I spent the entire weekend playing games. That is, the entire weekend after Samantha (forcibly) made me drink Fireball Whiskey on Friday night and I spent the next two days on the couch with a headache. This isn’t an official power hour review or anything, but I just cannot think about games right now without these two taking center stage. So, if you enjoy games, which I imagine you do if you found your way to our blog, there are my recommendations for how you should spend your evenings in the upcoming weeks.
1. Lego Movie (the video game)
I’m sure many of you have seen reviews for Lego Movie (the movie). The reviews are ridiculously positive across the board, which shocked me a bit because it’s a Lego movie. How good could it be? I haven’t seen the movie yet, but I have played the game. And it’s awesome.
A couple weeks ago Hub and I got Lego Marvel Superheroes, and it was amazing. We got it after reading some reviews of co-op games that were actually couch co-op, rather than online multiplayer. With the very few games for the xbone, we found ourselves fighting over who got to use it with their single player games. So finding a good co-op game was really important. I wrote about LMSH in a previous blog, focusing on the way the game was built from the ground up for co-op play, which imho made it way more enjoyable.
Lego Movie is no different. The co-op is incredible, the story is super fun, and the mechanics are solid, like you would expect from a Lego game. There is, however, one thing that have made Lego Movie stand out over EVERY OTHER GAME I’VE EVER PLAYED. Seriously. This game has, hands down, the best video game character I have ever, ever played. Better than Shep, better than Ramza, better than Lara Croft, better than Chell. This character is incredible.
Blog, meet Unikitty:
Unikitty is an adorable unicorn-kitty hybrid from Cloud Cuckoo Land. The reason I fell in love with her, before I even saw the amazing rage mode, was the she is unlike any other Lego character I’ve played. She has her own music, and she bounces around to the beat when she walks. The way she destroys objects is also unique. Overall, she just perfectly personifies the feeling the Lego Movie game is going for: rainbows, everything is awesome, happy happy DESTROY.
Now blog, meet Unikitty RAGE:
When Unikitty goes into her first rage, I laughed so hard I had to pause the game. When she rages, the music changes to something wholly unique in the game to her, and she destroys EVERYTHING. It’s the perfect juxtaposition, and the Lego folks knew it. The achievement for when you unlock Unikitty’s rage is ‘The Opposite of Happiness.” And that’s what Unikitty represents. Ultimate happiness and ultimate… opposite of happiness. I feel like I’m not really doing justice to just how refreshing and interesting she is in the game. You may need to play it to really know what I’m talking about.
2. Hearthstone
Hearthstone is the newest game by Blizzard, who y’all should know well because they also created WoW. According to Blizzard, Hearthstone is going to be the future of gaming and the future of their company. Here is the trailer:
I like this game so much for several reasons. First, WoW is just too unruly to play with a wide audience. It takes a lot of time dedication, good hand eye coordination, and you really need to be dedicated to the fantasy/rpg style to do well and get the most enjoyment out of it. Lately, I’ve been primarily doing battle pets, which is the most I’ve enjoyed WoW in years. Folks like my mom have played with me, but while Blizzard has done a ton to lessen the learning curve, it still is just too much for some gamers. Most of the people who I know now prefer games like Clash of Clans, Tribez, and other IOS games that you can put hours and hours into, but that don’t require tons of strategy or immersion. They want something they can play while watching TV or doing laundry.
Another reason I really like Hearthstone is that you don’t ever have to play against other people if you don’t want. Yesterday my mom played Hearthstone for 12 hours, and she never had to play against someone else, which causes her anxiety. However, the possibility is there for her and I to battle when we want. I would typically also like to either play alone or with meat space friends, but the interface for playing with others really isn’t intimidating. I’ve won roughly half of my random games against other players. So, it seems the matching algorithms works well. And, of course, it’s free. So you can’t beat that. Further, and the thing I’m most excited about, is that Blizzard has announced that they will port Hearthstone to IOS. Yes, yes, and more yes.
So those are the games that ate my brain this weekend. I hope you check them out, especially Hearthstone if you don’t have extra cash or the new xbone. Enjoy your gaming weeks everyone!
