Finally back in Bozeman, and now I can play non-handheld games. I say this with only mingled relief; I’m pretty sure I’ve spent more time on Radiant Historia in the past week than I have a JRPG since Pokémon Black. Also, I got a chance to find out why so many pubs gave New Super Mario Bros. 2 such unenthusiastic scores—when I read that a game is "more of the same," I didn’t expect it to literally be more of the same, and this is coming from a guy who likes his Call of Duty an awful lot.
Anyway, now that I have access to my Xbox 360 again, I stopped by Hastings to pick up a new release to play in hopes of keeping up with the gaming conversation. To my surprise, both X-COM: Enemy Unknown and Dishonored were available, a situation I hadn’t counted on considering how fast Bozeman’s college student population snaps up new product. Maybe it’s mid-term tests.
What followed was a short, but intense deliberation about which game to rent. On one hand, X-COM: Enemy Unknown: a modern revival of a classic PC franchise that leans heavily on turn-based strategy and micromanaging resources between missions; on the other, Dishonored: the Bethesda game I’ve always wanted to play, with a wide array of options and gameplay choices while still containing sufficient linear focus. It’s like having to choose between Mad Max and Game of Thrones, which, coincidentally, I am also putting off deciding on even as we speak.
X-COM calls to my inner strategy addict, the same one that made Advance Wars on the Game Boy Advance arguably my most-played game for my entire middle school experience, or that kept me hooked on Final Fantasy Tactics Advance while my college roommate occupied our PlayStation 2. The half-hour demonstration I saw at PAX East hyped me up for XCOM, massaging my strategic inclinations and impressing me with it intuitive console mechanics though my enthusiasm has since cooled. Renting XCOM would mean playing it for an absurdly chunky amount of time, though I can think of worse punishments than "playing through an awesome game for a long time =(".
Games like Dishonored turn me off after a short amount of time, thanks to my unfortunate tendency to lock up when presented with too much choice—either that or I get flashbacks to the time I rented Grand Theft Auto IV, played it for two hours, accomplished nothing, then returned it for The Orange Box. I actually spent time with Dishonored at PAX Prime, though, and Arkane Studios nailed the balance between freeform gameplay and gameplay direction. Plus, I want to try completing Dishonored without murdering anyone, something the Bethesda rep assured me was not only possible but completely badass.
I ended up telling the sales associate about both games and realized I rhapsodized about XCOM for much longer than I did Dishonored, so I went with XCOM. I think it's those small vestiges of decision overload that I'm afraid of, or my general aversion from stealth games, that tilted me away from Dishonored, or if my time with the grid-heavy Radiant Historia is driving me to greater heights of turn-based micromanagement. Besides, Dishonored is far too close in narrative presentation to Mass Effect 2; too many dialog trees make Jack a dull boy, or at least a boy who stares woodenly at you while trying to pick the option that leads to "knock you over the head and drag you to the basement."
Had I more time, or the desire to spend more than $8 at a time renting games, but grown-up decisions dictated that I had to make a tough choice. The problem of choosing between two stellar games is hardly a problem at all, though, and either one would have satisfied my gamerly cravings to top-tier software. Just, don't make me decide which of my children is my favorite again until November, okay?
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