Your New Addiction

Head on over and download yourself a free copy of Desktop Dungeons.  That is, of course, if you haven't already done so.  I feel like I might be late to the party on this one, but for anyone who hasn't checked it out yet, prepare to lose some precious time.

The game takes place in a single dungeon, and you either win or lose (mostly lose) in around 10 minutes.  But that doesn't mean you stop playing.  Nope, you go back in for more punishment.  Each randomly generated dungeon begins with only a few visible blocks surrounding you, and as you explore, you uncover potions, spells, shrines, and, of course, enemies.  None of the enemies move, and only attack you when you attack them, so it's more about figuring out how to level up to beat the dungeon boss(es).  I've never had so much trouble deciding whether I should click the button and consume my mana potion or not.  You see, it's easier to beat enemies at the same or lower levels than you, but beating more powerful creatures grants greater experience, albeit at the cost of life and mana.  So is that mana potion worth the experience?

All the classic RPG staples are here.  Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Halflings, Gnomes, all able to play a stock set of character classes.  Everyone's got their different bonuses, strengths, and weaknesses.  It's not a new idea, just a perfectly-executed old idea.  Actually, you should stop reading this and start playing.

-dp

Gray Matter Review

That's right. For my first shot at a true review, I'm giving a go at the off-the-radar PC adventure game, Gray Matter. I finally got myself a new PC. My laptop is around 5 years old, and having to turn it on, then wait 5 minutes before I could use it had to stop, so I head over to Best Buy and picked up a new Asus. And why not try a PC while I'm at it? Gray Matter is available for $30, but I downloaded it off Amazon for $15. I don't really know why it was that price, though. Maybe just because it was a download, or maybe my account had some kind of credit.

Enough of that, though! Review after the jump.

About 2010

I'm only one guy, and can't have played enough games to create a proper "Best of the Year" list, considering some of the games everyone's talking about I've never tried myself (i.e. Call of Duty: Black Ops, Red Dead Redemption, Halo: Reach, Starcraft 2).  How did I spend my gaming year, though?  That's a question I can answer!

Mass Effect - Pre-review

I'll try my hand at an actual review when I finish playing, but I just want to give my impressions so far.  This game makes Dragons Age: Origins look like something BioWare threw together real quick while they were on break from their real job, which was making Mass Effect 2.  I can't reccommend this game enough!  Get it today.  If you don't have an Xbox 360, get one of those, too, or play on your PC if it can handle it.
-dp

Part II: Where the Numbers Go Awry

Sticking with US release #'s  here, I hadn't played Final Fantasy II until it was released much later for the GBA.   So I'm going to skip it and go right to Final Fantasy III (later VI).  Like the original NES, I also never owned a Super Nintendo.  This time, however, a friend of mine was kind enough to lend me his system and the game, so I could play it myself.  And thank God, too, because this game would change the way I look at video games, RPGs especially.
(Again, spoilers ahead.)

My Life and Final Fantasy: Part I

In case you didn't know, Final Fantasy XIII is due out in the US this March...finally.  I've been excited for this game since I beat FFXII.  I honor of the event, I figured I'd write a little about each Final Fantasy and how it affected me, my gaming life, and what my experience was.  I feel like I may be in a minority because I seem to love the installments that enrage others, and be a bit disappointed in the installments that others love.  Oddly, I didn't know how the general public felt about each game until pretty recently with all the "Best of the Decade" lists going around.  Largely, I think the Final Fantasy series, at least the main intallments I-XII, can do no wrong, though there was one game in particular I was less happy with than the rest.

So hit the jump for the first installment...Final Fantasy.


Oh, and in case anyone reading may have not played these games, and are still planning on it, there are spoilers ahead.

Weighing in on Darksiders and Bayonetta

I'll admit right up front that I finished neither game, and that I played both on the PS3, which I heard the load screens were significantly longer for Bayonetta on the PS3, though I, myself, don't have anything to compare them to.

Wanna hear what I have to say?  After the jump...