1. DKC Returns (3DS)2. √ Letter (PS4)3. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided (PC)4. Spec Ops: The Line (PC)5. Fire Emblem Heroes (Android) (such as it is)6. Gears of War UItimate Edition (Xbox One)Fire Emblem HeroesThere's certainly plenty more to potentially do, or that will get added to this game. However, I did play through the story missions, and it remains to be seen how long the rest holds my interest. I've still been going back and playing it a bit.
I think this is a bit of a mixed bag. On the one hand, it seems to be a quality production that's adapted to play fairly well on a small screen. Portrait art has varying style, but it's all nicely done and appealing. The reduced scale works pretty well for short play sessions, and touch controls integrate well. As a proof-of-concept that the series could make a compelling mobile game,
Fire Emblem Heroes makes a serious case.
On the other hand though, it's still most definitely a F2P gacha game. So, your own actual ability to strategize and play the game ultimately comes in second to your ability to luck (or grind) out top tier characters. Personally, I have yet to get a single five-star character, though I've got a few four-stars. Between launch bonuses and first-completion mission bonuses, there's some chance of that. It drops off significantly after those. While there are daily missions to unlock characters, they seem to only net one or two star versions. Lower ratings seem to correlate to both lower stats, and reduced ability to learn skills. Upgrading them seems to be a fairly arduous process.
Much as I think there's a good balance to luck or grinding for upgrades in games, I just don't find it that appealing here (or in the general style of mobile game).
The "stamina" restrictions for attempting battles is mixed - it's pretty acceptable for casual play, but is quickly exhausted if/when you actually have time to sit down and play for a bit. Doing that also murders my phone's battery, but that's probably not the fault of the game.
The "story", such as it is so far, is pretty much an excuse to toss a bunch of
Fire Emblem characters together, and not much more. Similar to what I've seen with others, to be fair.
Anyway, fun enough to play, but I'm not sure about any lasting appeal to me. I'd much rather it be a one-time purchase type deal that could actually have consistent progression.
Gears of War Ultimate EditionI blame Noise for this one.
This was the game I wound up tossing into my Xbox One to try out game streaming, when Noise was having issues setting it up (until he reset his router). It was a pack-in for the system, and one of only a handful of games I actually own for it.
More or less, it's the HD remaster of
Gears of War, which I've never really stuck with. I've played an hour or so of it a couple times before, but usually by that point the apathy is palpable and I wind up not going back to it. I almost did that this time too, but figured I might give it more of a try. I did that with the Halo series a couple years or so ago and wound up enjoying them more than I anticipated.
The first maybe half of the game largely felt like a slog, but that was my own fault, as I'd somehow missed (or forgotten) proper reloading instruction...much less active reloading. Basically, timing a press or second press of the reload button properly to both reload a lot faster, and get a damage bonus. So, with more proactive reloading, and a way to do it
better, things got more fun. Still largely never got a handle on meleeing though, certainly not to the extent that it's useful in
Halo.
Gears definitely has a consistent aesthetic. Everything has a real weight to it. While I didn't particularly love the chunky meatiness of it all, it's clear that it was intentional, and well executed. I like it more in concept art form, I think, though occasionally there's a view that lives up to it. Still, that's more how I see the
Halo games too - it's just pulp sci-fi to play through, and not much more.
I suspect that co-op is a better way to play it, given the number of times the team splits up. Or could potentially revive one another.
Anyway, I imagine most have played this to some degree. I wound up liking it well enough, and may get around to playing some of the others if I get in the mood. Not really in a rush though. As well crafted as it seems to be, it's just not as appealing to me as other big franchise games.
