What games are you currently playing?

[Firewind]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

Exploration in an MMORPG is a finite experience at best. It's there in the first month of an MMO, then its go. Comes back again in an expansion and its gone just as fast. You're too focused on progress, getting on the same page and the social element that you never, ever truly just roam and experience the world on your own whim.

Actually FFXI did the exploration thing well due to the sheer size of some of the zone maps and that every one of them has something interesting hidden either as part of a quest or to be found by someone exploring. There were never any achievements too so it was easier to get up and go to explore on your own whim. On other MMOs I have noticed that I never have a reason to explore off the typical path unless I'm looking for gathering nodes (WoW) or looking there because the wiki said there's loot in that really obscure, inaccessible location (Rift), there's a dungeon way out there and I have to walk to it (D&D Online, Aion, Rift pre dungeon finder and Star Wars: TOR) or I'm trying to get all the achievements for that zone (too many MMOs to count but DCU and WoW are notable offenders). Or all of the above (Star Wars TOR, Rift, Age of Conan).

Warhammer Online and Uncharted Waters Online were pretty good for exploration too. WAR rewarded it by giving you lore unlocks about the area and people for exploring while exploration was a major gameplay mechanic of UWO.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

MMOs feel expansive at first, but tend to get a bit more derivative as time goes on. If you're playing an MMORPG or class that is more solo-focused, you're allowed to wander a great deal more, but the more group-focused and loss-fearing people are, they less likely they are to explore if they even value that at all. I tended to think going down the be very bottom of Pso'xja without Ninjutsu was a great bit of fun and suspense, but most people at that time still wouldn't go down there without NIN tools and a group. Cuz that EXP was so hard-earned and difficult to get back, you know.

Elder Scrolls feels a lot more handcrafted than an MMORPG. While some of the areas can be same-ish, they're never entirely the same. There's no cut-and paste to the layouts, so each new place really is new in that respect. And there is just a greater density of these places.

At any rate, for someone like Mal to say that MMOs are the only place for tons of sidequests and the ability to wander is incredibly shallow and shortsighted. I'm more interested in seeing games embrace exploration than restrict them with deep narrative. I'm for games celebrating that their games rather that just ape movies. I have no concerns about mainstream acceptance for my pastimes. I accept video games will continue to be treated like comic books by others despite them being a big business. If they're not going to accept Zelda or Elder Scrolls, they're not going to accept Uncharted or Mass Effect, either.

[Malacite]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

Just finished Uncharted 3.

I have to say I liked 2 better. Not that 3 was bad, but it's an 8/10 at best. A lot of problems that were in the 1st game came back for God only knows why. The plot was the weakest of the 3 I found, and the combat honestly sucked in general. Some of the puzzles were awesome and the graphics were *amazing* - but they needed to work on the plot big time. Shit, the game was only maybe 2/3 as long as UC2 was as well. I think even the first game was longer.

The voice acting was top notch, but just some segments either didn't mesh well or were absolutely pointless filler (like the Yemen Pirates, I wanted to pull my hair out during some of those segments and it had virtually no bearing on the plot either - all it did was stretch the game out as a cheap segway into the next part of the plot). The armored goons and seemingly mandatory QTE battles with "brutes" were incredibly cheap and stupid as well. Yah, I'm sorry but no armor in the world is going to save you from repeated shotgun blasts to the head or a pair of grenades.

The final area just didn't impress me as much either as El Dorado or Shambala did. At least there were no Nazis and WW2 guns this time though.

Overall a good game and a nice ending to the series, just I really felt it could have been a lot better with some tweaks to the platforming and improvements to the combat. I was only on normal mode and it felt like it was too much - headshots wouldn't register, you can't aim grenades while hanging anymore, lack of really good cover in some fights and just too many freaking enemies in general. I've never been a big fan of the combat in the Uncharted series to begin with but 3 really tried my patience.

[Ketaru]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

Sonic Generations has kind of warmed up to me and I'm spending a lot of time unlocking the bonus content now. Still, it's transparent how short the game is which is probably what I fault it for the most.

It's nice how much the online feature has fattened my Mii collection though. EDIT: But why do all these multiplayer people just want to do Special Stages and Green Hills Act 1?!

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

EDIT: But why do all these multiplayer people just want to do Special Stages and Green Hills Act 1?!

My guess would be there's online leaderboards and an exploit of some kind going on there to get up there on the charts, if Sonic 4 was any indication.

Have you downloaded Swapnote yet?

----------------------

That aside, Nintendo announced its first-ever plans for DLC for a game, its going to be for Fire Emblem on the 3DS.

There's only two reasons I'm not terribly worried about this. One is that Nintendo has already stated that the implementation of DLC will depend upon the game and if they do it for a game, the content will be substantial and reasonably priced.

Fire Emblem is a good template for this kind of thing and Intelligent Systems has already proven with Pushmo that they're almost a perfect fit for the digital environment. Pushmo isn't just good, its pretty damn addictive and when you're done with the main game's puzzles, you have infinite replay value just by going online to scan for QR Codes and adding other player's puzzles to your own game.

VVVVVV is supposed to be coming to eShop soon with new content and overall, the downloadable front is starting to look pretty promising for the 3DS. Let's hope they can keep it up.

My real concern about DLC for Nintendo is whether or not they let third parties run around unchecked. Sorry, but I don't want to see the bullshit the likes of EA, Sony, Capcom and THQ are getting away with on other platforms. Its already eroded my trust in those companies more and more by the day.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

For some reason I spent all evening and morning evening out my DCUO characters.

3 heroes, 3 villains each with their own unique mentor
2 controllers, 2 healers, 2 tanks
5/6 Play-on-words names.
All female because the dudes just look horribad in this game.

So what did I settle on? Who ended up on what side?

Heroes:

Nia Emeralds - Green Light Powers (Controller), Flight, Hand Blasters. Has Batman for a mentor, which probably pisses Guy Gardener off. Colors: Green (duh)
Sola Flare - Fire tank, Super Speed, likes to brawl. Looks up to Superman. Colors: Red and Orange
Rose Bouquet - Nature Magic Healer, Acrobatic skills, uses a staff. Puts up with being stuck with Wonder Woman. Colors: OMG Pink! Can you blame her? Her skin is green.

Villains:

Mona Chrome - Electric Healer, Flight, Dual pistols and works for Lex Luthor. Colors: Just shades of gray.
Bella Zero - Ice Tank, Flight, prefers one handed weapons and beats up magic users for Circe. Colors: Purple, Black, Turquoise.
Bea Stinger - Mental Controller, Flight, Bow and Arrows and tries not to get killed by The Joker. Colors: Yellow and Black.

[ShepardG]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

Started playing League of Legends (LoL) and I'm smitten. The game is awesome. So much strategy and skill involved, and so many different ways to play. I never played the DoTA mod for Warcraft 3, nor any other games along this line, so this was a first for me. Also it's free ROFL.

I have actually spent about 50$ in their cash shop, however, and don't regret a single dollar of it. It was never needed to be good, but along with the sheer enjoyment that it brings me, it has helped me catch up in levels and runes with my friends that have been playing for awhile. If you check it out hit me up sometime, my screenie is ... Shepardg ^^

[Shygirl]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

FFXI, that's all.

[DakAttack]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

Started playing League of Legends (LoL) and I'm smitten. The game is awesome. So much strategy and skill involved, and so many different ways to play. I never played the DoTA mod for Warcraft 3, nor any other games along this line, so this was a first for me. Also it's free ROFL.

I have actually spent about 50$ in their cash shop, however, and don't regret a single dollar of it. It was never needed to be good, but along with the sheer enjoyment that it brings me, it has helped me catch up in levels and runes with my friends that have been playing for awhile. If you check it out hit me up sometime, my screenie is ... Shepardg ^^

Beware of their business model. They release new champions that are rather overpowered so people buy them, then tone them down a few months later when sales die down. When you get to level thirty and want to do ranked, it's going to be a nightmare, because half of your games will be ruined by a single teammate, which is then reflected on your score. Conversely, you'll only win games because somebody on the other team is ruining it for them.

With that being said, I still play it. I jump between it and Battlefield 3.

[Raydeus]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

Speaking of DCUO, yesterday I decided to stop playing Skyrim earlier and logged on for a little while. <_<

Spent some time playing with my old chars and then proceeded to spend the rest of the time creating a flying weirdo, magic user, hand blaster by the name of Wulgar Drem.

I didn't even know they had merged all the servers into one. And according to the time stamp on the mails it had been almost a year since I last played.

[Malacite]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

Beat C&C 4 ... even though it was only $19.99, I still have regrets

The campaigns were way too short, and both ended in the same way. It was a rather anti-climactic ending for such a great series and such an awesome (protagonist?) character like Kane. Once you actually get the hang of the game, it's not entirely bad - even a little fun. But I seriously feel cheated by how cheap the campaign was. I swear some of the acting was just so god awful, even for C&C. Too bad no one accepts PC games for trade-ins anymore, as I'd love to unload it now that I've beaten it.

I feel satisfied for having taken the time to play and beat it, but part of me wishes I hadn't paid more than $10 for it lol. About the closest analogy I can think of is the south park episode where Stan & Kyle go after Mel Gibson for their $10.

[Nandito]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

Apparently Pinkie Pie is going to be a charge character in Fighting is Magic, so I've been playing ol' Super Street Fighter IV as a refresher.

Holy hell I've forgotten how much I suck at fighting games, and charge characters in general. They always hit me overhead when I'm charging, and even though I'm still trying to get into the habit of charging while doing any action such as jumping - I can't help but drop it doing anything other than turtling. Vega is fun, but probably too advanced for me...

Also, did they separate the Arcade Edition players or something? Low blow, Capcom.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

Vega is also the most dodgy of the charge characters, you have to really know where you're going to end up with most of his moves if you want to make the best use of him. If you want to Turtle with a charge character Balrog, Blanka and Guile are probably better for that as their movements are a bit more controlled.

Also, the AE people are playing under updated rules, so naturally they're going to be separate.

That said, I just can't do 2D fighters anymore, its too reliant on left hand-twitch and I just can't keep up with all the shit these games want to pull on inputs anymore.

3D fighters I can still do, because there's more twitch on the right hand. Its odd that I say that given my favorite 3D fighter - Soulcalibur II - is so reliant on buffering, particularly with Ivy's Summon Suffering, but the inputs timing on that is even a bit less twitchy than most 2D fighters now.

I'm just hoping Soulcalibur V doesn't suck. I think for a lot of old fans SC V is Project Soul's last chance to prove they're still relevant. III wasn't good at all and IV was a marginal recovery at best. At the very least, they didn't seem to go too crazy on guest characters this time out, so that's good and probably means Ezio will be a nice, fitting addition to the cast rather than feel as tacked-on as prior guest characters.

----------------

That said, I've settled on my games for this month, I'm going to dual wield FFXIII and FFVI for RPGs and to offset RPGs, I will do my first of likely many MGS3 runs this year with MGS3 HD.

Most of what I have left to do in Skyrim that I want to do is just finish trophies. I got to 81%, so i figure I may as well get the rest of them as the expansions will likely only add more. I am so not trapping myself into Fallout 3 after Skyrim, though, that shit can wait.


--------------------

Also, MAGFest 10 video. Mr. Uematsu and the Earthbound Papas doing "Dancing Mad."

[Icemage]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

^ I actually enjoyed Soul Calibur IV a good deal more than Soul Calibur III (but agree that SC II beats them both handily). Soul Calibur III got pretty much everything wrong; character designs (awful), loading times (looooongcat-style long), and even the gameplay was awful, aside from marginally better character balancing over SC II. Also, SCIII's loltastic "RTS" mode made me want to kick a basket full of kittens, it was so bad.

---

Currently taking a break from both Skyrim and Batman: Arkham City to take a crack at Assassin's Creed: Revelations. Only about an hour into the game, but it feels like Assassin's Creed (surprise surprise).


Icemage

[Malacite]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

ACR was pretty good.

Pro-tip: Get the 3 Den Defense wins ASAP then make sure to go out of your way to avoid maxing out templar awareness until you have each and every den controlled by a master assassin (level 15 and both quests done for each master - 18 in total for the 9 assassins)

Seriously Den Defense SUCKS! It was kinda cool/fun the 1st time and then it just got increasingly annoying and frustrating. The overall game was OK honestly, I liked Brotherhood a bit better. But it has a fairly decent ending despite a few glaring plot holes/missing info/whatever you want to call it (just things that could have been done better really) and the MP is solid if you liked it in Brotherhood.


I'm currently getting the last few achievements for Deus Ex that I'm missing (2 quests and all the datapads - screw the DLC ones) then I'll either move on to finishing vesperia or FFXIII, since XIII-2 is out at the end of the month. Still upset over C&C4 lol, but more because it's the end of Kane and not so much that it was an overall crappy game. Joe Kucan was amazing all these years and apparently was inducted into Guiness for longest recurring actor in a videogame series, along with all the praise for the character by various sites etc. etc.

Peace Through Power!