The Videogames Thread

[Grazdan]

Anyone interested in Metro Last light? I played 2033 a few weeks ago and actually enjoyed it. The game's kinda crappy I suppose but the environment/general atmosphere was good enough for me. Also the new trailer is pretty badass..

[Seli]

Advice time.

I have a six month old, so the games I really want I will never find the time to play. So I am looking at a nice turn it on, leave it, come back to it game.

My first choice was going to be finally getting around to Diablo II, but then I saw some reviews for Torchlight that made it seem pretty decent.

Of these two games, which would be preferred? I know if they were released same day, Blizzard always wins. But Torch light is several years newer, and by now the multiplayer Diablo is supposed to be completely hacked to hell.

Which game should I get???

I really liked Torchlight, although I only ever played the original Diablo.

[Durckad]

Yeah, but it also had the option to save anywhere.

It did? Man, I don't remember shit from that game.

[Kosciuszko]

I wasn't interested until I saw this video, but Catherine from Atlus looks like it could be pretty awesome. The general art style is really appealing and the puzzles look like they could be really difficult but rewarding.

[Werthead]

Saint's Row 3 gameplay trailer.

The VTOL jet is ludicrously over-the-top, but the cannon that uses passing pedestrians (or yourself, if you so choose) as ammunition is excellent.

[Centrist Simon Steele]

Anyone else playing Two Worlds 2? I am embarrassed to say that this is the game I am dedicating my time to while the Witcher 2 gathers dust. I loved the Witcher books and the first game, but I just can't get into the second game. Then between Two Worlds 2 and Divinity 2 I am in heaven.

[Centrist Simon Steele]

Mass Effect 3 looks strange. I can't wait for it, but at the same time the trailers have turned me off. It's not that the game looks bad, it's just...

And I'm not much of an Elder Scrolls fan (huge world, nothing to do) and I often get "lonely" without any interesting NPC's to talk to, but Skyrim looks amazing. I've already pre-ordered it.

It's only the 3rd game I'll have bought on release day, and the only one that wasn't from BioWare.

What is turning me off from Mass Effect 3 is that all those bad ass characters you spent time tracking down and recruiting in the second game might only be playable for a mission or two. And in their place so far I see this douche who reminds me of Conrad Verner.

I want Thane back. I want Grunt, Tali, Zaed, even Jacob and Jack. I want Miranda and all the rest. I worked hard to keep them alive, and I want them of my regular crew. I'm not sure I like the direction they're taking the game in, but only time will tell I suppose. I know for sure I am not buying the game on release. I must have spent over a hundred bucks on the game and all the downloadable content (plus got screwed because I got it used and I had no idea or warning that Bioware was going to charge me extra for that). I am definitely waiting for the "game of the year" edition that will inevitably come out. Same as I'm doing with Dragon Age 2, though given the reaction to that game there might not be a game of the year edition. I hate how Bioware is nickle and diming us to death through small stupid downloadable contents.

[Werthead]

I hate how Bioware is nickle and diming us to death through small stupid downloadable contents.

I occasionally have nightmares that if DLC had been around during the BG era, you'd only be able to get Minsc as paid content.

*shudder*

They need to stop doing this shit. At least FO3 gave us fairly big expansions for a fiver at a time, which is just about worth it, but the problem is now that people have gotten wise to it and know if they wait a year they can get an all-in-one edition, usually discounted below the price of the original by itself. This is what I'm doing with New Vegas.

[Jon AS]

What is turning me off from Mass Effect 3 is that all those bad ass characters you spent time tracking down and recruiting in the second game might only be playable for a mission or two. And in their place so far I see this douche who reminds me of Conrad Verner.

Heh, I'm guessing Newguy will be the least used squad member in ME3. I suspect they want to use him as the one who has to be brought up to speed, so as to help new players get their bearing? For some of the others, it can make sense not to be available for the entire game. Mordin, Samara or Legion might be busy with other stuff, Thane might be busy dying etc. But so far only Garrus, Tali, Liara, Ashley and Kaidan have been confirmed as full squad members, I think. Which is odd because I would have thought that Liara at least would have her hands full.

I'm not particularly interested in getting Jack or Jacob back, but I'd definitely miss Grunt's child-like enthusiasm for killing.

Regarding DLC characters, Bioware's line is that without the possibility to sell them as separate items those characters would never have made it past the concept stage because the basic development budget wouldn't have covered them.:dunno:

[Inigima]

Anyone else playing Two Worlds 2? I am embarrassed to say that this is the game I am dedicating my time to while the Witcher 2 gathers dust. I loved the Witcher books and the first game, but I just can't get into the second game. Then between Two Worlds 2 and Divinity 2 I am in heaven.

I loved the first one because it was so campy and awfully made. Is this one the same or is actually kind of competent? Because if it is I'm not interested.

[SamanthaofHodorsfield]

Okay, a little help here.

How in the name of the holy dodo are you meant to get 5 stars on all the cieth stone mission in FFXIII? I mean, I've got the gold watch from mission 64, which ups my target rate, but not by much. I'm barely scraping 3 stars on the majority of A and B missions. And don't get me started on Orphan. It's hard enough surviving it's instant-death strikes long enough to kill it without worrying about killing it quickly enough for 5 stars.

Any tips? I'm trying to platinum on it, and it's driving me nutty.

[Centrist Simon Steele]

I loved the first one because it was so campy and awfully made. Is this one the same or is actually kind of competent? Because if it is I'm not interested.

It is WAAAAAY more competent, yet despite that completely campy. Just not awful. I liked the first one, love the second.

[Centrist Simon Steele]

I occasionally have nightmares that if DLC had been around during the BG era, you'd only be able to get Minsc as paid content.

*shudder*

They need to stop doing this shit. At least FO3 gave us fairly big expansions for a fiver at a time, which is just about worth it, but the problem is now that people have gotten wise to it and know if they wait a year they can get an all-in-one edition, usually discounted below the price of the original by itself. This is what I'm doing with New Vegas.

I've heard devs from Bioware say they'd like to make entire games where you guy it a chapter at a time. Greedy bastards. I think you're right though that people are waiting for discounted versions. There will always be people who have to wait until launch, but I really have no problem waiting a year or whatever.

[Inigima]

It is WAAAAAY more competent, yet despite that completely campy. Just not awful. I liked the first one, love the second.

Thanks, I'll have to pick it up.

[Jon AS]

I've heard devs from Bioware say they'd like to make entire games where you guy it a chapter at a time.

Good god, I thought episodic releases had been tried and found wanting by now?

On that note, is there an ETA for Half Life 2: Episode 3? Feels like this is turning into the new Duke Nukem Forever.

[SamanthaofHodorsfield]

I've heard devs from Bioware say they'd like to make entire games where you guy it a chapter at a time. Greedy bastards. I think you're right though that people are waiting for discounted versions. There will always be people who have to wait until launch, but I really have no problem waiting a year or whatever.

Bioware aren't the only ones who have done it. Square Enix have done, though for the admittedly smaller FFIV: After Years. So did Telltale Games for Monkey Island. So it's not only Bioware who do it/want to do it. But Bioware wise, and DLC wise; I'm not going to jump on as soon as it arrives, though it's good to know it's coming. But DA2 was so bug-ridden that I'm going to hold out and wait until I know that the story DLC don't have similar issues. Not to mention I want to see if it's worth my cash. Got stung with some shoddy DLC for DA:O so not gonna make the same mistake of jumping on it the moment's released.

[Inigima]

Episodic games are a little different, I think. Episodic is basically what Telltale does, and their full games -- all the chapters -- generally weigh in around $35 including a DVD copy after all the episodes are released, which I think is fair. Telltale generally releases great product, too. They did a great job with Sam & Max, and I wouldn't have trusted anyone else with Monkey Island.

[Werthead]

On that note, is there an ETA for Half Life 2: Episode 3? Feels like this is turning into the new Duke Nukem Forever.

The general theory is that Valve have abandoned the next game being an 'episode' and the next tile will be Half-Life 3 itself, using the cliffhanger ending of Episode 2 as a jumping-off point. This is based on not much other than some very vague comments by Valve over the last couple of years, and the feeling that if after a minimum of four years all they had to show for themselves was another four-hour game, the reaction would be 'negative' (and apparently Valve took the 'low' scores for Episode 2 - low meaning mid-80s rather than the mid-90s they are used to - to heart).

Hopefully we'll hear something soon. Portal 2's out of the way, and they have no other announced games in development by their main teams (Dawn of the Ancients 2 is apparently on the cards from a hired modding team though), so they don't have anything else on the schedule. And if they announce Left 4 Dead 3 or something, people will start to think they're taking the piss a bit.

[csharpminor]

Haha, left for dead 3. That'd be highlarious. I can't believe team fortress 2 is free now. I guess people actually will pay that much money for ingame hats.

Speaking of squeenix, what's going on with ff14? I read about some changes to make the game apparently more appealing to casual gamers.. Which I'm all for, if I ever actually play ff14. I played 11 a fair amount, and the grind in that game is pretty obnoxious. Though most of the other parts of 11 are good quality. I probably won't play 14, but if I do it will have to be way more casual than 11 was.

[Inigima]

Haha, left for dead 3. That'd be highlarious. I can't believe team fortress 2 is free now. I guess people actually will pay that much money for ingame hats.

Well, here's the thing. Team Fortress 2 is coming up on four years old now. Everyone who would have paid for it by now already has. So why not bring in as many free players as possible and try to sell some hats?