Son of Videogames Thread

[Inigima]

I picked up cheap used copies of Disgaea 3 and Folklore for PS3. Disgaea isn't grabbing me so far but I need to play it when I'm not exhausted. Folklore is pretty neat. It suffers a bit from insufficient interactivity -- there's a cutscene every time you turn around -- and by-the-numbers combat. But the aesthetic is nice -- some of the things in town are pretty neat-looking -- and the story is interesting so far. Definitely not a game to have paid $60, but at $15 I'm enjoying myself.

[Werthead]

Reiterating from the last thread:

Paradox are making a Mount and Blade-alike game set during the Wars of the Roses.

Given the love given by boardmembers to both Paradox and Mount and Blade, this should be of interest.

[Jon AS]

From the last thread:

IMO, the Infinity Engine is better looking than most 3D, isometric engines of today.

It's not really the engine, it's just the painted, static backgrounds that still look pretty. Character looks and animation are very basic, particularly in the BG/IWD games (Torment was a bit more detailed), but of course these days you'd play these games in resolutions where the characters become so small you wouldn't notice higher levels of details.

[Kosciuszko]

So got Catherine today.

It's pretty fun. I seem to only be getting silver trophies, though- anything special needed to do to gold a stage? Or do I just need to go faster (already grabbing all the coins).

[Durckad]

From the last thread:

It's not really the engine, it's just the painted, static backgrounds that still look pretty. Character looks and animation are very basic, particularly in the BG/IWD games (Torment was a bit more detailed), but of course these days you'd play these games in resolutions where the characters become so small you wouldn't notice higher levels of details.

That's true, though I'd argue that quite a few spell effects are still pretty decent looking.

Diablo II came out around the same time and that game just looks like shit today.

[Kosciuszko]

Good news for Persona fans.

There will be a fighting game featuring Persona characters, a Playstation Vita Persona 4 release called Persona 4 Golden, and Persona 5 has been announced for an unknown system (likely PS3 based on comments during Catherine development).

[Daeric]

Well I picked up Bastion and its sound track over the weekend.

The sound track of course is made of pure awesome and well worth the extra I paid for it with the game.

In game I just can't decide what weapon combo to go with, I generally tend to run the hammer with either Breakers Bow or dueling pistols.

[The Anti-Targ]

I picked up cheap used copies of Disgaea 3 and Folklore for PS3. Disgaea isn't grabbing me so far but I need to play it when I'm not exhausted. Folklore is pretty neat. It suffers a bit from insufficient interactivity -- there's a cutscene every time you turn around -- and by-the-numbers combat. But the aesthetic is nice -- some of the things in town are pretty neat-looking -- and the story is interesting so far. Definitely not a game to have paid $60, but at $15 I'm enjoying myself.

I got Folklore a couple of years ago, found it used and heve never seen another copy of it in the wild. But I'd heard good things so I went ahead and got the used copy. I agree about both the good and not so good aspects of the game. Unfortunately I've never finished the game because other games of higher interest keep getting in the way. It's crazy the number of great games out there, the good games just don't get a look in for a part time gamer like me. I would like to finish Folklore one day. Perhaps in the 2 or so years after the next console generation starts before I invest in that generation I'll be able to catch up on the games of this generation I've yet to play.

Was listening on our public radio station tonight an interview with an English guy who's made an academic career (at least in part) by studying the social elements of video games. Unfortunately it was while I was driving so I didn't get to catch much of the interview. But what I did catch was NOT your typical MSM violent video games, bad for the kids, social disintegration, doomsday stuff. In fact I haven't come across any empirical academic studies that find video games to be socially or culturally destructive, or at least not any more-so than any other forms of mass entertainment.

[Screaming Turkey Reborn]

This Xenoblade game is getting great reviews. I might pick it up, but damn is it expensive. $100 for a game? Fucking hell.

[Alcibiades]

In game I just can't decide what weapon combo to go with, I generally tend to run the hammer with either Breakers Bow or dueling pistols.

Have you gotten the carbine yet? It's made of pure awesome. I generally went with it, the hammer, and the grenade special move.

Maybe after I finish Deus Ex I'll run through Bastion in New Game+

[Sad King Billy]

Speaking of DX, I've just got to what is described as 'Singapore' though I'm yet to see anything of it. Am I nearing he end game any time soon? Because I'm getting exploration exhaustion.

edit: apparently there's an -e- in describing. Who invented this tomfoolerly?

[Slick Mongoose]

Speaking of DX, I've just got to what is described as 'Singapore' though I'm yet to see anything of it. Am I nearing he end game any time soon? Because I'm getting exploration exhaustion.

Not long to go now

[snookyrump]

Downloaded indie side-scroller Limbo a few days ago.

Impressive in its simple, smart and artistic approach.

Eerie and kind of creepy to boot. Me liked.

[Daeric]

Have you gotten the carbine yet? It's made of pure awesome. I generally went with it, the hammer, and the grenade special move.

Maybe after I finish Deus Ex I'll run through Bastion in New Game+

I'm at the level that gets it, but I've being abit lazy about completing it.

[Bronn is God]

Yay, Halo 4 concept art!

So guys, whats up with all the Mass Effect love I see? I bought the first 2 games (which I kind of regret now) and jumped in and started playing the first, and what I got was a very average experience.

Firstly, it tries to be a shooter and an RPG, but it sucks at doing it. The combat is not polished, not at all. And just ignoring all the other issues with the game (I know its a freaking huge game), the combat is a terrible, terrible let down. I just dont want to fight because of how bad it is, but the story has not peaked my interest enough to continue for the story... I am in limbo!

I actually enjoyed the sections on the huge station, where you do nothing but talk to people and progressively build up the universe your playing in, but then I get promoted to Spectre and the game turns to shit...

All of these missions I accumulated on the big world ship, I simply cannot do. How is it that I, the first human Spectre, an elite group of BAMF cannot deal with standard space scum? I die in like 5 seconds against a bunch of bandits! WTF is that shit? Thats the whole RPG aspect gone wrong. I have no chance against certain dudes unless I am like level 20 or something - and that makes no sense in the shooter aspect of the game. I am not dying because I am not taking cover or I cant hit my enemy, I die because they can take 10,000 bullets and I can only take 3. It is ridiculous.

And what is with the FUCKING WORMS that pop out on every cut-and-paste planet I drop into? The tank/vehicle handles so badly that I have such a hard time getting bullets into the thing trying to stop it.

Oh god, and the interface and tutorial and the handbook - totally useless. I have no idea how to stock up on grenades and other simple things like that. And the galaxy maps... oh god... Trying to find a ship on a galaxy map is like finding a brown dot in a sea of blackness, quite literally. I dont know what scanning things does, or why it benefits me, I just do it. I dont know how to hack anything (apparently it is just hit the buttons really fast and it unlocks, but I dont have fingers that move at the speed of light, so I always fail hacking).

I dont know. Thusfar it has been a very mediocre experience with great potential, but the game is so god damn frustrating... The learning curve is bad. It reminds me of Morrowind, where at level 1 you are sent to fight the necromancer on the bridge, whose skeleton is 10x stronger than you.... Except in this game, I cant actually go do other things because I will die instantaneously. And I still see very little benefit from doing side quests at all.

I want to like this game. I want to jump on my Xbox in a couple of months and marathon the series out, but it is so frustrating and draining to do so. Anyone have any similar experiences? Any advice?

Much appreciated.

[Liffguard]

Most of the love for ME1 is for its story, characters and setting. The gameplay mechanics definitely tried to do something interesting by combining third person, cover-based shooting action with RPG. Some people liked it (me included) and others such as yourself obviously didn't. Even the most die-hard fans admit that the gameplay in ME1 was flawed.

ME2 is MUCH better. Like, a massive truckload better. Everything about the combat mechanics is massively streamlined and improved. The weapons and power selection are both much simpler but also more meaningful. The cover works better. Combat is faster-paced, more tactical and less of a grind. In addition, there aren't any cut-n-paste environments so each area you fight through is unique. On top of that, whilst plot plays a less-important role the characters and setting are even more fleshed out. If the combat in ME1 is holding you back but you're still interested in the general premise then definitely give ME2 a try.

[Shryke]

ME1's combat has alot of issues. It can be kinda fun, but it's horribly broken. And I think the "cover" mechanics were obviously shoe-horned in at the last minute on to a combat system designed for more tradional Half-Life style FPS shooting.

As for the rest, it'd help to know what class you are playing, since that would tell us more about what your problems with the combat are. You sound like you are having major problems just staying alive, which really depends on your class and your companions and the like

In the general sense, the problems with ME1's combat is that it's badly balanced. It goes from "insanely difficult" to "ridiculously easy" very quickly. Your powers go from having way too long cooldowns and being pathetic to being ridiculously overpowered. Especially the biotics, which trivialise the game by the end.

The random planet thing is a piece of shit too. All planets are the same boring crap you drive around in your stupid broken-wheel-shopping-cart to get to one of the same 3 identical maps to kill people in. It sucks and ME2 is 10000x better for ditching it. Thankfully, you don't need to do ANY of them to finish the game (well, ok, maybe 1 for your class upgrade) and you only need to do a small handful to touch everythign that carries over in your save-game to ME2.

And most of the interface is good, but the inventory system is so bad someone should be fired (or set on fire) for letting that make it into the release edition of the game.

I have no idea how to stock up on grenades and other simple things like that. And the galaxy maps... oh god... Trying to find a ship on a galaxy map is like finding a brown dot in a sea of blackness, quite literally. I dont know what scanning things does, or why it benefits me, I just do it. I dont know how to hack anything (apparently it is just hit the buttons really fast and it unlocks, but I dont have fingers that move at the speed of light, so I always fail hacking).

Grenades are picked up more or less randomly from looting stuff or from normal killing.

The other stuff you mention here I'm not even sure what you are talking about. Why are you trying to find a ship on the galaxy map? Hacking, if you are on the XBox, is a simple Simon-Says game afaik.

All in all, ME1 isn't that bad, but the combat is badly balanced and much of the "planet exploration" part of the game is pointless and dull. You can blaze through the important story bits pretty good though and those main missions do have some epic set pieces and fights and story in them. Which is all good to experience at least once.

Then go play ME2, which basically takes the ideas from ME1 and makes them 100x better in every way.

[Bronn is God]

Oh thank goodness that others think there is something wrong with some of the gameplay. I surely thought I was going to be alone in that after watching the game reviews.

I played the default character (I am guessing soldier) and I upgraded Rifles (because I thought it would help with that unforgiving bloom) and Health. I did the same for Rex and the other soldier guy (the Salerian?). I took them on this ship that was a side quest to rescue some dudes brother, and I just could not find where it was in the galaxy map for 10 minutes. When I got on the ship, me and my 2 fully HP'ed out bro's got shitslapped. I repeated this twice again and I realized there was nothing I could do.

The tutorial (or lack of) is the worst thing really. Not having a strong background in RPG's was a real kick in the crotch when it came to this game. I did not realize I had a map and I could checkpoint where to go, so I spent the good part of an hour running back and forth on the first level, looking for where to go.

Glad to hear ME2 gets better. Might soldier it out then. And I might also reduce the difficulty to easy, so I can play through it faster and with less stress.

Cheers.

[Shryke]

Oh thank goodness that others think there is something wrong with some of the gameplay. I surely thought I was going to be alone in that after watching the game reviews.

I played the default character (I am guessing soldier) and I upgraded Rifles (because I thought it would help with that unforgiving bloom) and Health. I did the same for Rex and the other soldier guy (the Salerian?). I took them on this ship that was a side quest to rescue some dudes brother, and I just could not find where it was in the galaxy map for 10 minutes. When I got on the ship, me and my 2 fully HP'ed out bro's got shitslapped. I repeated this twice again and I realized there was nothing I could do.

The tutorial (or lack of) is the worst thing really. Not having a strong background in RPG's was a real kick in the crotch when it came to this game. I did not realize I had a map and I could checkpoint where to go, so I spent the good part of an hour running back and forth on the first level, looking for where to go.

Glad to hear ME2 gets better. Might soldier it out then. And I might also reduce the difficulty to easy, so I can play through it faster and with less stress.

Cheers.

It sounds like you were expecting to see the ship on the galaxy map or something?

If you are looking for something, the assignment will usually tell you what cluster and what system you should go to. Once you are at the specific system, it's easy to spot the clickable stuff.

As for getting slaughetered, it does depend what level you are (if you are low level, stuff can be quite challenging if you aren't careful) and you may be fighting a bunch of biotics, who are annoying as fuck.

Are you getting thrown around on to the ground all the time and unable to do anything? That means biotics and that's basically one of those "keeping tryin and be careful and run backwards" type situations.

I'm running through the ship-board missions in my head and the one where you rescue the hostage from the biotics is the first one coming to mind from your description. The one with all the fucking Husks can also be really annoying.

[Bronn is God]

It was a little while ago, but from what I remember, I was not being thrown around. It was this little maze-esque storage room that I was in and I would hide behind cover and try and pop some shots into these guys, and some of them come charging at me and kill me really quickly.

That, or I poke my head out for too long and I get hit a couple of times and I die.

Also, what are all these gel things? I know that I can turn weapons into gel, but they dont seem to do anything but bypass hacks. I dont really have a clue whats going on in that aspect and the game never bothered to explain it to me.

Is Omni-Gel the currency of the game?