Hey look, I’m writing again! Sorry about last week, folks. I had jury duty last Monday and it screwed up my entire gaming and writing week. But I won’t let Labor Day get me off track! (Although the weather drop to the 80s could easily do so. I was actually cold this morning when I let the dogs out.)

I have been playing a bit of a little game called Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to play as much as I would like, but I have a few hours under my belt, including the absolute loss of ever getting the Achievement for not killing anyone. I try to be stealthy, I really do. However, I do suck at it. I admit it. I think I also have some bad luck attached to me as well, as without fail, I’ll maneuver through a room with ease just to be spotted at the very last second. Every time it happens, I actually bow my head and sigh. I’m so tempted to give up and just go the 100% lethal route, but I’d like to at least try. I do have to say, though, that when you kill everyone in a room, it does make walking around a bit easier. Just saying.

In case you hadn’t heard, the 3DS Ambassador program launched this past week, and I was very eager to download all the games that held interest for me (all but the golf game). After I showed my fellow EvilCasters that the Justin Bailey code does indeed work for the virtual console version of Metroid, I started to play the original Legend of Zelda. It’s such an oldie, but a goodie. I never finished the game back in the day–but I was a damn fine mapmaker–so I’m gleefully running through it with hopes of finishing as part of my Zelda Experiment.

But old Link wasn’t the only Link I played with. After my hubby ditched our Gears of War 2 date to hang out a bar with friends (go out in public with real people? what was he thinking??), I resumed more of my trek with A Link to the Past. I can’t lie; I die a lot in this game. But it’s so much fun, I really don’t care! What’s really amazing to me is how this is the Zelda game that really started it all in terms of modern game mechanics. It makes me think that the only real differences between LTTP and modern Zelda is the 3D open world. And to be honest, I really, REALLY prefer the 2D greatness of LTTP. I’m beginning to see why this is a favorite for so many of my friends.

The husband did honor our Gears 2 date last night, and we had an absolute BLAST. Since Gears 2 allows split-screen co-op players to use their preferred controller settings, we didn’t have half the issues we did in the first game. I definitely won’t be firing him this time. We finished Act III, and if it wasn’t midnight, we probably would have moved on to the fourth Act. I love how this second game has more of a story, the improved narration (I actually understand what we’re doing now), and all of the mechanics are so much smoother.

The best moment for us was when we had to kill two Boomer Maulers that were marching toward us in the razorhail, and we were both out of Lancer ammo. Without even discussing it, we both switched to flamethrowers and took them down with ease. We laughed, we high-fived, we continued to kill more Locust.

I almost wish I didn’t have to get DXHR finished so soon so we could play more of Gears 2 this week. Just as long as we finish it before the third one comes out, we’ll be golden.

I have a ridiculous stack of shame that includes PS2 and GameCube games. I have the Zelda Experiment. Deus Ex won’t be out until tomorrow. So last week would have been the perfect time to polish off a quickie like Gears of War 2 or start my Zelda Experiment, right?

Well, I did start my Zelda Experiment over the weekend, but during the week, I restarted Dungeon Siege III to play as a different character–Anjali. Part of me is doing it because I want to alter my decisions and see how it changes the ending, but another part of me is doing it for the Achievement Hunt. I’m such a sucker for those stupid points that don’t matter.

This time around, I’m playing on the Easy difficulty setting, and wow, is it easy. I’m almost finished, and I haven’t died once. Well, that’s not entirely true. I’ve still died, but my partner managed to stay alive each time to heal me, so I’ve never gotten the “Game Over” screen. Playing as a different character has made a huge difference as well. I played as Lucas the first time around, and while he is a heavy hitter–typical sword-and-shield warrior–he is SLOW and he has very few long-range attacks. For several enemies, especially bosses with status-affecting auras, this makes things really difficult. Lucas may be able to knock out some serious damage with one of his attacks, but the chances of him living for the next shot are super slim. Anjali has a nice split between close-range and long-range attacks, so she stays alive for so much longer. My partner this time is Katarina, and team girl squad really knows how to kick ass and take names. At this rate, I’ll most likely finish my second playthrough before I get the guide for Deus Ex: Human Revolution.

I did start my Zelda Experiment with A Link to the Past over the weekend, but I’m not very far in it to make comments other than the following: “Wow. This game released back in the SNES days and has pretty much identical elements in current Zelda games. This franchise has not really evolved at all.”

I think I have diatribe fodder brewing about Nintendo’s lack of gameplay innovation…

After beating two games in one day the other weekend, I did take a few days off, away from the consoles and handhelds. But the call of Ocarina of Time 3D was too great for me to ignore forever. And then…my 3DS was almost hurled out the window.

I ran into two problems during a boss fight; one involved the frustration in trying to get Link to aim while moving and the other involved the lack of recovery hearts in the jars scattered across the room. I’m sure that was a game glitch, but the combination of the two was enough to make me rage quit. I’m sure that if I calmed down, bought some red potion, and tried again I would be fine. However, the thought of trying once again to manipulate where the hell Link is facing, while running and dodging, and while trying to get a correct target lock onto the boss makes me want to curl up into a fetal position and weep softly.

I ranted about this on Twitter, on the EvilCast, and in person to anyone who would listen to me whine. Numerous people told me that since I did not play Ocarina on the N64, I would not have the nostalgia to overlook the horrendous controls. While I can see some truth to this, I have to wonder if it also has something to do with the fact that I’m playing a console game on a handheld, and as such, that could be contributing to the difficulty. The handheld is not the most comfortable thing to hold during extended periods of gameplay, and I can’t help but wonder if the Z-targeting system is better than the L-targeting system, especially when it comes to camera controls.

The thought continued to eat at me, so I started to wonder about how well Zelda games have aged as a whole. Graphics-wise, games like Final Fantasy VII and even Final Fantasy VI have not aged well, but the gameplay is still tolerable, even to someone like me who didn’t play those at release either. So, I’ve decided to take on a Zelda Experiment, where I play all of the major/popular Zelda games that I never played and see if Zelda is an outdated concept. I mean, let’s face it: the ideas behind every Zelda game have not moved forward at all and all have about the same formula. Is nostalgia the only thing keeping this franchise alive?

Even though I’ve never beaten a Zelda game other than DS games–and I’ve been told those don’t count–I actually own all of the games (but not in their original platform formats, sad to say). So here is what is on the Zelda Experiment list: A Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask, Wind Waker, and Link’s Awakening. I shall play each of them to completion or to rage quitting.

This will most likely take a better portion of a year, if not a year, as this will not get in the way of strategy guide reviews. And this is probably a major waste of time, as it will shatter my nostalgic pedestal of what these games represent to me from my childhood. But for science, this is a risk I’m willing to take.

Now that I have played a considerable amount of Dungeon Siege III, I have to say that it is unbelievably awesome. It’s the first time in a long time that I’ve played an action-JRPG that wasn’t a button masher. Instead, it’s a bit of a cross between the typical action-JRPG and Dragon Age: Origins. Maybe a little like White Knight Chronicles. However you want to look at it, you won’t get very far by simply pressing the A button.

The story isn’t earth shattering, but it’s intriguing enough to keep me interested. I know there’s a plot twist coming, and I have an idea of what this twist might be, and I really, really hope I’m wrong. If I am right, then ugh, DS3 will fall by the typical JRPG wayside when it comes to story. That would make me a sad panda indeed.

As much as I wanted to play DS3 through the weekend, the reminder that Gears 3 is releasing in about a month forced my head to turn back to Gears of War. I only have one act left, so I should be able to finish it this weekend before I go on my beach vacation. Sad to say, I’m a little disappointed in the game.

The gameplay is fun, so don’t get me wrong there. I wish my hubby and I could cooperate and play this game together, as I see the beauty in how much more fun this game could be to play with another soul.

However, I’m a story-driven gamer, and the fact that I have no idea what is going on in this story other than I need to kill all these nasty things that are killing all of us is not doing it for me. Maybe I’m not catching all the hints toward the back story because I’m so busy trying to stay alive. Or maybe the game really does a poor job of narration. If it wasn’t for the guide, I would never have known exactly why Marcus was in prison, why we’re planting the resonator in the factory, or why I need to hijack this train.

None of this would really bother me so much if I hadn’t bought this game strictly for the purpose of learning the background story for Gears 2, a game I like far more. I was hoping to learn where the Locust came from–outside of under the ground–and more about the state of the world since the Locust arrived. So far, none of what I’ve learned from Gears seems that important other than how Marcus and Dom met Cole and Baird.

I know I probably shouldn’t have been expecting much, especially since this seems to be such a stereotypical meathead game, but I still had hope. I’ve been told that the story develops better in the second game, so I’m definitely ready to get back to that. And hopefully the husband and I can play the sequel together again. We seemed to do well with it the last time we played.