What’s done is done.

Dark Souls released.

I did pick it up, yes.

It is indeed hard. But it felt more… “cheap hard” really. The sequences thus far really just involved really buffed enemies in comparison to more traditional games. And there’s a definite sequence involved in all that - you can rush through a certain area to find out where certain things trigger, where certain enemies aggro and then die and walk through at the necessary pace and distance.

I’m a fan of the idea. Not a fan of the execution so much. I scare too easily, and with a name like “Dark Souls” (and even before that with “Demon’s”) it really begs the question as to why I bothered.

But yeah, there are definitely some elements I liked in it. The controls themselves weren’t half-bad. Again though, the theme didn’t suit me. The music was really eerie, and yeah… the chill factor is definitely there. And me no likey.

So there we are - chalk one up to another game figuratively finished and shelved. I’ve made my mind after a retry that it doesn’t suit me and will not be something I’ll be eager to look into again. I’d been trying to decide between this and Skyrim for a time now so this really just lets me be somewhat thrifty. I’m trading it in and getting the money credited towards Forza 4 - due out in a few days.

Great timing I reckon. “Finished” one game, about to pick up another.

Oh and on that subject, yes, Gears 3 has been completed on coop and I’m due to play in the other modes, time permitting. Those other steps back though?

1. Impulse bought Trials HD on XBLA - it was one of the deals of the week running at half price. Gem of a title I think. Nicely presented and a good, considerably addictive challenge. Very much looking forward to its multiplayer-enabled sequel now!

2. Orcs Must Die! was quietly released (at least by my reckoning) by Robot Studios on XBLA just a day ago - I actually thought this would release on PC first, but hey, no complaints here. So far it’s playing nicely. I can definitely see where the PC version will trump the controller when it comes to switching on the fly.

And here we have yet another post, unexpectedly becoming long-winded! Practice for NaNoWriMo perhaps?

Cheers

An update?

Game releases abound! But before that, I thought I’d mentally go through my backlog and see what can be done about the ever growing pile of unfinished games.

It’s not pretty.

Off the top of my head:

XBOX 360

• Armored Core: For Answer - Finish “Destruction Path”; complete Hard Mode runthroughs; acquire remaining FRS points, finalise designs.
• Forza Motorsport 3 - Finish Season Play; finish Events List; continue testing/tuning Exiges for MP Races
• Gears of War 2 - Finish campaign. GoW3 looms ever closer and I still haven’t finished this thing.
• Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood - As above. Actually I technically haven’t even started. Revelations is out this year too.
• Halo Wars - Same deal. Mostly I was thinking about the impending release of the 10th Anniversary Halo: CE release and thought back on how much fun this was. An RTS that worked on a console. And quite a lot of fun doing 3vs3 MP too. Need to dust off the campaign.
• Halo 3: ODST - Again, same deal as above and same trigger. Story mode incomplete. Got through a bit of it and had some pretty good times in Fire Fight mode, but it just felt lacking. Good atmosphere, but lacking.
• Soulcalibur IV - Finish challenges. I got bogged down with trying to perfect every single challenge before moving on, and I really should have just steamed ahead instead. Alas, a poorly executed sequel that begs the question: should I bother with V?
• Halo: Reach - This one is technically done. But we usually go through Legendary difficulty and can’t recall if we did. Multiplayer was good too, but I think the CoD series has babied me with its faster matchmaking and less need for skill. And the customisation helps too.
• Borderlands - Still need to complete the Hardcore runthrough, but aside from that, a few bits and pieces of DLC need to be completed.
• TES4: Oblivion - Probably won’t bother. Too in depth, too time consuming. The ugly factor doesn’t help either.
• CoD: Black Ops - No need to finish per se, being that I don’t bother with the stories on these. But I really would like to sink more time into the zombie mode DLCs. Getting to level 50 again in MP would be nice as well - and then there’s the now-present “Prestige again?“ question.

XBOX Live Arcade

• Castle Crashers - Finished, but would have liked to go through a few more times.
• Castlevania: Harmony of Despair - Finished once but haven’t completely levelled anyone. The grind disagrees with me.
• Plants VS Zombies - Finished, but another runthrough would be nice to complete the seeds. A few other puzzles need to be unlocked and finished too I think.
• Toy Soldiers - I got stuck against the gigantic Ottoman tank. This was really a gem, and with Vietnam coming this week, it seems a shame not to go back and give this another shot.
• Deadliest Warrior: The Game - Technically done, but just one win at a tourney would give me a 200/200 for Achievements for the vanilla game. A few more matches as the Rajput would round it out as a 250/250 with the DLC involved.
• Deadliest Warrior: Legends - Lots of unlocks to still, err, unlock. Not as much charm as the first game (if you can call it charm) but still the same framerate hiccups.
• Section 8: Prejudice - Started, didn’t finish. It did feel much improved to their last game… which I didn’t bother buying. But it still feels empty. Multiplayer, for the most part, was empty but it had quite a lot of features I enjoyed.
• A World of Keflings - Another of those “feel-good” titles. I stopped at the last world on the brink of completion and I’m not even sure why. Kind of like what happened with the previous title. This should be easy enough to get done.
• Snoopy Flying Ace - This was enjoyable enough, especially with the coop aspect, but never got around to it.
• Raskulls - Quirky and cute. Was fun for a bit. This came off the back of this year’s Summer of Arcade though so I went and took the deal bait.
• Ilo Milo - As above, and lumped in with A World of Keflings, but ultimately had far more charm and intellect thrown in. Very cute.

There’s a ton more to this list, I know. For one, it’s just the Xbox 360 specific things. For another, there are those games that don’t really end to be considered (at which point, I don’t even have a clue as to why I bothered including SCIV or CoD:BO for that matter). There are the fighting games; Rock Band 3 and a smattering of other titles.

And to add to that, there’s DC Universe Online on the PS3. That in itself WON’T end. Actually it won’t restart if I don’t get a move on and hop back in. Damn MMO’s.

Another thorn in the side is the fact that I need a gaming rig to be able to play Total War: Shogun 2. At the present I’ve been distracting myself with playing mods for Mount & Blade. With the dearth of mods and story additions, there’s almost no end to this… yeah… that doesn’t help. At all.

Further back we have DS titles to consider. Further still, I started Hard Mode runs for Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance back on the Gamecube. After that, there’s Radiant Dawn for the Wii.

Anyway, I’m leaving it at that. There’s a few there I know I’ll never get back into, and I’m sure almost double that that I haven’t even recalled yet.

The problem at hand now. Upcoming game releases that I know I’ll be picking up already (and most likely have on pre-order):

• Gears of War 3 - 20 September 2011
• Forza Motorsport 4 - 11 October 2011 (at which point, I’ll need a Kinect)
• Battlefield 3 - 27 October 2011
• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - 11 November 2011
• Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary - 11 November 2011
• Assassin’s Creed: Revelations - 30 November 2011
• Dead Island - 09 September 2011
• CoD: Modern Warfare 3 - 08 November 2011 (I keep saying I’ll resist, but IF they confirm 4-player Spec Ops, then I might just take the plunge. Again.)
• Dark Souls - 06 October 2011 (I was trying to decide between this and Skyrim. I may still hop onto this knowing how impulsive I can get BLAH. Ordered as well now. Damn preview videos…)
• Borderlands 2 - 31 December 2011 (haven’t confirmed a solid release date for this yet though)

[Bold+Italics = not yet pre-ordered]

Okay, so beyond those titles, I know there are others I’ve missed. Besides, this only encompasses upcoming Xbox 360 releases. I haven’t even dipped into the Arcade titles yet.

[More to come!]