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Post by N3B on Jan 31, 2012 17:39:28 GMT -5
From the Wiki: "Radiant Historia (ラジアントヒストリア Rajianto Hisutoria?) is a role-playing video game developed and published by Atlus for the Nintendo DS.[1] The game's development team mostly consists of Atlus staff who previously worked on Megami Tensei games like Nocturne, Persona 3 and Strange Journey as well as the Etrian Odyssey series."
That already makes it sound like it could be interesting.
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Post by Draxas on Feb 27, 2012 12:19:09 GMT -5
So I've been playing some stuff. I've gotten a bit lazy to update my list; if anyone really cares about what I'm playing (scttershot like always, because overextending myself on games isn't just a hobby, it's a way of life), I've got my entire collection listed on the Backloggery. Same username as here, and if anyone else has an account (or makes one), I'll add you to my multitap. Notable, though, is that I've been playing the Mass Effect 3 multiplayer demo, which is actually a lot of fun. It probably helps that it's co-op only, so the worst of the internet is really not focused on making your ears bleed with the vitriol that spouts from their mouths. While it's mostly a lot of "killing dudez" with the now standard cover-based third-person shooter mechanics, the fact that they frequently throw in special mission objectives helps keep things fresh. Also notable is the way you earn upgrades; you gain both experience and credits for playing (more or less of each depending on what you actually do during a match), and you assign more points to character abilities as you gain levels as standard. A bit more interesting is spending credits on "booster pack" like expansions, TCG style, in order to gain consumables, new or upgraded weapons, and new playable characters. It's a bit of a crapshoot since you can't actually buy individual items, but it encourages you to mix up your loadout based on which weapons and upgrades you've collected. Since it's just a demo, there's not a lot of variety in the maps (only 2) or enemies (only one set), but it still winds up being pretty compelling despite that. I can't say I'm not looking forward to the full game, though I think the whole DLC scheme is pretty despicable. I'll see; I may hold out until it comes down in price a bit, but I'm not sure yet.
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Post by N3B on Apr 5, 2012 16:07:01 GMT -5
What have I been up to in the past ~month? - I finished playing Skyrim and wrote a massive tome chronicling its myriad failures and shortcomings as an RPG. I'd really suggest skimming over the article headers, as well as reading the intro and conclusion sections to get a general idea of the game, but in short: I found Skyrim deceptively shallow and boring. As in, I consider it a step backwards for RPGs, and yet it's heralded as the messiah for RPGs, which I can only respond to with sheer indignation. - I finished playing Pathologic and wrote a more-detailed article on it. It really is an exquisite game, but it's still difficult to recommend because of its obscurity and a few of its more notable problems. But its accomplishments are so monumental that I feel they're worth learning about even if you had no intention of playing the game, because it would be cool for more games to learn from Pathologic. - I played a free weekend event for Payday: The Heist and wasn't convinced to buy it. It plays much like the L4D games with some interesting, worthwhile twists, but it seemed kind of repetitive. I probably would've enjoyed playing with friends, but the rewards and incentives weren't quite compelling enough for me to play with random pub groups. - I played a free weekend event for Star Wars: The Old Republic and was likewise unimpressed with it. I'm not a big fan of MMOs, but I was hoping SWTOR's greater emphasis on single-player storytelling (and gameplay similarities to the original KOTOR games) would make it the best of both worlds, but it turns out to be both a weak single-player RPG and a weak MMO. I just kept getting bored with it and couldn't bring myself to pay $60 plus a monthly fee to play what mostly amounts to a timesink. Otherwise, I haven't been playing a whole lot. I started up Cryostasis a while ago, but have been kind of slowly trudging through it and don't have much to say at the moment. I also started up Nehrim: At Fate's Edge a total conversion mod for Oblivion that's supposed to be a whole lot better than the actual Oblivion, but I kind of stalled out on that one and haven't gotten back to it yet. I suppose I'll have to work on those two games over the next few weeks. Let's see, Risen 2 is coming out on April 24th and I believe I will be pre-ordering it. Given my intense loyalty to Piranha Bytes for the work they've done on Gothic and the original Risen, I'm expecting Risen 2 to be as deep and engrossing as all of their previous titles. I believe The Witcher 2 will be getting an Enhanced Edition release on April 17th, which I'll be looking forward to, and supposedly there's an upcoming official announcement that Dark Souls will be coming to PC, which is another happy moment for me. Other recent articles I've written that might be worth a read: - Super Smash Bros: Melee is Better Than Brawl, in which I describe my preference for Melee on the grounds that I dislike many of the new additions to Brawl and am not fond of the tweaked physics. - Day One DLC: Why I'm Skeptical, in which I talk about some of the ramifications for day-one DLC and how it's not perceived well by consumers, and how I miss the days of full-fledged expansion packs. - Ocarina of Time Sucks, in which I troll April Fool's Day with a detailed bashing of OOT. Even though it was a joke article, I was kind of amused that most of my criticisms were at least halfway valid, but I had a lot of fun writing it.
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Post by N3B on Apr 23, 2012 15:09:53 GMT -5
I recently played through the three available chapters of The Dream Machine, a point and click adventure game made out of clay and cardboard. I thought it was a very charming game with very well-constructed visuals and some great gameplay. I found the puzzles clever and rewarding to solve, while also being logically implemented in the environment. Meanwhile, the story and its pacing is intriguing, so I'd recommend this one being worth looking into, since you can play the first chapter for free online. Chapters 4 and 5 are not finished yet. I've also been playing some of Nehrim: At Fate's Edge recently, a free total conversion mod for Oblivion. It rivals the scale of the original Oblivion experience, both in terms of physical size and quality, yet it's actually better than Oblivion in many ways. There's no more enemy level-scaling, there's no more fast travel, the world and quests are designed in a more organic and logical way, you gain experience points for completing quests and killing enemies, and you level your skills by spending skill points earned upon level-ups with trainers. It feels a lot like Gothic 2 stuck into an Oblivion skin, but it doesn't quite escape many of the problems with the Oblivion engine and isn't as good as Gothic 2. I started playing Demon's Souls a few days ago on my new PS3. It's really quite good. The controls and handling are fluid, and the combat has some nice nuance to it, offering a more tactical approach where you have to learn an enemy's attack pattern to know how to avoid getting killed in one or two shots, and how to kill it most effectively. Couple this with some extremely atmospheric worlds to explore and the leveling system they've implemented and I find myself hooked. And Risen 2 (by the guys who made the Gothic series) is coming out this Friday. I have my pre-order in and plan to be fully immersed in that game as soon as it becomes available for download. Oh, I also played a bit of Civilization V. Alt gifted me a copy of it for my birthday so I've played it for a bit and can say I'm surprised at how addicting it is. Strategy games have never really been my forte -- StarCraft was the only one I really got into -- but even though I really didn't know what I was doing during my first playthrough and was often overwhelmed by the tutorial mechanics trying to explain things to me, it was pretty rewarding to get things done each turn, and then click "next turn" to see what new options opened up as I played.
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Post by N3B on May 8, 2012 0:28:10 GMT -5
Demon's Souls has entered the countdown of its final days. Servers will go offline on May 31st, with servers currently in a "Pure White" tendency (special events / quests, easier enemies) before turning "Pure Black" (special events / quests, harder enemies) on May 15th. I've been making progress with my first character, and I might be tempted to do a "new game plus" with a mage character to see how that works.
I just now finished Risen 2: Dark Waters. If I had to summarize it in one sentence it would be "A very good game with some very disappointing flaws." All of the core elements I expect from a Piranha Bytes game are there, but there are some serious issues with its combat, presentation, and marketing. Some aspects feel a little watered down, but a watered-down PB game is still better than any Bethesda game, as far as I'm concerned. Might give it a replay if they patch it / when the next absurdly-priced DLC comes out.
I've just downloaded Day of Sex: Inhuman Revulsion Deus Ex: Human Revolution on Steam, so I'll probably be playing that during the downtime between Demon's Souls sessions. I've heard lots of good things about it, so I'm looking forward to seeing how it stacks up to the original.
I've been loosely interested in the console-exclusive Dragon's Dogma by Capcom, which is supposedly being developed by many of the key designers of Devil May Cry, Resident Evil, and Breath of Fire. The gameplay footage I've seen makes it look like it could be fun, and I've got the demo downloaded -- I just need to play it. If the demo is enjoyable, I might just shell out to play it soon after it launches.
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Post by N3B on Jul 22, 2012 16:23:17 GMT -5
The Steam Summer sale has essentially run its course by now. All-in-all, I've grown less and less impressed with these summer and winter sales, perhaps just because I've already bought most of what's worth playing (and still haven't finished playing them all), but I managed to pick up a nice haul of good games this time. Alan Wake + His American Nightmare LA Noire + All DLC Legend of Grimrock Fallout: New Vegas - Ultimate Edition The Pendulo Studios Adventure Pack, including: -Runaway: A Road Adventure -Runaway: The Dream of the Turtle -Runaway: A Twist of Fate -The Next BIG Thing -Yesterday Deus Ex: Human Revolution - The Missing Link Lone Survivor Ys: The Oath in Felghana Hard Reset ARMA 2: Combined Operations I played a bit of Legend of Grimrock and can already say I'm optimistic to continue playing more of it. It's got that old-school dungeon-crawler feel with modern functionality, but some of its mechanics are still not quite intuitive to me. I had to stop playing because I could not figure out how the magic system worked, for example, but I hope to get back to it soon. I started replaying New Vegas the moment I bought the Ultimate Edition. So far I'm at Novac, level 8 or 9, planning to be an Energy Weapon and Explosives character. Running several mods, mostly just aesthetic stuff though. So much better than Fallout 3. I got ARMA 2 in order to play the latest super-hyped sensation Day Z, the MMO zombie-themed survival-horror FPS. I've not played very much of it, but I'm enjoying it thus far. It has a vaguely STALKER vibe to it, and the concept of permadeath in a persistent world with PVP and brutally harsh survival mechanics makes it extremely compelling. One of my friends is also playing, so I'm looking forward to more of it. I also finished Condemned 2: Bloodshot recently and was very disappointed with it. It's the kind of sequel that tries too hard to be bigger, better, and bolder and loses sight of what made the original such a uniquely charming experience in the first place. Still a halfway decent game, mind you, but it feels like a more generic action game than it really ought to be.
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Post by Draxas on Jul 24, 2012 22:01:19 GMT -5
FYI to everyone: Best Buy is having a ludicrous sale on bunches of titles this week, so grab them while they (might) still have a few copies in stock. I got:
Deus Ex: HR - $10 Gears of War 3 - $15 Warhammer 40K: Space Marine - $10 Dragon Age: Origins Complete Edition - $20 XBLA 3 pack (Limbo, Trials HD, Splosion Man) - $15
Stuff from all consoles, handhelds, and PC is on serious discount right now.
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Post by N3B on Sept 4, 2012 12:22:35 GMT -5
Played and finished the PC port of Dark Souls, dubbed the "Prepare to Die Edition." The port quality is not very good at all with absolutely zero fancification for the PC release and barely functional keyboard and mouse controls. I played the PC version on my PS3 controller and used a fan-made resolution patch to change the internal rendering from 720p to 1440p (downscaled to 1080p), which made the game identical to the console version but with superior graphics and the fun integration of the Steam Overlay. As for the game itself, it's the type of sequel that adds a bunch of new content and new variety to experience, which makes it fun and exciting in its own right for a while, but ultimately doesn't have the same unique charm or tight focus that Demon's Souls had. There are a lot of things I prefer about Demon's, so I was somewhat letdown by Dark's, but that's mostly just because of high expectations from a fan of the original. Dark Souls is still a phenomenal game and it's great to have "more of the same" in that regard. The Souls games are easily one of the most exquisite gaming experiences of modern consoles, so I'd wholeheartedly recommend considering them. I also did a replay of Fallout: New Vegas with all four of the DLC packs. I had varying opinions on the DLC packs, but Dead Money and Old World Blues were especially enjoyable and made the replay worthwhile. I sided with the Legion this time (did the NCR previously) and was kind of disappointed just how little content a Legion playthrough actually has to experience compared to an NCR playthrough. I hear that's the result of high ambitions and a lack of time. Either way, replaying New Vegas served as an antithesis for Bethesda's crappy efforts of late, because New Vegas is a way better RPG than Skyrim in almost every way possible. In the meantime I've started playing King's Field IV: The Ancient City on PS2. The King's Field games were the spiritual predecessors to Demon's Souls, so it's fun to go back and see where From Software got their inspiration, but this game just feels way too sluggish and clunky to be truly satisfying. It's a first person action-RPG exploration dungeon-crawler, but even basic movement becomes a tedious chore in this game because of how slowly you turn. I mean, it takes a solid five seconds to do a 180 turn to face the opposite direction, and you have single-button combat that basically has a five second recharge timer per each attack. Honestly not sure how far I'll make it in this game, but I'm going to try.
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Post by N3B on Feb 22, 2013 2:43:48 GMT -5
Since my last post, I've played and completed Borderlands 2, Afrika, Conker's Bad Fur Day, and The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings. I've also been playing Playstation All-Stars: Battle Royale. - Borderlands 2 was really fun, a tremendous improvement over the first game. I clocked over 300 hours with multiple playthroughs, and I still haven't gotten around to the second and third DLC campaigns yet. Expanded thoughts on BL2. - Afrika was pretty fun, too, albeit a little mundane and rough around the edges. It's a safari photography game; since I enjoyed Pokemon Snap so much I was highly intrigued by the premise. Afrika handles the photography aspect really well, but its mission structure is kind of lame at times, and I can't help but think it would've been more interesting if it were set in Jurassic Park or something. Expanded thoughts on Afrika. - The Witcher 2 was really good, but there's a lot I still prefer about the original game. The sequel felt like more of a streamlined action-RPG with a heavy story emphasis, whereas the first game was more of a straight RPG. Either way, it was a lot more fun than anything Bethesda or BioWare have put out lately. It's made me start to replay the original, and I may go right into a replay of TW2 afterwards as well. - I never played Conker's Bad Fur Day back in the day, so I played it for the first time in 2013 on an emulator, and the game was still surprisingly fun. Lots of varied gameplay with fun writing and humor made it feel unique and refreshing in that era of 3D platformers of the mid 90s and early 2000s. Expanded thoughts on Conker's Bad Fur Day. - Playstation All-Stars is basically Sony's answer to the Smash Bros series, and I actually like it a lot more than Brawl. It feels like more of a competition-style game (instead of a casual party game) with true combos, and it emphasizes player skill more than random luck. My only real problem with it is that I don't have strong recognition or enthusiasm for any of the characters, cause none of them are near as iconic as Nintendo's classic lineup. Expanded thoughts on Playstation Allstars. During Christmastime I bought/received various games that were on sale, or got for dirt cheap with extra Christmas funds, including: Thief: Gold Thief 2: The Metal Age Tomb Raider (original) Rage Trauma Hydrophobia: Prophecy Warp Psychonauts Forge Miasmata Folklore (PS3) The Darkness (PS3) Bayonetta (PS3) Devil May Cry 4 (PS3) Uncharted 1 + 2 (PS3) I haven't gotten around to any of the above yet.
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