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Debaser

The Last of Us Remastered

I had the original game on PS3 and never managed to play more than about 4 hours or so. I kept telling myself that I’d go back and play more, but as much as I loved the Uncharted series, this game just didn’t really speak to me — I wasn’t really into the drab post-apocalyptic city setting, or playing a zombie game. And so that was that, and I sorta forgot about it. But it’s a game that kept getting mentioned all the time as a classic, which happened even more once they officially announced the sequel. I kept telling myself I should try revisiting it, and eventually picked up the Remastered edition on PS4 during a sale. But again, I had a hard time pushing myself to play it. I don’t know what got over me last week, but I finally decided to give it a go, and wow, I’m sure glad I did. I ended up playing through it in about 3 sittings, a couple of them being 5+ hour sessions. I did need to get through more than half of the game before I really got sucked in — pretty much around the time you skip from summer to fall — but from then on I was absolutely hooked (I especially loved the winter period). What I especially liked in the second half is that it started feeling less like a zombie game, and more like a story about these two people encountering various challenges — and the fact that the outdoor setting started becoming so varied was very welcomed as well. I do feel a bit uncomfortable about how things ended — I don’t support at all Joel’s decision, or the way he handles it (by killing everyone around him) — but it doesn’t take away from the rest of the enjoyment I had for the game. I do plan on playing the sequel, and just hope it’s not just the killfest we’ve seen so far.

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Debaser Uncategorized

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons

I was very much looking forward to playing this, and how great is it that it’s actually free right now if you’re a PS+ member. I first sat down with the plan to just start the game and get a feel for it, and two hours later I was still playing. I love everything about this game, from the lovely surroundings to the camaraderie that you feel coming from the two brothers to the weird controls – the idea is that you control both brothers simultaneously, using one analog stick for each. This not only creates an interesting dynamic, the clumsiness that ensues actually makes sense in the context of what is happening in the game (these 2 brothers traipsing along on their quest). This is absolutely one of my favorite games to have come out in 2013, and so I’m adding it to my big “Favorite Media of 2013” post – I’m replacing The Last of Us in my top 5 with it.

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Debaser Uncategorized

The Last of Us

I’d of course been wanting to play this along with everyone else, but hey, better late than never (and thank you Play-Asia for the great sales price). I’m about 5 hours in and it’s definitely as good as everyone has been saying. The outdoor environments are fantastic – despite the death and decay, the lush green overgrowth adds beauty to the surroundings. Also, same great acting and characters that you expect from a Naughty Dog game. Just makes me that much more excited for the Uncharted game we’ll get to play on the PS4 – although I do prefer the stealth combat of this game over the mindless shooting of the Uncharted series.