Overcooked

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I don’t really know how it happened, but I’ve become obsessed with Overcooked. I know, I know — I’m super late to the game. You’ll have to forgive me, since I’m not big on gaming. I was introduced to Overcooked (and Overcooked 2) during a recent trip to Singapore, when my friends and I went to a gaming cafe.

At first, I was hesitant. It seemed like a silly game, with graphics reminiscent of the many many different kitchen and restaurant-based games I’ve played to death on my phone (think Gordon Ramsay Dash and Diner Dash). I started playing Just Dance with one half of my friends and only began paying attention to the Overcooked crew when I was tired from the physical exertion and was curious why they were yelling at each other.

After confusedly watching for a few minutes, I joined the game and got hooked. For the uninitiated: the aim of Overcooked is to serve up as many orders as possible, by completing a series of tasks, like chopping ingredients and cooking meats or soups. It sounds simple, but each round has obstacles that make them more like puzzles you have to figure out. You can play with between two and four characters, and you have to navigate the situation as a team to assist each other. If there are weak links in your group, you’ll likely find frustrating bottlenecks or choke points that could prevent you from meeting the minimum point requirement to proceed to the next level.

Once I learned how to move my character about and what my role was, it became a ton of fun. Granted, most of the fun was from yelling at (and being yelled at by) my longtime friends and laughing at the complete ineptitude of some of them. [Editor’s note: SMDH] One of my pals kept dying and respawning, but didn’t realize it as she thought she was another player onscreen, leading to our de facto group leader screaming perplexedly at her “PAM! That is me, not you! You’re dying!”

Overcooked is the perfect in-person multiplayer game, and I’m not surprised it’s won so many awards. After that night, I went to look for the game on Android, but was disappointed to find there wasn’t a mobile version. To be fair, most of the controls would require a more sophisticated controller than a simple touchscreen. I ended up buying the game (and its sequel) on Steam, but it’s just not as fun as a single player as it is with others. Thankfully, some of my friends have it on their PlayStation 4s, and I now have an invite to join them to play at their house. I’d also like to try the online multiplayer option at some point, getting my friends on a conference call to coordinate our efforts. I’m so obsessed that I’ve been thinking of buying a Nintendo Switch just so I can play the game everywhere I go. And I may or may not have gotten out of bed at 5am just to play a few extra rounds.

Not only is Overcooked a great way to have fun with your friends during a night in, it’s also a better relationship test than shopping at IKEA. Let’s face it: if your partner can’t even figure out how to cook meat and serve the right orders within a set period of time, all the while staying out of your way while you chop veggies and wash dishes — do you two even stand a chance?

Final Fantasy Tactics & Meteorfall

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So there I was in a cab on my way to a 16-hour flight to Taiwan, when I realized I forgot to pack my Switch. Damn it. What’s a gamer to do? That’s when I remembered that I bought Final Fantasy Tactics on iOS years ago, and I had yet to play it on my spiffy iPhone XS Max. It’s one of my favorite games of all time, so instead of dreading the long flight ahead of me, I began looking forward to revisiting the land of Ivalice.

I originally picked up Final Fantasy Tactics on the PlayStation when it hit the US in 1998. Like so many young RPG fans, I poured countless hours into Final Fantasy VII over the previous year, and I was eager to jump on anything new with Final Fantasy in the title. Boy, was I in for a surprise. Instead of giving me a rich 3D world to explore, Tactics had a basic 2D map, while battles and dramatic moments occurred in tiny dioarama-like maps.

At first, I was a bit disappointed after being wowed by FFVII’s bold cinematic aesthetic. But as someone who thoroughly loved the SNES era of sprite-based RPGs (Chrono Trigger will always be my No. 1), it didn’t take long for me to fall in love with Final Fantasy Tactics. It was also my introduction to tactical RPGs: instead of just hopping around menus while fights occurred on a single screen, I had the freedom to move around the 3D environment and choose my angle of attack.

Little did I realize in 1998 that I’d be playing the same game 20 years later on my phone during a transcontinental flight to Computex. It’s still a fantastic title, with one of the best soundtracks of the 16-bit era, a gripping story and an addictive job system that lets you mold every character to your liking. The only difference now is that it’s portable and controlled by a touchscreen.

I put some time into the iOS version of the game a few years ago, but now with the iPhone XS Max’s 6.5-inch displat, it’s just like playing it on my Switch. The only downside is that the touchscreen controls aren’t as precise as a gamepad, though that’s a decent trade-off for the ability to play it anywhere. (For the record, I also put plenty of time into Final Fantasy Tactics on the PlayStation Vita, and I’m glad to see that version’s animated cinematics on the iPhone rendition.)

In between some extended naps and movie watching, I ended up playing FFT on my phone for a good four hours during my flight. And surprisingly enough, I didn’t miss my Switch for a second. I put even more time into it during my return flight (and in between long days of Computex work). I also grabbed a new title on my way home: Meteorfall, a card-based Rogue-like that gave me a decent fix of adventure gameplay while only swiping left or right. It’s reminiscent of the excellent Reigns mobile games, except it’s purely about battling and earning experience. After spending nearly two weeks in Taiwan, it was the perfect way to sit back and relax on my way to NYC.

Just Cause 4

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It’s fashionable for corporate HQs to have inspirational quotes emblazoned on the walls close to the entrance. You know the sort, “the only opponent you have to beat is yourself,” “do or do not, there is no try,” and “the best reason for doing anything is spite.” That last one, if you’re curious, is probably painted above the door of Avalanche Studios’ HQ in Sweden.

The developer is behind the Just Cause series of games, in which players take on the mantle of Rico Rodriguez. Rodriguez is a specialist in removing dictators from tropical islands, doing so with a mixture of ultraviolence and demolition. In fact, one of the greatest joys of the series is leaping from building to building with a wingsuit and grapple, blowing shit up.

Unfortunately, Just Cause 3, while fun, wasn’t perfect, with buggy performance and gameplay that, while very fun, wore out its welcome 30 hours in. Like a parent admonishing their kids for bad behavior, Avalanche’s response is essentially “fine, let’s sit here and eat gruel.” Make no mistake, Just Cause 4 is a game made as punishment for complaining about what went before.