Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel and Handsome Collection Review

This is the latest review ever. In fact, it's so late that it is not only the latest review ever, but also a sort of late review of a new game, too. :/

I bought Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel as soon as it was available for pre-order, and we picked it up the day it came out. We started playing, but didn't make much progress and then forgot for a while. Both my husband and I tend to play games in stretches and this is one we play together so it just seemed like neither of us was in the mood to play at the same time. Hence the delay. It also starts slow, but having played through three games now, it's obvious that you can't really tell how a Borderlands game is until around level 20, when it begins to pick up and feel less repetitive.

I loved the first Borderlands game. We played three times all the way through, including all the DLC, and there would be random nights even after that we would start over with new characters just to play for a bit. Borderlands 2 was better in many ways, although not as fun in others. The story in the sequel was far superior (was there a story in the first one, really?) and the Tiny Tina DLC was the best ever. Plus there was more from Torgue, Handsome Jack, and Tiny Tina. The final few missions were better overall, but we got a little sick of the endless raid bosses. They lose their impact and fun when every mission has one. Crawmerax is still a bigger achievement than any of the ones from the second game.

But I digress. So I've had this forever, but really only started playing in earnest about a month ago. Then I just was slow at writing this and the Handsome Collection came out for Xbox One. My husband wasn't sure it was worth buying, since really, we have Borderlands 2 and TPS and hadn't even FINISHED TPS yet. But one of my favorite things about Borderlands is its multiplayer, so when our friends got an Xbox One, we jumped on board and got the HC (already had the One).

Game of Thrones Video Game Episode 3 Review

As I recently said, I have consistently been happy with Telltale Games although I've seen sort of a downhill trend these past few months. With that in mind, I went into Game of Thrones Episode 3 unsure how I would feel about it. I'm reading the books now and I feel like I am immersed in these characters' lives so much because we are also rewatching all the seasons before Sunday. It couldn't have come at a better time!

In Episode 3, I do feel as if choices are playing a bigger role. There are certain events that I don't know how they would turn out if I hadn't done certain things in previous episodes. Telltale does make a big deal about how important choice is, but in the last few games they've made, it seems like choices only let you feel like they matter. In the end, the game tends to be the same for most people, but I feel like that may not be the case in Game of Thrones. There are simply too many events with too many choices. I could be wrong, though.

A Nongamer Tries Gaming with Gone Home

What is a gamer? To me, my husband is a gamer. Boxy is a gamer. I, however, am not, although both Boxy and my husband are working to change that.

When I was younger I enjoyed Mario Brothers on the NES, Sonic on my Sega GameGear, and a few other games like Tetris. My all-time favorite game growing up was called Dragon Crystal, which I had for my GameGear. I remember refusing to put that game down no matter where we were or what was going on. From what I am told, Dragon Crystal was an RPG (role-playing game). I have no clue; I just know I was addicted and couldn't get enough.

Sadly, that was where my love of video games came to halt. Things like Prodigy message boards (I think I am dating myself now) started to take up my time, and then there was AIM, and eventually leaving the house to hang out at Perkins - a diner - with friends. I just lost interest in gaming. I was almost positive I would never pick up another controller again because what was the point? Right?

Then I met my husband. He played entirely too much EverQuest or, as it became known to many, NeverRest. He also played World Of Warcraft, which actually proved to be a good thing when our first child was born. Since he was still up at 2:30 am for the middle of the night feeding, this meant more time for me to sleep! Thank you, gaming gods!

Tales from the Borderlands: Episode 2 Review (and Why I am Falling out of Love with Telltale)

One of my favorite video game franchises is Borderlands (my review - albeit way beyond late - of The Pre-Sequel is coming up soon), and until fairly recently, I was a huge fan of Telltale Games. So when they announced last fall that they would be making an episodic series based on Borderlands, I was VERY excited.

The first episode was really funny and was a refreshing break from Telltale's signature misery that seems to run through The Walking Dead, Wolf among Us, and Game of Thrones. There were literary allusions, in-jokes for franchise fans, and enough chaotic nonsense to feel at home in the canon.

That was in November. Episode 2 was promised for January, pushed back to February, and then guaranteed for early March. So when it finally was released in late March, it was a bit of a letdown for fans. Telltale consistently has this problem - and that was the beginning of what led me to fall out of love with them. I don't mind waiting for games, even the episodic games, because I would prefer a better game with no bugs than a rushed delivery (Borderlands is facing this right now with the Handsome Collection, because developers these days are so focused on deadlines and not on whether the game is actually playable). However, I am starting to wonder if Telltale is just in the wrong business. They do this ALL THE TIME and you would think after five very popular franchises, not to mention several others that were smaller, they would have figured out deadline management. Instead, they fill Twitter feeds with more and more marketing - and still can't release an episode on time. Maybe they should become a PR firm instead, since they seem to love that way more than actually developing games.

Anyway, I still looked forward to this and the reviews were amazing, so I expected a lot. Sadly, I was disappointed. It was still funny and definitely had plenty of jokes, but I just felt like they weren't really trying. As a whole, the entire episode just felt like there was no passion left for the game. There are three more episodes, so that's a really bad sign. Maybe it was my mood on the day I played, but I didn't get the same energy from this as from the first one. The ending did leave a lot of questions and finally seemed to get the story back on its feet, though, so again, it could just be sophomore blues.

I think my biggest concern is that Telltale Games doesn't appear to be handling growing pains well. They went from a fairly small developer to a leader very quickly, but now they are just starting to look like all the other big ones - faceless corporations more concerned about the bottom line than quality. They market until you end up unfollowing them, but they don't interact anymore. They are only interested in communicating with the same groups of people, and their fans, who used to be their lifeblood and really did seem to have a community going, are now seemingly behind a wall - good enough to pay, but not to acknowledge or consider anymore. I hope that it's something they evaluate and adjust to soon, because a studio that was a favorite is now starting to wear me down. A year ago, I would have bought anything they produced - regardless of interest because I would have known it would be great. Now, I feel like I am only reluctantly continuing the games I already have the season passes for, with a whole lot of a bitter taste in my mouth. (I do still enjoy the Game of Thrones game, but I feel like all my love for Telltale is gone and that's disappointing.)

Life is Strange Episode 2 Review

When I saw the trailer for Life is Strange a long time ago, I had a feeling this would become a favorite game - despite knowing almost nothing about it. It said it was Gone Home meets The Walking Dead, which was already awesome, and there was a definite Twin Peaks feel to it as well, so combining my favorite things is a good start. Then I saw it was being published by Square Enix, and I am still a big Square fan. Finally, I do really enjoy the episodic games because they give me a unique playing experience. Each episode can be played in one sitting over a couple of hours - and then the wait ends up giving me time to process specific events and even to talk to other players about what happened. When you have games where choice affects outcome, too, this is great because you can see what you and a friend do differently and then talk about why.

The first episode was fantastic. I loved it from the opening, because the gameplay is straightforward, the graphics are beautiful, and the music is so fitting for the game. I was incredibly impressed by the storytelling, although I found some of the teen dialogue and slang odd (specifically the overuse of "hella"). In discussions, though, I have come to find out that people on the West Coast are still using that word a lot and so it's even better - because there are clear regionalisms being integrated into the game as well.

It's hard to write a review without spoilers and I am posting this a little late simply because there's no way to avoid spoiling it entirely. I will stay vague with the specifics, but it's still hard to be totally spoiler-free, especially in the second episode.

Life is Strange: Video Game Review (Episode #1)

Sometimes a game comes out and you just know it's a good fit. As soon as I saw the trailer for this game, I could tell it was something I would enjoy. I'm a big fan of Telltale Games and the episodic format, plus I enjoy storytelling and narrative games, such as Heavy Rain and Gone Home.

Life is Strange is a multi-platform episodic game from Dontnod Entertainment and Square Enix that just came out, and it's beautifully refreshing. This is definitely a different kind of game, relying far more on narrative than action, but it's incredibly immersive in just a few hours.