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In my free time, I've been playing X-COM: Apocalypse. I'm nearing the end on normal having never beaten it before (had one of the bad versions with some corrupted map files or something, causing it to crash whenever you tried to enter one of the alien buildings).
I'm enjoying the hell out of my (free) Zombie Nation game. Wow, this is fun. And tense. And nonstop.
I played the demo for Heroes of Might & Magic 1,ooo,ooo: Awesome of the Yeah. Whatever the latest one is - a combination of RPG leveling and Tetris Attack. I liked it, I might get it! I also tried out Borderlands, and I enjoyed the game there, too. It's like Half-Life mixed with Dragon Age, and I would enjoy a game like that.
I also tried out the demo for Dungeon Siege 3 - it was decent, I may try for a rental on it for some more time. I'm not sure.
I reaaaaally didn't like the Dungeon Siege III demo.
Same here. I didn't play the first 2 so I had no idea if this game is like those, but the control scheme seemed off. Clicking to attack with a sword just seemed endlessly repetitive and, maybe it was because it's a demo, the skills weren't really captivating.Quote:
Originally Posted by Eamin
The dialog and voicework was pretty awful, and I don't know what the hell they were going for with the art style but it didn't work.
That's Clash of Heroes, a very addictive puzzler.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yttrium
I'm playing Infamous 2 right now, and loving it - hugely improved graphics, and great city traversing fun.
I started playing Avalon Code. It's a DS action rpg made by the company that did the Final Fantasy DS remakes. So far it's much better than I was expecting, with how little buzz it got.
The premise of the game is that the world is ending, and you have to use a magic book to record all the things worth bringing over into the new world that gets created.
You can also edit the attributes of various things you have collected. So if a monster has stone skin, you can remove the stone element, reducing it's hitpoints. If a villager is sick, you can remove the illness, making them better, then give it to a monster to make it easier to kill.
I kept dieing on the first boss, so screwed around in the book and looked up a sword recipe I found earlier. I took data from various other objects I had discovered and made a sword that killed the boss in five hits.
I don't think it's going to be a very hard game, but it's cool so far.
You might could use a gamepad, if you have one. I think it's a 360 port. Smashing a button to attack might feel less awkward.Quote:
Originally Posted by silverblaze
I don't know how far you are into it, but eventually your mobility gets kicked up a notch with some powers I very much enjoyed. At one point the game gave me something new and shiney, and I shunned it, because what I already was using was so good.Quote:
Originally Posted by Maledict
Spoiler for specifics:
Demon's Souls - finally got it. Best decision ever, trading in COD:SameOpsShittyServers for a new game :D This game is awesome, and I'll be sinking a LOT of time into it.
Awwww yeah.
I really wish they had ported Demon's Soul to 360. It's one of the few games that makes me want to buy a PS3, but I can't justify the cost for a couple of games. I saw at E3 they have the next game in the line and its both 360 and PS3.
I've been replaying the single-player campaigns of Modern Warfare 1 and 2. Finished the first one and moved on to 2. I know the games are pretty polarizing (people either love them or hate them) but I'm very interested to see if they can pull off Modern Warfare 3 come November. They left 2 off with a lot of loose ends and with the whole development team bailing, it's going to be interesting to see if they can pull off 3.
Rift and something called Cities XL I impulse bought off of steam a few weeks back. Most or less a Sim City clone, I think, but it's been pretty entertaining.
Fallout New Vegas is in the mail (have to pick that up from the post office, rated 18+, so they won't just drop it in the mailbox or give it to your neighbour, they want a personal signature. Le sigh.
Got it as part of a 2-for-1-deal on amazon, Prince of Persia trilogy is the other game(s) I picked. €30 for a relatively new game and a few classics, not too bad.
And I'm still on Ratchet & Clank: Crack in Time.
Just finished DA:O (and Awakening for the first time) and ME2 re-playthroughs. My female Shepard now correctly is involved with Liara, and man am I glad I fixed that; the LotSB DLC is amazing when that dynamic is introduced.
Otherwise played a little Magicka, still need to finish off Deus Ex for the first time (hush), and then have a couple of Humble Bundle games to get through. I'm leery of Amnesia: The Dark Descent though. That one may stay unplayed. Also successfully got my old Arcanum discs installed and working, so I may try getting a playthrough of that in.
Amnesia is awesome, but I haven't gotten that far into it personally. I find that I have little interest in sitting down at a table with a mouse these days.
I'm still playing some Demon's Souls - using a Thief character, despite all the naysayers. I'm really enjoying the tense nature of the game. However, the missus doesn't find it engaging to watch, so I play it when she's doing other things.
Also, taking a note from Silke, I'm playing through Modern Warfare 2 again, but on Veteran. I die - a LOT. However, it's a very crisp game with a great implementation of story and voice acting. In fact, I offer that the multiplayer is a completely separate game (which I'm no longer interested in), and the rest of the game is Very Nice. I should probably get the first one for cheap... This one, too, I play when the missus isn't around.
When she is, however, I'm playing Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (the first one). This game is awesome! I look forward to the times to play it some more :D
If you're looking for a mindless team hack/slash diablo-esque clone, Dungeon Hunter: Alliance does a lot of multiplayer stuff right (like loot) and is easy to pick up. We're enjoying it when we sit down to play together :D
I finally found a way to squeeze some play time into my daily routine:
GF gets up at 4:30 and leaves for work around 5:45...
I could sleep until 6:30 and get ready for work then... or I could get up around 6 and play for 30 to 60 minutes.
Worked great so far. I'm having a blast in Fallout New Vegas, and since you more or less autosave every 5 minutes at the least, I should come out fine. Though I guess I'll leave the larger missions out for when I have more time in one block.
So, yeah, FO:NV is my current game, and I'm having a blast.
I'm trying to rework my daily routine some to game more in the morning. just to tired when iget home now to really game like i use to.
Right now taking a break from wow and MVC n workin gon resident evil 5 and some arcade games :)
I finally finished Avalon Code, it was cool but had some design flaws that severely hampered the overall enjoyment of the game. Will finally start Ocarina next, and I'm trying to convince myself to finally try Demon Souls. Playing Motorstorm on the side in the meantime, and as I finally got a new mouse, I'll probably play Fear 2 over the weekend.
When you do pick up Demon's Souls, I highly recommend staying away from spoiler sites or the (quite thorough) wiki site. There's so much spoiled so fast, it really takes the "oomph" out of the game. If you have technical questions (or, WTF do I do HERE?!) questions, you might try us here, first, Wool.
I could be wrong, but I would hate for you to make the same mistakes I did and accidentally see the guy behind the curtain.
Thanks for the advice, I usually am pretty cautious with that sort of thing but may have laxed with this game. I did get a miniguide as a bonus for preordering the game, I flipped though it a bit and I think it's safe. I haven't decided if I'm going to use it or just shot in the dark wing it.
Right now the only thing I know for sure is that there is a rather helpful ring, but I don't remember where it is.
Jamestown - great game for $5, or even $10 if you have to.
More Uncharted
More Demon's Souls
various other dinky stuff from Steam and bundled sales - Spring Up Harmony, Steel Storm, etc.
I'm about an hour's into Demon's Souls. It's very fun. I thought I would hate it for being too unforgiving, but it isn't so bad so far. The only time I died I was able to get back to my body pretty easily. Granted I'm still in what is probably little more than an extended tutorial, but so far so good.
And the only thing that has killed me was a red eyed demon knight bastard that I quickly learned to stay away from. Explored everywhere else, and found the ring everyone was talking about in the original DS thread. Most of the traps up to this point have been easily circumvented via caution, even without a message as warning. The game definitely likes to blindside you though, which is amusing.
I take great pleasure in the blood stains. Sure the game isn't "tap x to win" simple, but the beginning isn't really all that hard. What's with all these people dieing such chump deaths while swinging blindly? I would almost think they are fake bloodstains placed by the developers to demonstrate how they work, if it weren't for all the ones of people jumping to their deaths next to a fake message, or the ones who hilariously back off cliffs while in combat (which I admittedly I almost did myself once).
Unfortunately I made my first character a throwaway character, because I figured I would ruin it while learning how to play the game. The beginning is so long that I'm not sure I want to restart now though, bah. I was originally going to try several different starters to get a feel of what combat style I want to focus on, but the adventures of Firstguy the incompetent archer might have to continue.
One thing I don't like is the menu system. It could be worse, but it's still pretty garish and muddled. I hate it and haven't bothered to learn how to read it or the equipment contained within, save that ring.
Also rolling feels awkward. I like using a shield more, even though from everything I've heard, rolling is far superior. Parrying is cool too, but I'm not feeling comfortable enough to be that daring on anything but the blue eyed knights.
it's a *bit* of a spoiler, but learning to understand what the symbols mean (it's just memorizing the order) can affect your weapon choice. The letter next to a symbol means how much that stat (that the symbol represents) will contribute to your attackpower with that weapon. Having a D/E/-/-/- weapon, for example, will be more off Str (the first symbol, it's a D here) and somewhat off Dex (the E) and not at all off of your Vit, Magic, or ... well, whatever the last 3 are. As you "enchant" your weapons with stones and stuff, you'll see those letters improve, from E-D-C-B-A-S.
The numbers at the bottom are the requirements to wield/use the weapon/armor without penalty. Again, this is helpful, because if you find Badass Weapon X, but you get a funky message when you wield it, those numbers tell you what you need to improve.
Conveniently, you don't have to look it up on a spoiler site - all of those symbols are in the instruction booklet.
I hate those symbols, I've only bothered to remember a few. And that's not really a spoiler, the little book my game came with talks about all that. It unfortunately doesn't give me a good idea on what the different weapon playstyles are, so I don't know where I want to put my points.
It occurred to me that playing in online mode is practically cheating as much as using a guide. Before almost every new enemy I see a message telling me its weakness. Everything but the dang mages in Stonetooth (or whatever). I hate those guys.
Phalanx was easy, even without doing it the right way. Armored spider sucked, I felt cheap after beating it.Spoiler for how I beat it:
Nah, that's a standard way of beating all sorts of baddies. It's all good.
I wouldn't go toe-to-toe with any of the bosses unless you're wearing heavy armor and sinking points into Vitality. Ugh.
Lack of anything new and exciting has left me doing the game bounce again...
Back to GTA4 for now... Who knows, maybe I'll actually finish it this time. (Still have The Lost & the Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony I've never played too.)
Maybe halfway through Demon's Souls. I'm constantly griping about something or another, but I'm still enjoying it. The thing I was most concerned about, the corpse runs, is proving not to be much of an issue with me. It only really bothers me in World 4; it really sucks to lose so many souls all at once, but once you finally beat it you have so many that it doesn't really matter.
Which reminds me, the challenge is good, but I haven't really felt gratified so far. Either it isn't hard enough to phase me, or it's too hard and I feel like the solution is overly cheesey. Until 4-2. I felt pretty good when I found the pattern for dominating 4-2. I don't think I will ever feel good about World 5 though, that place sucks. :p
Didn't intend to be a mage, but newb missile saved me a few times, so I upgraded it to god missile and it got even better. Mixing spells up with melee, and I've got a bow for pulling nasty things or taking out weak to arrow enemies hiding behind a gauntlet (so basically 4-2 :p).
A friend is playing at the same time, but unfortunately the co-op doesn't really seem to be that necessary for the effort involved. Seems like a novelty.
YEAH DEMON'S SOULS!!!!
I discovered Revenge of the Titans from some humble bundle or steam pack I purchased around christmas time. I'm surprised at how much I'm enjoying it. It's like tower defense meets strategy. The research tree could be improved (tough to know what I should research), but it doesn't seem to send mobs against you that can only be killed by a certain type of weapon until you've researched it.
Playing Arkham Asylum. It's a good game, but it's not living up to the hype. Kind of like Uncharted 2 in terms of its being a run of the mill quality game that some people for reasons unknown decided was game of the year material.
I like AA because it was a super hero, specifically batman, game done right. You got to be stealthy, had some cool gadgets, had to solve puzzles, did some neat martial artsy stuff and the joker was behind it all. It's certainly not the best game ever, but it was a top notch game for the genre.Quote:
Originally Posted by Eamin
Batman AA was the surprise hit of the year. Everyone was so sure it was going to suck, and then it was not only good, it was dang near flawless. The game had a ton of variety and hit all the notes a game of it's genre should, while also being one of the few superhero games in existence worth playing.
I can only think of two problems with that game: the detective mode was a little imbalanced, and one of the bosses (not saying which one) was stupid. That's about it. In it's genre, there is almost nothing in recent memory that really compares, save maybe Assassin's Creed 2 (which I haven't played yet).
Maybe it just isn't your type of game. Although even with the best games of the year, I generally try not to get carried away by hype, it distracts you from the experience, and there isn't much that can live up to the ridiculous heights that constant praise inspires.
Almost done with DS by the way, it wasn't as long as I thought it was going to be. People kept saying 60 hours, but I've only got 40 or so logged, and that's with me leaving the game running all night even when I'm not playing it. (I get lazy and know I want to play later, but don't feel like logging out :p)
I'm not sure if I got better, or if I overleveled from all the souls I got from 4-2 and 4-3, but I'm pretty much dominating everything in sight at this point. Sadly most of the spells you get from demon's souls are pretty useless. I mostly just fire god missile at things annoying me from range, and smack everything else with the crescent sword I found and upgraded.
I tend to like the genre. It's a good game, but there was never a point where I was like wow, this is great.Quote:
Maybe it just isn't your type of game.
Batman was great but imo the main story was way to short. I usually do story games slow 1-2 hours at a time but i beat it in i think 4 sittings which i think is way to short. there is the extra chrs and sidequest but that really didn't interest me :)
The best thing that came out of it was they proved a comic book game past what capcom does with it's fighters can actually work.
Anyways Im working on some of my backlog. I let resident eveil 5 slip by me and im going through that now. i really didn't like the 1st 3 chapters but now the story seems to be picking up and feels more like resident evil.
Now that i got that steam sell i plan on doing a ME run too. My friend Recently told me you never played ME, whats wrong with you!? :)
I stumbled across this: http://www.reghardware.com/2011/07/2...enemy_unknown/
and that of course had the desired effect and made me nostalgic for the good old days... Fired up X-com, started a new game, beginner(I'm pretty sure I hit beginner anyways) - and by about the 2nd week I had shot down 1 small UFO - no problems on the ground with it - Then had to defend my base. I didn't even have lasers yet, but I had sectoids with heavy plasma inside the base... Surprisingly enough - I managed to fight my way through it. Took down a couple more UFO's - lost some troops here and there - Feb is rolling around. Base is under attack. Fuck... I still hadn't managed to get laser rifles; and this time I'm up against Sectoids with Blaster bomb launchers - well, I barely beat down the attack with 3 of my 14 left. I hadn't even gotten my replacement troops in yet - when my base was under attack again.
I surrendered at that point - bow to your new Alien Overlords!
Edit: Had to deal with a Terror site between the two base attacks too - 4-5 cyberdisks; They are a PAIN with nothing but standard rifles 1 HWP cannon and 1 Troop with a rocket launcher.
Yeah, let's hope more devs are inspired by the success of AA to actually put some effort into their superhero games. If we're lucky Marvel might stop giving the rights to its superhero games to the likes of Activision and Sega.Quote:
Originally Posted by DietCanada
I wouldn't blame the devs as much as the publishers. There isn't much the devs can do to make the game better when they are being forced to have it out in time for a movie. A game takes longer to make and is less fluid with changes than a movie.
So far this summer, it seems like the trend of soulless movie cash-ins is going to continue, but there's hope for other superhero games perhaps. There was talk awhile back that Marvel's partnership with Disney is likely to produce better games. Or something like that, I don't remember the details.
Whew, that doesn't sound like beginner to me.Quote:
Originally Posted by Melcar
No me neither -- It was rough... and not at all meshing with my remembered past experiences - it's possible I mis-clicked... All I know is I was getting my ass kicked.Quote:
Whew, that doesn't sound like beginner to me.
Finished Ocarina of Time 3D today. Despite being a port of a 13-year-old title, it's probably the best game you can get for the 3DS today. Which is quite sad four months in. Nevertheless, it's still a great game. But I don't think I have the patience to start the Master Quest right away, which probably means several months of waiting for another "worthy" 3DS game.
I'm playing Dark Messiah of Might and Magic. It's a first person spinoff of the Heroes of Might and Magic series. I think the story is connected to HoMM5 and its expansion directly, but I don't remember the details.
I picked it up for 3 dollars during the Steam sale, because I have a friend that has been constantly talking about it for years. I always dismissed it because the gaming media always painted it as a buggier copycat of Oblivion, but they were wrong.
My first surprise was that it isn't open world at all, it's completely linear, although you are occasionally presented with alternate routes or puzzles. The story is also kind of predictable/hokey, and the balance is a little off at times.
But it's got the best first person fantasy combat I've played in a long time. The sword swinging itself isn't too unusual, same general mechanics of other games of the type, although they seem to work a little better, feel a little more visceral. But in addition to using your weapons or magic, you can also use the environment to kill the enemy. It's honestly a little ridiculous at times, but no more so than the ever present exploding barrel in shooters.
So, you can pick things up, you can cut ropes, and you can kick. See an orc standing on a ledge? Kick him off! Kick that guard into a fire! Cut the rope on the bridge, or destroy the support structure to a ceiling/statue. If all else fails, pick up a barrel and throw it at your opponent, then rush forward and perform a coup de grace. Fun fun.
Yeah, I'm not in the mood for Master Quest either at the moment. I haven't even gotten all the gold skultulas yet. I used to 100% every Zelda game, until Wind Waker came along with it's ridiculouslness.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yaxa
And I've probably said it before, but I'm not really disappointed, because I don't ever remember being impressed by a console launch's first year. Some are moderately better than others. The next game is going to be Starfox, which I loved on the N64, but isn't going to be a big enough deal to keep me playing the 3DS. I think it's probably going to be this holiday when more stuff worth playing finally starts coming out.
Although some Japanese companies are getting extremely gun-shy about developing for the 3DS. It's a little ridiculous, as it threatens to create a situation in which once again, Nintendo makes the only games worth playing on a Nintendo console. 3rd party devs don't want to risk making games for a small user base, but the user base won't grow until there are more 3rd party games.
I'm playing Bastion and From Dust on the xbox. Having fun playing both of them :)
Finally got around to starting LA Noire (Alice took longer than expected) and I find it quite... disappointing. I'm only at the beginning of disc 2 (homicide desk) and I'm already tired of doing the same thing over and over. It's like an adventure game with only one puzzle, even making you relive ye olde pixel hunting days.
On top of that, your performance on a case doesn't seem to matter at all. The game simply makes you try again if you stray outside certain parameters (letting someone escape, getting a witness or civilian killed, etc), and even handling a case so badly that you barely just solve it (1 star rating) doesn't result in more than a cursory chastising which is forgotten by the next scene, in which you're presented with your next case because you did so well on the last one. Uh, right...
The only choice the game seems to give you is that you can "choose" to ignore street crimes. Which apparently can only be solved by shooting all of the suspects. Not that your supervisor cares that you're racking up a body count that would put any serial killer to shame.
Admittedly, the facial animations are great. But it seems that the developers put so much effort into those that they forgot to build a compelling game around them.
LA Noire sounds more like an interactive movie than a game. It might be more enjoyable if you play it on the side, a few missions at a time, instead of focusing on only it.
I'm playing Alpha Protocol. One of the things I got for cheap from Steam. I'm glad I got it for $5, and would have been pretty upset if I got it at $50. The crazy thing is they delayed it like two or three times, I can't imagine how unplayable it was at those points.
I want to like it, but they aren't making it easy. The core of the game is fine. It's like a halfway between Mass Effect 1 and Mass Effect 2. Not as action-ey as the latter, but more focused than the former. The different things you can do, the way conversations work, it's all very interesting and fun.
The problem is how poorly the game plays, performance wise. I haven't run into any game breaking bugs, but there are plenty of immersion-killing ones. Loading times are slow, the interface is awkward, and the controls are frustrating. Mouse acceleration in particular is terrible, even after tweaking the ini. PC gamers like to complain that consolification ruins PC games all the time, but this might be one of the times it is actually true. Not in design though*, just the controls. I'm too stubborn to switch to a gamepad though.
*The one exception is the save system. You cannot save anywhere. There are constant checkpoints along a level at which point it autosaves; you can save at any of these checkpoints, although it isn't unusual to think you are doing well and mess up your autosave if you haven't manually saved in awhile.
At one point I accidentally set off an alarm as I walked through a door, but I couldn't turn around and deal with it because it was a checkpoint. As soon as I walked in, the door locked behind me and all the guards in the room I just left starting firing wildly and throwing grenades at the door, alerting everyone in the new room to my location. Annoying. And since it was a checkpoint (and I hadn't saved in awhile), I was stuck with that same scenario every time I loaded.
P.S. I feel like I'm spamming this thread lately, but I bought a lot of games from Steam, and I intend to beat them dangit. :p
I strolled casually through Uncharted and Uncharted II - both were excellent games, and I'm glad I got around to playing them. I haven't done much of the multiplayer on Uncharted II, though the online-co-op stuff is pretty slick. I think both games rate a 9/10, easy.
In the quieter moments of consoling, I am still playing through Battles of Heroes of Might and Magic (or whatever it's called). It's a puzzle fighter, and it's easy to pick up again after a hiatus. I'm about halfway through the game.
On the handheld, I'm playing Puzzle Kingdoms, the "supposed" sequel to a very popular puzzle fighter. This game is terrible - the graphics are poorly executed, the writing is really pathetic, and the overall plot is thin and predictable. The actual puzzle fighting, though, is a unique perspective - instead of swapping two items on a row/column/adjacency/whatever, you push on the entire row/column from the end. There are icons to show you what color tile is coming up, and completion is done when 3+ blocks are touching (long side, not corners). Gravity pulls things down to fill holes, and special blocks sometimes pop up in the voids - but never from the edges. Once I got the hang of the puzzle aspect, I started to enjoy it. The rest of the game is just stupid shit.
On the PC, I'm working my way through Mass Effect (Steam purchase). I'm also taking a few more turns at Team Fortress II for some mindless fun. When I need to kill a few minutes, I'm playing Realm of the Mad God. It's a dinky, pixelated-style game, but it's mindlessly fun and addictive. I'm surprised we haven't heard more about it, here. :)
I'm in a gaming slump.
Stopped playing WoW at the end of January.
Stopped playing STO at the end of February.
Stopped playing LotRO, and others here and there, and haven't even updated any in a long time.
Even though I bought ME and ME2 from Steam (since I cannot find any of my original ME purchase info from 2 years ago, let alone remember who I got it from) during the summer sale, I attempted to re-start ME, only to realize a feeling of "ugh" because I'd gotten three quarters of the way through and now have to re-start for no good reason and also no longer have any of the DLC I'd had.
So I've been playing a few games here and there that I picked up:
Terraria is a fun one, got it for 2.50 from Steam during the pricing woops, and though I'd been focusing on single-player on that I haven't touched it in a month
Minecraft (yes, I got into it after my color complaints in the old thread which are no longer as big of an issue, I blame Dale) which I play a few hours a week
Hellgate - in re-beta from t3fun/Hanbitsoft - it's the same game, mostly, with a lot of the same bugs. New tutorial, some bad translations, and in order to get into act 3 you have to buy a micro-transaction "in-game ticket" (or buy it from other players for 350k+ paladium) but that opens it up for all characters on your account. Also, it gives you access to Stonehenge and eventually Tokyo.
But mostly I've been dealing with life, and Geocaching in between. Being outside is SO refreshing - I have a tan! - and I haven't had a major allergy attack since the beginning of June.
Aren't we all?Quote:
I'm in a gaming slump.
HA, I've been playing thought that Coop with my brother. We just moved on to Act 3 - (had to save up enough Paladium to buy 2 tickets -- not to big of a deal; just ran a 2nd set of characters up through Act 2.)Quote:
Hellgate - in re-beta from t3fun/Hanbitsoft - it's the same game, mostly, with a lot of the same bugs. New tutorial, some bad translations, and in order to get into act 3 you have to buy a micro-transaction "in-game ticket" (or buy it from other players for 350k+ paladium) but that opens it up for all characters on your account. Also, it gives you access to Stonehenge and eventually Tokyo.
I got Terraria gifted to me yesterday; hoping to get some time to play it this weekend. I finished up Duke Forever, yawn. I bought Infamous 2 but I haven't had much face time with the TV to play it though. I must say it's somewhat jarring to hear Ellis' voice from LFD2 whenever Cole opens his mouth. And then there's Civ5 of course, which is still my fallback game.
You're going to want to go "softcore" mode and once you have a chest built, bank your coin there (don't bother with the piggy bank). That's the original released mode and banking your cash will prevent any untimely surprises like blood moons or your first boss mob discovery from removing all your hard-earned cash.Quote:
Originally Posted by Grindel
They added hardcore, made some changes to how weapons work, and larger monster spawns in 1.04 or 5 to please the combat-loving crowd and continued that in 1.06 making combat even more difficult by decreasing potion effectiveness drastically amongst other things. I'm hoping they add a "build" mode for 1.07 with old spawn rates and potion effectiveness to please those of us enterprising construction-types, but if it's too difficult for now, be patient. I'm hoping it'll get better as they've proven they regularly listen to their forum posters (almost all of the changes in have been asked for by *someone*.)
I also recommend the wiki for "omg what just happened?!?" questions.
If you get back to where you died, though, you can usually* recover what you'd lost.Quote:
Originally Posted by Merrick ap'Milandra
*Usually = if you don't die again/repeatedly/can get back.
Yeah, absolutely, but if you play on mediumcore, you drop *all* of your items according to the patch notes.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mileron
Hope you've got spare armor/weapons/pickaxe/torches/potions/special items in your house chests. :)
Sounds like an old-skool PoFear raid! :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Merrick ap'Milandra
Civ4 earlier this summer, but thanks to you lot and the Steam summer camp, I made the jump to CiV. Working on the Steam achievements, lol.
I bought the PSP port of Persona 1 awhile back but never played it. The PSP port of Persona 2 comes out next month, so I figured I should play the first one to justify a purchase.
Old school of old school. Very little plot exposition, even by old game standards. Within the first 30 seconds of the game you have your superpowers, congrats! Also very little explanation as to wtf is going on gameplay wise. Had to actually read the manual, because the game also has weird mechanics that don't immediately make sense.
You can talk to monsters in random combat, and try and affect their emotions, which might debuff them, cause them to attack, flee, or give you items.
It's interesting going back and seeing where the series started, especially considering it wasn't generic like most older jrpgs, but I can't say it's that great otherwise.
Lost internet access last month, and most of my PC games needed it to function correctly. Even games without online DRM had various problems, such as stuttering caused by checking for a connection, needing to be patched, etc. So the only thing I actually played last month was Star Ocean 2 for the PSP, which was fun and only sometimes stupid.
It got me to thinking about what exactly is wrong with modern jrpgs. I think the answer might be that they are just too bloated, but further testing is required. Lack of innovation alone can't be the problem if I can still have fun with an older game.
Anyway, to make up for last month, and the fact I won't be buying any of the new titles this month (need to upgrade computer and fix car), I'm going to binge like crazy on some of the stuff I already have.
Starting with:
Jeanne D'arc - PSP. Srpg. Had this forever and never got around to it, it's really good. I hate the stupid animals though.
Naruto Ninja Storm 2 - PS3. Fighting game. First one had an open area to run around in, but boring missions and no story. This one is linear, but has more interesting missions.
Singularity - PC. Fps. It's like someone threw Bioshock, Fear, Half Life, Wolfenstein, etc all into a blender. It's a lot of fun so far.
I am prone to fickle whims, so this isn't certain, but I intend to beat the rest of the stuff I got on sale a couple months ago (just in time for the next holiday sale, ho ho ho): Just Cause 2, Assassin's Creed 2, and Bulletstorm. Depending on how much time I end up having, I might end up spamming this thread every week. :p
Finished Fallout New Vegas (story at least... lots to do still) and spent the last few weeks playing inFamous in 30 minute sessions basically.
Finally beat it yesterday, now on towards Assassin's Creed Brotherhood.
And I still have an unfinished Ratchet & Clank, Gran Turismo 5, plus the still untouched Prince of Persia stuff....
I seriously need to play more.
I dropped Terraria like a bad habit once Satan Himself gifted me Fallout New Vegas. I'm 74 hours in already and I'm probably not halfway through. Not even counting the DLC. These types of games are a completionist's crack cocaine.Quote:
Originally Posted by Grindel
inFamous 2 turned out to be a lot of fun, and I highly recommend it. I'd pick up Dark Souls, but I don't have the time for two huge open world games at once. As soon as I'm done with New Vegas I'll get it.
Wool
"Bullestorm" is actually a hoot, if you realize it's NOT yer typical FPS, and is meant to be played, literally, over the top for shits n' giggles :P
Forza 4, Fallout new vegas and another play through of bastion
Nothing new to play here. I've been killing some time with Puzzle Agent 2, but it's hard not to be disappointed by the lack of improvements compared to the first one.
I've been tinkering with League of Legends. After hearing about it enough on Penny-Arcade, I thought I'd try it out. I had never heard of Defense of the Ancients (DotA, Warcraft 3 mod), so this type of game was completely new to me.
It's alright. There's still the aspect of being "grouped" with assholes, online. However, I only do the non-PvP stuff, so that helps some. It's entertaining. I saved all my WhateverTheFuckCurrency points and bought a top-cost character that showed up once on a free week. That's probably the extent of my interest in "building" at this point.
My plans on going on a video game binge failed to come to fruition, Between the Uncharted mp beta, Orcs Must Die, and Naruto being way more fun than I expected (100%ed it), I never got to the last half of my planned list. Finishing up Jeanne D'arc now, won't have time for much else before Uncharted comes out. I am trying to pressure a friend to play Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light with me though, I heard it was good co op and should be pretty short.
Played through Portal 2 again over the weekend. I was originally going to take my time and look for more hidden stuff, but eventually I just wanted to get on with the story. Still a shame that they didn't flesh out the historic parts more, imo. And it doesn't look like we'll ever get any real single player DLC.
Now I'm in the middle of an obscure little adventure game called The Art of Murder: FBI Confidential. Despite being from 2008, it somehow manages to feel incredibly dated. And it combines some of the worst choices of adventure game design, almost as if on purpose. And don't get me started on the localization (the developer is Polish)...
I can't believe I'm still playing Puzzle Kingdoms, the really shitty puzzle fighter. The puzzles work, and every night I do a couple more.
I'm still playing through Clash of Heroes of Might and Magic, on the PS3, but I downloaded the demo for Dungeon Defenders to try out. The PC version was terrible, all because of the play control. I'm hoping the console version is better.
I'm about to start Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, but I have the *awesome* opportunity to play either the Wii version (nunchuk and all) or the Gamecube version (using the GC controller on the Wii). Recommendations?
There are basically only two reasons to pick the GC version over the Wii version:
- You absolutely must have a left-handed link (the Wii version has the whole world mirrored to accommodate a right-handed Link for right-handed motion controls)
- You hate motion controls (no Classic Controller support on the Wii)
Played Bastion over the weekend, it was wonderful. My only complaint is that you are constantly getting new weapons, abilities, and upgrades, but don't really have enough levels to use them all. My personality doesn't really allow for picking a favorite combo and sticking with it, I'm constantly wanting to try and max out everything. I guess that's what new game + is for.
Skyrim, Binding of Isaac, Sequence, Nation Red, and Voxatron for myself
I'm *still* playing Puzzle Kingdoms (DS)? My wife is starting to mock me.
I downloaded Nitronic Rush - freebie from a Digipen group - and I like it enough that I'm considering getting an Xbox controller to play it with.
I recently started playing Twilight Princes (Wii version). It's so-so. The dog stages are dumb :(
If you use a wired xbox controller you can just plug it into the PC directly and it will work.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yttrium
Skyrim
Haven't been able to get Skyrim yet, so I'm replaying Syberia II along with a dash of F1 2011...
Skyrim, Orcs must Die, Old raids in WoW.
Picked up Fallout 3 for $9. I just started it. The first 5 seconds of the game are EXACTLY like what I remember from Bioshock. After that, it's more along the lines of 60% like Bioshock :D
Also: continuing to play Clash of Heroes of Might and Magic, Puzzle Kingdoms (the worst puzzle game, ever), and Zelda: Twilight Princess. I'm thinking of ditching the Zelda game. It just isn't fun anymore :( it hurts to say that about a Zelda game.
Skyrim mostly. Playing Arkham City off and on when I get the chance but it hasn't been much.
Got Limbo for $2.50 on Steam the other day and spent a couple hours tonight playing it. It was okay, but I really wasn't as impressed as most people seemed to be. I wouldn't have wanted to pay more than five dollars for it.
Picked up Zelda: Skyward Sword. Graphics look fuzzy as heck. I like the art style so this makes me sad. Can't get my component cables to work to see if that would make it any better. Not very far in, I like it so far. I hear there is a lot of filler (which will piss me off), and I hate motion controls as a rule, but everything else is good. The motion controls aren't that bad, but I'm sure I'll get sick of them eventually.
I also started Assassin's Creed 2 the other day, one of the games I got during the last Steam sale. I'm only a few hours into it and I can already tell its going to be a thousand times better than the first one. Tutorial system is annoying though. Instead of telling you what button does what, it assigns random ass symbols to commands and then tells you that this symbol performs that command. Excuse me, but neither my keyboard nor my gamepad have a "eye with a squiggly" button/key. You end up wasting time trying to figure out what it wants you to do, as you flail like a drunk baboon.
And finally I started Persona 2 for the PSP the other day. I probably won't have much time for it though. It's much better than the first one so far.
Terraria 1.1 came out, bringing with it a huge host of changes, including additional bosses and new items. It's also available on Steam for another 6 hours for 2.50, or 7.50 for a 4-pack.
Skyrim. Doing bandit runs in between miscellaneous quests.
Angry Birds. I'm not very good. Better at Rio.
Still geocaching. Have a few days off this month so I'll probably spend one or two doing just that.
I loved Limbo, especially the art style and the ending. Some of the puzzles required a level of precision that were infuriating however. I paid 10 dollars for it and it was worth the trip by far.Quote:
Originally Posted by Wool
I picked up the introversion bundle and have been playing multiwinia. That game is fantastic to play in bursts. I got tired of Nation Red so have been playing multiwinia instead for those 5-15 minute breaks.
Assassin's Creed 2 is a huge improvement over the original, although the assassinations were more interesting in the first one, and they still manage to mess things up with some of the new systems.
For example: They added corrupt officials you could kill to lower your notoriety. They start shouting and run as soon as they see you. But they still spawn even if you are at zero notoriety, and attract the attention of guards even if you don't chase them.
That's not the worst of it, oh no. They also, for some inexplicable reason, run right up to your face before they run off. And if you try and ignore them they come back and do it again!
One time I was calmly walking to a ladder when one came out of nowhere shouting "Stay away from me murderer", pushed me off the ladder, and climbed up the very same ladder I was trying to climb myself. It's like they want to die. :wtf:
This is old news to most of you, two year old game and all, but I thought it was funny/bizarre.
Definitely. I would get stuck for 10 minutes even though I knew the solution because I didn't know the exact timing it wanted. In something skill based like Super Meat Boy that makes sense, but with something puzzle based it's just annoying.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mihoko Ishii
Still worth playing though.
Just started Uncharted 3 while waiting for my Star Wars account to go active. I forgot how fun Uncharted games are.
Skyrim and for something online i do gears and fighting games. probably will try to fit old republic in there too.
backlog: i hope to get through in my 3 week break from classes
-Batman(im a bit in now but skyrim just shut that down, batman ,tho, is really great. just to much shit to play right now lol)
-Dark souls new game +
-mw3
-perfect save for me2 on insane
-god of war 3
-on steam i got some stuff i feel bad i never got around to play yet- half life episode, bioshock, and assassins creed :)
-and while i promised myself i wouldnt get anymore games for some reason i did a favor a for a friend and got him gears3 at gamestop and i ended up taking advantage of their buy 2 get 1 free deal and got LA noria and N2 for myself. the n2 konomi game looks really cool. i couldnt make up my mind on the free game so just got that which looks like a hack and slash game(love those!) :)
My flight sim bug has bitten me again...
and DCS Black Shark 2 recently came out... So, I'm trying to fly that squirrely beast. Emphasis on the "trying" part.
I *finally* beat Puzzle Kingdoms. My opinion is still: one of the shittiest games made for the DS. Absolutely terrible. I powered through it, like the first bite of a Vegemite sandwich.
On the console, I'm enjoying Fallout 3. I plan on getting the Platinum Trophy :D I'm making good progress, so far. I might run out of Speech challenges, or terminals to hack, but I suspect I'll find a way to make it work.
On deck: Uncharted 3 (xmas gift), Batman: Arkham City (xmas gift), and Kingdom Hearts 358/2 (or whatever) on the DS.
Guitar Hero should arrive tomorrow.
Started a new GTA IV save last week too.
Couple months back I picked up Duke Nukem on 360 for $20. It was about what I expected, some good mostly bad but for $20 I can't complain to much.
CoD:MW3. played the shit out of the single player and solo spec ops missions. Don't have Live so can't play online.
Just picked up Skyrim so playing that now.
Being unemployed while going to school and taking care of my dad I can only afford a couple games a year so get pretty picky and Skyrim was a good choice because of how much there is to do in it. Should keep me going until I get my financial aid refund in March and buy a new game or two.
Took my turn playing Duke Nukem Forever. It was pretty much what I expected. Crappy, dated game that wasn't quite as bad as everyone said it was. I'm surprised anyone expected anything more. My only real complaint is it went on too long, I got bored sometime around the mines/dam.
The best part was unlocking all the previous trailers from past E3s. They looked to have made this game four different times, with quite a lot of work done each time. Maybe Gearbox should have acquired one of those early prototypes instead. :grinyes:
Heck, if 3D Realms had the slightest bit of business sense at all, they would have released all 4 versions themselves, and might even still exist today.
P.S. I got a kick out of Duke saying, "I'd buy this for a dollar". I don't know what that joke was supposed to be referring to, but considering I got DNF for a dollar, it was an apt fit.
Oh my goodness, Robocop silly! Your geek membership may be in danger now.Quote:
Originally Posted by Wool
:p
Now I'm playing Rochard, a pretty cool sidescrolling puzzle platformer I got off Steam. The main character is a space redneck that works in a space mine (yes it's already awesome!). Story is meh but better than I was expecting. Humor consists of god awful puns and a mix of redneck and popular culture jokes.
Gameplay is pretty fun. The primary mechanics center around gravity. You have a gravity gun ala Half Life that allows you to pick up and project objects. You can also change the gravity in a room to low gravity, which makes you jump higher, lets you pick up heavier objects, lets you fling objects further, etc. The game is also continually adding new environmental objects to create interesting puzzles with. I'm only an hour in, but it's very fun so far. It's got a little bit of a very light Metroid flavor to it.
Ah, I was very young when Robocop came out. I remember it, but it was a little too violent for me, so I don't remember all of it. :pQuote:
Originally Posted by Nerkahia
Currently going through Bastion and loving it. How did this game not get any love for GOTY 2011?
I'm also playing:
Binding of Isaac
Battlefield 3
In my backlog are:
Empire and Napoleon: Total War
Darksiders
Dungeon Defenders
Gears of War 3
Assassin's Creed: Revelations
LoZ: Skyward Sword
Skyrim
Gosh, that's a lot of gaming in my future.
I finished Skyward Sword. I thought it was wonderful, I don't get what so many people were complaining about. In particular, I kept expecting this horrible slog of fetch quests and padded content near the end, and was shocked to find myself at the final dungeon without much extra effort. My final played time wasn't that much longer than usual either, and that was with me coming within 99% of completion (all items, hearts, sidequests).
Anyway, my next ridiculously short game I started (and will soon finish): Sonic Generations. This is actually my first 3D sonic, and it's very pretty. The controls can be a little quirky at times*, but on the whole it's pretty much the perfect Sonic game. Stages switch between classic 2D and ridiculous 3D courses. The levels and soundtracks are remixed homages to past titles. It's very short, but there are a ton of optional challenges.
*My only two complaints. 1) spin dash in classic mode doesn't work the way it does on the Genesis and I keep using it incorrectly by instinct, 2) analogue movement in 3D mode is sometimes off and I end up running or jumping off a cliff. There are also a couple of extra moves which are a bit awkward to pull off and could have just as easily been remapped to a more convenient context-sensitive location. (hitting y for an air dash, instead of just reusing x which serves no function in mid air)
It's very fast and very fun, and continually goes on sale for $10-$15. If you ever liked Sonic in the past, it's a great game for the price with no ridiculous garbage tacked on.
It got several nods for best soundtrack, but typically very few indie efforts get recognized for GOTY. The extra polish, presentation, and hype for blockbuster titles always overshadows them. Even Portal 2, which was one of my favorite games of the year, was nominated but continually panned for not being all encompassing enough for GOTY.Quote:
Originally Posted by Thwick
I don't even know what the final temple is yet because the damn thing just keeps going on and on. I just got toQuote:
Originally Posted by Wool
and I hope that this is it. Frankly, I can't take much more of this.Spoiler for location:
As for padding, the thunder dragon challenges are pretty much the ultimate filler, imo. Doing all of the spirit collections and fighting all of the bosses again? No thanks.
Spoiler for water dragon:
Also stuck trying toSpoiler for another tedious side quest:
At this point I really just want to get it over with. Give me a classic Zelda over this one any day.
A friend of mine lost his patience playing this game too, and he kept saying the same thing "I just wish it would end." Maybe it's like LA Noire and you enjoy it more if you play it less. I know a lot of you guys tear through games super fast.
I don't have the wii at my house, so my pattern for playing this game was timed in a certain way. I would play for 60-90 minutes a session, and would go something like this:
Day 1: play up until the dungeon and stop
Day 2: play the dungeon and stop
Day 3: do sidequests
Day 4: repeat the cycle
I thought the dragon quests were pretty short myself, but ended up doing only one a day due to constant interruptions from others at that time.
Hmm, that's optional content. The only reason to do that stuff is for the challenge or for completion.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yaxa
Spoiler for side quest:
All in all, I considered the optional content far easier than in past Zelda games. It was less time consuming (looking at you Wind Waker) and there were less widgets to find (Ocarina of Time skulltulas).
I've been playing Skyward Sword for a month now (to the day), so I wouldn't exactly call it tearing through :pQuote:
Originally Posted by Wool
Fair enough, I'm sorry you didn't enjoy it as much. :D
Total War: Shogun 2
The AI is sometimes very dishonorable!
Batman: Arkham City
I'm surprised at how GOOD this game is. Arkham Asylum was fun, but I didn't 100% it. Maybe I'll go back (though, going back after the improvements is always tough, right?) and try it out. In any case, B:AC is a lot of fun, and I'm enjoying even the tedious challenge-fights and campaign challenges in the Riddler side-game-thing. I'm going to try to Platinum Trophy this game, mainly because I'm already so close.
Top notch production value, and one of the best play-control games I've experienced in a long, long time. I'm glad to own this one.
I just finished Donkey Kong Country for the Wii - it was amusing and I enjoyed it. I got it as a christmas present. Wouldn't say it's worth full price - but defiantely worth picking up on sale and playing through to the end.
I've also picked up Titan Quest to get a DiabloIII fix in - it was on sale for $5 on steam. I played through Greece, and was enjoying it. Then I got to Egypt, and about halfway through - just got sooooooooooo bored with it. Same environments, same mobs, same stupid slow wand casting spell. Very booring, and not sure it was even worth the $5 I paid for it. Which is odd because I know there's plenty of people who LOVE this game. /shrug
It won't get any more playtime...
So now I'm onto Skyward Sword myself. So far so good. I love Ocarina and aLttP, and I was kind of meh on most of the successors - twilight princess and wind walker being the two "best of the rest" Here's hoping skyward sword lives up to the hype.
In the queue is:
Batman AC
Skyrim round 2 modded to the max (first time through was vanilla)
Finally finished Skyrim. Almost thought this one would go on forever. Well technically I guess it does, but I'm already master of all of the guilds and have very little motivation to do mini quests.
Spoiler for Skyrim ending:
I had pretty much the same experience, but I was dumb enough to buy it at near-full price with the expansion and thus am not sad that the studio went under. If you play the other campaigns you pretty much run through the same lands in a different order.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kongar
FFXIII-2 (That's a mouthful) got delivered last night. I put in about 2 hours so far (so like 1.5 hours of cutscenes and 30 minutes of game). Too soon for me to give deep thoughts on the game just yet but so far it seems solid. Very similar to the first one but a bit "cleaner." I'll have more of a chance to play it over the weekend.
many youtube gamers are saying FF is a decent game and better than the other one but is getting vary low views for their let's play and few of the reports in japan is sales are not as good as they thought it'd be. this sadly might be the last FF for a while :(