Sunday Roundup: 5/3/15

My brother initially told me about this game. He said it was a fun mystery game involving none other than Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson themselves! I was intrigued by his praise alone, but seeing the glowing reviews online as well as the awesome little Atlus logo in the bottom corner of the case made me want the game even more. It’s been steadily declining in price, but as it’s a niche title I wanted to pick it up before it was gone forever. Maybe it’ll come down as one of the harder to find games later and it’ll be an even better purchase. Honestly though I just want to play it!

Interesting story. I picked up four games from this store as part of the 4 for $10 event. One of those games was Assassin’s Creed: Revelations for Xbox 360. When I went home to clean up the cases and inspect the discs, I noticed I not only had Revelations in the case, but Assassin’s Creed II and Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood! Doing some research, I came to the conclusion that they gave m the case for Assassin’s Creed: Revelations: Signature Edition (which is an entirely different version of Revelations altogether) but gave me the discs for Assassin’s Creed: The Ezio Collection, which is a repackage of all three games starring the ACII protagonist Ezio Auditore. A mixup on their end, but a win here!

But don’t fret over GameStop losing money or anything: both ACII and Brotherhood were also included in the 4 for $10 promo. As a matter of fact, I was debating buying those games as well, because they were so cheap and such classics. I didn’t though, because I already have them all for the PS3, which is the only system on which I’ve played the series. You can imagine my surprise when the games were there anyway!

The game I actually wanted was Revelations, because it was the only game I didn’t already own on the PS3. Apparently the weakest of the trilogy, it still sold pretty well, which is largely apparent by the multitude of sequels we’ve seen in the years after. I like how for a few years we got to follow one Assassin through a large time frame, instead of a new Assassin and new time frame each game. I know it started in Brotherhood but I want to see how the whole multiplayer thing works with this game. Or multiple Assassins, whatever it is.

After finding the game brand new at Target on the PS3 a few months back, I began debating with myself if I really should open it and try it out. Well, for just a couple dollars I’ll pick it up again and preserve the sealed nature of that PS3 copy. I find it kind of funny I grabbed Dishonored this week on Xbox 360 as well as three Assassin’s Creed titles because there have been so many comparisons between the two games. I wonder if we’ll ever see a Dishonored II or if Bethesda will leave it as a one-shot hit.

Wow, so many games this week were released in 2012. Another series I’ve spent essentially zero time with, Hitman: Absolution is a kind of reboot for the series which stars Ageng 47, yet another trained assassin. Hmm, I think that’s the central theme of this Roundup: which game features the stealthiest, smoothest, and most action-packed assassin.

Bullet time!! Max Payne is another series that’s been around for a long time that I just haven’t played. Probably because I’m not really a big fan of first-person shooters. Regardless, for just a few bucks I figured I’d give it a go. Honestly, because it’s a well known series and the condition of the game and manual was good, I picked this one up. I probably won’t be caught playing it ever, but having the option to play at some point is better to me than not having the option at all. Yeah, I’ll justify it that way… :p

I’ve been waiting to buy this game for years now, and I finally decided to lay down the cash for the Wii U version of all things. I went with this one because of the unique features it offers: exclusive Nintendo themed costumes and battle mode, as well as Tekken Ball, which is only present in this version of the game! In all honestly, I’m really excited to play this. It’s already sitting on top of my Wii U, which means it’s gonna get played soon enough. Hopefully this coming week! And for the record, I’ve been a fan of Law since Tekken 2, Eddy since Tekken 3, and I started picking up Jin in Tekken 4 onward.

When I picked up that balance from a fellow board game player I had my eyes set on getting the much superior Wii Fit Plus instead of just Wii Fit. This enhanced version includes new modes, new options, new balance activities, and just better gameplay in general. It hasn’t been too hard to find, but I just needed to find it at a decent price. Mysteriously difficult yoga poses, here I come!

Woohoo! For only a dollar you know I’m picking this up (even though I already have the duo of games that’s included in this package). Nerf N-Strike: Double Blast Bundle is a compilation disc included the original on-rails shooter Nerf N-Strike as well as its sequel Nerf N-Strike Elite. The game originally came bundled with a working Nerf gun you could use as a Wii Remote attachment and/or Nerf dart gun, but sadly that isn’t here. For me though I’m just happy to have tracked this one down! And, oddly enough, at a cheaper price than if I bought the two games separately!

The free game I got from my coupon was White Knight Chronicles II. Not the greatest game to sweep in and grab for free, but a wonderful titles to add to the collection nonetheless. Interestingly, and I didn’t know this until I was reading the box while waiting in line, White Knight Chronicles II includes a full version of the original White Knight Chronicles on the disc! Beyond that you can import your character and levels from the first game into the second. And last bit of trivia here, it’s developed by Level-5, the same company behind the Professor Layton games and, with a lot more relevance, the awesome RPG Ni no Kuni!

Remember when Sony got hacked way back in 2010 or something like that, and one of the free games you got was inFamous? Well I do, because that’s how I got a free of inFamous and played it for several hours. But even though the game was free I wanted a physical copy of my own. Partly because inFamous is one of the defining series’ on the PS3, but also because it was a damn good game and it deserved to have a spot on my shelf!

I was very surprised this game was included on the 4 for $10 deal. The sticker on the box said this game was normally selling at GameStop for $10 itself, which is a price I’d honestly pay to play these two PSP games on a much, much bigger screen! So basically I bought this bad boy (which is two games in and of itself) and got three other games just because. I love buying older games for this reason: you can quality games for awesome prices!

So this is apparently the “Limited Edition” version of the game, which is exclusive to the PS3. But it’s not all that great because the Limited Edition just includes a download code for the PSN version of Dead Space: Extraction (itself a one-time Wii exclusive) which is sadly not in the package. That’s not all that bad of a loss however, because I already have Extraction on Wii, and the PS3 version is a PS Move title, and I don’t have (and really don’t want) a PS Move.

The artwork has always driven me to this game. It’s so catchy, with a Tim Burton-esque depiction of everything, except it’s all spun in the trimmings of a Saturday morning cartoon! While the Wii version features visuals and gameplay reminiscent of the movie, this version went in a different direction and it did much better because of it. I don’t think the game is going to blow anyone’s mind, but it occasionally comes up as one of those good games that no one plays list. Not quite a hidden gem, and not quite a failure, it walks the line between mediocre and genius.