Blog Herding – The Best Blogs Of The Community (April 16, 2015)

Hello, bloggers! You've all (once again) provided great material for another edition of Blog Herding. This week, we get to read about forgotten games, Fire Emblem, and a whole bunch of bosses. Every writer chose such fun bosses that I'm itching to replay some games!

Now get reading!

Community Blogs For April 9 – April 15:

Guess that Game April 2015
Firedude3663 (Charmander, is that you?) brings back a fun blog that serves as a guessing game. Originally started by former Blog Herding captain Saint, the rules are simple: Try to guess which game each clue is describing as quickly as possible. I felt pretty good about getting it in 7 out of 20, but then I saw the very first comment!

52/52 Week 15 – A Fire Emblem If Wishlist
TheDarkestLink put together a fantastic list of what he'd like to see in the upcoming Fire Emblem If. He's definitely a vet of the series, and he touches on everything from mission variety and story to some new classes.

Forgotten Gem: The Magic of Scheherazade
I'm not sure Adam can call this game a forgotten gem, because I've never even heard of it! Heck, I can't even pronounce it. Shay-hay-rah-zade? Sure, close enough. Anyway, this NES title combines the first Zelda's overworld with Final Fantasy turn-based battles, and sprinkles in some time travel. I might not be able to pronounce it, but it sounds super cool, and I would totally buy this on the Virtual Console.

In-Game Items Manifested Into Reality
Rebekah wears her love for the BioShock series on her sleeve, so it's no surprise to find her blogging about real objects from Rapture. Spoiler alert: There's a super-creepy Splicer mask in this post. Don't click the link if you fear bunnies. Rebekah shares some of her other favorite gaming collectibles as well.

Thanks for the Memories Player 1
Sibling Day seemed to blow up on social media, but rather than Tweet a photo of siblings, furedude3663 wrote about some very special gaming moments he had growing up with his. I can totally relate with the blog, having a brother who I gamed with daily.

Ranking the Mario Party Series
I haven't kept up with the Mario Party series over the years, but Saturday Morning Replay has, and this blog ranks 11 of them from worst to best. I'm sad to see Mario Party 2 at number 10; the sword fights on the pirate map became legendary events with friends.

Gunvolt for Smash!
Another week, another character recommendation for Super Smash Bros. This time it's Gunvolt from 3DS game Azure Striker Gunvolt. He's pretty similar to Mega Man, but would be a welcome indie addition to the roster. Hey, Nintendo: Can we please just have all of the characters? Like, all of 'em.

Writing Challenge Responses:

Community Writing Challenge: My Favorite Bosses
GoldenBoy99 couldn't pick just one boss to write about. Instead, he goes through a number of cool battles, beginning with Resident Evil 4's El Gigante. It was the first boss to come to mind and for good reason: Gigante is brutal, powerful, terrifying, and a heck of a lot of fun to take down.

Community Writing Challenge: Bosses - Avion (Fifth Colossus)
It was hard for Refle to choose a specific boss from Shadow of the Colossus as he thinks they're all pretty darn fun to fight, but ended up writing about Avion. Fighting colossi is exhilarating, but when you add flying into the mix it adds that much more wonder to the spectacle.

Community Writing Challenge: Inferno Lord, Fire Leo
Tstitan, the man in Tetsucabra armor, admits that plenty of bosses – Bowser, Ganon, and Lavos, to name some – have made a lasting impression. However, a lesser-known boss stars in the blog: Inferno Lord, Fire Leo from Viewtiful Joe. It was a tough battle; a controller was thrown many, many times.

Community Writing Challenge: Memorable Bosses
Rebekah has a host of bosses to write about, hailing from everything from Animal Crossing to House of the Dead. While the Animal Crossing entry may have you scratching your head at first, you'll soon see that a museum can give Bowser a run for his money as top boss 'round these parts.

Ultimate Boss: Lord Braska's Final Aeon (A Personal Narrative)
Final Fantasy X means a lot to Adam for a very personal reason. I don't want to detail too much of the blog and ruin it, but it's a really heartfelt tale about one of his favorite games, family, and an Aeon.

Community Review:

Tower of Guns Review: Guns Everywhere
Robots? Check. Anti-gravity jumps? Check. A gun with razor blades for bullets? Wait? What! This is what grabbed Enuo's attention, and it immediately sucked him in. This is quite a feat considering FPS games aren't his forte.

Community Writing Challenge:

Sometimes a game just needs a second chance. Either it released during a busy holiday schedule, scared players away with a 7 out of 10 score, or just didn't make the splash it deserved. So with that in mind, this week let's write about games that deserve another chance in the spotlight. For me, Sega Soccer Slam, Ring of Red, Mischief Makers, and Shadow Hearts are all deserving of the bright lights of popularity.

Community Playdate:

I want to play some games with the awesome Game Informer community, but I'd like to know what all of you want to play! Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate is on the radar (the excellent Tim Turi may even join, time permitting), as is FIFA 15, Destiny, and Dragon Ball : Xenoverse for PlayStation 4. Please let me know what you'd like to play and we'll do our best to make it happen with a community gaming night!

I hope you enjoy the blogs! Please contact me via my Game Informer page or on Twitter at @LouisGarcia12 with any blog news or playdate suggestions.