Things That Are Wonderful #4 – Song of Time & Song of Storms

Yeah, so it’s been almost three years to the day since I last posted one of these. I’m hoping this’ll make up for it. It’s a mix between two of the best songs from The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time.

If you’ve never played Ocarina, you might think ‘oh, that’s a nice piece of music’ – but if you have, it’ll send shivers down your spine. I’ve recently been filling the gaps in my personal gaming history, and am right in the middle of Ocarina on the 3DS. I’m nowhere near finished, but I’m really enjoying it so far.

Games Night: Cards Against Humanity

I always thought my friends and I were fairly nice people. This weekend, thanks to plenty of sunshine, slightly too much beer and a simple box of cards, I’ve realised that we’re actually a bunch of antisocial, deviant, foul-mouthed sociopaths, with looser morals than Harold Shipman.

Games Night: The Resistance – Avalon

Earlier this week, myself and the missus hosted a games night for a few friends. We planned to play a bit of Monopoly, maybe some video games, eat a pizza, then say our goodbyes. Instead, we spent around six hours lying through our teeth, giving each other shifty looks and screaming wild accusations of betrayal across the table – all because of one deceptively simple card game.

The Time Machine: Where Assassin’s Creed 3 Went Wrong

The following article is massively out of date.

It’s a big ol’ rant I wrote well over a year ago on Assassin’s Creed 3, fresh off the back of having finished it. Despite having spent quite a lot of time on it, the half-finished article has been my drafts box for ages, mostly because finishing it would’ve involved going back to play more of the game, and I’d had quite enough of that.

Recently, though, I’ve been playing a lot of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag which is, thankfully, really quite good. I then remembered that I’d written a good thousand words or so on how much I’d disliked AC3, and didn’t want them to go to waste. So, before I write up my thoughts on AC4, here are those ancient words, tidied up and made all presentable like those Christmas decorations you’ve been using for a few years too many.

Get ready to party moan like it’s 2012!

Cue wibbly time-travel effects…

Ben’s Ten Games Of 2013, Part 4 & Aftermath

I knew there was something I was forgetting.

Ben’s Ten Games Of 2013, Part 3

And so, as hangovers across the nation slowly clear, and the sun sets on the first day of 2014, I return to my final duty of the previous year – listing ten of the games I liked best, and writing about them a little bit.

Now, you might consider it to be cheating to carry on the list after 2013 is over. Interestingly, it’s entirely possible that some of you might consider some of my choices for this part of the list to be cheating too.

Funny how these things come together.

Battlefield 4 in 1% resolution is beautiful, surreal

Yes, that’s a screenshot of Battlefield 4, easily the most graphically advanced game released this year. No, you’re not drunk.

… I assume.

Ben’s Ten Games Of 2013, Part 2

So far, in my personal roundup of 2013, we’ve gone from the wild west to the east coast, then straight up to a city in the sky. You probably already think my decisions are stupid, but that’s entirely up to you.

Here are some more things you’ll probably disagree with.

Ben’s Ten Games Of 2013, Part 1

It’s been an interesting year, to say the least. We’re at the beginning of a whole new console generation, proper expansions are making a comeback, and Steam Boxes are an actual thing that some people have in their houses right now. Exciting things are happening, and more are just around the corner.

So, as 2013 draws to a close, I find myself thinking less about the year that’s just happened, and more about the possibilities that 2014 might have in store. Still, it’s December, and as such I must follow suit with the rest of the internet and come up with a list of things I liked, in some vague order of preference.

Nintendo 3DS XL – First Impressions

It probably comes as no surprise that I properly love gadgets. I’m always after a new toy to play with, to the point where I now physically don’t have a bag big enough to bring all of my electrical tat with me all at once. This year, I was convinced I wanted a PS4. However, following a last-minute change of heart, I started looking elsewhere. It’s been around ten years since I last held a Nintendo console, passing my beloved old Gameboy Colour to my younger cousin so that he could experience the sheer joy of Pokémon. And to tell the truth, I missed it. So, when Matt Lees of Videogamer.com recommended the 3DS XL as a better alternative to the PS4/Xbone, my mind was made up.

It was also my birthday, which helped.