Writers Block
I have to admit the last few mornings my blog post has been exceedingly difficult to write. For whatever reason the words that generally flow so freely have been clogged up. It feels like I just don’t have anything of any importance to talk about, which has never really stopped me in the past. I guess I am writing this morning to show that even if I blog every single day… I have days where I stare at the blank screen and can’t seem to figure out how to fill it. Generally speaking if I poke around the internet for a bit and in that effort something pops into my head. Today however all I really feel is tired. I’ve been trying to come down with something, and yesterday I had all but lost my voice. I keep thinking it is just allergies since I am not running a fever or anything, but not really sure at this point. More than likely it is since I am struggling under a constant deluge of drainage.
I think part of what is making this morning such a struggle is that last night was one of those nights where I couldn’t quite get comfortable in any game I played. I shifted between FFXIV, Dragon Age, Spunky, Destiny and even started Persona 4. When my wife got home I packed up the upstairs and took my Vita downstairs and hung out playing from bed. I have to say that is one of the coolest things about buying into the “Playstation” system is that everything interoperates so much better than the equivalent. I am even considering picking up a Playstation TV to add another screen to the equation. Right now pretty much anything I do on my PS4 I can do remotely, but my only desire is that the PS3 remote play worked better or more often. There are still a ton of titles that I would like to play on that system as Playstation Plus keeps releasing more of them.
Drive Club Plus
And there we have it folks… I have a topic to talk about. There has been a bit of controversy over the last few days because due to consequences Sony has had to back away from one of the promised titles as part of the October Playstation Plus lineup. Drive Club is a brand new game that is coming out for the PS4 and has been pretty hotly anticipated I might add. Through some financial trickery they cut a deal to offer it for free as part of the Playstation Plus subscription through a special Drive Club Plus edition. Granted this version did not include all of the tracks or cars, but was apparently otherwise fully functional. I was somewhat shocked when I read about it, since in essence this free copy would allow you to join clubs and race with your friends just like if you had purchased the full version. Additionally Plus members were going to be given the option to plunk down $50 to upgrade to the full fledged copy of the game and get all the bits and baubles they were missing.
Unfortunately as the game launched the servers being run for the game buckled under the weight. I feel like Sony made the right call here to delay giving this title away in an effort to help stabilize the launch. The truth is that folks plunked down money for the full priced version of the game, and they should come first. Granted this is coming from someone who has been a long time subscriber to Playstation Plus. The natives are restless however because a number of folks decided to pony up for Plus ONLY to get their free copy of Drive Club. The thing is that they are still going to get it… just not quite yet. What frustrates me is listening to the folks Rage about what is already the best deal in gaming hands down. Where else can you play $50 for an entire year and have six titles delivered to you every month. Even if you don’t like a few titles here and there… it is still a phenomenal deal.
October PS+ Line-Up
One of the tricks I learned several months back from my good friend Ashgar is that you didn’t actually have to log into the Playstation Store from any of your devices. There is one handy dandy web based interface where you can access all of your free monthly Playstation Plus titles, as well as queue them to download to any of your devices. So if you are a Playstation Plus member I highly suggest “purchasing” everything each month regardless if you want to play it or own the device. For ages I only has a PS3 and still found it a good deal… but all the while I was picking up titles for that console I was also picking them up for both PS4 and Vita knowing that someday I would end up picking up those consoles. When I got my PS4 I had over a half dozen titles sitting there waiting on me, and when I got my Vita I had around 50 titles that I could play. The subscription is a great deal but even more so when you have all of the consoles they are giving titles away for. This month seems to be significantly better than most of the recent ones, so I thought I would go into the titles available right now.
Spelunky
Available for PS4, PS3, Vita
This is a title I have wanted to play for some time, but never ended up grabbing it. The idea is that you are a cave explorer looking for treasure, and combating the traps you encounter along the way. What the game is known for is for being extremely unforgiving in that when you die your game is over and you respawn at the beginning of the area with nothing to show for your accomplishment. In that aspect it feels a little bit like Rogue Legacy without the whole generations aspect. I played it for a bit last night on the PS4 and had fun.
Pix the Cat
Available for PS4, Vita
This title looks to be a frantic mix of Pac Man and the classic Snake game that we all played so damned much on our Nokia 5120 phones. Look I am old… I had one of those phones and it was the only game available. This game seems perfectly suited for the Vita but is also available on PS4, and as part of the whole Bragtoberfest event I believe it was Murf that proposed a challenge to see who could get the highest score on this game. I have yet to crack it open but it is installed on both Vita and PS4 so I will get around to it eventually.
Dust: An Elysian Tail
Available for PS4
This is another game that I have wanted to play for some time. Hell I even own it on steam thanks to one of the many “indie bundles” that I have picked up over the years. The irony is that now that it is on a console I am actually far more likely to play it. I really like the Dual Shock 4 controller… and until I pony up the $60 to buy one for my PC, I am likely going to favor playing certain kinds of games on the PS4. Ultimately this is a really cool looking Metroidvania about a series of anthropomorphic animals as they go on a quest to do something or another. I really don’t know much about the story, but supposedly it is actually rather good. Looking forward to playing.
Rainbow Moon
Available for PS3, Vita
This game looks really cool, and I am not sure how it was completely off my radar. Essentially it looks like Final Fantasy Tactics by another developer to be truthful. The gameplay looks really similar, and I am hoping it is just as detailed and in depth. This will add yet another long form JRPG that I need to play on my Vita, as that device is quickly becoming almost exclusive for laying in bed and playing them. Last night for example I started Persona 4 Golden. The JRPG genre is really ideally suited for that handheld, and I am sure Rainbow Moon will be no different.
Dungeons and Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara
Available for PS3
This game… so much love for this game. For me at least this is the pinnacle of the 90s era arcade beat-em-up games. This is a collection of two arcade games, one of which was super rare here in the United States. What made it so damned awesome at the time was that you would sit down at this rather imposing looking machine with three of your friends and play your way through a choose your adventure style quest. At various points you are prompted for what exactly you are going to do… do you save the town or do you save the docks. Each step moves you down a branching path towards the conclusion. I loved this game so much that I ordered the import from Japan that was only available for the Sega Saturn. What makes this version awesome is that it supports network multiplayer just like the Steam copy, so a perfect excuse to go smash some kobolds with friends.
Batman Arkham Asylum
Available for PS3
So here comes confession time… I have never beaten this game or frankly made it terribly far into it. I have had it on Steam for ages, but when I first tried to play it, I attempted to play it with a keyboard and mouse and found the overall experience frustrating. I simply never went back and tried it again. What I find most interesting about this is that ages ago Playstation Plus gave away the later games, but we had yet to receive the original until now. As such I am looking forward to playing this as I didn’t want to jump in on the second or third game without playing the original. Something about it being on a console makes it seem more appealing.
And there you have it… this months line up of games. While don’t get Drive Club Plus yet, there is still a ton of awesome to be had there. What I love the most is that when they give away a game they generally also give away the cross buy rights, meaning if something is available on multiple platforms you can play it on whichever one you choose. Cross buy is one of those features that really endears me to the Playstation system of consoles, and especially since most of the newer titles also feature cross-save letting me start a game on my PS4 and then pick it up on the native vita client. In any case I personally think it is a pretty damned good month that will only get better when they finally unlock the keys to the Drive Club kingdom in a few weeks.
#DriveClub #PlaystationPlus