Beaten

Yoshi Woolly World – wrote about it here

Ace Attorney Justice for All – wrote about it here

Monument Valley – I got this to try out my new Kindle Fire (the big 10′ one).  It is amazing.  It is a simple, but beautiful, puzzle game that is more or less about exploring and manipulating an MC Escher painting.  You must move the protagonist through areas where changing the point of view changes the landscape.  It is not especially complicated, but it does have some pretty good mind benders.  The story is sparse and evocative.  The whole game is just short and sweet and pretty much perfect.  I just got started on the expansion, Forgotten Shores, and so far it seems even better.  If you have a device capable, play this game.  It is so great.

Ongoing

Yakuza 4 – This game is like 4 or five small Yakuza games shoved together, changing protagonists each time.  In October I cleared Taiga’s section of the game, the second part of the game.  I didn’t like it as much as the previous section.  It started with a pretty great jailbreak sequence, but then it’s got a stupid hard boss battle and doesn’t actually give the player much of a chance to explore the city.  It is still a Yakuza game and still mostly fun, but it is just the least fun parts of a Yakuza game.

Mega Man Legends – This is one of the best games for the PS1.  It coming to PSN is cause for some celebration.  I didn’t play a lot of it, only the first three or four hours, but it was enough to reinforce how good of a game it is.  It is like a playable Miyazaki movie.  I’m not sure I have the time to beat it again right now, but the fact that I can fire it up any time I want is great.  I hope the sequel hits eventually as well.

Super Mario Maker – I haven’t made quite as many levels in this that I wanted to, but I am still enjoying my time tinkering with it.  This is pretty much a perfect toolset for making fun levels.  The sheer number of different things that players have done with it can attest to that.  I have a feeling this game will be in my ongoing section for some time going forward.

Pokémon Alpha Sapphire – I really want to have this game beaten by the end of the year, but I keep setting it aside for other games.  I have never really warmed to this generation of Pokémon games.  These remakes are in many ways the best games the series has ever produced, but I am still not finding a lot of enjoyment in it.  Hopefully I find a team that I like and turn that corner pretty soon.

Legend of Legacy – I’m not sure how ongoing my play of this game is. I bought it since I had a lot of fun with the demo, but I didn’t make it more than a few hours into the full game.  It is just too obtuse and old fashioned.  I think I’ll put this aside until some people play it and I can look at a guide and get a better idea of how things work, because the game is not going to explain how anything works.

The Legend of Zelda: Triforce Heroes – The reviews have not been kind to this game and they have been directly counter to my experience.  I haven’t even gotten the chance to try out the multiplayer yet.  So yes, that could still be a dud if I can’t get a good connection, but the single player, at least through the first 4 areas, is actually a lot of fun. There are times when managing all three characters can get tedious, but for the most part it is some focused Zelda fun. This isn’t quite a “real” Zelda game, but it is still a lot of fun so far.

Upcoming

Trails in the Sky – A lot of people I know are really excited about the second chapter of this game hitting the PSP (!) and Vita at the end of October.  The interest was enough for me to pick up the first game from Amazon.  I hope to get started on it sooner rather than later.