If I Could Turn Back Time

HIGH The real-time combat and Spellstone system provide satisfying loops of tactical decisions.

LOW Major story battles often boil down to frustrating trial-and-error.

WTF The handling of female characters is frequently problematic.

...and the Bland Played On

HIGH The visit to the Fairyground.

LOW Losing the third phase of the final boss battle because of stun-locking.

WTF So I'm in a nursery inside a fairy's reproductive system?

I'm currently working on my review of Monster Hunter 3: Ultimate. I wasn't able to put as much time into it as I expected because the bridging software which allows players to transfer data between the Wii U and 3DS has not been available, and apparently will not be until the day of release. Since I'm usually able to catch a few quests here and there on a portable when I'm not in front of my TV, that was an unexpected setback.

Still Rollin' Around at the Speed of Sound

HIGH Final Rush is still one of the coolest video game levels ever made.

LOW Mad Space is still one of the most tedious video game levels ever made.

WTF How does the military mistake Shadow for Sonic? They're completely different colors.

Upwards and Onwards

HIGH Using Deep Forest Lore the first time

LOW Getting stuck (twice) after falling for false in-game information.

WTF Four great games and this series is still largely unknown?

Fire Emblem: Awakening is easily one of my favorite games of the year so far, from a design perspective. No question. However, after rolling credits I noticed a couple of things which made me raise an eyebrow, and those were already on top of a problem I had with the game even earlier on—essentially, Awakening has quite a bit to say about female characters and LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) issues, while never overtly saying anything at all.

A Night to Remember

HIGH Finally bringing the entire team on a mission.

LOW Dr. Chakwas was a no-show.

WTF Finding Kasumi going through Shep's panty drawer.

This time, it's the ratio of depth vs complexity that Extra Credits seeks to explain.

Extra Credits has a response-episode to feedback for a recent episode about religion and games. As usual the guys do a great job challenging those that blindly worship science.

In this episode we bid a fond farewell to one of our own, plus everyone tries to talk Richard into buying a 3DS with completely meaningless results. With Richard Naik, Chi Kong Lui, Brad "Sweet Can" Gallaway, Mike Bracken, and Dylan Collins.

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