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I couldn't stand eternal sonata. I know JRPG's are suppossed to be on rails, but unlike Lost Oddsey it really, *really* felt like it was just corridor + room + corridor syndrome. PLus I though the combat sucked...
Wierd though, because I adored Baiten Kaitos, the last big game they did. Thought that was clever, original and had a great storyline.
Good thing I didn't buy it then, eh?Quote:
Originally Posted by Yaxa
Its not that bad. Its been pretty universally panned, but most of that has to do with the VO. The game itself isn't too bad. Too much was expected of it I think.
Lost Odyssey barely gives you more freedom than Eternal Sonata. The style of the latter is a matter of taste, obviously. I actually liked the combat system, though. That whole light/dark thing was a nice touch.Quote:
Originally Posted by Maledict
Just picked up Sins of a Solar Empire last night. I love the interface - really well done. Stardock does quality work.
The story is horrendous but I love the combat and the art is excellent. The problem I have is that the game is too easy and you have to beat the game to get the hard mode. I *HATE* when games do that. I'd be having much more fun if the enemies had double defense and 1.5x damage like they do on encore mode. Instead I'm trying to find the perfect combos to defeat harmless trash in the least amount of rounds. The bosses are pretty fun but still a little too easy.Quote:
Originally Posted by Maledict
but seriously. . .the story. . .
Spoiler for claves:
edit: oh yeah and since you guys have played it -- I just got counterattack. I can block like 90% of the time fine, but am I really supposed to identify which button it is that quick to counterattack? Is there a way to tell which moves are counterable or is it random? I've done it a few times and barely even get off many attacks (sometimes none, but it does make the damage 0 and interrupt further attacks I guess)
Lately I've been playing Total Overdose. I have no idea where it came from, possibly from my brother in law. But its been a hoot. Fairly politically incorrect, great music, fun missions, light-hearted cheese just right for tension relief. People have described it as a GTA clone, and from what I know of GTA (never played any of them) it fits.
CoD4, Rock Band for 360 and Smash for Wii
Mana Khemia for the PS2 and I have been converting and adding old playstation games in order to replay them on the PSP and right now that means Parasite Eve and Vagrant Story.
CoH/CoV or C&C3.
Can only muster up enough energy to play for 30-60 minutes at a time and those two games you can feel like you achieved something in that time frame.
Can't believe the hate for Civ4! Do you have the Beyond the Sword expansion? I find it so much better than Civ3.
So I was at Frys yesterday actually doing some market research for my job, and I had some time and I wandered over to the game section. Couple quick questions I have about games I saw.
1. Oblivion
Is Oblivion better as a console game or a PC game?
Which was it developed for?
Do the controls and combat type feel more natural on the Xbox or a PC? How good are the expansions? Looks like ther are 3-4 now.
Morrowind had horrible graphics, I couldn't make myself play it, Are they really well evolved, or do they still have a bit of that chuncky look?
2. Shadow run.
Similar questions about Console vs. PC
How close is it to the original concept: Cyber Punk with elves and wizards?
General question about both of them. What kind of fun factor do they have?
How is the lore for each of these games?
Do they make you feel involved in the world as it changes.
Are they churn factory Cog in a wheel games or do you feel like your character is the hero?
First of all, you might have a misconception about Shadowrun because of it's history. One of the biggest sources of complaints about that game was that it abused the license, it isn't really the same type of game at all. The new Shadowrun is a multiplayer only FPS like Team Fortress 2. Yeah.
1) Oblivion
Way better as a PC game simply because you can mod the heck out of it. Adding both amusing new user made content, and fixing some of the crap that is wrong with the game itself. It was designed for both. It's a very obvious PC based rpg, but it has a few elements (such as the interface) that were obviously designed to be console friendly.
Haven't played on 360, or expansions. Oblivion has great graphics. Faces are sometimes pretty bad, but the rest is good. Morrowind was hard to stand in comparison.
Oblivion sort of fun. Fun level goes up if you like to wander around aimlessly and just explore a great huge world. Oblivion fun goes down if you get caught up on how bad the game mechanics are (mod that sucker!) Oblivion fun also goes down if you try and do everything, you end up getting carried away and never actually finishing the game. ;)
Lore is huge in Oblivion, youcan read in-game books for no other reason than to read background lore. I would suppose that for the last two questions, that Oblivion makes your character feel like an important part in the world as it changes. NPCs will remember what you do and react accordingly in a few instances.
2) Shadowrun
Since I don't think this is what you had in mind, I'll keep it short.
The game was tons and tons of fun, but I don't know if anyone even plays it anymore. It had problems getting accepted at launch, the studio shut down, etc etc.
It was designed with consoles in mind, but works perfectly on both. It is crossplatform, and as a result plays exactly how you might think. Like the secret love child of Halo and Counterstrike. It was great. Lore low, original concept abanadoned, it might have done better if it never used that license at all.
Yeah, this has always baffled me as well. The haters and I already flamed each other about it in a previous thread, though, so I figured I wouldn't derail this one to fight about it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pilsain Silverback
Finally got around to installing Need for Speed : Carbon last week, which is a lot easier than other games in the series so I'm really enjoying it so far.
Then I didn't mean to, but I fired up Alpha Centauri on Tuesday (with Alien Crossfire) just to play for an hour or so and bang, I lost two days of my life!
Enjoy those whole 12 hours of gameplay :(Quote:
Originally Posted by Macfudd
NFS: Most Wanted had so much more bang for the buck...
Thats what I've heard, I'll look out for Most Wanted once I finish up Carbon. I get wicked RSI if I play any driving games for longer than a half hour or so a night so Carbon will keep me going for quite a while yet.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ronaan
I haven't done enough book reading in Oblivion. I modded the everloving shit out of it and completed the quest chain for The Dark Brotherhood. It redeemed most of the game for me in terms of NPCs, who I mostly found ephemeral. But those twins, the very nice Altmer lady, and khajit who hates you really make my day as you keep talking with them. But that ended too soon...and the game became stale again. It's So important to make your NPCs into people you can really become involved in.Quote:
Originally Posted by Wool
I am nearly totally disappointed in Oblivion as game and a experience. A huge letdown.
Ah well in 30 minute sittings... you'll be alright ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Macfudd
I got Carbon on a Saturday around noon. Drove home, installed it, ate lunch, played. Went to bed not too late at night. Played some more on Sunday and I was done before it got dark outside.
They should just make NFS:MW2 for this Christmas... no easier way to milk the cow than that. Most Wanted lasted me around 70 hours.
Having beaten Eternal Sonata and watched the most nonsensical ending I have ever seen in my life, I am moving on back to Devil May Cry 4.
I beat C&C3 and it's expansion (which was far easier, but also more interesting) not long after my last post in this thread. Crisis Core took the next few weeks to beat. It wasn't a long game, but I just didn't have as much time to play lately.
Hit and miss game, here is my summary of the ebb and flow of its story. Good-->Stupid-->Good-->Stupid-->Good. The ending was exactly what I expected and overall pretty great. Zack turned out to be a really great character. I've still got 50% completion worth of side quests to do, but they are getting so annoying that I'm not sure I want to spend the next twenty hours doing them.
What I'm playing now now, Bully and The World Ends With You. A few people have mentioned the latter already. This is one of the most unique games I have played in a long time. The dual screen gameplay is very hard to get used to, I would be tempted to just let the AI take over at the top and play the bottom since it is awesome enough on its own already, but that sort of feels like missing out on half the point of the game. Then you have the food that raises stats over the course of real life days, and an equipment system that amounts to following or starting fashing trends.
I'm only in the first few hours of the game and there are already tons of ways of attacking enemies. Slash an object to telekinetically throw it at them, tap empty air to fire energy bullets, slash the enemy to cut it, drag the stylus across the ground to make a path of fire, on and on and on. I went a few days without playing, and when I turned it on again a bunch of my abilities leveled up from "rest exp". I hear you can also get exp when you come in contact with another DS.
The dialogue in the game amuses me, usually when a game tries to be hip by using modern vernacular it fails horribly, I feel they did a pretty good job. My intelligence doesn't feel insulted, and it's funny when the main character says that someone is "full of fail as usual". He isn't as insufferably emo as I heard from certain reviewers. He is a jerk though, much to my amusement. It's about time we have a main character that ignores yapping he isn't interested in and just walks off without a word. :D
Also, I absolutely love the music. Yes this was worth its own paragraph. Surprisingly, it's not very japanesy at all. (so far)
I ended up playing Bully partly because of all the GTA4 hype. It's basically GTA lite, except instead of crime it's full of pranks and childish hijinks. This amuses me because not only was I never a troublemaker, I never had experience with fighting cliques. It's like I was the social rosetta stone growing up.
It got a lot of attention before release because people thought it was going to be a game specifically about being a bully, but it's actually more about fighting bullies. I also have a theory that the title is referring to the principal/dean, although it might be referring to the psychopath that befriends you when you arrive at the school.
It's not as open ended as I thought it was going to be. I was given the impression balancing cliques(factions) was going to take more effort and choice. Right now I can only talk to the nerds, while its possible other cliques require unlocking, I am sort of getting the impression story progression is going to determine things more than anything else. Each school day is also shorter than I expected, maybe 10-15 minutes.
The npcs have a lot of humor and life of their own as well. They will wander around the school doing the same things you can do. Playing pranks, starting fights, having conversations (some of which are highly amusing). You might hear a nerd ask you if you have ever played grumblorks and grobloks, or hear your psychopath friend talking to himself about being off his meds, etc.
P.S.
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