Category: Video Games

A couple months ago, I made a terrible mistake: I purchased Power Wash Simulator.

Maybe you’ve heard of it? It had been all over the internet recently, or so I’ve heard. This is a game that is exactly what it says on the tin: you’re given a pressure washer and a series of things that need washing and… then you just get to it.

Buying this video game was not a mistake due to quality concerns. No, in fact, for a Steam Early Access game, it’s very stable and fully-featured. It’s also a lot of fun, calling back pleasant memories of cleaning all the goop off of Isle Delfino in Super Mario Sunshine.

Power Wash Simulator, however, was a mistake because it’s far too addictive. I spent no less than nine hours playing it on the day I bought it, and then devoted all of my free time over the next two days to it. I didn’t think it was going to be so long. I kept telling myself I’d put it down after “just one more job” or “once I finish this side of the building” or some such nonsense. But I didn’t put it down. Not until every last speck of dirt was washed away.

Continue reading Spraying all over

I just finished up a replay of Kirby: Planet Robobot for 3DS, and I’m thinking that it’s a strong contender for second-best Kirby game of all time. First place will always be Kirby Super Star, of course. Robobot is just so much fun, has so much fan service, and of course, allows you to ride around in giant mech suits that can absorb enemies’ powers just like Kirby does. It’s a heck of a game!

It also got me thinking about how after the first time I finished it, I decided to write an article ranking all of the different mech suit variations. I wanted to read it over and then contrast it with my thoughts from this current playthough, to see if and how my opinions had changed over the years.

Imagine my surprise when I learned that I never actually finished writing that article!

Alas, it was sitting there, the text maybe a quarter finished. There are no images uploaded. Presumably, the looming threat of having to find screenshots is what dissuaded me from continuing to write. It wouldn’t be the first time, and it won’t be the last.

Or it could be that I just lost my muse partway through. That happens too. It may very well be that I felt like I was embarking on a journey to write sixteen or so vaguely similar paragraphs, and decided that there was no point in continuing on that path. Who knows!?

The point is, I didn’t finish writing my Kirby: Planet Robobot mech suit ranking list back then, and I sure as heck am not going to do it now. I’m just a little bit sad that I wasn’t able to relive that little bit of nostalgia.

Besides, it’s obvious that the Jet and Mike mechs are far and away the best of the bunch. Like, it’s not even a contest.

I finished Tales of Arise the other day. Like, really, really finished. It’s not technically 100%ed, but I got the platinum trophy and have no interest in tracking down the last couple of items and treasure boxes that I missed somewhere.

But I don’t bring this up because I want to give the game a post-mortem review. No, it’s actually because I felt something unusual once that platinum trophy popped. I felt a sudden emptiness in my chest, my victory cut with a sense of loss.

I know this feeling well, I’ve had it many times before. It’s the feeling I get when a TV series that I’ve been really into comes to an end. That feeling of loss when you know that your time with these characters and their world has come to an end. Like when you’re saying goodbye to friends. Maybe it’s a little bit weird, but I think it’s mostly a testament to how well-written characters can really worm their way into your heart.

Continue reading Tales of Endings

Many, many years ago, I had a bit of a falling-out with RPGs. They just all seemed so samey and unengaging to me. Of course, nowadays I always seem to have at least one on the go at any given time, be it a new game, a classic that I’m revisiting, or something that I had overlooked along the way. I think that I’d have gone down this path one way or another, but I think a lot of the credit to getting me back on the RPG train goes to Tales of Symphonia.

Symphonia was the best of both worlds: on the RPG hand, you got a giant world to explore and plenty of dungeons to lose yourself in, all while a rich story was unfolding around you. On the… not-RPG hand, the battle system traded in menus for action, giving you the ability to move a character around a battlefield and attack enemies with combos and special moves. It actually felt a little bit like Super Smash Bros, and that was more than enough to win me over. In fact, I liked Tales of Symphonia so much that I ranked it my favourite video game of 2004. Not too shabby!

I’ve played a few other “Tales of” games since then -not all of them by any means- and they’ve run the gamut from “Maybe better than Symphonia?” to “Well that was a bust.” And of course, what I’m leading into here is that I’ve been playing the most recent game in the series, Tales of Arise. I’m only about halfway through at this point, but I’m not gonna lie: it’s looking like it might be a contender.

Continue reading New “Tales of” game, Arise!