I was kinda-sorta hoping to platinum Bloodborne, so I started doing 'em and it just killed my enthusiasm for the game. Looking forward to replaying the campaign for the DLC, though.

It took me a while to accept Bloodborne's lack of shields, too. I relied on shields pretty heavily in all of the Souls games, and my "keep my shield up at all times while exploring a new place" policy prevented a lot of cheap deaths. In Bloodborne, the best way to survive a surprise attack is to fight back…

This weekend, I'll be playing more DARK SOULS 2: SCHOLAR OF THE FIRST SIN. Currently preparing to fight the Old Iron King, who gave me fits the last time around. We'll see if things go any better this time. Took me quite a few tries to beat the Smelter Demon this time, too. Still having a blast with this game the…

Honestly, I'd recommend turning the difficulty down to "easy" so the game doesn't start to feel like too much of a chore.

Metal Gear Solid 3 is probably the most balanced, coherent and satisfying game of the bunch (note: I haven't played V yet). Definitely worth your time, and it's aged fairly well. 2 has some frustrating controls and a saggy midsection, but the closing stretch of it is gloriously bonkers. The legacy collection is a good…

Really looking forward to checking out both of those games. I've seen a lot of people complaining about this month's PS+ offerings, but both of those are titles that I've thought about checking out at various points but never got around to. Particularly looking forward to Broken Age.

Yeah, the first time I played the game, I spent an hour or two clearing out the bottom of Sinner's Rise just so I could have a quick, easy run back to the boss fight if I died. This time, I didn't feel a need to do that - just beat the Flexile Sentry, ran forward, took out the undead that followed me and jumped right…

Congratulations on finishing Demon Souls and on the forthcoming arrival! You will probably be very tired for a few months, but that period will pass and it's totally worth it. Good luck!

This weekend, I will be playing more DARK SOULS 2: SCHOLAR OF THE FIRST SIN. Really dug the original version of the game; sort of falling head over heels in love with it the second time around. Most of the new alterations are smart and surprising - like replacing the three giant lizard-things in Sinners Rise with a…

"…he fixes the plumbing?"

From the Nintendo World Report review: "I scanned in my amiibo card that came with the game, all I could really do is either build a house for Lyle, who did not even give me a theme to go on, or invite him to another person's house where he’ll hang out and not say anything. Not exactly the most interesting use of…

First I'm expected to make my own Mario levels, and now I'm expected to design the houses the Animal Crossing NPCS live in? STOP MAKING ME DO ALL OF YOUR WORK, NINTENDO!

There's also a beautiful balance between severe old-school difficulty and generous checkpoint placement. There are some genuinely tough sections, but knowing that you don't have to replay them once you reach the next check point prevented me from ever getting too discouraged.

Yeah, the trampoline obsession is weird. I'm also a little bewildered by the abundance of levels that expect you to hop across a dozen flying turtles to reach the other side of a large gap. I find myself hitting the skip button as soon as I run across that nonsense.

Okay, cool. I may give it a go.

Kinda-sorta-almost finished METAL GEAR SOLID: PEACE WALKER. My friend and I have been playing that one together, but we got stuck on the final boss fight. For some reason, the internet connection would always drop after we knocked off about two of the boss' health bars. It happened about ten times in a row, so we quit…

Same. I'm fine at Kart Racers and stuff, but awful at "realistic" racing games.

Really enjoyed this feature, guys. Would love to see another series along these lines - say, with someone who's terrible at fighting games or platforming games or Souls games.

I have played the original and liked it a lot. I've never played the DLC, so that + the new enemy placements ought to be enough to make it feel like a new experience.

Like so many others, I have been playing SUPER MARIO MAKER and will keep doing this weekend. I've had a blast with this one so far, and I've spent roughly an equal amount of time playing other levels and creating my own. Need to figure out how to sign in to my never-used Steam account (I'm not really a PC gamer) so I…