I thought that it was implied.Quote:
Originally Posted by StriderKyo
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I thought that it was implied.Quote:
Originally Posted by StriderKyo
im really glad this works in Vista64. i also completely agree about the Lynx.Quote:
Originally Posted by NeoZeedeater
I kinda disagree about FFII. I like Fatal Frame 1 a lot more (it was more original, the imagery was more disturbing, and the action-oriented battles increased the tension). FFII has a way higher budget and the visuals definitely benefit from it. It also has an awesome combo system and encourages you to use the special lenses. But as a result, the game drags... every little ghost takes you 5 minutes to fight. And the scares are been-there-done-that after playing the first game. Still a good game, but it had less of an impact than I thought it would.
FF1, I played through 3 difficulties (Normal, Nightmare, Fatal) and loved it all. FF2, I don't think I could play again because the pacing is rather boring.
FF3 combines the awesome combat in 2 with the intense speed of 1. But the rest of the game is a complete mess. It's clearly a cut and paste job from the first two games, has less ghost variety, virtually gives you unlimited health, and has a cyclical pattern (enter dream, trigger event, wake up, trigger event, repeat). The only? thing I liked was facing the last boss.
1. Portal
Tommy Tallarico
This. I can't recommend it highly enough. Wilykat talked it up for a long time and it was one of those PS1 games that gave me hell finding it, but it's currently $6 through the Japanese PS Network store, so there's really no excuse for anyone not to try it these days. I got to play this, Speed Power Gunbike and Harmful Park among others, so it was a good PS1 year for me. Still no Kyuiin, but I'm working on it.Quote:
Originally Posted by NeoZeedeater
One thing that threw me about the game was its surprisingly violent death scenes. First time I fell into a pit of spikes and Ralph got impaled, I was pretty freaked. Didn't see that coming.
Also of interest on the PS store is Gunners Heaven, a very competent Gunstar Heroes ripoff.
Virtua Fighter 5 (360) - I expected to like it, not to love it. Instead I find myself getting into it more than any fighting game save maybe Third Strike. It's like every little step in this game is stupid rewarding. I can't imagine how good it would be with some interface tweaks.
Portal (PC) - No surprise here.
Street Fighter III: Third Strike (PS2) - This was played a ton before VF5 came along. Nothing I can say that hasn't been said.
Shinobido: Way of the Ninja (PS2) - My favorite stealth game in a long time. I've gushed about it elsewhere on the boards; it's a modern, open-ended Tenchu done right.
Phoenix Wright (DS) - One of the most charming games ever. Case 5 dragged a little, but made up for it in the end. My favorite of the three games.
Dracula X: Rondo of Blood (PCE) - Yeah, the remake came out, too, but it isn't as good as the original, and the bundled emulated version isn't, either. This game was gorgeous through and through, had an awesome soundtrack, and was the perfect difficulty for someone new to non-vagina Castlevania games. The whole alternate level thing is a great idea, too.
Half-Life 2 Episode 2 (PC) - The most fun I've had with Half-Life 2. I liked the new settings, the outdoorsy stuff, and the huge strider battle. And the ending! omg give me episode 3.
Point Blank (PS2) - Well, it was really the whole Gunvari collection, but I'll keep it to one game. I hadn't touched a light gun game in ages, but this is such a blast for multi.
Phantasy Star Online: Blue Burst (PC) - I don't know what the hell I see in PSO, but it's still addicting. Keept it to friends, using private servers, and there were way too many nights staying up way too late playing this. The little PC-oriented touches (ten more hotkeys!) are nice, too.
Breakdown (Xbox) - Shitty gunfights. Areas and scenes taken directly from Half-Life and Halo. Enemies right out of Quake 2. Homage? Whatever. The FPS-y stuff in the game wasn't great, but beating the living piss out of everything was. And this game more than any other does the little camera-related and body-related things I want to see in more FPSes. You can watch your arms as you shimmy along a ledge. You can see your hands as you snap someone's neck. There are things like sliding moves that actually lock your view in place as you perform them. That sort of thing. I want more of that; moves and ideas in first person that are outside of the usual. Sure, other games do this in bursts (Riddick and Dark Messiah), but Breakdown has a ton of this.
These are the only games I played this year:
Tony Hawk's Underground 1 (PS2): I've played this thing so much this year its unbelievable. Four or Five years later, and I'm still finding out new things in this game. I still haven't played thp8 or proving grounds, but I can honestly say that this is the best game in the series. There are so many things in this game that you can do that are either impossible or far too difficult to do in the later games. Stuff like wallie shuffles, 90 degree wallplants, late wallplants, drifting, 45's, wallie boosts, bounces, and the ability to spin grinds and wallrides make this the most technical and satisfying game in the series.
Rez (PS2): I going to go through all the direct assault color schemes.
Tomba (PS1): It took ten years or so, but I finally beat it. It was a fun game, but now that I'm done with it I don't think I'll ever play it again.
Call of Cthulu: Dark Corners of the Earth (Xbox): After just having gone through a shit load of lovecraft material at the time, I had no choice but to go out and get this game. The begining of the game is excellent, they absolutely nailed the look and feel of a lovecraft story. The sequence in which you have to run away from your hotel room was INTENSE, but once you started obtaining weapons, the game sort of fell apart. The navy boat level and the Shogoth were awesome though. Also: Cthulu never showing up sucked dick.
Splinter Cell 2 (Xbox): This game pissed me off. I finished the first game without killing ANYONE (except at the end when you have to in order to end the game), but there is a moment in part 2 that you are ordered to murder an innocent person, if you do not do it the game punishes you by making the rest of the level super difficult. What the fuck kind of design is that? I don't want to be a murderer, I shouldn't be penalized because of it.
Phantom Brave (PS2): I don't really like these kind of games so I don't really know why I bought it. It was either curiosity or the box art, who knows, but I've had it in my collection for a long time and I finally decided to play it this year. It was fun at first, the game had a lot of nice ideas and interesting game play, but eventually you hit a point where the difficulty ramps up and the battles become too damn long, so I gave up on it. Plus, I didn't feel like fucking around in failure dungeons for the rest of my life.
Stuntman 1 (PS2): It pissed me off just like it did the first time I played it. I love this game.
GOTY:
1. - Finally, a football game that plays like real football. The wealth of customization and team building strategies give it legs that prior sports games have not been privy to (don't have to deal with people always picking the Celtics, Lakers, Patriots, Colts, etc.).
2. Rock Band (360) - Best party game to date. The hardware issues and lack of decent DLC (aside from Metallica) are all that's holding it back from claiming the top spot.
3. Quake Wars (PC) - I've actually put more time into the beta than the retail release, but that's mostly because I've been busy with console stuff as of late. The core game is still the best multiplayer shooter of the year IMO. Shame that its depth and insistence on teamwork scared so many of the Battlefield bitches away, leaving us with a small, but competitive community.
4. Call of Duty 4 (360) - The deepest console shooter to date. Shits all over the tired Halo mold.
5. Gears of War (360) - Even with the shitty netcode and glitches aplenty, it's still the second best online shooter on the 360.
6. Team Fortress 2 (PC) - Great core gameplay, but the severe lack of content keeps it from being higher up on my list.
7. Space Giraffe (360) - The best score-based game, the best original title, and at $5, the best deal on XBLA.
8. Virtua Fighter 5 (360) - Great netcode and ridiculous depth in its fighting system are marred by a horrible online interface and a repetitive single-player mode for those who like to play dress up with their characters.
And nothing else matters.
Snoopy vs. The Red Baron (PS2) – if only Star Fox Assault would have been developed by the same team… If you dig adventure airplane shooters get this while you still can. My personal GOTY.
Shining Soul II (GBA) – I don’t know why or how I got sucked into this one. It kinda ticked me off because I would die so much, so maybe I had to stick with it to prove it couldn’t beat me. The customization and powering up got a little addictive too once the systems started to click.
Shooting Love: Trizeal (J-PS2) – really dig the style, and no complex scoring or rank system. Juggling the Golem’s head is the best new shmup gimmick since the Radiant Sword. Get Lifted!
Kururin Squash (GC) - had fun with the GBA games and saw it on sale for $15 at PlayAsia, so figured what the heck. Colorful, delightful environments and happy- go-lucky music make this one of the most pleasant diversions on any game system.
Radirgy (GC) - in anticipation of the domestic release I spent much of the spring playing the import. The item collection really hooked me into playing more and more. Unfortunately, the translation couldn’t get shelf space, so it remains unknown what the hell all the chatter is about in the character’s text messages.
Zelda II: Adventure of Link (GC) – thought I could do a 1cc of this, but not even close, still enjoyed playing through once again. Surprised how tricky some of the game was ~ hidden passages and vague fetch quests, and some on-your-toes platform jumping and sword slashing.
Taito Legends 2 (PS2) – another phenomenal bargain. Regularly dabble with Bonze Adventure, Liquid Kids, and Metal Black. Best retro compilation ever.
Capcom Classics Collection Vol. 2 (PS2) – we finally get Three Wonders on a domestic release. Strider kicks as much ass as always. Varth, Eco Fighters and 1941: Counter Attack round out the shmups. And Knights of the Round, The King of Dragons, and Captain Commando go over the top with multi-tap beat-em-up multplayer arcade conversions.
Oretachi Game Center (J-PS2) – played the crap out of Thunder Cross when it was released. Also regularly revisit Castlevania, Contra, Time Pilot, Quarth, Sonic Wings, and Terra Cresta.
Ruble Saver (GB) – not knowing a thing about it, bought it off ebay for $1.99. Really neat and challenging mech-shooter-platformer.
Honorable Mentions: Raw Danger! and Warship Gunner 2 are eating up all my time toward the end of the year – looking set to start off my most played games of ’08.
1. city of heroes/villians- really my go to game for the past three and a quarter years, very simple gameplay, with amazing customization and it has had 3 of the best issues(content updates adding zones, enemies, events, et cetera) with inventions, the rikti war zone revamp and weapon customization and time travel and the best costume set yet, the enforcer mech armor. with coh/v now being owned entirely by nc soft, and all of the original dev team now working as ncsoft norcal, it has really picked up and the gmae only looks to be getting better
2. super mario galaxy. have a confession to make, i dont play console games much at all anymore, im not some pc eliteist but i just got used to kb and mouse, and i didnt really enjoy going back, this brought me back(probably helped byt the fact that the wiimote is basicly a mouse. beautifuly envisoned, it dosent push insane polygons, but the art is just beautiful, the gameplay is buttoned up solid, and each zone feels like it introduces a new suite of ways to play, plus rosalinas story has a kind of innocent, miyazaki like feel. amazing through and through. goty most likely
3. aquaria, old school styled indy game. its funny, looking at all the "realistic" military games, this is where i wished gaming had gone instead, the game is bright, colorful, fantastic. worth every penny and then some, plus an explorers dream game, tons of catagories of treasure to poke around for.
4. oblivion- well, modders saved this game for me, ketersepheroth made the hand to hand replacer set, that replaced the cheesy hand to hand anims with martial arts techniques, jounk added polearms, and shivering isles and knights were just the content i needed. still not as good as morrowind, still dumbed down in comparison, but a great game that imaginitively takes systems from rpg's that were boring and unimmersive and makes you feel like you are more part of the action.
5. bully- never thought id enjoy this game, but the story is really exactly what i wanted, while your guys is a jerk, hes more a hero of the little guy rather than a bully, and the combat system is pretty solid, plus the mini games were really fun. Much better than i expected.
6. okami- havent gotten to play this game much, waiting for the wii version, but playing it at my friends house, and am enjoying it.
7. guild wars, ok didnt play much, but in spurts was enjoying it, prophecies was a really good game, wasnt crazy about GW:EN ill give it a spot for art though
8. rayman raving rabbids2/wii sport- screw yall, these are short mindless and silly, but get a group of friends together and these games are a fun friday night.
9. bioshock- only played the demo, since the framerate of the demo was not that solid and im going to wait till i get some more ram, but i see where they were going with it, and its a game that really nails atmosphere, plus it reminds me of the deus ex games, which i enjoyed, basicly this is the kind of fps that i can take, bit easy, with the vita chambers, but with enough rpg elements to make me smile.
10. sword of the new world.- ok game with amazing art and music.
honorable mentions gal civ 2 dark avatar, and space rangers 2 for 3 bucks at big lots, woo cheap asses.
these were my played games of 07, now gimmie smash bros and spore dammit.