Started playing 3 games since my last Game Beard update. Based on the title of this entry you might be able to figure out that those 3 games are Tales of Graces f, Tony Hawk HD, and Need for Speed: The Run.
Tales of Graces f (I'm not typing the little f anymore after this) has been dominating most of my playing time as of late. I love me some Tales games, always have. Tales of Symphonia, Vesperia, Abyss...loved them all. Loved them for their flaws and for their strengths. I'm happy that as games keep changing, the Tales games basically stay the same. It's refreshing to know what to expect before I even start playing.
The downside to this is the Tales games rarely surprise you, and Graces isn't much different. They do make minor changes to the way character advancement works but overall, if you've played one Tales game you've played them all. This isn't a condemnation of the series by any stretch of the imagination, each iteration has been a solid if not amazing experience so I'm perfectly happy with them changing very little from game to game.
I'm about 25 hours in at this point (which is usually about halfway in my experience) so I've still got a lot of game left to play. Therefore, I'm not going to judge the game too much yet. As of right now, I'm loving it. It's everything I wanted and expected it to be. With a lack of JRPG's these days, Tales of Graces is like a breath of fresh air to this tired, old gamer.
Speaking of tired, old gamers, I was 18 or 19 when the original Tony Hawk's Pro Skater debuted and I played the ever loving poop out of it and its sequels. Therefore, to say I was excited when I heard they were remaking it in HD and releasing it on XBLA would be an understatement. Now that I'm finally playing it, it's like eating a glorious sandwich with lettuce, mayo, tomato, and nostalgia on 2 thick slices of sourdough...well, sourdough might make it seem bad...but I did say delicious...whatever...it's great!
It's seems to be a perfect port, same levels, same controls, just better graphics...AND YOU CAN USE YOUR AVATAR! As much as I used to play it, I'm surprised by how much I've forgotten. It's almost like a new game to me. I vaguely remember the levels, remember the basic controls, but the details are a little blurry. It's great figuring something out and having that flash of nostalgia though. Like when I remembered to grind the helicopter to open up more area on The Hangar. If you were ever a fan of Tony Hawk games, you owe it to yourself to buy this.
Last game on my agenda this evening is Need for Speed: The Run. I've really barely scratched the surface, finishing one chapter out of ten, but so far I'm definitely enjoying it. The basic premise is you are running a race across the country from San Francisco to New York City. You play it out in short racing sections where you either need to make up time by reaching checkpoints, or pass so man competitors within a certain amount of time. There may be more variety but like I said, I'm really still in the early stages.
Good games going on around here. I've still got a couple sitting on the shelf waiting to be played. Darkness 2, Kingdoms of Amalur, Vanquish, etc...I plan on finishing Tales of Graces before I start up anything else though.
Look forward to more opinions in the future, gentle readership. Until next time...Stay bearded.
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