Whilst the gaming community celebrates the arrive of Dark Souls 2 on PC, I’m still struggling to even scratch the surface on the Xbox 360 version of the game.

I just don’t seem to be able to get into the game.

As with the previous entry Dark Souls 2 seems to garner an evangelical fan following. Apparently it is the best game ever.

I just can’t see it. It seems to be a game that you need to play over-looking its faults because it is so awesome.

The Xbox 360 version looks like shit. It’s got a mental and nonsensical plot and reminds me too much of other rubbish games like Risen and Two Worlds.

Back in the day, I could see myself getting really into a game like Dark Soul on the original PlayStation. These days when I’ve got so many games competing for my time, it doesn’t matter what other people say, a confusing and butt-ugly game like Dark Souls 2 should get left on the shelf.

Watch out for my review for that one.

Dark Souls 2 not the first time just recently that I’ve questioned what has happened to my gaming taste.

I recently reviewed Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes and took a shit on it. Whilst I’ve played a few games that I’m glad I didn’t pay for, I never expected to say that about a Metal Gear Solid game.

I’m not the worlds greatest fan when it comes to stealth games. I don’t have the patience. Games have to engage with me to keep my interest. I’m not interested in some challenge. Beating a tough game does not feel me with any sense of achievement. I want to enjoy my time with a game. I personally find life provides me with all the challenges I need (and them some). I don’t want to sit there all fucking frustrated and shit because my little computer-man keeps on setting of the god-damn alarms.

So Metal Gear,then.

I first played Metal Gear Solid on the original PlayStation. It was challenging but at the same time very different; difficult controls but a slightly nutty story that kept my interest for the most part. I never finished it. I got to a hard part and gave up- I used to do that a lot back then.

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty was a different story; I really enjoyed it and lapped up Kojima-san’s bonkers tale all the way to the end. Because I’m not precious little flower, the whole Raiden/Snake thing didn’t bother me.

I’ve tried to finish Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater so many times it’s not funny. The bloody camera did my head in and I never bothered to pick up Subsistence. I’ve got the game on PS2, PS3 and it’s also currently installed on my Vita. At some point I know I’ll finish it off.

On the PSP I got into the Metal Gear games more than anything else on the platform. I’ve played Metal Gear Acid 1 & 2 to death on long-haul flights. Same with the Portable Ops games. Peace Walker was a bit meh, mainly due to the PSP’s fiddly controls and tiny screen. Again, I’ve got the game on the PS3 and really should have another crack at it.

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots was sublime. Those long cut-scenes made it into a fantastic bit of interactive story-telling. At every turn the game challenged convention.

Like almost everybody else I’ve been looking forward to Metal Gear Solid V. Whilst I was reviewing Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes– the alleged prequel to Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, which we may or may not get to play next year- my blood boiled.

Whilst not a full-priced game, Ground Zeros is little more than a demo for Metal Gear Solid V proper. There’s no bonkers plot, all we get is a multiplayer-style map and some, frankly quite retro, stealth game-play. I fucking hated it. It hated it some much I made be retrospectively hate the franchise a bit. Up against the likes of Assassin’s Creed, Splinter Cell and, shit, even the Batman: Arkham games Metal Gear Solid‘s game mechanics are bloody prehistoric.

For gods stake, I got Snake to run on the spot up against a wall- what’s with that?

This seems to the be the current state of play when it comes to Japanese developers at the moment. They need to poke their egos back up their arses, and sort their shit out. Having a rabid fan-base that’s prepared to make excuses for your shit game just doesn’t cut it any more.

But, whilst I dreading my return to Dark Souls 2 for my review, I’m still looking forward to Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain in the hope that the year-plus of development time addresses my concerns with Ground Zeroes.

In the last few weeks I’ve knocked out a couple of  long gestating writing projects.

My belated purchase of a PS4 and a complementing PS Vita allowed me to compare the three main gaming consoles in a three-part piece for Shane the Gamer. Part one is here, part 2 here and part 3 is here.

Again for ShanetheGamer.com I reviewed Turtle Beaches Xbox One Wireless headsets: the Earforce XO Four and the XO Seven. I did have to wait a month due to an issue with Microsoft’s wireless adapter. Until the recent patch fix the headsets were unusable. It was interesting to see all the other reviews out their singing the praises of a product that didn’t work. Makes you think. Anyway, with the patch sorted out the headsets now work fine allowing players to sit on their sofas with a headset minus the trailing wires. You can read my review here.

Last Friday I sat down with Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn director Naoki Yoshida to talk about the MMO’s recent release on PlayStation 4. I’ve never spoken to someone via translator before, so that was interesting. I’ll be writing up my thoughts on the PS4 version of FFXIV and what I gleened from my chat with Yoshida-san later this week.

Also on Friday, I had a hour with Square Enix’s Murdered: Soul Suspect. It’s a bit of a change from the publisher’s usual fair and you can check out my writeup over at techday.com, here.

Vic Out.