Sherrie
The biggest change recently in my gaming lineup has been the removal of Super Mario 3D World for the Wii U from it, because Aaron and I finally beat it! We cleared all eight worlds with full green stars and stamps (except for missing a star here and there in world eight, because we started rushing towards the end). We played the first level in the bonus world as well, but upon realizing that it was more of a challenge than what we'd played so far, and likely would stop being fun and just turn frustrating, we decided to call it quits and turn off our Wii U again for the forseeable future. I really enjoyed playing a Mario game again, and I have to admit it's probably one of the better ones I've ever played (and my marriage survived the co-op play intact!). I just wish the Wii U had more games for it; it seems to sit there collecting dust much more often than it actually gets used.
I picked up Assassin's Creed 4 again, finally. I'm still not too far into it, but I've already decided I'm just going to skip most of the extras and go full-speed ahead with the main-story quests. This decision was made entirely possible by the fact that Kenway's Fleet is apparently shared between all save files on the PS4 system, so all of Aaron's hard work in building it up and sinking over 40 hours into the game is now accessible to me. I admit it was quite nice to turn on the system and find that I had inherited a small fortune (I was able to get half the upgrades to my ship done instantly, just from one of the hauls). Despite being incredibly busy for the forseeable future, I'm expecting to finish Assassin's Creed pretty soon.
Rune Factory 4 is still ongoing, and it looks like I've finally entered the last dungeon. I'm expecting to beat it and be done with it sometime in the next couple weeks, as on February 28th I've got the newest Harvest Moon game showing up on my doorstep. I'll be sharing my impressions on that game with all of you soon. Final Fantasy XIV is also progressing; I only need two more myth armor pieces to finish my dragoon before I'll be fully geared. My black mage is currently at 41, so that's starting to get there as well. I'm not quite sure what I'll play after Assassin's Creed 4 yet, but whatever it is, I'll be sure to let you all know what I think of it.
Aaron
As Sherrie said, our adventures in Super Mario 3D World have come to an enjoyable close. I have to say I ended up being really pleasantly surprised by this Mario game; it was much better than I had expected. Not only did I finish Mario recently, but I completed a whole mess of other games as well.
Once my trigger finger managed to heal up, I dove right back into Battlefield 4 and had a blast with it. The campaign was really good and the little bit of time I spent on the multi-player (it's not really my thing) was totally awesome. Tanks, battleships, exploding buildings, and ATVs loaded down with C4 crashing into helicopters that are in mid-flight...the BF4 multi-player has it all. If I was a big online FPS guy, Battlefield 4 would be where I would be spending my gaming time.... But since I'm not, after I finished with BF4, I picked up my Vita to enjoy the recently released expansion to Muramasa Rebirth.
I was really skeptical of this DLC going in, as I had no idea what to expect with regards to the "bang for your buck" value. But this is some beefy DLC, especially for $5. You get an entirely new mini-campaign, featuring a brand-new character (with a completely different gameplay style than the standard campaign characters), that will last you around 5 hours, depending upon your skill and grinding habits. Once you finish the DLC proper, you can then go back and re-challenge all the areas and bosses of the normal campaign using the new DLC character. Not too shabby for five bucks, if I say so myself.
Lastly, I began playing the PS4 launch title Knack, and unfortunately I am not impressed. Despite looking gorgeous, the mechanics of the game feel more like a really bad PS1 or PS2 platformer than a next-gen game. The ridiculously linear gameplay, combined with the obscene difficulty level (and you are talking to the guy that just finished Milon's Secret Castle and Solomon's Key on the NES) make Knack no fun. I can't believe Sony is actually charging people $60 for this; if you are looking for something to play on your PS4 I would avoid Knack...unless you are really bored.
See you next time!