Today I had the chance to visit Signal Studios located in Kirkland, Washington, and I spent about three hours talking with the good people hard at work on the upcoming free-to-play Ascend: New Gods coming to XBLA and other platforms to be announced.

Gladiator Ends

HIGH Knocking the sword out of a skeleton's hand, then crushing its skull with a mace a moment later.

LOW Oh good. Let's fight three guys in the crumbling courtyard for the sixth time. That never gets old.

WTF Why does this boss obey none of the game's rules? Why am I fighting him twice?

On this episode, we talk about what we are FINALLY going to be clearing from our backlogs this year. We also answer some listener questions that you have always wanted to know, but didn't know you wanted to know. Join us for this informative episode of the GameCritics Podcast! With Chi Kong Lui, Brad Gallaway, Mike Bracken, Richard Naik and Dylan "I finally spelled everyone's name correctly" Collins.

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We Battle Together with Friends… but Why?

HIGH Replaying classic Final Fantasy moments with the accompanying soundtrack.

LOW Having to play the same tracks over and over to unlock new features.

WTF The nonsensical phrases characters say before a stage begins: "Friends, now we joke eternally in vain…"

Heck Sorta

HIGH Our hero gets freaky with a toy duck.

LOW Please, please, please make insta-death spikes visible!

WTF Our hero gets freaky with a toy duck?!

Blocks for Days

HIGH Upgrade trees with some fun choices to make.

LOW Some odd mission choices that feel like a poor attempt at palate-cleansing.

WTF We still have one-hit kill bosses instead of actual difficulty? Yeugh.

It's not a backlog title, but I managed to get a copy of Fire Emblem: Awakening for Nintendo 3DS, and I've been putting some time into it… it's not title I was eagerly anticipating, but I needed a portable title and word of mouth from people that I trust was almost universally positive.

I've learned a few things after reading about what's happened during the DICE Summit and Awards event that's taken place this past week. The industry seems to be crying out desperately for maturity. David Cage (Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls) says that games need to grow up. Warren Spector (Epic Mickey) says that games like Lollipop Chainsaw shouldn't be made. The industry wants more Journey and The Walking Dead experiences, as evidenced by these games winning 99.5% of the awards given out. The definition of "fun" is changing.

The Easy Way Out

HIGH Taking out an entire encampment of privateers at close range without being detected.

LOW The final mission in the "Buck" sideplot is just gross.

WTF Can I please face one major boss I don't kill in an apparent hallucination?

Bloodbath Island

HIGH Leaping off a zipline and driving a machete into one pirate, then slashing his friend's throat before he realizes what's happening.

LOW Being asked to make one of the stupidest endgame choices in history.

WTF Okay, that's a lot of Komodo Dragons all in one place.