After a brief (ahem – 12 month) hiatus I returned to, and completed, Braid.

It’s criminal that I was away from Braid’s hauntingly atmospheric world for so long, but it seems the break was exactly what I needed in order to tackle one of the game’s later, more devious puzzles. [...]

Despite my chequered past regarding Japanese Role Playing Games, Final Fantasy XIII‘s recent price drop (and a rush of blood to the head) made it an irresistible impulse buy.

Though widely received as a vast and enjoyable game, Square Enix’s latest instalment in its blockbuster series received some criticism upon release. While some reviewers lauded its new features and dismissal of JRPG norms, others lambasted the developer’s disregard for its loyal fan-base, citing its linear level design and character progression. [...]

Plenty of games are amusing. Not many games are laugh out loud funny. Very rarely will a game go beyond a smirk or giggle and inspire a full on rip-roaring belly-jiggling snort like Grand Theft Auto IV has on many occasions. Within five minutes of ripping the cellophane off of my copy, it had me in stitches.

After a drunken night out with Nico’s cousin Roman, they stumble out of a club. The screen swims, and your previously solid control of Nico becomes a wrestling match with the analogue stick just to get him to stand up straight. Baulking at the thought of walking all the way back to Roman’s apartment (read save point) in this manner, Nico jumps into his cousin’s taxi. Unsurprisingly, controlling a car while under the influence is no easier than walking, and it’s not long before the local law enforcement take an interest. [...]

Although I’m a big fan of their western equivalents, Japanese Role-Playing Games (JRPGs) have always seemed utterly impenetrable to me. My attempts to break into the genre are invariably met with poorly translated Japanese memes, repetitive battles, translucent character design, and many other irksome traits that die-hard fans seem to revel in.

There is a section on my games shelf that I have dubbed the ‘JRPG graveyard’. That’s where Final Fantasy III, Phantasy Stars I and IV, Earthbound and Eternal Sonata are interred, all unfinished, abandoned after ten or so hours of play each. [...]

Typically out of touch (or should that be fashionably late?), when the world is obsessing over its sequel, I turn my attention to Bioshock. I’m desperate to finish it before stumbling upon a spoiler, which, thanks to the amount of Bioshock 2 content on the internet right now, is as easy as negotiating my way through a minefield on a pogo stick.

Bioshock‘s opening five minutes amount to some of the finest and well crafted in video game history. Travelling in an aeroplane somewhere over the 1960′s mid-Atlantic, my avatar, Jack, glances down at his personal effects as the lights dim, and the engines begin to labour. [...]