I know there are still two days left in January, but I think I'm done playing for the rest of the month right now and I found some time to write. Some stats I found interesting before I go into details:

From January 1st to today, I played 22 games.
9 / 15 games were completed.
Platform breakdown:
9 - PC
7 - iPad
2 - X360
1 - SNES
1 - Wii
1 - NES
1 - GBA

I enjoyed 19 / 22 and completed 12 / 22 of them.

So what games were they? I mentioned quite a few of them in my previous blog, so I won't repeat those here until I kept playing them and my thoughts changed. So on to the details:

Minecraft / Minecraft (PC and 360): So, I realized my kids have played a lot more minecraft now and playing 4 player splitscreen might be fun with them again - that and I never did finish these achievements. So I played a few days with them and cleaned up the achievements - only one to go now... pig flying. I will have to say, if anyone is still playing this edition it better be because you don't own a computer in your home that can run Minecraft. The X360 edition is still really bad compared to the PC. Really bad.

On the PC side of things - I ended up making a skyscrapper over 200 blocks long and 100 blocks high. I should post a picture as it is hard to describe. It has an elevator in it (what skyscrapper wouldn't?) lots of windows, 11 floors, it is big... but empty. On the top I want to put a tower of lava, but I want it to be cool, so it is taking some time to finish.

Super Mario Bros (NES): Yep, the NES edition. I usually make through every 2D core mario game platformer every year. So I plopped down and played this one. It is so dated it is ridiculous. Well, no big deal, not the longest 10 minutes of my life after-all. It is a good thing these old games don't take 4 hours to play like a modern shooter or anything like that.

Trauma Center (Wii): As of now I have finished up the game again. I know I'm not good enough to do the X-levels, so I'll call it good with this. I looked at my original save of my first playthrough. XS's on every level... wow. Yeah, I'm not going to invest that much into the game this time around.

Metro 2033 (PC): For some reason I get lost a lot in the game... and keep forgetting the controls. Every time I need to turn off my light I have to remember what key does it. I can't keep the bullets straight (which goes to which gun) and the game doesn't let you keep out your gun in towns, so I always forget what I'm packing until it is too late. I'm quite a few chapters in though and I had my first turn around "holy sh*t!" monster moment that comes from these sorts of games. I should be expecting this sort of thing by now... I'm clearly not really in the mindset to play FPS's anymore.

I looked up how far I am in the game and I'm only half way... I don't know if I'm going to make it because I'm tiring of the shoot/sneak blend that there is to the game. I also think the story is very disjointed. I mean there are a lot of levels that end in one spot and start with you somewhere else - you can clearly see this is a break where two different groups were working on the development. I'm also really tired of the weapons - they all feel like I'm shooting a nerf gun. And yes I get life is dire for everyone in these times, but the story is going nowhere. I'm still just treking across the metro and above ground to get to the same place I sent out for 4-5 hours ago... when does it get better? It probably doesn't. This is probably one of the most disappointing games I have played that I wanted to play. I still enjoyed parts, but it is dragging to the point I just don't want to play it anymore.

Fire Emblem, The Sacred Stones (GBA): As I continue to play it, I didn't realize how rediculous the dialog is in this game. It has lots of odd characters in it and I just don't really like. I like the original GBA Fire Emblem in just about every way above this game other than this one has an overworld map you can move around on and fight between the fights... and and tower to grind in / earn levels weapons.

Tiger Woods '12: So I have won the masters, have been ranked #1 for some time now. But I have a ton of courses on it and the game is actually pretty good for a golf game. This is what I play at least every week or so to do another course and get my golf fix.

Doors (iPad): This game is lame. Take old school puzzle game like the Univited, make them one room affairs with the majority of the game is you trying to figure out what you can do in the game in the first place - and the developers make it up as they go - and there is your puzzle game. The fact this was a popular game of sorts makes me sad for the game space the is drawn to these things

U.N. Squadron (SNES): This game draws me often. The game is a side scrolling shooter, where I now have to make up my own meta-game otherwise it is just too easy. This time around I had to beat it without ever dying. That is right, I set this game to 'Hardcore' mode and played it. Still beat it on my first playthrough. I never even got near death. I did take some bullets though. Maybe next time I'll play with my favorite meta-game in that you have to beat it without dying and without beating the 2nd two moving levels (sub and mercs)..

Portal (PC): Every so often I get in the mood to crank through Portal. It only takes a few hours (2 in this case) so it makes it a very easy game to get into and finish. Maybe I'll replay Portal 2 sometime.

Scoregasm (PC): A twin stick shooter that has branching paths depending on how good you do. I really like the game, hate the name. I actually kind of wish the Wii edition of Geometry wars was on the PC because I really like that game. I have tried a couple other twin stick shooters but they always seem to focus on bullet hell more than just shooting and such. Regardless, I like this game. It has a normal and an expert mode, the later every enemy that blows up throws bullets out from it. You eventually get really good pulsing through all the bullets. Still a good game to play with some silly rewards for finishing it. There is a boss for each difficulty, and that is doubled due to expert mode being in the game.

I am annoyed though with games like this and their attempts to complicate the combo system. This game you not only have to kill stuff without dying, you have to do it in a short time frame between kills. It makes you wander around the level as much as possible avoiding stuff until you get ready to go postal on everything to keep your combo up. I really like Geometry wars you shoot it you collect the multiplier, you score lots of points. Still this is my favorite PC shooter right now - I'm hoping to find something to replace it though.

iFighter 2.0 (iPad): A free game that is a vertical scrolling bullet hell shooter. It suffers from all the same problems bullet hell games have had since they have only targeted the hardcore players. Every level has a pattern and you better memorize it because you can't shoot it fast enough to prevent the bullets. This is no U.N. Squadron, but it is okay I suppose. The goal of the game is to grind on it forever and eventually buy 'stars' so you can buy all the stuff in the game that are 'unlockables'. As it is a 'free game' you get some nice ads on the opening screen and of course you could always just pay money and buy everything and win.

You can start on easy and work your way all the way through the hardest mode. I have done everything but one level on the hardest mode. Like most games like this though if you die you are a lot worse off seeming it just respawns you with no equipment right in the middle of the fight you weren't good enough to beat with ALL your equipment. It baffles me people haven't seen what a dumb design choice this is in this day and age.

Ys Origin (PC): I saved the best for last. Having beat it twice, once with each of the first two playable characters I wanted to come back and finish it off with the last character. I had played this and Ys III's PC remake all at the same time and tired of the mechanics which is why there was a nice break in the middle. Well I came back to finish out the game with the last character. Ys Origin is a great game because each character you play with twists the story a little bit and reveals more of the back story. It makes it feel like a new game each time through. The last character actually gives you the 'true' ending and true final boss.

Definitely worth every dollar I spent on it. Upon seeing the true ending there are a ton of other grindy type things I could do in it, but I see little reason to grind up longer with it. I will end up coming back to it at some point though. I absolutely love what they did with the story between the 3 characters, the artwork, the music, and the gameplay is fast paced and fun.

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The interesting things I noticed by tracking what I played is I play a lot of games. A lot of them are bite sized affairs due to time and all of them are older games. It will be interesting to see how many 'new' games I pick up as I move forward. Am I sick of the high prices and wait for them to drop or am I just sick of everything new that is coming out?

What have you played? What was your favorite hit? what was your biggest disappointment?