Columnist Sophie Kruse discusses three newer games she's interested in: "Firewatch," "Rise of the Tomb Raider" and "Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam."
I have to admit, I haven’t been playing video games very much lately. Unless it’s a round (or 10) of Mario Kart with friends or a little bit of time devoted to some addicting apps, I haven’t been making gaming as much of a priority. With that, I obviously haven’t had as much time to spend reviewing games.
There are still, however, a lot of games out there I’ve been lusting over lately. Though it might be a while before I get my hands on any of the games, here’s a few that I’m anxiously anticipating playing.
Recently, I’ve been reading a lot about Firewatch. It’s a storyline-heavy game in which you play as someone working a summer job at a national park in Wyoming to take his mind off the rest of his life. The game is set up pretty simply — it’s just you and your map.
According to Kotaku, “Firewatch is a game that leans heavily on its story. Forget what you may have assumed from the game’s early marketing: This is not a survival sim, a deadly wilderness action game, or a gripping thriller. This is a game where you basically walk around the woods, occasionally climb something and do a lot of talking over a radio.”
Although it seems like a short, simple game, I’m a big fan of those that are storyline-heavy, and I’ll definitely be checking it out.
I’m also really looking forward to Rise of the Tomb Raider. I love Lara Croft, and I enjoyed the 2013 reboot (even though I thought Lara deserved a better role in her game).
Polygon said “Rise of the Tomb Raider's foundation is the same as it was in 2013: Lara crawls, climbs, shoots and swings her way through a series of outrageous environments, from a ship frozen vertically into the side of a glacier to an abandoned gulag repurposed by Trinity. The combat still emphasizes careful aim and smart use of resources in the environment. The platforming is still damn near perfect, giving the player control above all else, even when it leads to some hilariously awkward animations. None of this has changed, and none of it really needed to.”
There’s a greater variety of environments Lara finds herself in, and the game features a new “expedition” mode, meaning you can replay the game starting at different chapters, jumping into different hub areas with new objectives or simply try to up your score. That takes place of the multiplayer mode that was included in the last game.
The final game I’m interested in checking out is Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam. It takes place in a new environment from the other Mario games, but also relies on some new kind of gameplay.
“What’s great about this system is that it requires both mental and physical strategy. Not only do you have to make careful decisions about when to heal and when to attack, you also need the reaction skills to anticipate whether an enemy fireball will come from the top or bottom. If you don’t have the dexterity to pull off a particularly tricky move, you won’t be able to use it. Can’t figure out how to fling bombs with Luigi while simultaneously hitting them with Mario’s hammer? Use something else. Or die,” Kotaku wrote.
Sophie Kruse is a senior studying journalism. What games are you looking forward to playing? Email her at sk139011@ohio.edu.
