Do you have to kick a hundred chickens to get the end game epic sword or something? :grinyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by Zedd
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Do you have to kick a hundred chickens to get the end game epic sword or something? :grinyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by Zedd
What do you think of EndWar? I tried the demo, and it seemed kinda shallow.
There's a title, and one of the demon doors requires kicking a chicken into it to open.Quote:
Originally Posted by Wool
Quote:
Originally Posted by Axxin
it's pretty neat actually. I like the voice commands, but it's a little overwhelming at times because there can be a lot going on, this is both good and bad for people with ADD lol....
I bought it with the bundled wireless headset that does *not* work. Stupid POS. I use the wired headset that was included with my x box.
I don't like playing missions where I have to attack the US heh, but I think there must be a way to play only as Euro, only as Russian or only as American, not sure how to yet (it's probably very obvious).
ZZ
My BF doesn't play computer games nowadays, but he spent *hours* in fable 2. He'd get home from work to see if he had collected enough money from rent to buy the castle and the tower just to finish the quests there.
I don't get it at all, seems like a really sub-par game to me, but clearly it works for some folk!
Heh, I fucking loved Fable 2 for things like that. The game isn't supposed to be very deep. I just wish games like that would add in something that has completely vanished in the past 10 years--random quests. It sucks that after you finish the games, the only things left are to run around killing things for xp and to buy everything in the game.Quote:
Originally Posted by Maledict
Star Ocean is shorter than I expected, I might replay it again with the optional characters I missed the first time. I'm nearing the end, and I have completely overpowered my characters. :(
I went the whole game not bothering with the tradeskills, then I discovered how alchemy works and now my guys are all tiny little gods. At the moment I don't even play out the battles, Roddick just sits there and the AI kill everything. Having Roddick join in causes the fights to go from lasting 15 seconds to 3. :o
Street Fighter in the mail, woooo. I've tied up my previous loose ends just in time, Fear expansion was awful, RE4 was pretty good, Flower was delightful but short. I'm ready to break a controller in frustration baby!
Hope you ordered a FightPad or an arcade stick along with that ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Wool
I can't imagine playing anything requiring perfect d-pad precision on a regular 360 or PS3 controller.
Dude…..2 weeks until Star Ocean 4….. and me recovering from surgery about then.. life is good. I’m sort of torn on SF4. I was in college when SFII was out, and we played it non stop. As much as I want SF4 (And dear god do I want it), my current gaming circle effectively consists of a 33 year old woman, a 5 year old and 10 year old girl. Without a bunch of half drunk guys beating the snot out of each other, it just wouldn’t be the same. :(Quote:
Originally Posted by Wool
FFXI, Tales of Symphonia with one friend, and when my roommate plays with us we switch to Secret of Mana on the VC.
I never realized the latter two games were 100x more fun with other people playing.
I ordered a Fightpad. It was tough, but I figured I haven't used a stick in such a long time that picking one up (expensive!) should be a last resort.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yaxa
I was playing SFII HD Remix, and I kid you not, it destroyed my dual shock's dpad. You know how old controllers would start to get loose and creaky after several years of playing? I've had this controller for a year, and within a week of playing HD Remix it is already worn out. Well it's still responsive, but the noises it makes bother me. :p
I am hoping that 1) the fightpad designed for the fighters is more durable, 2) SF4 isn't as crazy ass hard. If I ever get really competitive online I might get a stick.
I've been watching videos of both SO4 and SF4 lately in anticipation.Quote:
Originally Posted by Torcer Arcana
SO4 in game cutscenes look mildly awful, but the battles look so wonderfully fantastic that I don't care. A disturbing bit of trivia, the guy in charge of SO4 wanted to make japanese erotic games but the company wouldn't let him. Be prepared for groan inducing innuendo and disturbing outfits! I swear there is an elf woman whose breasts are held up by nothing but the ogling glares of young men.
I am a quiet person, but SF is just one of those things in which it is fun to make noise with a bunch of other people. The cheers on a successful combo, or the "ohhhhhhh" upon a narrowly missed super. I even found myself doing this while watching videos online.
I actually don't have people like that to play with anymore, so I am in a similar boat as you, but I refuse to be deterred! Heck, I might pick up Alpha too! And III if I can figure out which home system it came out for.
Edit: Look at how amazing Chun Li's animations are now! It's like a cross between the style of II and the fluidity of III! Also witness how the guy playing her fails her, he FAILS HER Torcer! You can save her! :evil:
SF4 is supposed to have a very responsive online mode, so that should help in finding real people to play with.
Though us 16-bit folk are probably going to get our canes handed to us ;)
I'm nervous because my DSL is kind of crappy. It works fine with PC games but gives my PS3 fits. The only thing I've played online so far was the warhawk demo. Little Big Planet complains about my connection, so I haven't really tried much with anything.
The biggest issue with DSL (especially in fringe areas where DSL is generally a bit iffy) is usually the upstream. But unless you're hosting the game, 128k upstream should be enough for most games. Though I wouldn't recommend using voice chat during online gaming on a "barely broadband" connection.
I don't like talking anyway, so thanks for giving me another reason not to get a headset. :p
In addition to SF4, I picked up Noby Noby Boy off of PSN today. I talked about it briefly in a couple of other threads, it's basically a "what if the guy that made Katamari made a 'snake' game?". It really isn't a game at all, but a playpen to screw around in. For 5 dollars I don't mind at all.
The only objective is to stretch as much as you can. Each analogue stick controls a different half of the body. The combined lengths of everyone who plays the game stretches another character in space; when the length equals the distance to a solar object (the moon and mars currently), new "content" opens up.
It's also very trippy. The stages are randomly generated, and in the opening one I got there were people riding bunnies around. Then I opened up the in game manual and ate the introduction paragraph, and then I don't know wtf happened but I entered this old school looking space invaders pixelish screen where some kind of crazy japanese Noby Noby Boy theme song was playing. Then I ate some baseballs and basketballs and started shooting them out my backside at the rabbits.
I have never felt the need to be drunk or high in my life, but I imagine this is probably a reasonable approximation.
Spoiler for self set goals I have yet to accomplish:
It's me again. Yes, I know. Speak not of intervention, instead live vicariously through me young ones. Or in the more likely case, older and more responsible ones, with a better grasp on priorities. But enough of that!
I just played through Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword. I figured it would be short enough to be a good change of pace in between rpgs. I was right, it was short, and I was glad it was so. It's actually a very uniquely made game, and despite its flaws it was pretty fun. But yes, flaws.
1) Story was stupid. This is forgiveable because story isn't always that important, especially in an action game. But you will wish it was in Japanese so you could make up the dialogue yourself in your head, as the stuff that is present is annoying. Luckily, it doesn't waste your time and quickly gets to the point.
On the flip side of this, the "cutscenes" were really great. They basically amounted to artwork set in a comic book or flash animation panel scheme. Nice.
2) Level design was nonexistent. Your map is visible on the other screen, and the levels are basically just a series of tight corridors with a few forked paths.
Again, on the flip side. Levels didn't take longer than 30 minutes to play on average, good for a portable game.
3) Gameplay, while presenting varied options, pretty much boiled down to "button mashing", and being a stylus/touch screen driven game, it seems like it was designed specifically to destroy your screen. Rooms are cramped and enemies don't let up ever, making frantic slashing the order of the day. Your arm will get tired during certain, very long, fights.
Most of the bosses were fun though. Overall worth playing, but maybe not at full price unless you are a fan.
Next I am going to play Legend of Ys: Books I & II on the DS. The graphics frankly aren't much better than a GBA game, but the non-gameplay graphics (character portraits, opening) are really nice.
Gameplay is exceedingly simple. Sort of a nostalgia thing going on here with incredibly old action rpgs.
Edit: Oh right, and it isn't a videogame, but I don't feel like rezzing an older book thread. I finally read Old Man's War and loooved it. It was like Starship Troopers, but far better, with maybe the exception to the first few chapters in Starship Troopers.
Also also, I liked the Stargate spin off movies.
I'm playing MLB 09 The Show. No other game need exist for the next fewdaysweeksmonths.
Playing Star Ocean 4 now. Good game but just a warning, there are times where you get hit with 45 minutes to an hour of cutscenes with no warning at all. So if you get to a save and you don't have at least an hour to play, you might want to just put it down for awhile.
Case in point, I'm walking around in the middle of a forest and go through a 10 minute event driven battle. After that it's a solid 30 minutes of cutscenes... I wasn't expecting that and it really annoyed the heck out of me.
DDO
Resubbed EQ2. On the wrong account. Duh.
Realized my mistake and resubbed EQ2 on the account that had the game bound to it too. It's pretty fun so far, but I'm only lvl 22 or some such.
I finished a quest in Windstalker Village and the questgiver ended with something like "Yeah that was stupid of me, to think Holly Windstalker would have sent a bear after me..." :rofl:
EvE Online,
and Oblivion. Sounds odd, but I never really played that game much. Picked up the GOTY edition lately for $20 and now that I have a PC that can handle the game at high res/smoothly, it's amazing. (Main reason I didn't get it before was the old rig couldn't really play it)
Gears of War 2, I have to say it is one of the more exciting games ive played in a while. I just got over a Halo Wars addiction. Too bad the Covenant wasnt a playable campaign.
Star Ocean The Last Hope. A flawed game with much wasted potential.
I've been messing with Darkfall, though I'm not terribly fond of the anarchic nature of its PVP system.
Fortunately there's a copy of Resident Evil 5 here just begging to take my mind off of Darkfall.
AwwQuote:
Originally Posted by Torcer Arcana
Care to elaborate a bit? I was looking forwards to it being released here in Europe. Still waiting on Tales of Vesperia as well.
I'm currently playing mostly on my PSP as I am away from home now.
Got Patapon 2 (Japanese people be crazy in the head to make such odd, but fun games). Resistance, which is quite good. And Star Ocean 2, which is really good.
Gears 2 here too.
Although I think I'm near the end..
-Des!
I know this puts me way behind the times, but I just picked up NW Nights 2 Gold with the Ex-pacs on a nice deal from Amazon, and since I'm not playing any MMOs, I've been disappointed with the latest crop of PC RPGs...This is the first one that seems to have it right. Nice pace, able to switch views such that you can play in the style that suits you best. Resting isn’t painful the way it was in past DnD games...NWN2 really seems to be the RPG I’ve been looking for. I think I was eyebrows deep in WoW when it first came out, so I'm finally getting to it. I like it much more than The Witcher (I’m trypically not fond of being forced into 1 player), and NWN2 blows Sacred 2 out of the water for story and playability (Which is monotonous and buggy in Sacred 2), which are the last 2 PC RPGs I've tried. NWN 2 Patching was painless, despite taking a while, and so far I haven’t run into any bugs. Granted they’ve had some time to patch most of them out.
I'm not surprised. The combat is fun though right? :pQuote:
Originally Posted by Torcer Arcana
If it is anything like the third game, the story, voice acting, and cutscenes are highly annoying. I still want to play it though.
Crazy hehe. I found the witcher to be better, as it was far more fluid (NWN 2 didn't really have much of an optimized engine), but it certainly was less DND based than NWN 2.Quote:
Originally Posted by Nafarius
You might want to check out Drakensang, it is released on Steam now as well. It seems to be a tad more advanced again than NWN 2.
A small thread on it at the FOH forums, http://www.fohguild.org/forums/other...rakensang.html
Some links to some mods there that make it a bit better (run speed in partiqular). It looks better and runs better than NWN 2, but the story is a bit... generic. But still enjoy it. A very long game too apparenly, so lots of gaming for the money if you like it. I think there is a demo for it as well.
Drakensang, like NWN, is based on a pen and paper rule system (Das Schwarze Auge / The Dark Eye). However, unlike NWN, it does not offer any help with character progression beyond the initial templates that you start out with. I.e. you can pick a pre-made character to start with, but any progression beyond that is entirely up to you. The game doesn't give you any pointers, so you're expected to understand the rule system behind it.
There's also the problem that you can get "stuck" in areas that are too difficult for you to handle, and the only way out is to reload a previous save. Certain areas cannot be accessed again after you leave them, making it impossible to finish certain quests or uncover secrets if you didn't bring the right kind of party to begin with (you can only swap out party members in the main city). Patches helped a little with that.
The main quest of the game is acceptable, if somewhat bland. Unfortunately side quests often take you so far away from your initial task that by the time you're done with them, you may have forgotten what it is you were supposed to be doing.
Finally, expect to battle your way through hordes of identical mobs, as that is the game's primary way of creating a challenge. There are few fights that diverge from that pattern.
I played (suffered) through the German version of the game when it first came out last year, and it was probably the least enjoyable gaming experience I've had in ages. The game certainly had its moments, but all that stuck were the bad parts.
Got Drake's Fortune and Little Big Planet in the mail today. Those sneaky brits sell their games a lot cheaper than you could get them here :D
I'm still having too much fun getting into EQ2 though. Lvl 25 and I've taken to finishing grey quests for the AAxp before I move on into thundersteppes. Antonica alone is enough fun for now, can't even begin to imagine what lies beyond.
I think I'm a little excited.
And I'm glad that fucking moon blew up. And millions of grimlings and robe-shades along with it. And snakes. Snakes on a MOON.
Anyway, starting to realize how the game works. Been over a year since I played EQ2, and there were still all the quests in the journal... I was quite lost to say the least.
Best thing though, being able to wear a robe visually (I play a monk) and not gimping my stats with it.
You might also want to try a new character on either Faydwer or Kunark. Those newbie areas are far more fun than the old ones.
Yeah, I have a lvl 2 Sarnak Necromancer coming up, but she's been sitting there ever since I tried EQ2 the last time sometime last summer. Having too much fun on my monk for the time being. I'm having so much of a blast in fact, that my PS3 is just sitting there collecting dust, being beaten up by a 5 year old game.
That's because our currency fell through the floor recently. Until then, we were paying far more than you guys for games... :)Quote:
Those sneaky brits sell their games a lot cheaper than you could get them here
Eve.
I'm ruminating on getting Halo Wars and Gears 2, as well as Star Ocean 4. I need a BIG, LOOONG epic RPG that I can't manage to kick the shit out of in a couple of days played. I'm glaring at *you* Fable 2. (yes yes I know, Fable wasn't supposed to be considered "deep". Damn them for calling the thing "fable" then).
Where are you Final Fantasy? You're my only hope. :(
ZZ
Have you tried Lost Odyssey yet?
I'm not really playing anything new yet. Killzone 2 when I have over an hour to play, SF4 when I have less than an hour to play.
I did pick up two other games I will probably be talking about soon, but first I finally started playing Disgaea. I like it so far, although I will probably only play through the story and put the insane optional stuff off until later. The item world by itself is a huge timesink.
Not yet. I'll look into that. It just chaps my ass at the thought of buying "used" games, but $60 a game is friggin annoying for the new shit. And I don't like the idea of renting games, I dunno why. LOL
ZZ
Lost Odyssey is $28 from Amazon. You can usually find sealed copies of older games for the same price that the usual suspects charge for used ones if you look around some.
I bought Lost Odyssey used for like $30 (no problems), and it was worth every penny. Despite its flaws (e.g., random encounters), LO is far superior to Star Ocean 4 and it will last you well over 30 hours. I'd rank it as the second best RPG on the 360.
Is Tales your favourite Torcer?
Still no sign of it being released in Europe yet... :(
Yup, I love that game.Quote:
Originally Posted by Maledict
From Amazon, or Gamestop, or?Quote:
Originally Posted by Torcer Arcana
I guess I will sell the ones I have so far. I need to take about an hour or so and finish up this tom clancey war thingy. I forget the name of it (has voice commands). I haven't had a chance to play crap lately, been flying too much.
ZZ
Gamestop; I resisted used games at first, but sometimes the deal is too good to pass up.
Anyone recommend a good,cheap FPS?
If you're looking for a multiplayer game, Unreal Tournament III is currently available for $12 on Steam.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ninetoes
Thanks Yaxa!
Man, I remember when Unreal Tournament first came out. Those were the days.
Thanks for the tip Torcer :)
ZZ
I would only recommend Gamestop in a few situations, Amazon will save you more money overall. I'll make a post about it later, when I have more time to tease Torcer. ;)
It just occurred to me that the Red Alert 3 expansion is out now, so I went ahead and downloaded that. It's only 20 dollars, but supposedly doesn't have multiplayer as a result. I expect it to be short but enjoyable.
Finally started playing Uncharted last night. It looks awesome, has a nice story, but I really seem to suck at shooters. Bad guys keep killing me wtf :(
Only did a 1-hour session though, I'll just have to practice some.
And EQ2 is still lots of fun, though I'm playing very little these days. Got to lvl 28 or so, looked into crafting a bit (anyone got a good link explaining crafting in depth?), and it's just the right median between old EQ1 "put stuff into a box and click combine, giving yourself carpal tunnel syndrome" and WoW "just click here to make 200 of it".
And for some reason, Little Big Planet didn't really kick it for me like I expected it would, based on all the rave on the web. I must be missing something.
SackBoy is cool though.
I bought two things last month that I expected to be talking about right now, but something else came up! Friend of mine got a PS3, along with GTAIV, with intentions to play it online. I figured now was as good a time as any to try GTA out myself and see what all the fuss is about, and it has proven to be one of the longest non-rpgs I have played.
I've found it to be extremely flawed, but still a lot of fun where it counts. The controls and camera are at times awkward, the AI is transparent and annoying, etc etc. I hate how the AI is apparently coded to merge in front of you for no reason at high speeds. It is very obvious. I also hate how cops will ignore people shooting at you, or possibly shoot back but with very little effort, but the second you so much as shoot a pigeon you have twenty guys all over you.
I do however like the "world building", there are tons of awesome little details in everything you do. The first thing I did when I started playing was watch 15 minutes of fake tv. Many of the mission types are also a lot of fun, and the friend conversations are at times great.
Niko has not impressed me as a character as much as I thought he would based on all the raving for this game, nor has the story been as amazing as the hype declares it is. Both are still enjoyable, but people have been getting carried away with how good it all really is.
I also picked up and subsequently beat Braid on Steam the other day. I thought it was pretty good! Again, it didn't live up to the hype that surrounded it. While the music and art was good, it did not blow my mind with its artsy philosophications like I expected with the way people went on about it.
It did, however, have some really ingenius puzzles. Most of it was short and easy, but there were a few I had to stop and think about for awhile that were delightful to finally solve. The final level was also pretty charming.
It's about customization and user generated content. The most famous level is probably The Azure Palace. Try it out, if nothing else.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ronaan
Picked up Left 4 Dead yesterday. So far, I'm having two major issues.
Firstly, I get random stuttering, where the game will essentially freeze for 5-10 seconds. Not entirely sure what the problem is, or whether it's a video issue or has to do with my crappy onboard sound (which has caused problems in the past).
Secondly, in an effort to make the campaign a little more exciting, I tried playing online a few times. However, each time the lag is essentially unbearable (for myself and everyone else playing), and I end up getting disconnected after about 5 minutes.
The game feels like it has potential, but the performance is.. well, not what I've come to expect from a Valve game.
My gaming sort of just... stopped. Altogether.
Haven't logged into any online game in the past 10 days or so, (EQ2 still up until the 10th),
Played some more Uncharted but the 2nd jetski ride (where you have to drive it and then stop to shoot... bleh) got me like 30 times so I got bored and stopped that.
Went back to Burnout Paradise but it's always the same old, just with different cars, so far. I'll probably have to work up to the highest license and see what happens.
Haven't played on the PSP in several months,
the DS is gathering dust as well,
and there are still a bunch of PS3 games I started but never finished. Got quite far in some too (GRID for example - I think I only have the last series to beat right now)
Games are just not doing anything for me right now.
I must be dead.
Dragon Quest V for the Nintendo DS. An old school JRPG, with a very traditional battle system and typical clichéd plot. The game is gorgeous, one of the prettiest on the DS, and is FUN! I heartedly recommend it to NES and SNES era JRPG fans.
Playing through Fable 2 trying to finish every quest.
After that I'm going to see if I can handle Bioshock.. I'm a wimp when it comes to creepy stuff. Hell, L4D freaks me out at times!
-Des!
I almost picked up Fable II for $30 at Amazon, but since it’s an X-Box 360 pack in, I expect I’ll be able to pick it up for about $15 in several months. Hopefully L4D comes down in price soon.
I still haven't found time to play DQ4. Most people say 5 is better, out of the two, what do you think Torcer?
I could say which rpg I plan on playing next, but I am about to get buried in an avalanche of 3rd person action games, and there is no telling if I will actually commit.
I just finished Resistance: Retribution for the PSP. It was more fun than I was expecting, although repetitive. The levels are short and linear, and obviously meant to be played in short bursts. The graphics were actually really impressive for a PSP game as well.
The story was good but the plot wasn't. That probably doesn't make much sense. I liked the new character Grayson, I liked the way his story was told: the narration in between levels, the intel and journal entries, all good. The plot as it relates to the rest of the Resistance universe didn't feel like it really went anywhere though.
Back in WoW for ~once per week, hanging out with my old EQ guild (or what's left of them) for good old times' sake. I'll probably try and get some of the old-world achievements done (need roughly 300 quests on each continent, lots of faction, dungeons, all that stuff I missed as a casual 1-hour-per-day player on my way to 60 back then).
The only other game I played since my last post was indeed GRID, for 2 hours or so.
I really don't know what's wrong with me.
Within the past week or so I've played:
Left 4 Dead (both of my previous "issues" have been resolved)
Team Fortress 2
Guitar Hero: Metallica
and most recently, Free Realms (with my nephew)
Just set up a Gamefly account last weekend, as well. Should have some games arriving in a day or two. I'm gonna try to get caught up on all the Wii games I've missed.
just playing Warhammer and civ3 still (discovered further nice scenarios like colonisation). Wii i don't touch anymore.
Staple of the "games to try" is ca. 10-12 high, but have no NEED to play anything but WAR. DDO servers will prolly stop before i try it.
I'm currently playing The Book of Unwritten Tales, a (German) point & click adventure that pokes fun at typical fantasy and gaming clichés. I'm enjoying it a lot, but like most German adventures, it'll probably get low scores internationally. The humor should translate pretty well, though.
The only German game I remember is Darklands, which was awesome. German board games are so far superior to any other that it almost goes without saying. I’m actually a bit surprised that there aren’t more successful German video game developer internationally given how good German games can be. Now that the center of gaming is somewhat shifting from Japan to America, I wouldn’t be surprised to see more successful international German developers.
Wool, DQ=V uses the exact same graphics engine and the mechanics are about the same as DQV. DQ4 is good, but the story narrative is a bit disjointed because its broken into 5 chapters – with the first 4 chapters like a short story featuring a different character. If you like traditional JRPGs, then you’ll like it, but DQV has a tighter narrative focused on a central protaganist.
German adventures tend not to do too well internationally because they're often old school (which I personally think is a good thing. I like point & click adventures) and have a particular sense of humor (though some claim Germans have none).Quote:
Originally Posted by Torcer Arcana
A lot of German-made adventures that I've enjoyed in the past years have gotten relatively low review scores internationally.
Secret Files: Tunguska
Secret Files 2 likely won't fare any better (it comes out in English tomorrow).
Everlight
Jack Keane
the list goes on.
Crytek, of course, is fairly well known across the pond (Far Cry 1, Crysis series).
Then there's the strategy genre. The Anno series (<year> AD in the US), The Settlers... somewhat successful than the various adventures, but not exactly international hits either.
Gothic, of course. Probably my favorite RPG series. Also never had any success outside of Europe. Maybe Risen will do better.
I got my girlfriend to try Left 4 Dead during the free promotion on Friday. We both bought it and have been playing it incessantly since.
Picked up Etrian Odyssey again, continuing my (young adventuring party) escapes again. I finally got to the second stratum. This game reminds me of the old-school RPGs in several ways, not least is the "if you don't get lucky during this fight, you're fucked" scenarios. I looked up some spoiler tips on how to build the classes, and I was way way way off. Bleh.
I'm also still playing WoW. I shouldn't be. I don't have the time to do all the raiding and grouping that I am, while I am in Grad School and working full time. But I'm doing it anyway. This expansion has been awesome, and the accessibility of the raid content is Pure Win.
I recently ordered two copies of Final Fantasy: Rings of Fate so the wife and I can multi-play on it. Any comments about the quality thereof? $20 for each was not bad at all.
Lord of the Rings Online at the moment.
FFCCEOT Is fun, but not very deep. IOW, a typical action RPG like Diablo. I bet it would be a blast with another player, but don't expect it to hold your interest for a long time.
Enjoying Burnout Paradise a few times a week, and then that game off PSN with the rocket powered battle cars. Pinnacle of Awesome :)
Did you play that on the Wii or the DS? The reviews I've read so far unanimously said that the Wii version is a quite disappointing port.Quote:
Originally Posted by Torcer Arcana
I wish they'd remake Final Fantasy V for the DS.
I played it on the DS. It’s a fun game, and gorgeous for the DS, but it’s shallow in a Children of Mana kind of way. I could see wasting a few afternoons on it, but it didn’t hold my interest for more than several hours. I wouldn’t pay more than $10 for it.
Part of the problem is that I’m playing Dragon Quest V, which is simply the best SNES era type JRPG that I’ve played since, well, the SNES era! I actually like it better than FFIV and almost as much as Chorno Trigger. One feature that I thought I’d hate is the Monster Collecting, but it turns out to be an awesome feature. Basically, after some battles you can recruit monsters and then level them. It’s just a lot of fun to be leveling them and unlocking their abilities, and you can switch monsters out to switch among abilities. A game that can get me not to hate its random battles must be doing something right.
Children of Mana has been on my list of RPGs to get since I got a DS. Is it really that shallow?Quote:
Originally Posted by Torcer Arcana
The game is kind of hard to find here, so if it's not worth it, I'll just save myself the trouble.
Its just hack and slash with a bare bones plot
So I'm playing two things right now. The first is the rpg I alluded to a week or so ago. Suikoden:Teirkries, which I got a few months ago but only am just now finding time to play.
For starters, I want to say that I am impressed with how much voice acting they got into a DS game. Unfortunately it is mildly terrible voice acting. Maybe not Star Ocean bad, but pretty bad. For the first few hours of the game, themaincharactertalksreallyfastlikethis. It's really. :wtf: They also seem to completely miss the spirit of the character's lines a lot, as if they were just given lines to read with no context.
Additionally, the characters are almost all very stupid. It's like one of those things where you laugh out of sadness from how unintentionally funny everything is. There is one character that isn't constantly saying or doing stupid things, and usually has the job of correcting everyone else. I'm betting he goes insane by the end of the game.
Having said all that, I am enjoying it so far. I don't know if the weak areas are getting better, or if I am just getting used to it. The story looks like it might end up reasonably interesting (even if one of the major aspects of it is incredibly cliched), and the gameplay is solid, if very very simple.
I hope it gets a little more complicated, but so far it is basically sticking to the tried and true typical rpg formula, with the caveat that it is following the "you assign commands then they all activate at once" school of rpg combat design.
Second, Bionic Commando. Let me start by saying that most gamers today seem to be incredibly spoiled. I have a feeling this is going to be another Force Unleashed, aka a game I, personally, have a lot of fun with, but that most people pan relentlessly for its flaws. I don't know, every game I played as a kid wasn't CoD4 quality, why the expectations that they all should be now?
There were a lot of complaints about how hard it is to control up to release, which I was skeptical of, and rightly so. Rightly, laughably so. It takes a little getting used to, I'm still not a pro, but it only took me a few minutes to get the feel of the controls. It is also pretty forgiving, the HUD tells you when to let go in a swing, and if you hold the button down the arm latches on to the first thing that comes into range.
I've got two main complaints so far. 1) There is this blurring that occurs when your field of vision changes, which focuses after a moment. I can easily see why such a method exists, but I think it is a little slow and jarring.
2) According to what I've read, you have to find the secrets your first run through. While you can visit an old level, nothing you do there will count towards unlocks. I'm hoping this gets patched. I don't mind the punishing difficulty (you have to redo all the challenges and secrets in an area if you die between checkpoints), but it's stupid to expect me to get them all in one playthrough.
I'm in the first 10% of both games, so I will post updated impressions in a week or two.
I'm playing Demi-god, which I bought on a whim, and am actually hugely enjoying it in single player. Which I know is odd - but I'm scared witless of playing online! :)
Aion, on the chinese servers. Actually enjoying it a lot - so much that I actually want to gather and craft - and I never was one for crafting.
Sorcerers are mages taken to the extreme - glass cannons! I'm enjoying that playstyle a lot right now - I usually play a pet class, so it's nice to have all your power to yourself, and not rely on a pet/external buffs(totems)
Finished Bionic Commando a few days ago, it was a blast, but pretty short. Expectations were for it to be a modern take on the old game, after playing it I see things a bit differently. Rearmed was a modern take on NES era gaming, BC was a modern take on Playstation era gaming.
The levels are linear and the action is hectic/arcadey. The levels are of decent size and you choose how to get through them, but they are very clearly segmented.
The swing mechanic was a ton of fun. There are some fights later on that get a little crazy, luckily you should be good enough with the arm at this point to be crazy yourself. Flying around like a madman while death bolts go shooting through where I just was = :grinyes:.
The challenge was pretty decent near the end, but overall leans to easy. Most of my deaths were volunteered when I was trying to achieve a challenge. There really aren't all that many enemies in the game, got to make each one of their screaming deaths count!
It wasn't all rosey though. The story pretty much sucked. Not a big deal, I wasn't expecting much, and I sort of respect what they tried to do, but they botched it. Very cheesey, which isn't a problem by itself, but, man I don't know. Additionally, there are walls of radiation that pen you in each level, sometimes you end up flying through it before realizing it is there and dieing. This is very annoying. :p
Spoiler for massive spoilers:
InFamous is next. Suikoden is better now, but also insanely easy. In an exploration area random battles are constant, and I just hit "autobattle" for every one. Major event battles have mostly been small and pitiful.
I don't get why the DS being a system that is "kid friendly" is an excuse for the games to take no effort to play. When I was a kid, games were hard!
Case in point :grinyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by Wool
I think much of it has to do with the DS being a handheld system. Handheld games are often more forgiving, since most of them are designed in a way that lets you play them in 10-30 minute sessions.Quote:
Originally Posted by Wool
When I played through Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, I kept thinking about the old games (Super Castlevania IV in particular). Portrait of Ruin seems "hard" (in a loose sense of the word) for a handheld game, but comes nowhere near the challenge of playing through the original games with limited power ups, no character progression, and no save feature.
There are other examples, of course, such as the Final Fantasy remakes, which can still easily cost you an hour or more of progress if you mess up in a dungeon.
Now that Target finally got their shit together, we have a PS3 again. I'm back to playing Bioshock, and I'm relieved that my "backup" worked - my saved games were preserved. However, it really hurts to give up backwards compatibility. :( I'm a Sad Panda.
After Bioshock, I'll walk through Eternal Sonata, then look for something new. I still get excited at the bite-size, but game-preserving implementation used for Civilization:Revolutions, so I'll most likely pick that up. I will also be trying some demos for inFamous and a few other dinky games.
I still need to finish MegaMan 9, from the PS3 store. Holy cow that game is hard.
I'm actually back on Pirates of the Burning Sea. Pretty low population but they've changed a few things and it's an amusing diversion while I wait for something better to strike my fancy.
I think I have mentioned having a large backlog before. I try and schedule it out, according to whatever genre I am in the mood for and whatever big release I know I won't be able to stay away from comes out. Sometimes someone throws a wrench in my plans, for example, the lot of you getting me into Warhammer when I was still trying to finish Tales of the Abyss. :p
Long story short I ended up playing Battlefield: Bad Company, both single and multiplayer. Honestly it isn't that amazing in comparison to any shooter I have played in the past year. It is actually kind of annoying at times. BUT it is still fun, for two reasons, and two reasons only. 1) It's oftentimes funny, Haggard and Sweetwater are jackasses. 2) Blowing up buildings is awesome.
I want to talk about blowing up buildings. Red Faction is the game that really pushes this gameplay the most, and a lot of people enjoy it for it. But to me, all the buildings in Red Faction feel like matchstick and lego objects built specifically so you can smash them. When you can exhale and blow up a building, it sort of detracts from the immersion in my opinion. Nothing feels "real".
In Bad Company, only walls are blown off, and the base remains. It also takes a bit more work to do maximum damage, so destruction progress is very apparent over the course of a firefight. And since you don't risk destroying an entire building with one attack, you can easily just make your own doors wherever you see fit without completely destroying cover.
So yeah, boom boom laugh fun, but overall doesn't compare to the best FPS I've played recently. After I beat it I will only ever play it when someone else asks me to, but it was an amusing ride for the price (I got it cheap:p).
I don't know, I've played several "hard" handheld games. Look at Etrian Odyssey! Heck Crisis Core was designed for short sessions and some of the optional content would one-shot you. RPGs often have the reputation of having "press x to win" gameplay, but this is the first time that it has actually been very obviously true.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yaxa
I'm trying to finish it up now, the story is actually pretty fun, but the game is still disappointingly easy.
I'm still trying to finish FF3 on the DS, which is proving to be much more annoying than I remembered from the NES fan-translation, owing to the lack of save points within dungeons (I've failed the Dark World repeatedly and I'm past the point where I want to grind more levels).
On the 360, Star Ocean: The Last Hope turned out to be longer (and duller) than I expected. 25+ hours in and I'm still on disc 1, and the much-lauded battle system only really seems to work well in boss fights.
I really need something that isn't a JRPG :p
I still haven't finished FF3 either. It was charming and I appreciated what they did, but in the end I decided I would rather play a more interesting game and dumped it. I'll pick it back up one day, maybe. Still haven't beaten Star Ocean 3 either. :p
Fallout 3 DLCs - they're the real deal.
I tried to warn people! Like a car crash, you just have to see it for yourself. First major JRPG I got mostly through and then decided not to finish.Quote:
On the 360, Star Ocean: The Last Hope turned out to be longer (and duller) than I expected. 25+ hours in and I'm still on disc 1, and the much-lauded battle system only really seems to work well in boss fights.
I rocked out too hard in RB2 and my 360 red ringed (for the second time) :(
Both Star Ocean and Tales of Vesperia only came out this month in Europe. I would have gotten Tales, but it wasn't out yet and I needed an RPG :(Quote:
Originally Posted by Torcer Arcana
In large part due to a glut of sales recently, I'm playing:
inFamous
Midnight Club Los Angeles
Guitar Hero World Tour
Bioshock
Oblivion
Also still playing:
Sims 3
LOTRO
MLB 09 The Show
I haven't really been getting much reading done lately . . .
Tales of Vesperia. 10+ish hours in and got it two days ago. Been quite some time since I last got so hooked.
Also have Star Ocean 4, but not tried it yet. Heard tales is better so I'm going to finish that first.
Back in WoW ... again.
Haven't touched the PS3 in a few weeks... it's really odd how this stuff goes in waves. Once I'll go PS3 exclusive for a month, then it turns around completely...
WoW during the holiday events - only missing brewfest to get my drake, and that's the only thing keeping me there for now.
Bought The Orange Box via Steam over the weekend - finished Portal, will try TF2 next. Lots of very neat stuff in that box :grinyes:
Thanks to yet another amazing Steam sale, I'm now playing Fallout 3. My girlfriend may never forgive me :)
I just started Okami, and I bought the Secret of Monkey Island: SE on a whim. I can't remember if I ever played the original.
I’ll definitely be DLing Monkey Island after I finish Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, which I picked up for $19.
I'm also semi-nostalgic with The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition (on the 360 -- controls aren't bad, so the TV won :p) and Resident Evil Archives: Resident Evil on the Wii (which I wish had widescreen support).
Annoying thing about the 360 version of Monkey Island: The developers opted for a black border all around the image instead of "properly" designing for the possibility of overscan (that is, not putting anything important in that area of the screen).
Playing Oblivion for the first time in 2 years. With all the mods I've added (OOO, Qarl, TNR, etc), it's like a completely different game.
Bought Bionic Commando for 19 at Gamestop's sale and playing through. It's decent but not worth more than 20 or so bucks.
We had a coupon for a free rental, so I picked up Resistance 2 for the weekend.
It's ... meh.
It fits firmly into the category of well-done FPS on a console (and I don't really like FPS on a console). The environments are sometimes frustrating to move through, and the weapons don't vary much, but the controls and the graphics (and the storyline and the background stuff, and the seamless cutscenes) help make it entertaining. I wouldn't spend $$ on it, but it's worth the price of admission for me. In this case, free.
Almost every day for the past 6 weeks I've played at least one game of Civilization: Revolutions. I love the originals, and I really enjoy the way the game is boiled down to a few key tricks and methods, while still retaining breadth.
... and finished Resistance two.
Ending was... meh. The game was entertaining. Worth a free rental :) Back to Civilization I go!
Picked up a 360 a couple months back and due to a few games sales I've got a big backlog so at the moment playing Bioshock, Guitar Hero : World Tour, Saints Row and Lego Star Wars which is great fun playing with my gf.
I've given up on Magic the Gathering until they patch the co-op bug that locks the game whenever I try to start.
Started playing Battlefield 1943 this week and having a blast, first online console FPS I've played and I'm nowhere near as terrible as I expected to be. Not great, but I don't feel totally useless when playing.
Kinda thought I'd give up on the Wii but its still seeing use, playing Eledees and Force Unleashed every few days.
If there's any graffies who want to add me to their friends list on xbox live my handle is Tuvas. I'm always happy to have a go at something but be aware that I really just play for fun and am very not teh hardcore.
I've been going back and playing older games that I never had a chance to play before.
Right now I am knee deep in Call of Duty World at War. Nazi Zombies are great too. I am ozzymandos on both the PSN and XBox 360.
I've been playing Astro Empires and loving it. :p