The Last Few PAX Impressions

A few weeks ago I was at the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX), and checked out a few of the upcoming offerings.  A few impressions will be written right here, a few will be with our friends at the XPound, and the rest will be podcasts on YouTube (mine and the XPound's).  Sorry to send people all over the place for this stuff, but I wanted to give some exclusive content to different places.  I have to spread the word, so here are a few impressions from some games at PAX.

Lord of the Rings:  Guardians of Middle Earth (PC)
Do you like League of Legends, but wish it had more Gollum?  Then this might be the game for you.  As far as I can tell, this is DotA with the Lord of the Rings IP.  If either is your thing, you probably already know more than I do about it, and if not, check it out.

Ragnarok Odyssey (Vita)
I actually like the 2 weeks I played of Ragnarok waaaaaay back in the day, so I was interested in checking this out.  It is a 3D action RPG set in the Ragnarok world.  I started in the middle, so I don't know yet if there are classes or player customization, but I hope so.  The game was pretty fun, as it played somewhat like Phantasy Star Online 2.  While the DS Ragnarok game seemed more faithful to the PC game, this was definitely fun.  If I had a Vita, I would pick it up.  Well, since I will eventually get a Vita, I will pick this up at some point.  I hope it has some multiplayer, but that it isn't necessary, since I doubt I know anyone that will play this.  (Get on that, DTJAAAAM!)

Street Fighter x Tekken (Vita)
I knew it would start off well when I kept trying to press the right analog nub as the X Button, haha.  Anyway, it played ok, but the sticks kept getting in the way while I was trying to play.  For some reason, it didn't feel as smooth as UMvC3 on the Vita.  Also having to use the shoulder buttons makes it more complicated that its console brethren, since you can't just plug in an arcade stick if you want.  Even though you have to buy the extra characters for those versions, there are better ways to get your SFxT on than the Vita version.  Heck, there are better ways to take a fighting game on the go (MK9, UMvC3, etc.) than this.

I also tried out Fruit Ninja for the first time, so I could get a code for the 8bit "expansion".  I have the Kinect version, but have never gotten around to playing it.  I tried the Ipad version, and it was kinda fun.  I see why people were all over that game...about 2 years ago, haha.  I'll have to start the XBLA version soon.  I also tried an indy game, that unfortunately I don't remember the name of.  It was a lot like the first Legend of Zelda, and it even had a survey in the demo so the guy could improve it.  I wish more demos actually had that in them, but only if the right people pay attention to them.