I had been playing Grand Theft Auto V, but decided over the weekend it was time for a new video card, so I put that one on hold. In the meantime, I started playing a few console games:

• Rage Racer - I've never been particularly good at the Ridge Racer games, but I find them to be quite entertaining. I'm enjoying this one so far, though I'm in a bit of a grind for money and I'm only in Class 2 :P
• Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus - I finished this one many years ago on the PS2, but decided to give the PS3 collection a shot and it's actually better than I remember it! It had me hooked the past couple of days and I managed to get all the way to the last boss. I would've finished it, but I remember him being a pain and decided to relax and watch the NBA Playoffs instead hehe.
• Shining the Holy Ark - I reaaaaally wanted to start playing a new RPG, but decided I should pick one from the giant stack of RPGs I started, but never finished. This one has been on my list since it was released and I've made multiple attempts at plowing through it. I actually really enjoy the game, but the dungeons can get kinda big and with no in-dungeon save, it's a tough game for me to play. Regardless, I spent about 2 hours figuring out where I was and finally remembered and then it was time to quit :D

So what's everyone else been playing?

Until recently, WoW was far and away my top game, but I'm one of the several who, after Blizzard recently announced in an interview that their plan going forward is not to have flight in Draenor or any future expansions, chose to vote with my wallet and stop playing until they get over that nonsense.

So I'd say my top 3 games I'm playing now are:

• Civilization V - I'm really on and off with this game. When you haven't played it in a while, it's really fun. Right now, I'm playing as America on a Huge real Earth based map, so basically I'm occupying pretty much all of Sub-Saharan Africa (and Madagascar), getting ready to declare war against the Chinese who are up near Egypt. Eventually the plan is to conquer the world.

• MLB: The Show 12 - Older sports games are a nice bargain for someone who doesn't necessarily follow a sport, but just wants a game OF the sport, and the MLB: The Show series is just about the best sports game series out there. I pretty much exclusively play the Road to the Show mode, where I'm currently a 1st Baseman for the Pittsburgh Pirates (not really a fan of the team, they're just who drafted me). For bonus fun, I figured out how to set it so that I'm introduced with the intro to "Don't Stop Believin'" and home runs result in the guitar solo from that same song being played.

• WWE Supercard - A mobile game, and thus not within this site's purview, but a fun little diversion.

I tend to have a "main" game that I play to completion (100% in-game stuff, trophies/achievements, etc.. whathaveyou) and a number of peripheral games on the go so I don't get too bored of the one I'm focusing on.

Right now my main game is Final Fantasy X-2 (It's terrible in so many ways, but I will see it through to the end!)

On the side I've been puttering with:
- Civilization V with a friend of mine. Currently trying a purely religion based strategy for the first time. It's.... interesting.
- Waking Mars (fun exploration/puzzle game with a neat plot)
- AdVenture Capitalist / Clicker Heroes (not really "playing" these per say, but I like having idle "games" run while I'm doing work. Something I can check in on and do some updating now and then to break monotony.)
- Euro Truck Simulator 2 Great chill-out game. It relaxes me when I'm stressed out.

I thought I was done with Rogue Legacy...

I just can't get enough of that game. I'm trying to take down the remixed bosses right now. Incredibly difficult but when I defeat one, SO much satisfaction.

I just finished Batman: Arkham Knight and must say that it is probably my favorite of the Batman games. That's saying quite a bit since I have enjoyed them all quite a bit.

Now I'm playing Dying Light.

I've been trying to optimize how I tackle games since I've been spinning my wheels a bit as of late. So for this week, I'm looking to finish these:

Diablo II - I've played through this game many times before, but this time I'm trying to finish it so I can play the expansion, which I've not played through. I'm at the last waypoint in Act IV, so it's just a matter of sitting down and taking out Diablo.
Crash Team Racing - I recently picked this up and had always heard great things about it, so I wanted to give it a try. It's pretty fun and I'm on the last boss race, but I got smoked the few times I tried. I'll wait until the weekend when I have more time to try and take him down.
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - I'm about halfway through the game at this point and I'm really enjoying it. I had played a few missions many years ago, so it feels nice to finally play through the entire campaign.

I purchased Factorio the other day, so I've been tinkering with that as well. It seems REALLY polished for an alpha game!

I managed to finish Diablo II and Crash Team Racing over the weekend. I didn't quite finish Dawn of War, but I made some progress, at least. I started playing Dark Cloud 2 for the third time and it FINALLY clicked with me! I sunk about 7 hours into it yesterday, so I'm hooked right now. We'll see if I can stick with it...

So for this week, it's Dark Cloud 2 and Dawn of War, with a little Factorio and maybe some old fighting games sprinkled in.

Dark Cloud 2 is really fun! I really like the art style they went with.

After struggling to stay motivated through Final Fantasy X-2 to 100% completion, I'm now enjoying the breath of fresh air that is Final Fantasy 12. I've also been playing a lot of Rocket League on the ps4 which is insanely fun with friends.

I'm still really enjoying Dark Cloud 2, but I struggle to find time for games like that during the week. I prefer to sit down and play for multiple hours since there's so much to do, but that's not feasible on work nights :P Especially when I can't stop playing Factorio...

However, playing it again has reminded me that I tend to enjoy Level 5 games quite a bit. Have you ever played White Knight Chronicles? I know it didn't review all that well, but I watched a few gameplay videos a couple of nights ago and it looks quite fun. Assuming I actually finish Dark Cloud 2, I might give that one a shot.

As for Final Fantasy X-2, you're way ahead of me. I couldn't even finish Final Fantasy X. I loved the game and got all the way to the end, but I could never beat the last string of bosses. I still have my save game and would like to go back, but now I have the HD pack, ugh...Rocket League is on my "need to learn more" list, I have a few Steam friends that seem to play it a bit.

I haven't played it enough to really give it much of a review. All I remember is that the combat mechanics were confusing at first and that it was chock full of paid DLC for town building stuff which turned me off of it.

I'll revisit it at a later time though and give it a fair chance.

Right now, I'm playing Watch Dogs.

Recently, I finished:

The Walking Dead Season 1 + 400 Days DLC (again)
The Swapper
The Nathan Drake Collection (Uncharted 1, 2 and 3)
Red Dead Redemption
Xeodrifter
Another World: 20th Anniversary Edition

Fallout 4.

Where did all my free time go?

I had been playing (and enjoying) Rise of the Tomb Raider and Splatoon, but for some reason I decided to load up Grandia II Anniversary Edition and now I'm hooked. It's held up pretty well and was one of my favorite Dreamcast games.

@Dhobo - I want to get Fallout 4 pretty soon. I've got a Christmas vacation coming up and I think that's when I'll get it and play. I've heard it's a massive game.

What are your thoughts so far?

Right now, it's a bit of a buggy mess. (Oh Bethesda...) Other than the bugs though it's overall quite good. Feels like Fallout 3, but with a bunch of various enhancements in some areas and notable downgrades in others:

Pros++
- Sound design is amazing! Hearing gunfire/explosions in the distance means there's actually something going on you can head over to check out like a skirmish between raiders/mutants, etc...
- Combat is smooth and fun! Feels downright shootery at times, plus the location based damage/reactions add a deal of immersion.
- Settlements are... buggy but engrossing! Pretty sure 40% of my playtime is tearing down and rebuilding stuff because I can't settle (harhar) on a design.
- Lighting & effects are pretty! Godrays, dust particles, environmental weather changes, all very groovy.
- Crafting. Being a lootwhore packrat has never paid off as well as it does in this game. I had to build around carrying capacity just so I wouldn't have to hoof it to my main base to drop off my goods too frequently.
- Stuff! So much stuff! People criticized the size of the map when it was revealed to be a bit smaller than some of their other games. It is smaller, but it's filled to the brim with things just about everywhere it feels like.
- Sidequests, better than main quest! There are oodles of sidequests, many of which are pretty entertaining. Plus when you do run out of unique ones with a particular faction/area/person, often they'll start giving you randomized generic radiant quests like you could get in Skyrim.
- Enemies: Ghouls are frickin' scary. Deathclaws are very frickin' scary. New movement animations and attack styles make them a lot more interesting than previous incarnations

Neutrals00
- SPECIAL/Perks system: Streamlined from previous games and I feel it's an improvement in almost every way. Only thing I don't care for is the arbitrary level gating of higher skill levels (ie: you need to be level 41 to get rank 4 Gun Nut skill, etc...)
- Voice acting: The voice acting is mostly decent. The sarcastic/goofy options are hilarious to hear read out loud, but some of it is also pretty... generic/boring.

Cons--
- Conversation system has been gutted to a 4 answers to every dialogue prompt system to make way for voice acting. Nowhere near enough situations where having high skills could influence dialogue choices as a result.
- Karma system is GONE! Worst design choice out of everything in this game as far as I am concerned. Only things affected by your actions are how much your companions like you (or don't like you)
- BUGS. Probably the least buggy Bethesda release I've played, but that's not saying much. It's still buggy as all get out. Voice clips get cut off infrequently, various graphics clipping effects, settlements "forgetting" resources when you're away, falling through floors to your death, one region that causes a crash to desktop when you approach by foot. :/
- Companion/Enemy AI. Enemies can be pretty damn stupid with their pathing at times. Companions LOVE getting in your way, blocking doorways, sticking their ass in your face when you're trying to snipe, etc... However, being able to command them to "go there, wait here, hack this, pick that, loot that" etc. is alright. ProTip: They're immortal, and thus, great for "clearing" minefields when they've annoyed you a bit too much.
- Main storyline. Predictably stale as was Fallout 3. (Except Tranquility Lane, that was the high point of fallout 3's main storyline by far!)
- Mini games are back and they're better than... oh wait, no they're not. They're virtually identical to before and still repetitive and annoying after the first 2-3 times you hack a computer or pick a lock.
- Textures are pretty bland in some cases and look very low res up close for a lot of generic things, like concrete, floors, etc...

Now, with all that said, I've still dumped over 100 hours into the game since launch and still plan on dumping a lot more. Hopefully the upcoming patch irons out a few things.

I just finished Beyond Good & Evil HD and am now playing Ghostbusters: The Video Game.

I'm also playing the original Borderlands again.

I'm currently playing Dragon Warrior and Shovel Knight since they're bounties. I'm also playing The Simpsons: Hit and Run, which has been surprisingly pretty fun so far.

WoW still, I have at least one of every class up to 90 except Monk now, and said Monk is 85.

Also been playing a lot of Persona 4 Arena Ultimax after getting it through PS Plus.

I'm one that tends to play too many games at once, which makes it hard to finish many games. I have over 100 games backlogged currently that I've bought and said "I'll get to that after I beat this one." I didn't realize I had that many backlogged until I loaded my games into this site. Here's what I'm focused on currently:

• Rocket Leauge - I have been playing this since it launched last summer. It's an addicting soccer game with cars that I can't put down. I've played over 2000 matches and sadly I'm still not as good as most. There is a 1 player season I could do to "complete" the game but the online mode is more fun.

• Final Fantasy X HD- I bought the PS2 version years ago but never finished it. I bought the HD version around Christmas and am trying to get through this one now. (I eventually want to complete all the non-subscription Final Fantasy games. So far I've beaten IV and XIII)

• Zelda OOT - I'm replaying this one since it's been around 15 years since I've beat it last. My 7 year old son likes to watch me play Zelda so I'm doing it so he can experience it too. (He's watched me play through Wind Waker and Twilight Princess so trying to get through all the Zelda's with him)

• Mario & Luigi: Dream Team - this came preloaded in the 3DS I have. It's another Mario RPG game that's pretty fun so far.

• Kirby Triple Deluxe - My son got this for some past holiday and I started playing it and it's a pretty good little platformer.

Others I'm playing that I'm not worrying about completing are: Splatoon, Smash Bros. for Wii U, Star Wars Battlefront, Super Mario Maker, Mario Kart 8

Ocarina of Time is probably my FAVORITE game of all time. Such a classic.

I managed to finish Ghostbusters and am now moving onto play Sanitarium!

I played this a LONG time ago but don't believe I ever finished it. Looking forward to trying it again....I'm sure it hasn't aged the best but should still be a fun game.

Oh man Sanitarium! I bought this a short while ago purely based on a faint recollection of playing the demo and loving the setting/characters. Did end up playing thhrough the whole thing last year and it was for the most part enjoyable. Some segments were definitely lower quality than others though.

Sanitarium is SO GOOD. The only thing that really annoyed me is the final area/puzzle... But yeah, definitely worth at least one playthrough.

I'm enjoying it quite well. I've always wanted to play through it but never did manage to get very far. I'm definitely farther in the game than I've ever been so I'm making progress!

I gave up on The Simpsons: Hit and Run. It was fun for the first few hours...then I realized it's basically the same 4 or 5 things over and over. It's fun to explore the world, but also kind of annoying when you realize it's not really that open. The difficulty is also wildly unbalanced. I might roll through a mission, then the next one will be ridiculously difficult unless you want to figure out all of the shortcuts. Overall, it was fun to play around with, but I won't be picking it back up again unless I get really bored.

So I've moved onto Brave Fencer Musashi! We'll see if I can stick with it...