Blossom Tales (Switch)

Date Purchased: 01/09/2018
Date Completed: 01/16/2018
Price: $20 (but my son bought it) eShop

This is a charming Zelda clone, the game is very self aware and even gives a few winks and nods to the Zelda franchise.  I'd heard some complaints it was short, but it was a decent enough length (9-10 hours) that I never felt it was a chore to move on.  The graphics are nice, the soundtrack is serviceable and it's a great little Zelda clone that fans of that series shouldn't miss. Recommend.

Top 10 of 2017

Here it is, my annual sit-down with you.

New Super Mario Bros. U (Wii U)

I played this when the Wii U launched 6 years ago and remember thinking it was "okay" (mypileofshame.blogspot.ca did not exist back then).  Playing it again with my son it's much better than I remember.  I don't mind the "new" Mario aesthetic, my biggest gripe is the recycled music across that series of games, that aside this is a great Mario game.  Mario's "mid-air spin" ability which I never really took advantage of until Super Mario Maker is a true game changer.  Recommend.

Steamworld Dig 2 (Switch)

Date Purchased:  December 28, 2017
Date Completed: January 6, 2018
Price: $19.99 (eShop)

I'd heard a lot of great things about this game and was in the need of something new single player for working midnight's so I picked it up on sale.  It's okay.  It has a neat upgrade tree and some neat exploration elements to it, but in the end you spend a lot of time digging and doing little more.  The story can be completed in less than 6 hours, the length you get out of it will vary depending on your willingness to explore.  The game features a vast amount of caves which all have one obvious gear which you use for upgrades and then some more difficult gears or treasure you have to work for.  Completionists may want to find every gear and every upgrade but it's far from required to see credits, that was incredibly easy.  I did enjoy my time with it, but it's far from a must play.  I keep going back to it on occasion when I have a few minutes, but I'm not sure how long that will last.  Recommend on a sale.

Super Mario World (SNES)

Date Purchased: N/A
Date Completed: N/A
Price: N/A

I've played this game countless times, but haven't completed it in a long while until recently when my son AJ took a heavy interest in all things Mario.  What a fantastic game.  The game controls so well, the level design is great and it features a large variety of characters I'd all but forgotten were in the Mario universe.  Must play.

Rocket League (Switch)

Date Purchased:  November 14, 2017
Date Completed: December 25, 2017
Price: $20 (eShop)

My initial thoughts on Rocket League can be found here.  The switch version holds up well, it doesn't look as pretty on the TV but in handheld mode it looks just fine.  I enjoy it more on Switch due to its pick up and play ability.   The Mario, Luigi and Samus cars are nice, but not game changers.  Highly recommend.

Just Cause 3 (PS4)

Date Purchased:  August 3, 2017
Date Completed: December 15, 2017
Price: Free (PS+)

"Shitty BOTW (Breath of the Wild) with guns" is how I described this game to a friend, and I think it's about all I need to say about it.  The destruction was amazing, but the frame rate made it really hard to play.  Longer than I expected.  Despite the frame rate, recommend.