The Force Unleashed 2

I'm still going through some of the older Star Wars games I got in a bundle.

Story

The story isn't bad. Good voice acting, great cinematics. There isn't a lot of meat there and it relies on knowing the previous game to really feel it. The events are a little too important to the Star Wars universe for my taste. Darth Vader is an obvious villain and this lets us live out our fantasies of confronting him. I prefer plots that are more subdued.

Gameplay

The gameplay bothered me enough that I set the difficulty on Easy so I could just zip though the story. 

Encounters

Most of the encounters were really fun. There were a variety of threats that required different tactics to beat. Many of the environments were really interesting and added a lot. Sadly, for me by the end of the game I would just do "mind trick, stab" over and over. At least the mechanical mini-bosses were immune and I never found a good trick for beating them.

One complaint is that many of the encounters felt rehashed. Like, "wasn't that a fun encounter? Now do it again!"

Boss Fights

While the boss fights had great cinematic quality, I didn't find them fun. I felt like I was mostly getting knocked down and standing up while trying to figure out how to hurt the boss. There was also a lot of "hold E and left click" which is fine for a while but here it was overdone.

Platforms

I really hate platform jumping puzzles. This game had plenty and with the quirky controls (see below) it was just annoying. I don't mind having to do this sort of thing as part of a larger encounter but jumping platforms by itself isn't fun.

Odds and Ends

The Force Unleashed 2 forces you to do a lot of minor things to keep you engaged while the story is being told. I appreciate that sort of thing, like in Telltale Games. Here it felt a little clunky but not overly annoying. I hope I never have to put another power cell in another door.

Controls

Ugh. The game loses at least half a star for the controls. I'm a PC snob and want the controls for my game to be right for the PC. This game had that clunky console-port feel. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't great. Maybe equivalent to Assassin's Creed. Not as good as Fallout 4.

Overall

As a Star Wars fanboy, this was well worth the 7 or 8 hours I put into it on easy mode. 

More Heroes of the Storm

I'm still playing Heroes of the Storm and Overwatch. I've gotten most of the new heroes to level 5. Here are my impressions.

Zarya

Felt lackluster. Maybe her role isn't so great as primary tank and in quick match you don't often get two tanks. I like playing tanks so why waste my time with this one?

Diablo

I already had this guy at level 5, but he is a big part of the meta these days so I'm re-learning him. Fun, beefy, tank.

Alarak

Hated him. Just didn't get a feel for his skillshot. Decided I didn't want to even get him to level 5.

Greymane

This guy was fun and I could see learning him for real. He isn't part of the meta right now, so I'm not keep to put too much more time into it.

Guldan

Feels clunky. I often had top damage but didn't feel like I was doing much. I see his value and I didn't hate him, but I won't be rushing to learn him.

Li-Ming

Fun long range hero with decent damage. I haven't played Chromie yet but I see the appeal of Li-Ming. If I was going to learn a ranged mage, it would be her.

Ragnaros

Holy crap this guy is awesome. Just my style. Combines powerful 1v1 melee with amazing wave clear and some extra map utility. Kerrigan is my favorite melee but this guy offers more.

Tracer

Loads of fun but needs support which you don't get in Quick Match. If I were playing with a team I might consider her, but that isn't likely.

Tychus

I already had this guy at level 9 but I really suck with him. I think his only role in the meta is vs. Cho'Gall or multiple tanks. Had one fun game vs Cho'Gall where I really ate him up.

Samuro

The first no-mana hero that I sort of like. Normally I like my melee assassins to be YOLO and have no escape, but this guy is pretty fun. I had trouble securing the kills but it's nice to be able to bail out of a bad situation.

Auriel

Didn't feel comfortable. Had a hard time generating mana and healing effectively. I'm not so good with most healers and this is no different. Except Uther. I love that guy.

Medivh

Fun and unique play style. I don't think he is so good in quick match, or maybe that's just me.

Sgt. Hammer

I finally got this guy up to level 5. Previous he was avoided because I tend to not like the heroes with no mount. I like to mount up a lot when I play, especially if I'm not a warrior. A mounted assassin can really threaten the back line. With this guy I kept trying to mount and blowing the escape cooldown. Still, fun hero with straight-forward playstile. 

Xul

While I loved playing a necromancer in Diablo 2, this guy didn't cut it for me. Not sure why since I tend to enjoy melee and specialists. The abilities were never comfortable. Maybe if I was going to dedicate a lot of play to him I could make it work, but for now I really enjoy Zagara, Nazeebo, and Gazlowe who all push lanes well. 

Lunara

Getting to level 5 in quick match wasn't so great. Often there was no front line so I just got to play the poking game mostly. Eventually I started to take the leap ability to play around with it. I might like Lunara if I dedicated some time to her.