What Are You Playing (Winter, 2013-2014)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by magnifiedplaid

I'm at the end of Chapter 3 right now, and I can't shake the feeling that I'm not "playing the right way." For some reason, the combat seems a bit unnecessarily difficult. I am making progress in the game, but it's in between frustrating moments of getting my ass handed to me over and over again.

---

All I can guess is that you're doing the blocking wrong. Anytime you see something flash roll away, otherwise press block (earlier is better than later) whenever you see an enemy winding up. The game is silly easy even on hard if you're used to those kinds of games, but there's a couple enemies that have weird animations that I had to actually learn. If I recall the big werewolves have something wacky where it looks like their attacks can be parried (or whatever they call it) but they actually can't, and I had a hard time reading the spider movements because their flash wouldn't really show up properly. When in doubt just smack something twice and roll to the side.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Andrew

Oh... I probably misremembered something you said (or didn't say) years ago. Somebody here loves it. Finch?

---

Actually, it's probably me that your thinking of. And I don't normally enjoy JRPGs. But TiTS is amazing.

Oh, something else I forgot about Castlevania: You might want to test the combos and see what you can cancel into block. You might be getting hit more than you think because another inconsistency is that you can't always interrupt your moves for blocking as you can in games like God of War. Long combos are actually often bad because they'll generally just hamper you and leave you wide open.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by NeoZeeDeater

Outlast - Pretty freaky shit. It's nice to have a horror game where you're super vulnerable even if it is more simplistic and cinematic than old survival horror games. I hear this gets repetitive later on, though.

---

Yeah! Outlast was an awesome take on the horror game. Not only is it refreshing to have a weapon-free first-person game, it really meshed with the feel of vulnerability.

As much as I don't want to rip on it because I like it so much, I do think it has its share of problems though. The weapon-free vibe only gets the game so far before certain things start to seem ridiculous, like how enemies tend to throw you around rather than beat the shit out of you when they do get you, how the first "boss" isn't capable of looking under more than one hospital bed at a time when you're hiding, and how your character ends up using somewhat violent means as a result of 'lucky timing' or scripting anyway. Whatever, it's still so worth it to experience the first few hours.

This is actually a game that I wish was a little shorter than it actually is. I haven't finished it yet due to my save file being on a friend's computer and not wanting to start over from scratch (...I wonder if I can copy that.) But I kinda want more games that can actually be finished in under 10 hours and not make me feel like I'm a bastard who never completes games anymore.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Josh

Hitler Advocated White Power because His Anus Was Puckered.

---

Okay okay!!! Hey Ash Whatcha' Playin! Here's a few of my favorites...

Skyrim Episode
Psychonauts Episode
Mother's Day Episode
All

3DS - Soul Hackers, ALBW, Space Harrier, Crimson Shroud and Galaxy Force 2
360 - Bioshock 2, still trying to finish this bitch after 3 years
PS3 - Last of Us
WiiU - Super Mario 3D World and Cartoon Zelda

Valdis Story - Meh. It's a little stiff, and all of the difficulty is reliant entirely on annoyances. Either big enemies have small enemies spawning just to annoy and slow things down, or there's wind plus ice to make the character uncontrollably slide all over, or everything does poison damage, infinite combos are all over the place, a ton of projectiles will get vomited out just to bounce around on, and so on. All of the enemies are really easy to fight, but there's always something going on in the background purely to irritate. The hitboxes also seem to be fairly inconsistent, it often requires a high level of precision to just jump over an enemy for some weird reason, and the blocking system appears to have faded out from usefulness about five minutes in. I never really feel so much that I'm fighting the enemies as I am fighting the game itself. It's a cute little Metroidvania game, but I wish I had passed it over.

::removes from wishlist::

Thanks!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MechDeus

All I can guess is that you're doing the blocking wrong. Anytime you see something flash roll away, otherwise press block (earlier is better than later) whenever you see an enemy winding up. The game is silly easy even on hard if you're used to those kinds of games, but there's a couple enemies that have weird animations that I had to actually learn. If I recall the big werewolves have something wacky where it looks like their attacks can be parried (or whatever they call it) but they actually can't, and I had a hard time reading the spider movements because their flash wouldn't really show up properly. When in doubt just smack something twice and roll to the side.

---

Thanks for the tips! I usually have no problem with these types of games. I've played through all the Ninja Gaiden games, so I should be able to master this one as well. Part of my problem might be that I started the game over a month ago, and I didn't go back to playing it until yesterday. So, maybe I forgot something important that the tutorial told me...

I'll use your advice for blocking and rolling...those sound like good tactics. Although, I have to admit that I'm still not used to the roll feature being mapped to the left stick. The fact that I can't use the right stick is driving me nuts.

NES Remix: I've never played Clu Clu Land before, and now I hate it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by magnifiedplaid

I'll use your advice for blocking and rolling...those sound like good tactics. Although, I have to admit that I'm still not used to the roll feature being mapped to the left stick. The fact that I can't use the right stick is driving me nuts.

---

If I remember some later enemies can break through block, so combined with unreliable animation cancelling for block means that eventually you should be either parrying or rolling. I recommended blocking early just to get a feel for it, but you should eventually get to where you're parrying everything that you can be because normal block becomes kind of useless. But rolling is almost always the best option.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Compass

::removes from wishlist::

Thanks!

---

Just as an FYI I'm playing the game on god slayer (which is like three difficulties above normal) and I think the default sword guy has better range. I stacked all the odds against myself, but what irritates me is that I can see how brain-dead easy the game is. Then I'll get tagged by some random projectile which makes me bounce off five things and fall into a pit which puts me far enough behind that it's better to start over, but there's no easy way to do that so I have to just sit and wait to die for the checkpoint respawn. I probably should start over with the sword guy but I'm already like a third of the way through the game, so ehhh...

The default mapping of the special ability to down is also weird, it works a million times easier on the right bumper.

The demo of Valdis Story really turned me off. The physics just felt weird. Horizontal jumping is actually faster than running and the pause at the end of a combo or after dropping a long distance makes it feel really stiff. The protagonist is 2edgy4me and the whole general plot and art direction make it feel like "Fanfiction.net + deviantART.com: The Game." Complete with grammar errors all over the place. It's especially frustrating because the game is so close and yet so far. All the pieces are there for a great exploratory platformer, but it just feels like less than the sum of its parts.

Thankfully the same isn't true of the other Metroidvania I have been playing. Guacamelee is fantastic! The movement and combat are super smooth. I like how upgrades are stashed behind platforming or puzzle challenges. The art and music are great, and the dialogue is pretty snappy. I could do with fewer memes in the background, but that's a really minor complaint. It may be fairly formulaic, but it's the opposite of Valdis Story: the combination of Shank-like combat and super smooth platforming (that reminds me of Outland) make this way better than its discrete elements would suggest.

Guacamelee is definitely better and more polished but I found it boring. I got like halfway through and haven't been able to bring myself to load it up again.

Rain Blood Chronicles: Mirage is not an Metroidvania, but is a pretty solid action title with great controls and two characters that play very differently from each other. I took a chance on it when it launched and was pleasantly surprised. However, the story is pretty throwaway and the translation is terrible, so it's best for that part to be ignored entirely.

I tried Terraria, what a stupid dumb game.

I spent the majority of yesterday playing Zoo Tycoon on my xbone.
Fun game!
Until you realize that there is a limit as to how much stuff you can build. It wasn't long before I had just about everything researched and $300,000 in the bank, but wasn't allowed to add anything without tearing down something else, and though I wanted to add animals, I keep having to add decorations to keep my guest happiness up. Dumb.

Encountered a few glitches that pissed me off. I couldn't tear down a small tropical section because even though I released all the lions that were in there, one was stuck in the water. You can't demolish an exhibit if an animal is in there. Then later I had a baby bear who acted as if he was a god damn mime trapped in a box. He couldn't get to food or anything, so he got sick. Eventually I was penalized, and told he would be helicoptered away. But like the dumb lion earlier, he couldn't get to the helicopter. So I'd get another notification that I need to take care of him or he'd be removed and I'd get penalized again for the same dumb bear.

Still had fun with it. Just need to accept that I can't have everything, and work on tailoring it so that I have some cool rare stuff.
Animals look great, btw.

Started Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate last night, had to download a costume compatibility pack to even get it started. There are currently 284 pieces of DLC for it, and I think I saw about 10 that were free (and those were all compatibility packs)!!! Holy fucking shit!!! I mean I like dressing up my fightmans (especially when the ladies have such... fluid titty animations), but goddamn, the price of the game plus all them costumes must seriously cost upwards of $400!!!
But the fighting is really smooth, and I like the 4 button setup, had forgotten how simple yet complex it makes it. Blocking is spot on, and Holds seem better implemented than I remember. Learning how to be better in other fightmans has really helped me with the timing in this game, where each move comes out more like the real thing, which my brain feels more comfortable with and thus helps make some nice combos. Digging on it so far, even though I haven't won a single match (online).

Coming to the end of playthrough 1 on Demon's Souls. Old Monk, Astrea and Garl Vinland, False King Alant, Old King Doran, Blue dragon, giant flying manta ray dude and then I think the Old One are all thats left. Went into 5-2 with Pure White, which I've never had before in the Valley of Defilement. Been playing the first 20 hours offline to control my tendency, then decided since I had done most of the stuff I was trying to do that I would sign in and give it a shot. Thankfully the average tendency of the server I joined was white, and pushed Shrine of Storms and Valley of Defilement (and Boletarian Palace) up by 2 degrees! Never have had even close to pure white tendency across all 5 worlds, now I'm one boss away from it in Shrine of Storms. Feels good!
What doesn't feel good: Saved Yuria the Witch, met her back in the Nexus, talked to her and then put the controller down on the bed to answer a text message. The incredibly sensitive trigger buttons got pressed somehow and attacked Yuria before I ever got to buy any spells, and she proceeded to take no prisoners and kill me (didn't fight back, even backed off and tried waving at her lol). Tried going back over and she was still sitting there all hostile and shit, so I had to put her down. Guess I'll get all the spells NEXT TIME!!! :\

Been trying to play Rust but the current Mac build has rampant loading and crashing issues.

Finally playing season 1 of the Walking Dead, which is pretty engrossing right from the start, as everyone already knows.

About 1/2 way through AC: Brotherhood -- not sure I'll ever catch up in this damn series, but I'm trying.

Started Skyrim, and am working through Pikmin 3, Mario 3D Land, and Luigi's Mansion.

And I have a bunch of games that I started but have to get back to, including TLOU and GTAV. Too many games and not enough time. ;-)

I'm having absolutely zero trouble breezing through Castlevania: Lords of Shadow now. Apparently, I wasn't utilizing my block enough, because I was doing more evasive rolls. Actually blocking enemies attacks, with perfect timing, yields a ton of orbs and builds up the focus meter pretty quickly. I went from the end of Chapter 3, yesterday, to the end of Chapter 6. I'm really enjoying this game now, and it seems to get better the further I get.

Started up Etrian IV again. I thought I was much further along than I really was. I hope to have it finished by the time school starts up again.

Mag - IIRC, that game has like 18 or 20 Chapters, it's pretty long for the style of game. Not a complaint, just sayin. And for the most part yes, it gets better and better the further you get.

Took down all but 2 of the bosses last night in DS, one is optional, but he's kicking my ass. Never had opened the Mausoleum in 1-1 before, got in there and got one of the Brandts after the fake little tussle with Old King Doran. But I know he has the last ring I need for a trophy, and so I keep fighting him and after you take off 25% health he gets serious about the fight and fucks me up every time. My dude is no slouch in any category and still gets one shotted by anything this guy throws out. Its the first time I've fought him, but I must have tried 20 times last night and the most I did was about 50% damage. Best I've been able to do quickly is enchant my Meat Cleaver with Light Weapon and use the R2 attack since it has knockdown. The knockdown is the only way to ensure you have a split second to breathe, otherwise he is just ON you constantly. Then he starts rolling through the R2 attack perfectly and it's over. Dunno what to do at this point.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Diff-chan

I tried Terraria, what a stupid dumb game.

---

Bad 2D Minecraft with garbage physics and graphics, right?

Pretty much.

Is Starbound a better game to play? Like mechanics-wise, does it feel better? It certainly looks better.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Pineapple

Mag - IIRC, that game has like 18 or 20 Chapters, it's pretty long for the style of game. Not a complaint, just sayin. And for the most part yes, it gets better and better the further you get.

Took down all but 2 of the bosses last night in DS, one is optional, but he's kicking my ass. Never had opened the Mausoleum in 1-1 before, got in there and got one of the Brandts after the fake little tussle with Old King Doran. But I know he has the last ring I need for a trophy, and so I keep fighting him and after you take off 25% health he gets serious about the fight and fucks me up every time. My dude is no slouch in any category and still gets one shotted by anything this guy throws out. Its the first time I've fought him, but I must have tried 20 times last night and the most I did was about 50% damage. Best I've been able to do quickly is enchant my Meat Cleaver with Light Weapon and use the R2 attack since it has knockdown. The knockdown is the only way to ensure you have a split second to breathe, otherwise he is just ON you constantly. Then he starts rolling through the R2 attack perfectly and it's over. Dunno what to do at this point.

---

BTW, I would have hung myself if I attacked an NPC by accident, your last post hurt me physically. I was super paranoid about the stupid triggers doing that to me- I did accidentally lunge off a cliff once or twice, so anytime in the nexus I was REALLY careful with the controller.

I think I kite old king doran down the long path part of the time I fought him, so I was able to outrun him somehow. Are you in the light armor class? I used an upgraded purple flame shield and tanked most of the game, I can't remember offhand if I could 100% block his attacks. I do remember dying to him a bunch though.

I started off with a straight Strength build but it's meandered into a Faith build as well. Using a combo of light and heavy armors (Assassin's mask, Gloom armor, Black armbands, Gloom Leggings), with the Dark Something Sheild +2, Crushing Battle Axe +5, Compound Longbow +10 and Talisman of the Beasts, Cling Ring and Thief's Ring. Keeps me under half equip burden so I don't have fat roll but it's not the pinnacle of movement either. I'm able to avoid the hits so long as I don't try attacking, it's 50/50 whether he will dodge them and counter me or just take the hit. I think this fight would still be the hardest one even with a partner.

Just got to the New Vegas part of Fallout New Vegas. I like this game, but it's kind of super-terrible in a lot of ways. I find myself finding ways to glitch out tougher enemies (successfully, more often than not!) instead of trying to play the game fairly. Deathclaw shows up and I'll I have is a pistol? Find a way to clip-walk around the edge of a mountain then gradually pick him off with a .9mm. Bunch of robots in a hallway? Fling dynamite around the edge of a door and hope. From there it's just waiting to level up until I can either lockpick or lie or science my way through the game, nothing else really amounts to much.

Pretty much an extended expansion pack for Fallout 3, totally worth the $2.50 I dropped on it.

I got killed pretty hard by Old King Doran the first time (well, first time after the fake fight), then I read a message in front of him: "Use Plague on the next enemy."

Oh, snap! Easiest boss fight ever.

You probably already know about this "cheat" though and want to fight him legit. In other games, I might agree, but not here. The Maneater fight took me several tries, but I did that straight-up. I *almost* died rolling off the platform when the second one was down to a sliver of health. I would have literally cried had I fallen. But I didn't. I beat him. And after that I was changed. I milked glitches and cheap tactics for all they were worth. I was so happy when Flamelurker got stuck on geometry running towards me and I was able to destroy him in relative safety from afar.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by YellerDog

Just got to the New Vegas part of Fallout New Vegas. I like this game, but it's kind of super-terrible in a lot of ways. I find myself finding ways to glitch out tougher enemies (successfully, more often than not!) instead of trying to play the game fairly. Deathclaw shows up and I'll I have is a pistol? Find a way to clip-walk around the edge of a mountain then gradually pick him off with a .9mm. Bunch of robots in a hallway? Fling dynamite around the edge of a door and hope. From there it's just waiting to level up until I can either lockpick or lie or science my way through the game, nothing else really amounts to much.

Pretty much an extended expansion pack for Fallout 3, totally worth the $2.50 I dropped on it.

---

New Vegas is really bad about sending crazy powerful enemies at you if you venture off the intended path. Stick to the roads and try to go only where your current quests tell you to and you won't run into overpowered opposition. It really diminishes the sense of freedom that the game should have provided, but it'll be far less frustrating.

True! More fun just to bum-rush the game by exploiting the bugs, I think.

Long Live the Queen - got one good ending finally. Its ok. Has polish, but its mostly just class management. Not worlds more complicated than a choose your own adventure.
FF7 on steam - got to yuffies town. Don't remember what to do now.
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia - I'm at Barlowe. I've saved all the people.

Order of Ecclesia is a fun little game with superb swordfeel.

It's a little too much classic castlevania to me. I always feel under powered and end up having to grind up to get enough potions to survive a new level or boss. Also the depad on the big ds is not that great

You could try sucking less.

Take advantage of toggling between weapons load outs. Cancel attack recovery animations with backdashes.

I finished MGS2 again. Still awesome. I got a rank of Panther, which I looked up and means I played pretty well, but I killed every motherfucker I came across. Headshots are really fun on this game.

Up next, throats will be slit

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by GohanX

You could try sucking less.

---

We could all try that.

A mix of:
Starcraft 2: I'm so bad at this game it actually annoys me, but I keep playing it.
Batman Arkham Origins: Much like 343 Studios taking over Halo and pulling it off, WB Montreal holds the Batman torch. It feels "off" here and there but I'm loving it.
NBA Jam On Fire Edition: Great for $4.
Beyond Good and Evil HD: I'm going to finish this eventually.
Sleeping Dogs: I'll really dig into this when I finish Batman.

i'm all zelda'd out for the moment after quitting on Spirit Tracks, so ALBW should wait. balls-deep in Panzer Dragoon at the moment though!

beat that boss and now I'm in Dracula's castle. Pretty cool that the first half of the game is like old castlevanias, then they have a whole fucking castle at the end.

should I put a spoiler on that? Nah. Everyone knew there was going to be a castle.

Beat the first castle boss, but the second shadow dude is an asshole.

The shadow guy is the hardest boss in the game.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Compass

I got killed pretty hard by Old King Doran the first time (well, first time after the fake fight), then I read a message in front of him: "Use Plague on the next enemy."

Oh, snap! Easiest boss fight ever.

You probably already know about this "cheat" though and want to fight him legit. In other games, I might agree, but not here. The Maneater fight took me several tries, but I did that straight-up. I *almost* died rolling off the platform when the second one was down to a sliver of health. I would have literally cried had I fallen. But I didn't. I beat him. And after that I was changed. I milked glitches and cheap tactics for all they were worth. I was so happy when Flamelurker got stuck on geometry running towards me and I was able to destroy him in relative safety from afar.

---

Did not know about this tactic, holy crap that worked well! He just stood in his spot and died, that was totally awesome!!! THANKS COMPASS!
Now trying to get to pure white Character Tendency to get the final ring from the Monumental (at least I think it's the only one I have left), man you've gotta kill a lot of PB Phatoms! I've been through every world but Valley of Defilement in Pure Black World and killed the NPC BP and at least 3-4 enemy BPs and a couple Primevil Demons, and I'm still a few steps under pure white. So just a little time taking out BP Selen Vinland and a couple BP Giant Depraved Ones and I should be good. The end of this playthrough is in sight!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by A Robot Bit Me

The shadow guy is the hardest boss in the game.

---

beat him

you combine the spite weapon with the homing light weapon and get a super that does 300 damage. You should be able to get 3 in if you have all the heart+ so far in the game. Then switch over to purple energy beam on each arm.

Throw an onyx pen on there and a Fish BBQ and it is doable.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Fe 26

you combine the spite weapon with the homing light weapon and get a super that does 300 damage. You should be able to get 3 in if you have all the heart+ so far in the game. Then switch over to purple energy beam on each arm.

---

Ugh. This is not Castlevania.

I don't want to hear anything from your stupid retarded ass. The first half of the game is like a love letter to fans of the old nes games. If it doesn't make you happy, nothing in the realm of possibilities can.

Fist of the North Star: This game is fucking nuts in the way that only over the top arcade games can be. I approve.

King of Fighters Neowave: It plays well, but there's not much to it, presentation is nonexistent. It doesn't even have win quotes. It's basically like the unfinished beta to KoF XI.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Fe 26

I don't want to hear anything from your stupid retarded ass. The first half of the game is like a love letter to fans of the old nes games. If it doesn't make you happy, nothing in the realm of possibilities can.

---

The half outside the castle with level ups and all kinds of stupid weapons is like the NES games?

Ecclesia's weapons are awesome. Your loss, breh.

Yoshi, yes. You don't remember this?

Click for full size


or this?

Click for full size


lol at the durp faced one

what's going on.

i am playing Final Fantasy and Zelda games still

4 Heroes of Light- this game is the most beautiful DS game and i love the simplicity of it all BUT those dungeons are goddamn boring

Final Fantasy IV (DS version on iPad)- This is the best Final Fantasy Game Ever Made. I'd still rather have physical controls, but this is edging me closer to thinking Yoshi's Dreamland isn't so bad (if only SquareEnix and Capcpom would try). This is the perfect 80s anime in videogame form. It's the closest thing i'll have to my Fantasy Videogame with Real Amano art-style. It's goofy and stupid and wonderful. i want to fall into it and roll around.

More Beyond Good and Evil- i am a person who like Franch things and likes PS2-era games, but this game is Franch and it's aged kind of poorly. That 2nd dungeon-stealth bullshit thing nearly ruined me.

I played BG&E long after the fact and didn't like it at all.

when i was writing that i had a line about how i would've already stopped playing it if i didn't like it then but i erased it. I've read (on Wikipedia) that it was originally more arty, and i wish they'd gone with that. It feels like a late Don Bluth story about government overreach and reptilians

It kind of is Titan AE -- The Game in a lot of ways.

ALMOST FORGOT

Virtue's Last Reward- clover is "Yotsuba"... The writing is just as silly-stupid as it was in 999, but here it's a lot more natural. There's more chuckling because it's actually funny, less "Haaaaaaaanghhhhhh" from fitting into pipes and being wet "down there"

I'm loving Fallout: NV modded for higher difficulty and not using the speech skill. It makes every choice matter, and gives more incentive to explore. I never did Vault 22 the first time so it's like a new mini survival horror game.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Finch

when i was writing that i had a line about how i would've already stopped playing it if i didn't like it then but i erased it. I've read (on Wikipedia) that it was originally more arty, and i wish they'd gone with that. It feels like a late Don Bluth story about government overreach and reptilians

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by YellerDog

It kind of is Titan AE -- The Game in a lot of ways.

---

It definitely has similarities to the Twinsen games, too.

Beat dracula. I can't decide if using the death ring makes that fight harder or easier.

I'm currently playing Tales of Xillia. This is the first JRPG I've attempted to play in years. I'm about 7 hours in so far, and I'm really enjoying the characters and the battle system. I just hope that this one can hold my interest for its duration.

Final Fantasy: 4 Heroes of Light (DS) - I'm playing this as well, it is lovely as Finch says and I'm enjoying it a great deal so far. I like the AP/Boost battle system and being able to freely experiment with available job crowns. Currently in Urbeth with Jusqua and Yunita, looking to raise enough funds for the Sorcerer to remove a curse.

Picross e3 (3DS) - Mega Picross is an awesome addition, I want more of it.

Uncharted: Golden Abyss (PSV) - Just reached Chapter 28, and I'm really liking this game. Much more than I thought I would, it's pretty neat, and of course a technical marvel as a handheld title that continually amazes me. I hope Sony Bend Studio is working on another Vita game of this caliber.

Far Cry 3 (360) - Ubisoft Formula 2012 is fun, found some bears and captured two outposts last night.

Marvel Puzzle Quest (iOS) - Fun game, haven't touched the PvP stuff. Black Widow's stun move is the business.

Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon (3DS) - I'm annoyingly late to this party. As I recall, this was just about to come out when my daughter broke my original 3DS. I finished the first mansion this morning and am predictably really enjoying it. The original is still one of my favorite GameCube games, and this one seems better in every way.

Mass Effect 3 (Wii U) - This is more of a "what are you planning to play," because actually starting it up would involve my daughter not playing Skylanders. On the up side, while she's playing that, I always have access to her Luigi's Mansion cart.

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (PC) - The production values on this one are out of sight. As a general rule, I greatly prefer shooters to melee games, but I think I can get past that once again for Platinum's efforts in the genre.

If you played ME 2, id suggest continuing 3 on that platform.
Its awfully obnoxious watching your peeps die and there is nothing you can do.

Now that I am done with TLOU, GTA V is my next console game.

Rust: I don't think I'd play this if it weren't for a bunch of friends building and fortifying our base nightly. It's not bad, it's just obviously not finished.

Shining Force II: My only experience with this when it came out was hanging at my friend's house playing this on the SEGA Channel. That being said, you don't get far in an SRPG when you only get to play it a half hour at a time because the person you're hanging out with is ready to play something else.

Super Mario 3D Land - held off on this for a long time, finally getting into it.

The Tanooki Suit removes all difficulty from the proceedings, whole thing feels like a cross between New Super Mario Bros and Mario 64.

I think it's actually pretty good! There are a lot of really creative bits going on (the ghost houses, the 3D puzzle stages, the sawblade platforms); it is babby-easy, but the sheer, relentless POLISH on everything puts it over.

Out of this and Super Mario World, this may be the better Easy Mario Game. I still have no desire to play Galaxy, so YMMV on that.

Chili Robot Demo - that French guy sure talks a lot! So many tutorial breaks! Does the talking ever stop?

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed - Played a decent chunk of the Vita version and it just doesn't do it for me. I've never really gotten into any kart racer and it looks like that trend continues.

Firefall - Even though I tried this twice before and found it whatever, I downloaded it again today for really no reason whatsoever (I actually meant to install Blacklight and I'm still not sure how I ended up with this) and am enjoying myself a lot more than I did before. Why that is I couldn't tell you, because it still pretty much feels exactly the same. I guess this time a lot of the components seemed to click so I've been running around doing random tasks and having a good time. There seems to be a lot of flavor text just for the hell of it, as they went for kind of a sandbox route and the descriptions of a lot of stuff don't actually tell me anything. This really makes it more confusing than it needs to be since there's so little hand-holding in the first place, but I guess it works out.

Blade & Soul - Yeah, this is good. Thanks to designs by Hyung Tae Kim (same guy who did Magna Carta) the proportions are nice and wacky, but I love his art so it's not even a thing for me. Sure do wish NCSoft would get around to bringing this over so that I wouldn't have to deal with 300ms Chinese servers. Ah well, at least the English patch is coming along.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by YellerDog

Super Mario 3D Land - held off on this for a long time, finally getting into it.

The Tanooki Suit removes all difficulty from the proceedings, whole thing feels like a cross between New Super Mario Bros and Mario 64.

I think it's actually pretty good! There are a lot of really creative bits going on (the ghost houses, the 3D puzzle stages, the sawblade platforms); it is babby-easy, but the sheer, relentless POLISH on everything puts it over.

Out of this and Super Mario World, this may be the better Easy Mario Game. I still have no desire to play Galaxy, so YMMV on that.

---

Galaxy is kind of lame anyway. 3DLand gets difficult near the end and more difficult after that.

Quote:

---

Chili Robot Demo - that French guy sure talks a lot! So many tutorial breaks! Does the talking ever stop?

---

there were like 3 kind of long tutorials in the main game. The talking never ever stops... Like half the reason you'd get into a Skip game (that isn't a bit Generations title) is the talking. Chili Robot is especially a talking game. Did you play the other Chili Robots?

Broken Age (PC) - It's beautiful and quite funny in that Double Fine way, but it also feels simplistic compared to the adventure games of yore. I hate the way the inventory is handled. Unless I'm missing something, you have to manually drag items from the menu at the bottom onto what you wish to use them for - no scrolling through your stuff via the mousewheel. Still, the presentation is wonderful and I very much appreciate that underneath all the silliness, it's got that same somewhat melancholy/sad vibe I got from Psychonauts years ago. I think I'm already about halfway through it.

The Banner Saga (PC) - Prince Ludin is fucking awful. Also holy shit the art/animation.

Galaxy is the best Mario game possibly of all time.

You can say that in the same way you'd say "The Wand of Gamelon is the best Zelda game possibly of all time"

there are a lot of possibilities, and one of those might include Galaxy 1 being the best Mario of all time

but that one would be pretty miserable, the world where they didn't even announce Mega Man Legends because MMX was so popular they just went nuts with that crap, where only 2 Gyakuten Saiban games came out and only in Japan, where Final Fantasy XII was another Nomura-Toriyama game. Mario 1, 2, and 3 never came out in that world, and they just went World-64-Sunshine-Galaxy-NSMBU, with Mario Land 2 as the only Mario Land

there wasn't even a year of Luigi in that world...

Galaxy was like Mario Tomorrowland. I really liked it, but 3D World is a bunch better.

Why do you feel such animosity towards Mario Tomorrowland, Finch?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mzo

Galaxy is the best Mario game possibly of all time.

---

IBTN, though I haven't played 3D World yet. Galaxy destroys 3D Land.

You're out of your gourd. You probably don't even remember where you left your gourd and couldn't crawl back into it even if you wanted to (which you clearly don't).

I didn't care much for Mario Galaxy.

I know it's not popular on the internets but I still wish Nintendo would revisit the SM64 design - big open worlds, hunting for stars, etc.

Galaxy was okay. It had one good level.

Alpha Protocol: This is a really good game. Its flaws are well-documented, but I'd rather play an ambitious game with imperfect play mechanics than an uber-polished game that doesn't really take a whole lot of risks. I already enjoy this game a lot more than, say, Deus Ex: Human Revolution. The most important thing to keep in mind when starting this game is that even though it feels like Splinter Cell, it plays more like Mass Effect 1 and Dragon Age in the way most of the abilities are dice-based. If you play stealth, you can't just assume that Splinter Cell-based rules apply, which is counterintuitive but eventually it makes sense.

Bravely Default demo: I'm just about finished with this. I'm taking my time with it. Playing it on Hard, the difficulty balance feels about right. Apart from the whole brave/default system, this is basically a Final Fantasy game circa 1993. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who's become disenchanted with modern JRPG's, and Square Enix in particular.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by A Robot Bit Me

You're out of your gourd. You probably don't even remember where you left your gourd and couldn't crawl back into it even if you wanted to (which you clearly don't).

---

Attachment 73092

Alpha Protocol IS a good game. Thank you.

2D Mario > 3D Mario > broken ass shit > Alpha Protocol

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Finch

Galaxy is kind of lame anyway. 3DLand gets difficult near the end and more difficult after that.

---

The VERRY last level and Bowser fight have some very tricky jumps! It offered me a P Wing, I was mortified.

It actually uses the 3D to make you rely on your sense of depth in a cool way! The game is much harder with 3D turned off.

The second-run levels are very cool so far! I will now save Weegee.

The last level is absolutely beautiful; the fire effects and lava and geysers are really neat, and I like all the motes flying around in 3D.

Quote:

---

there were like 3 kind of long tutorials in the main game. The talking never ever stops... Like half the reason you'd get into a Skip game (that isn't a bit Generations title) is the talking. Chili Robot is especially a talking game. Did you play the other Chili Robots?

---

I like the cute phone robot's expressions! I did not play any other games in the series, but now I want to.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by sleeve

Alpha Protocol:I'd rather play an ambitious game with imperfect play mechanics than an uber-polished game that doesn't really take a whole lot of risks.

---

Me too, although I recall Alpha Protocol getting less ambitious the farther I played into it. It's like they said, "fuck it, making something like Deus Ex is too hard" and gave up. I still liked it, though.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by YellerDog

I like the cute phone robot's expressions! I did not play any other games in the series, but now I want to.

---

I really recommend the first one! It has a lot of talking, but it also has a lot of exploration. You're a tiny robot in a big big house and you try to help the family that's falling apart within

i don't really hate Mario Galaxy, but i think the second game is much much better.

I should get around to playing that someday.

Chibi Robo is quite charming and enjoyable for the first five or so hours but I found it dragged on way too long.

oh no neozeedeater...

It's crap.

oh no... just kidding, you said that like 10 years ago when it came out. i've had plenty of time to get over my sadness

Beyond: Two Souls is down, so back to Panzer Zwei, and then...Shining the Holy Ark? not sure yet, the Year of the Saturn has so many possibilities!

StHA is awesome, I miss that little game.

Stop trying to make Year of the Saturn happen. It's not going to happen.

What is this "Year of the Saturn?" You're the second person I've heard mention it.

I figure it's just people celebrating the 20 year anniversary of the Japanese launch.

Jesus fuck we're getting old.

I bust out the Saturn last night for some Lunacy.
Wish that game did better. More people should have played it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Diff-chan

Stop trying to make Year of the Saturn happen. It's not going to happen.

---

Time for Bug and Bug 2!

I'm about halfway through Link Between Worlds. It's probably the best Zelda since NES in terms of raw mechanics.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by A Robot Bit Me

LttP had great swordfeel. This looks to perhaps not.

---

Boy, was I wrong about this.

I am totally going to buckle on that before too long.

arobimi is an expert on sword feel

's true.

Hey Robot, empty out your PMs!

Heretic II: Armageddon mode, now at the Cloud Fortress. Planning on getting this overwith soon.

Ys: Memories of Celceta: Hard mode, 96.5% mapped @ 36 hrs. One half of the Mask of the Moon is now mine. Just need the rest of it. Remnos is in one hell of a jam.

What's the best Ys game on Steam and do you need to play others to get into it?

I thought that series had gone porno?

(This does not negate the question of course)

:wtf: Are you thinking of Valis?