Leveling Down

Trying to get through Final Fantasy XIII, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Dante’s Inferno, and Mass Effect 2 before the end of the month is shaping up to be a bit ambitious…

I’m bad. My backlog continues to balloon even though I thought I solved this problem before. Now with the entire PS3 exclusive library (pretty large, actually) going to be a part of my backlog later this month, I have to seriously figure out what I’m going to do. Apparently I can’t stop myself from buying games that go on sale, so the next best thing I can do is to try to make an estimate of what I will be playing over the course of the next month and come up with some realistic goals to give myself some sort of control. Read on for what I am forecasting my gaming time to be within the month of April…

I have so many games in my backlog that I now have a small pile of games sitting on my entertainment center in front of my TV. This pile I now dub the “on deck” group, which consists of games I’m currently playing and games I expect to play immediately next. Currently, the pile consists of the four games I’ve mentioned earlier: Final Fantasy XIII, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Dante’s Inferno, and Mass Effect 2. Here are some thoughts/updates on each one.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2
On Friday I told myself that completing the campaign should be the first thing I do on my 360, and since then I have done that. The campaign actually turned out to be a bit shorter and mindless than I expected, but in a way I’m glad that it’s under my belt. Unfortunately for me, the campaign only consists of 600 of the 1000 Achievement points in the game. The remaining online Achievement points will take a long time to get. I’ve definitely played enough of the online to write up a full review to the game, so expect it later this week or early next.

I’m having a hard time deciding whether to continue playing the online or not though. It’s definitely playable, but playing it solo is not as fun since this game shines more with a squad. I don’t want to max my multiplayer level out if some of you are getting it later, but I’m starting to think that maybe I should because the Halo: Reach beta starts next month and at that point I don’t think anyone is going to come back to Bad Company 2.

Final Fantasy XIII
The second primary game I wanted to beat this weekend after Bad Company 2′s campaign was Final Fantasy XIII. Unfortunately, that was a bit of a lofty goal, as I’m only on Chapter 11 (of 13, I believe). 30 or so hours in, and finally the game starts to feel like a traditional Final Fantasy game with an open world, sidequests, etc. But for some reason or another, it got ridiculously difficult in the middle of Chapter 11 in the Mah’habara and Sulyya Springs zones. Considering how linear the game has been up until now, I was surprised at how difficult those two zones were and got pretty frustrated with some of the encounters.

The stupid ice bombs that have so much life and explode as well as enemies that summon other ones and give them super buffs were just not appreciated. I ended up having to avoid  the more frustrating ones (and I never do that in a JRPG!), and on some encounters I’ve even had to go with a 3-medic Paradigm to stay alive. The worst part of it is, the CP they award is less than easier encounters elsewhere! Thankfully, now that I’ve moved into the tower that follows those two zones, the game has gone back to its more standard difficulty and has become less frustrating again. I don’t know who designed the monsters in those two mandatory zones prior, but they were almost enough to have me stop playing the game altogether!

Dante’s Inferno
I was able to pick up Dante’s Inferno and Mass Effect 2 cheap recently, and so they are also on my list of games that I am about to play. Unfortunately, Final Fantasy XIII is a very lengthy game, so they still sit unopened. I heard that Dante’s Inferno was pretty short, so I think I’ll try to get into that one next, and during many of my encounters in Final Fantasy XIII, I would start to get a bit bored and long for a more action-oriented game. Dante’s Inferno would be it, but now that Final Fantasy XIII has picked up a bit, Dante’s Inferno will have to wait – at least a while longer. Critics didn’t really like it, but for some reason or another, it’s popular with the public so I just have to see for myself how good this game is. Plus, I want to get through it before I play God of War 1 & 2 on the PS3.

Mass Effect 2
I actually want to play this game the most at this point, but two things are stopping me. The first is that I’m worried that if I start playing Mass Effect 2, it will consume me for the next several hours, and I may end up never going back to Final Fantasy XIII (I am not good with start RPGs, leaving them for a few weeks, and then coming back). Better to finish Final Fantasy XIII first. The second is that I worry I need to find time to play through Mass Effect 1 first, as that seems to be the “popular” thing to do prior to playing this sequel since the choices carry over. I have no idea what kind of choices I made in the first game, but having to play through it first considering what little time I have these days is somewhat dissuading me from playing this excellent sequel. But, I still have many more hours of Final Fantasy XIII to go, so I’ll start thinking about how to handle Mass Effect 2 when the time comes.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
One game that I move from my on-deck pile to my shelf but keeps coming back is Modern Warfare 2. The combination of playing Modern Warfare 2 online and Final Fantasy XIII for single player could potentially have me busy for the next several months! I thought I was done with Modern Warfare 2 for the time being since I hit Prestige, but the game is still as enjoyable as ever and it didn’t help that this past weekend was Double Exp weekend. I got into it for a little bit, but then I rationalized why I wanted more experience anyway since I already hit my goal. That time could be better spent clearing through my backlog!

I was lucky that I got Modern Warfare 2 to release its tight grip on me and thus I was able to beat the Battlefield Bad Company 2 campaign. However, one of my buddies, CTU Cowboy, informs me that his wife is going to be out of town for a month starting in mid-April. The only game he pretty much plays is Modern Warfare 2, so Modern Warfare 2 will most likely jump off my shelf and into the “on-deck” pile again in a couple weeks. I of course want to play with him, but I don’t think he suffers from the same backlog I do…

Super Street Fighter IV
Of course, we can’t forget about the last major game I will be starting at the tail end of this month, as Super Street Fighter IV launches April 27th or so. I am excited for this game with its 4v4 team-play, so I do want to get good at it to carry my weight on the Leveling Down team. Of course, how am I supposed to fit this game in among Final Fantasy, Mass Effect, Battlefield, Call of Duty, and Halo when the Halo: Reach beta starts next month? Let’s just say I’m optimistic and I’ll worry more about it when May comes around…

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