Maybe I'm Just Getting Slower

I realized today that I've been playing a lot of turn based and strategy games lately. Between Fire Emblem, Pokémon, the new Age of Empires 2 expansion, and the new XCOM expansion, it’s been nothing but strategy for me. I've played a few other games in the interim, like Batman: Arkham Origins and Wonderful 101 but I've just had a strategy bug to itch for the last few months. Part of it is that I have this weird thing where I have never been a fan of any real time games on handheld systems. With the sole exception of Mario Kart I basically only play turn based and tactics games on handhelds if possible. I guess it’s because I feel that whenever I’m playing a handheld game, I should be able to stop and put it down at any second, since I’m playing them on the go.

The new XCOM expansion is pretty excellent. It’s basically a sequel to Enemy Unknown, using the same core game and engine and adding a ton of new content. Enemy Within more than triples the number of gameplay maps available, and adds new options for unit upgrades, mission structure, and gameplay modes. Everything it adds breathes new life into the game, and fixes a number of issues many people had with the original version. I’m about to start playing it now, and I’ll post more impressions once I get some time with it, but the reviews have been almost universally positive.

Age of Empires 2 HD got a new expansion as well, which is surprising considering how old the original game is. It’s a pretty barebones expansion, only adding a few new civilizations and campaigns. The Forgotten also adds a couple of new features and improvements, like built in streaming with Twitch TV and built in spectating for online matches. For such an old game, getting any expansions at all is pretty impressive, and I don’t know what else they could do to improve the game that wouldn't ruin the nostalgia of being an HD remake of a 14 year old game. It isn't much, but I’ll take it.

Obviously Pokémon is still eating up most of my gaming time, and I’m approaching 200 hours. The amount of work Game Freak put in to rebalancing the scene for competitive play is fantastic, and it has rekindled my love for Pokémon battles. I’m almost sad that Pokémon Bank is coming out next month, and with it will come a flood of perfectly hacked Pokémon from the earlier generations. On the other hand I really want to use a Heatran on my new team, so win-some-lose-some.