Halo 4 Campaign Thoughtz

Rather than trying to thread all these impressions together cohesively I'm just going to do this in parts.  I'll say first, though, that my experience with the campaign was really positive overall:

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The Chief

I liked how his character was handled in this game, a lot.  The opening cutscene, which has one of the original directors of the spartan program being questioned about the shaky mental state a lot of these soldiers end up in, adds depth to the character and the universe only alluded to in the games before.  These are aspects of the universe I was familiar with before from the Wiki which broadened my understanding of the Chief, the Spartan 2 program, and just how desperate things are for humanity in this universe in a very positive manner (for me as the player, I mean).  Needless to say, it's nice to see 343 trying to incorporate more of this backstory into the games without knocking you over the head with it*, especially when it helps flesh out his relationship with Cortana (as alluded to briefly in 3).  It also sets up moments wherein the Chief appears vulnerable, which were handled very well.  Bearing all of this in mind, I loved the pre-credit ending scene.

Cortana

I like how she was handled as well (she also has a nicer face).  Again, though, this is due in part to my prior familiarity with this universe extending beyond the games: particularly the process of rampancy which Cortana is going through.  I feel like 343 will get a lot of flack in coming months for how "PMSy" Cortana acts at times, but if you're familiar with rampancy from the Marathon series (which is more than spiritually related to Halo), it makes sense.  It's a "PMSy" condition at first and Cortana's only in it for a few days compared to the years which Durandal has to develop.  That said, you do see aspects of a few different stages of rampancy, jealousy in particular, but none of it is explored as thoroughly or handled as well as in the Marathon series.  Then again, few games handle anything as well as Marathon, which I would consider some of the best written games ever made, so I can't be too offended by this.  I felt like her death wasted a lot of potential character growth across what I'm assuming will be a new trilogy, but the scene wherein it occurs and the stuff leading up to it weren't awful, just not the best.

*The Didact

Sucks.  I liked his design, but hated all of his dialogue and, despite his death laser, he never comes across anywhere near as threatening as The Flood and The Gravemind.  Everything related to him or the macro-story in general happens way too fast and undermines all of the careful work Bungie put into building up this universe.  There is no intrigue evoked whatsoever after The Didact becomes a character.  Same goes for the Librarian.

New Enemies

I loved fighting the promethian knights and thought their little dog friends were a great change of pace from grunts and jackals that the series desperately needed.  The knights' flying buddies add a unique feel to combating them unlike anything else in the series thus far.  The way the knights will teleport in to melee you when desperate is great too and getting your punch in first is one of the more gratifying things I can think of in an FPS.

New Weapons

I really liked these too!  Especially since the Covenant guns have always felt so terrible.  The Forerunner weapons actually have some noticeable perks over their human equivalents, but rarely make the later feel obsolete.

Overall Level Design

Pretty damn good!  The setpieces were much more memorable than those in Reach and the game often came up to the standard of (if not surpassed) some of 1 and 3's finest moments.  For all of my praise of the new enemies, some of the best moments of the game were still just good ol' fashioned elite battles.

Halo 4 Campaign Thoughtz

.......

Another game sitting in the packaging(along with the big bag of doritos I had to buy to get the $10 card from Target)

None of the launch titles are really appealing to me, especially since the "New" Super Mario Bros. games have all sucked; they're like really high budget doujin games and I'm surprised no one's assassinated who ever does the music.  BA-BAAAH!

Regardless, though, I'll get one eventually for Mario Kart and whatever the new Pokemon Stadium will be. 

I'm just playing Halo 4 until all of the Sega Saturn stuff I recently ordered comes in the mail.

Been playing Dishonored, and thus far I'm liking it. I will say however that the stealth aspect of the game is disappointing, especially compared to something like the new Deus Ex. For instance, if a guard has been knocked out or killed and is slumped on the floor, another guard who walks by on his patrol seems to think nothing of it. I do like the ability to scale buildings with ease akin to Assassin's Creed. One thing I've noticed is that the game seems to reward playing violently, and it's much tricker to be stealthy. I feel like the game is punishing me at times for playing as a pacifist too, but given the chaos level and the rats thing, I think the game may have an element of temptation to it. In other words, whereas not killing is harder, your reward may be greater in the end? Or something. Normally I play as a stealth-type character and don't kill enemies if possible, but in Dishonored the game is just a lot more fun for me when played aggressively. There have been a few frustrating mechanics presenting themselves here and there, but overall I enjoy the game. Aesthetically it's right up my alley... I simply adore it.

Killing vs not killing determines things like the number of weepers and rats that spawn and how light/dark the ending is (based on chaos level). I tried to kill everyone.

Guards in my game are pretty quick to notice bodies nearby, dead or not. I mean, the AI wasn't great, but they'd notice anything that wasn't hidden for the most part. Wonder why it's different for you...

Killing vs not killing determines things like the number of weepers and rats that spawn and how light/dark the ending is (based on chaos level). I tried to kill everyone.

Guards in my game are pretty quick to notice bodies nearby, dead or not. I mean, the AI wasn't great, but they'd notice anything that wasn't hidden for the most part. Wonder why it's different for you...

I've been playing on "normal." Are you playing on a higher difficulty? Otherwise it may just be a bug, as I was playing stealth in the beginning of the game and decided "screw it, it's more fun to be crazy." Part of the decision was when I knocked out a guard and hid under a nearby table and watched as another guard strolled by and stood there mumbling to himself, but not in any particular distress over his friend whom he was talking to not two minutes ago now sleeping on his back on a cold steel floor.

And wow, am I the only one that likes the new Mario games? Mario 64 is probably my favorite game ever, and both Super Mario Galaxy's were great. Super Mario Sunshine was the only one I was underwhelmed by, but it was still lots of fun.

I think he was referring to the slew of new 2D / semi-2D Mario games being released on the DS, 3DS, and Wii. Those ones that are going for the retro style of platforming. Most of them have been pretty forgettable for me.

For me, Super Mario 64 is certainly an impressive game in terms of what it represents in the evolution of console gaming, but as far as actual gameplay goes I think it's terribly flawed. Playing it these days is zero fun for me aside from some brief nostalgia. Super Mario Sunshine on the other hand was, in my humble opinion, the best 3D Mario game of all time by a long shot. I can see not liking the aesthetic / feel of the game, which is what seemed to bug most people, but personally I adored it and found it to be much stronger than Mario 64 which, like most N64 games, is visually repulsive lol. I can see preferring the "grab bag" of Mario 64 wherein you play a much more diverse set of levels and worlds, but I personally prefer the stronger sense of cohesiveness in Sunshine that makes it more of an artistic whole. In terms of platforming however, this is where Sunshine just clobbers Mario 64 in my humble opinion. No contest. Whereas Mario 64 was sloppy in the controls and felt like you were skating on ice all the time, Sunshine had some of the tightest 3D platforming I've ever encountered. The "a capella" levels wherein you're stripped of your jetpack are some of the most rewarding (and frustrating) next-gen console platforming experiences for me. The biggest flaw of the game, for me, was the lack of impetus for getting all the shines; I think Nintendo rewards you with a shitty picture of Mario on holiday? Yeah... not worth the agony.

The first Galaxy was also a solid game, though it lost some of Sunshine's precise gameplay in favor of a more novel and diverse set of physics. I really liked the aesthetic of it however, and the new characters (especially Princess Rosetta / Rosalina) were some of Nintendo's strongest in a long while (second only to Midna perhaps). I really couldn't get into Galaxy 2 at all for some reason however.

I find the recent 2D / semi-2D revival of Mario to be a mixed bag mostly. On the one hand, Mario is still most at home in 2D in my opinion. The first few 2D releases had that nostalgia thing going on, and just seeing a return to that sort of presentation was enough to carry the games. On the other hand Nintendo realizes how tired this is getting, so they're introducing a bunch of gimmicks trying to push what are otherwise blatant rehashes out the door, and this sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. Like I think they're focusing on coin collecting in Super Mario Bros. 2 for the 3DS?

My favorite Mario games have all been spin-offs. Luigi's Mansion, while too easy (obviously meant for a younger audience), is still a fantastic game IMHO. Brilliant mechanics, super-cool atmosphere and artistic direction, and just a lot of personality. I'm definitely looking forward to the sequel, Dark Moon, which unfortunately didn't see a near-Halloween release like it should have.

Then there's Paper Mario, my personal favorite, which has allowed Nintendo to explore some novel mechanics without risking their mainline franchise. The version for the Wii had some really fun uses with 2D and 3D combinations, allowing you to "walk past" 2D objects in 3D mode for example. Also had some of Nintendo's best new characters in a long time (Mimi the green witch girl who snapped her own neck and grew spider legs out of it a la John Carpenter's The Thing was one of my favs...). Looking forward to trying out the 3DS version soon.