What I've been playing - 12th to 18th December 2011

It's nearly Christmas and as such, I usually rein in my spending on games and various other trinkets I might buy without hesitation.

I say usually. It didn't happen obviously...

Purchases
It was bundle week this week - bad news for a backlog. I couldn't resist some Point-and-click fun so I grabbed the Blackwell trilogy as part of the Indie Royale and I also roped myself into buying Humble Indie Bundle because it had a few games I was looking into. Finally, I bought Corpse Party (more on that below)

Dissidia 012 duodecim Final Fantasy
Some background here. I'm trying to get the game completed 100% because I'm obsessed with this - and also with keeping the in-game day counter running. It was literally a few weeks after I retired the original Dissidia (a full year of playing the game) that they announced the sequel.

So, current state? Slowly getting the characters to SSS status. Just 10 to go...

LittleBigPlanet 2
Managed to finish the game with my sister and Celedin. Great fun playing all the levels together. Just missing that one extra player that we need to get the last few items in the game.

As for community levels, I've seen some mind-blowing creations. The most impressive one I've seen is Little Big Fantasy - Goddess War, which is basically, a JRPG in the LBP2 engine. Not much in the way of battling (the level was maxed out as it was) but it shows a lot of promise.

If you're after some speed, Kaleida's Maze is superb fun and you can always try to Ace it as the ultimate challenge.

Corpse Party
For the uninitiated (and for those not reading up on Japanese games, that means you :P), this is a horror game that just got released on PSN as a download exclusive for the PSP. The game's unique selling point is the audio, which simulates a surround effect for maximum scare potential (when wearing headphones). This means you can end up hearing whispers direct in one ear, or a ghostly sound flying around you, with it's wails circling from one ear to the other.

I've just encountered the first of the "incorrect" endings in the first chapter. It's certainly an unsettling game and one that horror fans should look into - if only for something different. Just be warned that you'll not see any zombies here!

Other news
Big week in Japan as the Playstation Vita finally went on sale, and it's not even been a year since it's unveiling back in January. Early indications are that the touch screen seems a bit poor in "textural" quality and the Wi-Fi cuts out when you're not using it. Uncharted doesn't seem to be as good as expected (in the graphics department) and in-game screenshots make the games look worse.

The other big news that struck me this week was the confirmation that Fumito Ueda (who's been the creator of Ico and Shadow of the Colossus) has left Sony, but will still work on the exceptionally late release of The Last Guardian.

Until next week, let me know what you think of the format. Too long? Too short? No pictures? (I know, I'll try and get some next week - promise!)