check. A mess of costumes and decorations? Check. Some new playable levels? Check. “Attract-O-Gel” that gives my sackboy the power to walk on the ceiling? Check. Cloning Hat? Pictured. All that should combine to make some most sensational, inspirational, celebrational, Muppetational DLC.
Then why do I find myself siding with those crotchety old blowhards in the balcony?
After the jump, not time to get things started Continue reading →
I have a few things I’d like to say to some of the people playing Mass Effect 3’s cool co-op multiplayer mode. Some very specific things to some very specific people.
After the jump, that could mean you Continue reading →
Two years ago, I wrote up Mass Effect 2 as a list of ten things gone terribly wrong. I dismissed it as “a confused attempt to streamline an RPG, flesh out a shooter, cram a story between space dungeons, and pick up the loose ends from the first game”. But then you people bought it in droves, said adoring things about it, and put it on your various Best Game Ever lists. Nice move. Now we’re all going to get more of the same in Mass Effect 3.
Or — after the jump — are we? Continue reading →
“No, not gonna go to class tonight. I’m going to stay home and raid,” I tell Alex.
“Tonight’s not a scheduled raid night,” he says.
“Yeah, I’m going with another guild. They could use someone to try Soa on nightmare with them.”
“Hmm. Okay, I guess. Oh, actually, I’m not going to make Thursday this week. I want to try no-gi and they only do a class on Thursday. Chad is going to give me some one-on-one time.”
“Missing the raid again? And who’s Chad?” I ask.
“Remember that guy who asked us about WoW my first time at the gym? He’s actually pretty cool.”
“Ah. Geez, I haven’t been there in a couple weeks, have I? Hey, that’s kind of funny. It’s like we switched who plays games and who goes to the gym,” I say, turning back to my computer.
“Yeah…”
After the jump, an IRL duel Continue reading →
Let’s Meeting Circus troupe. A breath of fresh air after a real dry spell in the community levels of late. This week was especially harsh. Then this level comes along with a circus theme, with Muppets. Muppets? What? I suspect this has something to do with the fact that it is a competition entry, and not a tribute to Bret McKenzie’s recent win, although I can find nothing about the specific contest (LBPC7) other than other entries. No worries. Playing this level was prize enough.
The name of the level and the translated text within it are bonuses though. “Did you watch the present swing? It was great force!” I find these things so endearing, and touching. Far from poking fun by including them, I must admit a slight sense of awe. If I were to have to take a whack at titling something of mine in Japanese characters, I wouldn’t have the slightest clue where to begin. I love it when these LBP designers at least try to do so. Many thanks, Attacker444. You made this with one week? Damn. Well done.
Despite my intial reservations about the guy Alex and I have nicknamed “Hot Tamale” (who actually goes by Doom Patrol), he’s turned out to be a great addition to the guild. He has a lot of knowledge about MMO mechanics, is familiar with all the SWTOR classes, and is willing to jump into some of the toughest situations without any of us asking him. For example, the fourth stage of Eternity Vault – one of SWTOR’s two operations – involves a one-on-one duel for every member of the party. There are three possible enemies: one with low HP, one with a considerable amount, and one with a ton. The first time we did it, Tamale immediately volunteered to take one of big dudes. Even more impressive is that he was the second person done with his fight, finishing just seconds after Alex.
He’s been with us for about six weeks now and he’s been a pretty great fit overall. We even considering making him the guild recruiting officer until he started something no GM ever wants: guild drama.
After the jump, trying to avoid a lose-lose resolution Continue reading →
It’s tough to capture a vacation with a handful of anecdotes. Which is why you roll out the pictures and hope your friends are polite enough to sit through them.
After the jump, are you polite enough? Continue reading →
