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I rented Master Chief Collection and will be messing around with that for a bit. I mostly got it to finish off Halo 4 with my friend. Then I can move onto Halo 5  (solo which is a bummer).  If anyone (maybe just Casey... not sure we have any other big Halo fans here) has some picks for best levels from the first three games, I am hoping to replay some of the best while I have the collection too. I don't remember them all that well.

Halo 1: Halo, Truth and Reconciliation, The Silent Cartographer, The Maw

Halo 2: Outskirts through Regret is an amazing stretch, then throw in the last level

Halo 3: Crow's Nest, Tsavo Highway, The Storm, The Ark (aka two Scarab fight level- best in the series), Halo

Awesome. Thanks. I may end up playing through at least 1 again. I never played Anniversary before, but I love this button that shows you the difference in graphics. Pretty crazy.

2 has that same button.

I've been playing The Witness with my fiance. We have 7 or the 11 areas completed, which I hear is enough to finish the game, but we're going to finish the rest of the areas before we finish it up. This game just keeps surprising me. There is so much stuff packed in a relatively small island it makes sense why it took so long to complete this game. I haven't been this impressed with a video game in a long time. The only thing I'm not crazy about is the little amounts of story I have been exposed to so far. Hopefully it makes more sense as I uncover more... but I'm worried its going to be kinda up its own ass. But I don't think that would really ruin the experience of the overall game, because that stuff is so few and far between.

I'm not sure there is a story in that game, really

Played about halfway through the Halo remake. I tend to overlook things when playing co-op because of talking and goofing around I guess, so playing solo has been interesting. The repetition in indoor areas is worse than I remember (I haven't even gotten to the section where I remember it being really bad) and is its biggest issue so far. I'm finding it very enjoyable though. I forgot there weren't energy swords in the campaign until 2. Definitely disappointed when I first went to pick one up!

Also started Need for Speed. Had to jump through some hoops because apparently I had two EA accounts. Oops. The FMVs are hilarious. It is always online I guess. So there is no real pause button. And they throw up these tutorial messages while you are racing and don't pause the game. It is really annoying and I feel I am probably missing things because I am trying to drive. The racing seems fun enough I guess, but I am still getting used to it. Not sure I have played a non-kart racer significantly since Burnout. Looking forward to playing more.

Wait, no real pause button? In a racing game? What?

I mean maybe I am missing something, but it sure doesn't seem so.

Lots of Dying Light recently. Still trying to wrap up the story so I can get into the Following DLC. Met a new friend last weekend and we must've played for 5 hours into the early morning. Playing with others is really the best way to experience this game.

I finished up Halo 4 with my friend. It was fun and really just made me more bummed that we won't be playing more Halo games together. That was the sixth Halo game we played together. Other than my time spent with the remastered first game the past couple weeks, I had pretty much only played Halo campaigns with him save the first level in the series when I first got my Xbox and tried it out. I don't know. It is weird. I guess I will rent Halo 5 at some point and play through it when I get the chance.

I still find it baffling that 343 decided the one game to ax local co-op should also be a squad based shooter

Bought Gravity Rush HD on PS4, downloading it now.

How do you guys feel about the Flood in Halo? Just ran into them again in my Halo playthrough.

I love the Flood. One of my favorite parts about Halo is the enemy diversity and throwing them in where they need different tactics than the Covenant helps mix the gameplay up really well. Also love whenever you're in a three way fight against them. They're not as fun as the Covenant and personally feel they should always be mixed in with Covenant forces, but they improve all three Halos they appear in

Yeah I could see that. I find them rather boring to fight on their own, but it is pretty good when they mix them with the Covenant.

I started up Far Cry Primal. Seems to be about what I expected so far. A solid new entry for the series. Not great so far, but I have only played a bit. The setting is really cool and I love having the animal buddies. The primitive weapons definitely give things a different feel. I haven't done an outpost yet, so I'm wondering if they will be as good in this game.

Just finished episode one of Walking Dead Michonne. So far, there's not enough here to justify a buy unless you really love WD comics and Michonne. They did some neat things with the QTEs since Michonne is more of a fighter than Lee or Clementine and there could be a good setup here like seasons 1 and 2. But so far it's just setup.

Also have an issue with picking this time to do Michonne. Think before she joined the group would have been much more interesting and given more freedom for her choices. Here I have the same problem as Witcher 3 having dialog options for this character doesn't really work. At least one choice doesn't feel like something she would pick. She's quiet and doesn't fuck around, seeing options go against that feels kind of wrong.

I BEAT SUPER MARIO 3!!! First time ever. That's two of my gamin goals down for 2016. Sadly, the 3 other goals I made for myself consist of me beating 9 games!

Also, I still like Super Mario World the best. That first shadow level is the hardest, luckily I had a cloud so I could just skip right over it.

Played the Uncharted 4 stress test/beta thing every chance I got this past weekend. I also fixed things so I can record videos on my PS4 again. Even uploaded a couple to Youtube. Here is one really good sequence I had with one of the aerial kills that you can do when swinging on the grapple which are super satisfying to pull off. First I threw a grenade and then a teammate did and then I went down and cleaned up the mess. This is basically the extended cut of what I posted on Twitter yesterday for those that saw that.

Been playing Twilight Princess HD and loving going back to it. Been so long that I forgot how the dungeons are laid out while the bad stuff (save the wolf collecting) isn't as bad as I remember.

Also checked out Broforce, which I love. Free on Plus and basically takes every action hero and puts them in one game from Terminator to Rambo to Robocop and even Naked Snake. With explosions. Lots and lots of explosions.

I've been playing the trial for Need for Speed on Origin. There's a lot of stuff I hate, like the fact that I can't play with a controller. The controls simply don't work for some reason and it messes up my keyboard controls as well when I plug it in. But when I finally sucked it up and tried it out on a keyboard, I found a lot of stuff I liked, too. Especially the cutscenes. They are as amazing as you'd expect from something featuring that handsome man over there. I think I'll pick it up when it's under $30, especially if it works with my wheel

Still chipping away at Far Cry Primal. Just not as into it as the past few entries. Still pretty fun. I did try Broforce which seemed pretty funny.

Started up Twilight Princess HD. Excited to play through this again. Only got about an hour in, so not very far yet.

I beat Rise of the Tomb Raider...it was alright. I mean, I liked the first game and it was pretty much more of that with a bit less combat. I was hoping since Lara became Lara in the last game she'd be a bit more...Lara...y (bit more confident, have the two pistols) but it's still falling a little in Uncharted's footsteps. The story didn't really do anything for me and when I found myself listening to the audio diaries in the last game I was skipping them in this one.

Criticisms aside I did enjoy it, it looked fantastic (especially when they released that DX12 update). The exploration is still fun and finding little secrets and whatsit is still weirdly addictive. Just wish there was a bit more combat. All these weapon and combat upgrades for...what?

Started up Pokken. Only tried a few fighters (Gengar, who was pretty fun, Sceptile and Chandelure who I didn't like and Weavile who I love), but so far having a lot of fun. There's a decent amount of single player content for a fighter and it has an interesting hook where you keep switching from 3D to 2D controls, each with their own variations on the moveset. Keeps the game fun and varied while adding a layer of depth to it

Been playing Twilight Princess HD. Great fun so far. The beginning wasn't as slow as I remember (I think a combination of them actually cutting things and me remembering what to do more than anything probably). Only getting to the second dungeon now. Will dig into that tomorrow hopefully.

Also got Halo 5 coming in from Gamefly which I will be playing bitterly by myself I guess

You should stream it so I can type "I told you so" over and over in the comments

Also beat Twilight Princess HD. Haven't been that glued to a game since Link Between Worlds. Had a lot of fun replaying it, the good was better than I remember and the bad wasn't as bad. Hero mode offered a good challenge too. Great game overall

Still stupid that you still have to watch that cutscene with the mailman every time he has something for you. Yeah, that bothered me enough to put it here

Gamefly sent me Assassin's Creed: Syndicate (was hoping I'd have a chance with The Division). Put a few hours into it and, sonuvabitch, Ubisoft may have roped me in again. It doesn't seem to be a revolutionary step for the series but it looks and sounds great, controls well and I actually like these main characters, especially Evie (the game gives you the choice to switch between the twins and I've played her the most so far).

I also spent a lot of time this past weekend on The Witcher 3. I really love it but my god, it's a lot of game.

I have an addiction to these open world games and it isn't ending any time soon.

Trackmania Turbo is out now. It's Trackmania, therefore the driving is great. The new style is really cool too. Unfortunately it keeps crashing and they removed basic customization options that have been in the series since the beginning. If it was the only Trackmania game, it'd be fantastic, but it's not. Not paying money for any Ubisoft-published games again

I have been playing a ton of Stardew Valley. If you haven't heard of it, its a farming game kind of like Harvest Moon, but with way, way more game packed into it. It was made by one person and its just oozing with charm and is filled with secrets and pretty quirky humor. Its pretty much consumed all of my gaming time lately. I've put in almost 25 hours and I'm not even through the first year. Its one of the best games I've played in years. Its $15 on Steam. I can't recommend it enough!!