Video Games: You Game Like a Young Man, With Nothing Held Back. Admirable, But Mistaken.

[MercenaryChef]

i have been shot and my leg is broken.

today i started from scratch in day z after a recent death by murder.

it took me no time to gather a large backpack, an ak, a pistol, all the basic tools i would need to survive in the wild and headed north in search of fun. i had a ghillie suit and was doing the whole hunter-stalker bit. it is fun to just lonewolf it and make your own way in the zombie ravaged world.

the situation was all my doing. i actually deserved to be left in the woods with a broken leg.

i was near the small village mogilevka when i saw a field with one cow and a goat in it. i shot them both. and then boom before my eyes two more cows spawn. as they are witnesses to my crimes i kill both of them too. and as i am scanning the field for more 'witnesses' i see chris. this server offers up name tags when you sight someone.

320 meters away is chris. his alice pack is sticking up over the grass and i see him scoping me with his binoculars. i do the same to him. i make it real obvious i can see him. in side chat i type 'friendly.' i lower my gun, i salute. i repeat a couple times.

i then move towards him. he stays where he is. this should be fine, so i think. as i get to about 50 meters away he bolts. i stupidly follow. i run parallel hoping to cut him off and offer him some meat as a act of friendship. under a tree i find him prone leveling a shotgun at me. that is cool. this is day z. we always have guns pointed at us. he fires. i return fire with my ak at close range. he is dead real quick. i had hoped to find morphine to care for my broken leg, but was denied. so, i hid his body after taking his food and drink.

chris died. why, chris? i only wanted to be your friend.

and now i am stranded in the woods without a hospital within many kilometers.

[Sad King Billy]

[...]

In addition, Obsidian - as Obisidan - made New Vegas, the finest CRPG of the last ten years. As Black Isle, they also made Planescape: Torment, the greatest CRPG of all time, and Fallout 2, which is one of the close contenders, as well as assisting on the Baldur's Gate series. Even their more problematic failures - Alpha Protocol and Neverwinter Nights 2 - are considerably more interesting conceptually and bolder than anything almost any other RPG studio is putting out (CDProjekt being an honourable exception).

[...]

I agree with almost everything you said, but this part I take issue with. While New vegas is a GREAT rpg, I have to say that Vampire Bloodlines was better. To be clear, this is like comparing an excellent whiskey with a great wine. Both will get you drunk. Both are delicious and worth savoring every minute you spend with them. But I prefer the whiskey. I meant Bloodlines.

[Merentha]

Uh yeah, I know, I finished the game lol. I am looking for something similar. I was asking about Skyrim.

Skyrim is pretty much the essence of Bethesda, as far as I am concerned. You spend the first hour going "wow! I can do ANYTHING!" and go about it for several quite enjoyable hours. Then you find that doing anything is both trivial and meaningless, but hope that it is just the questline you're on now, or something. Then you realize that Skyrim is merely a very pretty sandbox with nothing of substance at all behind it, and give up and never touch it again.

At least, in my opinion. It gave me a good 40 hours of enjoyment, at least.

edit: We are so close to V:tM-B being outside of that 10 year window, fyi. I am also telling myself that's SystemShock2 and Deus Ex aren't included in that.

[Marakh]

Well if you have a PS3, Demon's Souls. If you don't have a PS3, get one, then get Demon's Souls. There is much debate among those who've played DS and errr DS, as to which DS is the better game.

Dark Souls is on my to do list, but I also need to pluck up the courage to finish my NG+ and soldier run through of Demon's Souls. Demon's Souls is one of the few games I know where regularly committing suicide is a useful game strategy. Is it the same in Dark Souls?

Declaration of conflict of interest: Demon's Souls is one of my favourite games of the generation. Skyrim I wouldn't give the time of day.

Yeah I have a PS3. I have been thinking about getting Demon's, but I've heard it's way more linear and Dark Souls is a bit more "open world" in the sense that there's more exploration. But I think I'm gonna get it anyway even if it would be a little downgrade over Dark S

[Marakh]

Skyrim is pretty much the essence of Bethesda, as far as I am concerned. You spend the first hour going "wow! I can do ANYTHING!" and go about it for several quite enjoyable hours. Then you find that doing anything is both trivial and meaningless, but hope that it is just the questline you're on now, or something. Then you realize that Skyrim is merely a very pretty sandbox with nothing of substance at all behind it, and give up and never touch it again.

At least, in my opinion. It gave me a good 40 hours of enjoyment, at least.

edit: We are so close to V:tM-B being outside of that 10 year window, fyi. I am also telling myself that's SystemShock2 and Deus Ex aren't included in that.

Myeah that sounds like Grand Theft Auto in a middle age environment, which I would hate. I can't stand games that drop you in the middle of an open world and tell you to create your own fun.

[Inigima]

Yeah I have a PS3. I have been thinking about getting Demon's, but I've heard it's way more linear and Dark Souls is a bit more "open world" in the sense that there's more exploration. But I think I'm gonna get it anyway even if it would be a little downgrade over Dark S

I actually preferred Demon's to Dark, though I'm in the minority.

[The Winged Shadow]

Myeah that sounds like Grand Theft Auto in a middle age environment, which I would hate. I can't stand games that drop you in the middle of an open world and tell you to create your own fun.

In GTA you actually have a lot of stuff to do if you want to. For example:

- Build up stars and get chased by the police everywhere and see how long you last (using different vehicles if you are up for it, i.e. bicycle, scooter, motorbike, cars, helicopter etc)

- Motorbike and car stunts

- Gang wars

- Taxi quests, Police quests, Pizza delivery, Ambulance quests

- Steal a plane, or go on top a mountain and parachute off. Etc. Etc.

There is a fair bit of (repetitive) content if you choose to do so. Which is not everyone's thing (I personally don't like most of those). But between GTA vs Skyrim, there is a lot more 'stuff' to do in GTA.

[haLobEnder]

I agree with almost everything you said, but this part I take issue with. While New vegas is a GREAT rpg, I have to say that Vampire Bloodlines was better. To be clear, this is like comparing an excellent whiskey with a great wine. Both will get you drunk. Both are delicious and worth savoring every minute you spend with them. But I prefer the whiskey. I meant Bloodlines.

I've been meaning to play through Bloodlines for some time, but I've got a really, really silly thing holding me back: I don't like how the game distinguishes between the blood of rich people and the blood of street people. I don't even play as the Vampire race that's effected by such things, it's just knowing that mechanic is there just really bothers me for some reason.

[Francis Buck]

So I was going to buy a 360 for a second time (though my "first" actually went through three units with the RRoD warranty), but I've decided that, being this close to the "next gen", I wanted to go for a PS3 and try some of the stuff I've never gotten the chance to play.

Query being, what's the best first game to get for it?

My shortlist includes:

Uncharted 3

Killzone 3

God of War 3

I like all three genres, and don't really care about the earlier story-lines and such. I also like RPG's, but there really aren't any PS3 exclusive RPG's that have jumped out at me (aside from JRPG's, which I generally don't like at all). Any and all suggestions are welcome and appreciated.

P.S. I'm definitely interested in getting Demon/Dark (whichever the PS3 one is) Souls eventually, but not as my first game. I'm more interested in the big super exclusive stuff. GoW, Uncharted, and Killzone seem to be the main ones I've missed?

P.S.S.

Ah, forgot about the Resistance games. To those that have played them, how do they stack up against Killzone as far as FPS games go?

[The Anti-Targ]

Yeah I have a PS3. I have been thinking about getting Demon's, but I've heard it's way more linear and Dark Souls is a bit more "open world" in the sense that there's more exploration. But I think I'm gonna get it anyway even if it would be a little downgrade over Dark S

Well it is and it isn't linear. Each level is fairly linear, and there's no open world to just wander around, and there are certain levels that are locked (for your own good and sanity) until you've completed other levels. However you are not locked in to doing worlds in any particular order, other than the aforementioned "thus far and no further" points.

Demon's Souls is the original, so expect a bit less polish I suppose, and some flaws. And unless you play by walkthrough or you are particularly ninja, some boss demon fights will make you scream, because of the fact that if the boss demon kills you you have to start the level from scratch. I expect that if you finished Dark Souls you should be pretty good with Demon's Souls.

On a different topic. It looks like the Newtown massacre might once again spotlight video game violence (among other media violence):

On Fox News Sunday the retiring independent senator from Connecticut Joe Lieberman said he supported the restoration of the ban on assault weapons, adding that a national commission on mass violence should also be established, considering not just gun law but the depiction of violence in the media.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/first-moves-on-tough-road-to-gun-control-20121217-2biem.html#ixzz2FGxC8XM1

[Kosciuszko]

Valkyria Chronicles is one of the best PS3 exclusives, IMO. It's a tactical RPG in terms of gameplay but could also be considered a JRPG I guess. Demon's Souls is obvious, of course. Not an RPG, but get Journey off the PSN. It's wonderful.

[haLobEnder]

Well if Kosciuszko gets to recommend Valkyria even though its a JRPG, I'm recommending the Yakuza games even though they're (arguably) JRPGs :P

I get that you're not overly concerned with the earlier storylines of the franchises you mentions, but some might argue that Uncharted 2 is a better game than Uncharted 3.

There's also the Infamous series. The first one is looking pretty dated these days, but the second one still holds up.

[Francis Buck]

I should clarify that by JRPG, I was perhaps (unfairly) considering them to be mostly turn-based, which I generally don't like. I'm probably a somewhat stereotypical version of the average American gamer in that I usually prefer more action-oriented games, thus my interest in Killzone, Uncharted, and God of War (and possibly Resistance).

The only turn-based game I've ever liked was Pokemon. That being said, I haven't actually tried a whole lot of turn-based games outside of Pokemon, so...yeah.

EDIT: Ah yes, Infamous was another series I was forgetting. I knew I was missing some. That's definitely something I might be interested in...

Goddamn, there are so many choices.

[Kosciuszko]

I should clarify that by JRPG, I was perhaps (unfairly) considering them to be mostly turn-based, which I generally don't like. I'm probably a somewhat stereotypical version of the average American gamer in that I usually prefer more action-oriented games, thus my interest in Killzone, Uncharted, and God of War (and possibly Resistance).

The only turn-based game I've ever liked was Pokemon. That being said, I haven't actually tried a whole lot of turn-based games outside of Pokemon, so...yeah.

Valkyria Chronicles is turn-based, but not in the same way as the traditional JRPG and that's not really the right description for how it plays. It's a tactical RPG, like Xcom, Final Fantasy Tactics, that sort of thing. Gameplay can be seen

.

ETA: Infamous is good too.

[Revan Baratheon]

Ok guys, so how is deus Ex Human revolution ? The critics seem to be drooling all over this one, though there is some complaints about boss fights..

Sorry about the obsidian hate btw, I get emotional when kotor 2 is concerned lol

[The Anti-Targ]

WTF how can people make PS3 exclusive recommendations without mentioning Ratchet and Clank. Tools of Destruction and A Crack in Time are the R&C games to get for the quintessential R&C experience on PS3. Don't get All-4-One or Q-Force (the latest one) as they are not true R&C games and they aren't all that good, though All-4-One is a decent option for playing co-op with friends. My memory of the PS2 R&C games is that I enjoyed them more than the PS3 games, but that's possibly because I was a wide-eyed noob with 3D action-platformers back then and now I'm a bit more of a cynical hack.

Kosciuszko is my new best friend for saying VC is one of the best exclusives. Can we share our grief at VC going to PSP, or do you have a PSP?

Heavenly Sword. God of War-like in game play but has some nifty gameplay of its own, and the use of the sixaxis control for guided shooting / throwing stuff is cool. It is a short game, which is probably a plus for sopmeone just getting a PS3 and wanting to get through the exclusives.

You can miss Uncharted 1 (though I liked it a lot, still do). But I would recommend you not pass up Uncharted 2. get 2 and 3 at least. Relatively short games (10 hrs) so it's not going to tax you overly much timewise to enjoy them both. Unless you become a trophy whore and decide you must platinum both games, that'll eat up a bit of time.

If you're gonna get God of War you might as well get the ultimate collection: 5 games for the price of 1. The over all story of God of War is very good for the H'n'S genre and there's lots about God of War III that you won't get if you haven't played GoW I and II. Though it does an OK job of filling in a bit of back story.

Lotsa people here might tell you otherwise but if you are going to get Killzone 3, Resistance 3 and Infamous 2 (needs Festival of Blood DLC) it's worth considering investing in Playstation Move (and Navigation controller). Most people who have learned to use the Move for FPS games swear they'll never go back to standard controller for FPS on console. Myself I'm no FPS fan so I've only used the Move for InFamous 2, and it's by far my preferred control option for that game, even though they don't let you tweak the controls as much as I'd like.

For local co-op fun you can't go past Little Big Planet (or LBP 2) for having fun with friends.

For a complete change of pace with friends (esp reluctant gamer friends) Blue Toad Murder Files (PSN) is a fun chapter based co-op puzzler. That, Buzz and Singstar are the only games some of my non-gaming friends and family like playing.

Don't listen to the clone / knock off criticisms of Playstation All Stars Battle Royale. It is great fun for when you have experienced gamer friends over. The roster looks a bit thin for those who aren't familiar with Playstation icons, but all the characters are fun to play.

I'd also put in a plug for Folklore, if you can find it. I like it a lot, but it's not to everyone's liking, especially if you want fast pace and high action.

[Merentha]

I've been meaning to play through Bloodlines for some time, but I've got a really, really silly thing holding me back: I don't like how the game distinguishes between the blood of rich people and the blood of street people. I don't even play as the Vampire race that's effected by such things, it's just knowing that mechanic is there just really bothers me for some reason.

If it makes you feel better, you could just go with the Ventrue being the vampire version of germophobes. It isn't the blood that's different, its just how the vampires feel about it. Pretend you're an absurd foodie and think about a really good meal. Now smash it up into a ball. Its still as good, it just won't look like it and that'll probably actually affect how much you like it, which is where the Ventrue start turning up their noses.

Ok guys, so how is deus Ex Human revolution ? The critics seem to be drooling all over this one, though there is some complaints about boss fights..

Sorry about the obsidian hate btw, I get emotional when kotor 2 is concerned lol

So how much is it going to blow your mind that I liked KotOR2 more than KotOR even before the fan restoration patch? Now that its out, there really is no contest.

DXHR can largely be summed up by: did you adore the original? If so, you'll start off really liking HR and slowly get more and more irritated by some design decisions. If you didn't play the original, you'll probably like it a lot. Good example of an FPS/RPG hybrid with some pretty cool ideas.

[Marakh]

I'll probably be in the minority here and go off the board. but my favourite PS3 exclusives (which includes HD PS2 games lol) are:

Metal Gear Solid HD Collection and Metal Gear Solid 4 (Big fan of the series)

Journey (incredible visual experience)

Heavy rain

Ico/Shadow of the Colossus HD Collection

Okami HD (if you havent played this on ps2, you HAVE to get it)

God of war series (get them all like Anti-Targ suggested)

I also recommend Valkyria Chronicles. Finished it a while ago but it still looks beautiful and it's really engaging.

Gran Turismo 5 if you like racing?

Most of those games are around $20...

Pretty much why I bought a PS3 instead of an Xbox 360. I am more a story focused/visual experience guy than the sports/fps type. I don't see games like these on Xbox. I love Halo and Gears of War though.

Although Dark Souls has been my favourite game of the past 2 years and it has nothing to do with that philosophy lol. But I have to say when I beat those huge monsters in Shadow of the Colossus it felt the same way as beating the bosses in Dark Souls.

BTW, Jrpg havent been turned based for a while now. Heck, Dark Souls and Demon's souls are Jrpgs.

And early next year on PS3: The last of us and Beyond 2 souls which are AAA exclusives.

[The Anti-Targ]

Well if you want to go HD collections as well then I'd add the Jak and Daxter trilogy to the list of recommendations if you haven't already played them. I also hear the Sly trilogy is very good too, but I've not played any Sly games yet.

Ah yes Ico and SOTC. Another couple of games I keep meaning to get but always seem to have a higher priority whenever I go to buy something. I played about half of Ico on PS2, liked it a lot but never managed to finish it (I only rented it).

I hesitate to mention The Last Guardian as I think it might end up as vapourware. But it's certainly a game from the Team Ico stable that looks great.

[Kosciuszko]

Kosciuszko is my new best friend for saying VC is one of the best exclusives. Can we share our grief at VC going to PSP, or do you have a PSP?

I have a PSP but it's still a shame that they weren't made on the PS3 instead. I should really get around to finishing VC2. It plays a lot better than VC in many ways, but the presentation is really different.