Games Rebels Play — July

We’re a week late this time around because I was kidnapped by ninjas on my way to work last week. But now I’m back. Read on to find out what the 4cr gang played during the fine month of July, and be sure and chime in to let us know what kept you busy, too!

Edgar:

This month I’ve played Lost Odyssey a lot, and I’m about half way through disc 3. This is probably my favorite RPG ever, with a mature storyline and good mechanics. I also got Battlefield 1943 on XBLA, which is amazing. I’ve been playing it with friends every weekend. Lastly, this isn’t a game, but more of a tool — I’ve been playing around with Maptools for our DnD campaign.

Also, I almost forgot, I started playing Shiren the Wanderer again on the DS to hype myself for the Wii release that’s been announced for North America.

Mitch:

Hey guys. Remember me? No? Well, anyway, I’ve actually been playing games this month. My girlfriend has been visiting me for the past month or so, and we’ve been getting back into Animal Crossing: City Folk. It’s really amazing how much more fun the game can get when you’ve got somebody else living with you in your town! We’d wake up some mornings and hurry to the Wii to see hour our neighbors were doing that morning, and that’s a feeling I hadn’t felt since I started playing games ages ago.

I’ve also been playing Wii Sports Resort and the already-amazing Little King’s Story. It’s a good month for Wii!

Jody:

I spent July playing through Point Lookout for Fallout 3, which contained some of my absolute favorite moments in the game. (And coming from someone that has put over 200 hours into the game, that should say a lot.) Aside from that, I played through all of Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, which doesn’t deserve the hate it gets — it’s really solid. I have also been dabbling in different Gameboy games, after reading Gamespite Quarterly #1. As of this last week of July, I started up Wii Sports Resort which is just fantastic. The archery is some of the best-controlled gaming I have ever played.

I have also been playing Toki Tori on the ol’ iPod touch, and it is sweeeeet.

Greg:

July has been a month full of adventure gaming (and pirates)! I fought through the first part of Tales of Monkey Island and relived mighty pirate Guybrush Threepwood’s past in Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition. You would assume that I would be tired of pointing and clicking at this point, but you would be wrong. LucasArts put some of their old games up on Steam. Somehow, I completely missed out on Loom as a kid, so I fixed that mistake.

I also put some time into games that weren’t touched by LucasArts staff! On the iPhone, I’ve been addicted to Peggle and Droplitz. I’ve also slowly been working through Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars. It’s a great portable translation of GTA, and it’s a damn shame that this bombed at retail.

Jamie:

I’ve been playing lots and lots of games for review. Nick & Nick keep me in a crate with controllers and a water bottle that rarely gets refilled. I won’t bore you with the details of what it took to sneak this message out, but I thought 4cr readers deserve to know the awful truth even though I will surely be beaten with pain sticks now. With the few hours of sleep I get each day I dream of playing Kolibri, but finding all the cords for the 32X is beyond me at this point. If I were a hummingbird I would drink more nectar than any other to see if getting fat slowed my wings down.

Rumas:

I played one game and one game only during the month of July: Mother 3.

After reaching Chapter 7 a couple months ago, I took a hiatus, because the battles were so difficult for me that the experience was just becoming downright exhausting. I suck at turn-based RPGs, and I simply cannot do the rhythm-based combos. As such, I was getting pummeled. It took me well over a month to beat Mr. Generator.

But then I went back to it on the GB Micro in early July, and realized what I needed to do: grind to get my level up. Super high. So high that I’ll be able to get through the game without suffering anymore. Or so I hope. I found a spot right outside the Chimera Lab that’s perfect for grinding, and I’m well on the way to level 50 with both Lucas and Boney. I’m just going to stick with this for a while. Mother 3 is such an awesome game that even grinding is fun. And there’s a good fringe benefit: I think I’m finally starting to get a feel for the combos. I can string together four hits now on a regular basis.

I love Mother 3.