Month Overview: Game of November

 Games completed in November:
 Dungeon Siege III                                        8.0
 Journey Collector's Edition                           9.0
 Dragon Ball Kai: Ultimate Butoden               7.0
 Warriors Orochi 3                                        9.0
 Risen 2: Dark Waters                                   6.0
 Uncharted: Drake's Fortune                          4.0
 Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law                 2.0
 Uncharted 2: Among Thieves                        8.0
 Uncharted 3: Drake's Fortune                       9.0
 Anarchy Reigns                                            9.0
 Breath of Fire IV                                          5.5
 Bulletstorm                                                   6.0


 Geez, this is awkward. Last month of classes? Shouldn't I have studied like... hard? Then how did I get enough time to play so many games? I also made time to read the entire Scarlet Spider up to this month, but that is neither here nor there. Regardless, it was a great month, most of the games I played were nothing short of fantastic. There were only three sour spots: Uncharted 1, which was a mess, Harvey Birdman, easily the worst game I've played this year and Breath of Fire IV. Man, I loved Breath of Fire IV when I first played it, before I run into one of the many gamebreaking glitches on the PC version. Maybe I've grown jaded of so many cliched plot and characters, but it was just so... so... generic. On the other hand, while I did rate Bulletstorm and Risen 2 a bit above average, I had a lot of fun with them, but it takes a while for Risen 2 to become fun and Bulletstorm is a glitch paradise, and was a bit too short.
 Ah well, as a whole? November was, probably, my favorite gaming month this year.

 Game of November:

 I don't wanna sound pompous and  presumptions, but not calling Journey "an experience" is a disservice to this fantastic game. After I finished playing it, I was left with a huge smile on my face. I felt satisfied. I felt awe during the last level. I felt marveled as I soared through rivers of gold sand. I actually felt a wee bit sad during the second-to-last level. I felt things, many things, while I played this game, I would easily compare it to Passage, another really short(Even shorter actually) game that leaves room for thought. Journey is fantastic, one of my favorite games of all time. While I did give 9.0 to the collector's package, due to a couple of dumbfounding decisions, Journey by itself was a 10. This game is a little masterpiece and it's a shame that it's an exclusive, as it should be played by as many people as possible.

 Runner up 1:

 There's actually two runner ups this month, I did mention that I played some fantastic games this month didn't I? Well, I just couldn't pick one over the other. I couldn't.
 My favorite genre is Fighting, I love fighting games, and while Anarchy Reigns is anything but conventional, it won my heart. Gameplay, style, music, dialogue.... everything seemed to have been made for me, really. And I really wanted to give it a 9.5 or 10. I wanted to place this game among my favorites ever. But it has a single, fatal flaw: No local multiplayer. This game was meant for multiplayer, it wants to be played with other people. Right now the online is almost dead and years from now, there won't be any servers left, which means that the game's main draw will be gone. Make no mistake, the single player experience is still excellent and you can play every on-line mode with bots, but it's main attraction is duking it out with other players.

 Runner up 2:

 I wanted to like the Uncharted franchise. Everyone, well mostly everyone, loves it, so I marathoned all three of them this month. Let's just say that after Uncharted 1 I was a bit worried, it was a mess. However, a sliver of hope remained, I found Infamous 1 to be kinda fun, but nothing special, while Infamous 2 is among my favorite PS3 games. Uncharted 2? It was really good. Fixed most of my gripes with Uncharted 1, and that which wasn't fixed at least worked better, and it had so many exciting set pieces, it was fun to play. Uncharted 3 upped the ante with crazier setpieces and moments, and no QTEs. Sure, many of them are scripted, but you always feel in control. It has some of the best and most unique moments in gaming. IN GAMING. And sure, some argue that coming up with setpieces first and then the story harmed the plot with a couple of out of character moments(Talbot!), but I've been gaming since I was a wee lad, story means nothing to me if the gameplay is good. Who the hell plays games for the story anyways? Actually, I know someone who does, but it matters not, I STAND BY MY WORDS GAMEPLAY REIGNS SUPREME. My point is: Uncharted 3 was my favorite of the trilogy, and I dare call it a PS3 must have, alongside Infamous 2 of course.