We're looking for new writers to join us!

Now Playing: One Piece Total War Edition

by: Randy -
More On: One Piece: Pirate Warriors Total War: Rome II
Like a chump, Kickbeat drops a little too much nu-metal into the mix. We never received a copy for review, but Jeremy Duff will start throwing punches if you miss out on Rayman Legends. And John Yan goes deep into The Last of Us spoiler territory (seriously: end game spoilers), recounting an emotionally profound death.

What are you playing this weekend?

Russell Archey | staff writer | Twitter @neoscyther
This weekend will likely be spent checking out Out of the Park Baseball 14. I've reviewed the past two years' installments, so I figured I'd take up the offer to check out this year's. Unfortunately, even in a game in which you have no control over the actions of the batters and fielders directly, I can't get a team to the World Series. In terms of casual playing, I've recently started a blind-run series on YouTube of Record of Agarest War Zero. So far, it's not too bad, as the style is that of a tactical role-playing game. The first hour was mostly story and forced tutorials, so hopefully the action picks up from there.

Nathan Carter | staff writer | Twitter @natedoggcata
Can Grand Theft Auto V be here now? Please? Anyways, this weekend I will be playing some One Piece: Pirate Warriors 2 on the PlayStation 3 for review and -- holy crap -- this game just went into my Games of the Year list. I honestly didn't expect the game to be this much fun. Do you like Dynasty Warriors? Do you like the One Piece series? You will be in love with this game. I'll be spending some more time in the virtual Steelport in Saints Row IV as well. I am 15 hours deep into the game and only have the story about half finished. Such a fun game.

Sean Colleli | staff writer
I'll be trying my best to get into Pokemon Rumble U, while completely avoiding going out and buying the little Skylanders-esque figurines that go with it. While I'm an old-school Nintendo fan, the whole Pokemon phenomenon has always baffled me and left me cold, so maybe I can bring an unbiased perspective to the latest entry. I think I was just a little too old for Pokemon when it first got really big here in the States so I've always been perplexed by its popularity, but some of my friends who are only a couple years younger than me still swear by the stuff. There's a lot of great stuff coming up on Wii U, but Pokemon isn't on my "most anticipated" list.

Jeremy Duff | senior staff writer | Twitter @duff3c
I will be hitting the life of crime this weekend as I dedicate myself to pulling off heists in Payday 2 (to wrap up the review). If all goes well, I will not be heard from again as I move my family out of the country to live off my glorious off shore account. If not, I will be right back here on Monday.

Travis Huinker | staff writer | Twitter @travishuinker
I'll be playing Total War: Rome II this week for review, which I can already predict will consume many hours from its turn-based campaign mode and simply epic real-time battles. Instead of playing as the Romans, I'll be selecting one of the barbarian races for a tougher challenge.

Charles Husemann | editor-in-chief | Twitter @chusemann
Still playing and loving MechWarrior Online. It just scratches a lot of itches for me in terms of action, strategy, and gameplay. It's Counter-Strike with custom mechs and a bit more strategy. Developer PGI has also done a great job of rolling out new content and new mechs every few weeks, which keeps things interesting. Nothing like seeing some dude driving a spanking-new $15 or $30 hero mech and then destroying it. I will probably pick up Saints Row IV in the near future but just haven't found the time for it yet.

Randy Kalista | staff writer | Twitter @randykalista
I'm encroaching on Memoria's fourth and final chapter for review. It's a traditional point-and-click adventure swimming in a beautifully painted, low-fantasy world of medieval urban decay and thickly wooded wildlands. In addition, there's a lack of gender stereotypes, an avoidance of fantasy-fiction tropes, and an abundance of sensible women's clothing. There are a few head scratchers, but hey, a puzzle-filled adventure game wouldn't be doing its job if there weren't at least a couple of those.

Jeff Kintner | staff writer
I'll be playing Lost Planet 3 for review. It's like I'm playing Nicolas Cage in a Michael Bay movie -- but like, Armageddon-era Michael Bay, not the perverse nostalgiaphile Michael Bay. It's not terrible is what I'm saying.

Cyril Lachel | staff writer | Twitter @DefunctGames
A few weeks ago I started something called YOLO. It means You Only Live Once, which is a pretty clever term I coined that will never, ever, ever, ever, ever be overused by dumb white kids. Anyway, I like the idea of talking about games while playing them, so I created YOLO. I have one life to see how far I can get, then I move on. My Disney's DuckTales YOLO on the NES is worth checking out, if you're into seeing how far people can get in one life.

Matt Mirkovich | staff writer | Twitter @stillmywords
I'll be plugging away at The Wonderful 101 this weekend for my review. I'm not sure how I feel about it right now, but it may be another game I overhyped myself on. I'll also be trying to get into Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. Hopefully the maintenance from Wednesday makes it much easier to get in, because before, I could spend hours at the login screen, taunted by the dastardly 1017 Error. If not, I'll be in and out of the salt mines on Salty Bet.