What are you playing?

[Fortus]

Good luck on the giant cactuar Magus. Pretty sure the only way to five star it is to sneak a 'Random Insta-Chain' on him before he completely defiles you with his 10k damage attacks. I should probably finish the Treasure Hunter thing and finally get my Plat but I couldn't stand grinding that turtle in Eden. I think I had 2 trap drops after days of killing him and frankly I got sick of it

[iconoclast]

Vorpal on XBLIG is pretty decent, although it feels a lot like Touhou. Still, it's a nice little indie shooter with good artwork and style (even though it is very, uh, minimalistic). Might buy it since it's only $1, but then I'd have to find another $4 worth of indie games to buy to even out my balance.

[The Sceneman]

anyhow Magus you sohuld give Tales of Vesperia a whirl after FFXIII, Lost Odyssey is good too. LO is an awful 1000, though. I never did get that Treasure Trove achievement. I'm still cut up after all these years   

FUUUUUUUU just read a treasure trove checklist just because the shit was eating at me. Saw an item I'm pretty sure I never got, "Ming's Harp" on the White Boa. Gonna shove in LO 2nite and check it out. Fingers crossed. If cheevo popz I will JO and then buy the DLC to celebrate.

Also I read that the DLC is now 1 BUCK

edit: yep the cocktent for LO is now 80 moonbeans. Bought

[Bebpo]

I started Ratchet and Clank: Crack in Time

This game is sooooo good. After the abysmal shitfest that was Sly, this game is a reminder that the Ratchet series has always been a solidly built and designed game since its inception. Very same-y, but yet still feels good to play every iteration.

Sly 4 is gonna be so garbage.

Crack in time is really good.  It shows Insomniac can get some hits every once and a while.  Don't bother with Tools of Destruction though, it's ok but after CiT it'll be too dull and shallow.

[Beezy]

Vorpal on XBLIG is pretty decent, although it feels a lot like Touhou. Still, it's a nice little indie shooter with good artwork and style (even though it is very, uh, minimalistic). Might buy it since it's only $1, but then I'd have to find another $4 worth of indie games to buy to even out my balance.

Vorpal is good, so is the music.

Cthulhu = $3
Revolver360 = $3

I'm sure you could find another indie game worth playing for a dollar.

Also I read that the DLC is now 1 BUCK

edit: yep the cocktent for LO is now 80 moonbeans. Bought

mine

[demi]

LO content is pretty straightforward... I paid five dorrar for it.

[The Sceneman]

it's just a basic dungeon right?

New items and cheevs, all good for one dorrar, which is less than a soda nowadays

[iconoclast]

Yeah it's just one repetitive dungeon with good loot, no save points, and a pretty tough boss at the end. It's good enough for $1.

[chronovore]

Currently trying to enjoy Brutal Legend.  It's tough.  Not like, the game is tough - it's tough to enjoy.  I love the humor, I love the art, the setting, the music -- I was really digging it for awhile in spite of being peppered with relatively minor, yet annoying oversights in design (like, why the fuck is there no mini-map on the HUD?) -- but where I am now, just as the goth people appear and the RTS is in full-swing, it's pissing me off more than anything. 

I could go on and on about things I'm finding irritating with the RTS: no indication as to the units you're selectings as you issue broad commands; issuing commands to individual groups is like building a Rube Goldberg machine to make toast; units seemingly taking priority on combat over your commands if they're already engaged, making it impossible to retreat or shift position until everyone is dead, one way or the other; random target selector on 'Attack', which is more like 'Attack Move' anyway because...; it's apparently impossible to focus-fire on any individual target, even if you were to get lucky and somehow select the actual target you wanted to attack (although the A.I. doesn't have a problem doing this, of course, as they always managed to rush and gangbang my ranged units or healer). 

There are plenty more I won't bother to mention, but I think that about covers the ones that stand out the most since they all effect my ability to coherently strategize without ridiculous exertion.  And they're effectively ruining my experience with the game.

I'm sure someone out there has opposition to at least one or all of those issues.  If anybody's figured this fucking game out, by all means, please tell me what the hell I'm doing wrong.

edit: reading the official thread, it seems I shouldn't be trying to play this game as an RTS and instead just be doing more stuff w/ Eddie and using more Double Team attacks.

The "it's not an RTS" line was disingenuous of Schafer, but the double teaming with your units and use of Eddie with the (modified) Druid Plow/Deuce can be hugely effective.

I think I mentioned this in the main Brütal Legend thread, but it's similar to playing Warcraft II, but only if your UI/selection gauntlet can travel anywhere, remove fog-of-war, and flick the discovered enemy units right off the map. It's a big change in dynamic, but at its heart it is still an RTS during those sequences.

In particular, I found it really helpful to use the Druid Plow to constantly harass the enemy infantry, just whammo-ing them with the bass speakers or flame exhaust, nailing them with the cow catcher, and only very occasionally hopping out of it for one on one battle.

It is also very helpful to use the "set waypoint" solo at any currently important fan geyser, so that whenever you create a new unit, it will march to that spot without waiting at your Main Stage.

I didn’t even know you could summon the Druid Plow during a stage battle.  That thing feels like cheating, as do some of the other solos that annihilate hordes of enemy troops in an instant.  I didn’t realize you could upgrade troops after the 3rd stage upgrade, either.  It makes a HUGE difference.

I think I’m getting the hang of it now.  Maybe it’s possible to play the game like a pure RTS, flying around and micromanaging your dudes and such, having them do all the heavy lifting, but your Hero character is so powerful that not using him as the primary unit is simply a mistake.  Your troops are excellent back-up (and cannon fodder) and you can run them around to your liking, but they’re little more than a big team of squeaky side-kicks.  Effectively, you are the army.  I think that's maybe what Schafer was trying to get at.

For me, it was just learning the ropes of the actual game as an action/RTS hybrid. It all worked once I realized how the game should be played, but the learning curve was off. It was four hand-holding tutorial battles, one minor one in the snow where they introduce the Fire Barons, and then some seriously difficult, two-front action. And then there are like two more battles, and it's done. And one of the two battles is a heavily pre-scripted one which punishes you for playing efficiently and quickly, in contrast to standard RTS "common sense."

As an RTS, it's not hugely complex, but for an action genre title it is. The chances to Double Team with your units, harass your opponent's base, and maintain awareness through your avatar made it more complex, but I'm not sure if it was an unmitigated improvement. It is still one of my favorite games though, just from the story, visuals, humor, and the feeling of being a totally kickass roadie.

[Bebpo]

Finished Prince of Persia: The Warrior Within.  Game was pretty bad.  I can see why PoP fans who actually played it day 1 got burned and never gave Two Thrones a chance.  There's some good platforming and the story isn't thaaat bad.  But the entire game feels like a fanmod.  There's almost no story, no characters, just a bunch of rooms and traps and enemies.  The combat sucks, the traps get annoying and the platforming is pretty average with a lot of bad camera bits and an overall severe lack of polish (hit a lot of bugs and crashes in my playthrough).  Plus the whole thing where you have to keep backtracking through old areas and redoing all the traps/platforming again and then the last 1/3rd of the game where you basically replay the entire game again, smh.  Feels very forced and budget-conscious.  Hard to believe it was even made by the same team that did the other 3d PoP games that were all pretty good and fun.

Hopefully Two Thrones will be enjoyable.  The bar has been set prettttty low after WW.

[Smooth Groove]

I'm pretty sure you would at least enjoy TT.  It's got almost everything that people loved about the first game in addition to better combat. 

[Bebpo]

Yeah, just played the first hour or so.  Played until after the first dark prince part.  Seems pretty cool.  It's like melding of my two favorite types of games, PoP climbing and MGS stealth killing.  All the new mechanics like swinging and stuff are nice and it's cool the game got a graphically overhaul and all the traps and stuff look different now.  Seems solid.

[Cormacaroni]

Just played a bunch of Arkham Asylum w/3D Vision, mmm mmm. That is a tasty hamburger. Normal seems way too easy though.

[demi]

Well arent u just hardcore. Better play on Hard man, nothings a challenge for you

[magus]

man this is annoying,i got every character main job maxed so i tought "ehy i'm strong enough to fight the turtle now right?"

well turns out that i am indeed strong enough to beat the turtle but since the AI is so distinguished mentally-challenged and it has to cast every defensive buff possible before deciding to cast the offensive one,the end result is that i can't do jack shit until fang master synergist which is incredibly annoying

[demi]

Have your character use spells to speed up the process.

[magus]

to be fair my main problem right now is that i can't stagger the turtle fast enough so i'm going to max ravager for fang even tough it requires like 4 gazillion of CP,before trying to farm them

EDIT: after reaching LV 4 ravager with fang i was able to kill down an adamantoise trough damage but i had to knock it thrice and the third time i was forced to use a summon so yea i guess there's no escape from maxing out everything before taking these guys down

[cool breeze]

I finished Alien Vs Predator and there isn't much to say about it.  It was pretty shallow entertainment, but I got it for $5 during the Steam sale and thought it was worth it.  Definitely felt like they loaded it with the Marine campaign since it alone felt longer than the other two combined; the alien one felt like an hour or two long.  The predator campaign was the best and I'd rather have more of that, especially when it ends just as you get all the cool weapons.

also downloaded a mod called Movie Duels 2 for Jedi Academy.   I don't know if there is actually a Movie Duels 1 that deals with the original trilogy, but this was basically a single player mod that goes through the prequel trilogy, the force unleashed, and other random battles.  There is a level where you play as Anakin and have to slaughter a room of children, so, yeah.

[naff]

Most wrpgs don't really feature open fields. That's mostly a Bethesda thing. If anything big open fields is more of a jrpg thing. As for lack of transitions, yeah, many wrpgs feature that. And for the better.

And getting surprised attacked by a crazy amount of enemies is awesome because you have to think and come up with a strategy on the fly. Something, that is lacking in 3d FF. FF12 was the first 3d FF to get it right. That element of surprise, that "holy shit I'm fighting like 10 dudes right now!!!" which every past 3d FF ignored, pitting you against merely 2-3 enemies at once at all times.

FF12 did a lot right, and the encounter system is among the best.

Oh man. That description of the bomb fight in the jungle was so worthy. Actually having to use buffs and create dedicated healers in a Final Fantasy?!!?!?!?

BUT I DO USE BUFF AND HAVE DEDICATED HEALERS IN FF13 AND THERE IS NO BUFF WHICH TRIPLICATE THE HP OF MY PARTY THEREFORE MAKING IT ALMOST INVINCIBLE SFHJLKASFHLKJASFHL

*sigh*

tl;dr

Suuuure, but that's all you do, change to one of your pre-defined paradigms and let the AI take over. FFXII made you define the actions your healer/tank/whatever takes, in FFXII my party would never do stupid things like let the COM use ruin on an enemy I'm not going to stagger before I kill them when my basic attack deals 10x the damage. My party would also change "paradigms" without the need to change paradigms, it was a simple hierarchical system that destroys FFXIII's battle system, I'm so fucking sick of that paradigm shift animation now.

[Positive Touch]

I finished Alien Vs Predator and there isn't much to say about it.  It was pretty shallow entertainment, but I got it for $5 during the Steam sale and thought it was worth it.  Definitely felt like they loaded it with the Marine campaign since it alone felt longer than the other two combined; the alien one felt like an hour or two long.  The predator campaign was the best and I'd rather have more of that, especially when it ends just as you get all the cool weapons.

also downloaded a mod called Movie Duels 2 for Jedi Academy.   I don't know if there is actually a Movie Duels 1 that deals with the original trilogy, but this was basically a single player mod that goes through the prequel trilogy, the force unleashed, and other random battles.  There is a level where you play as Anakin and have to slaughter a room of children, so, yeah.

pics plz

[Cormacaroni]

Well arent u just hardcore. Better play on Hard man, nothings a challenge for you

It was intended to solicit opinions, not to brag about my hardcore cred or lack of it. I could give a crap what you or anyone else thinks of my gaming ability

[cool breeze]

I finished Alien Vs Predator and there isn't much to say about it.  It was pretty shallow entertainment, but I got it for $5 during the Steam sale and thought it was worth it.  Definitely felt like they loaded it with the Marine campaign since it alone felt longer than the other two combined; the alien one felt like an hour or two long.  The predator campaign was the best and I'd rather have more of that, especially when it ends just as you get all the cool weapons.

also downloaded a mod called Movie Duels 2 for Jedi Academy.   I don't know if there is actually a Movie Duels 1 that deals with the original trilogy, but this was basically a single player mod that goes through the prequel trilogy, the force unleashed, and other random battles.  There is a level where you play as Anakin and have to slaughter a room of children, so, yeah.

pics plz

 :'(

[OptimoPeach]

I'm about halfway through Arkham Asylum. I caught all the hype in '09 and everything but I still can't believe this is actually a good game. I love how there are so many gameplay elements between the puzzle solving, stealth rooms, platforming, and just plain beating ass, but then it also seems like they sacrificed some depth to compensate and blah blah blah. It's all blended very well, but with not a whole lot to master, it can get sorta tedious after a couple hours. Glad I picked this up during the Steam sale regardless

Oh, and the 360 controller->PC integration (I guess via Games for Windows Live?) is pretty awesome. I didn't have to config anything and it even changed all my in-game button prompts to the 360 buttons

Kinda still playing New Vegas but not really. I'll probably shelve it for now and tie up the loose ends whenever some PC DLC drops

I bought Bayonetta and Darksiders on impulse after seeing how disgustingly cheap they were on Amazon. I'm leaning towards Darksiders because I've already played some of Bayo and I'd really like some puzzle-y dungeon stuff with ezmode hack 'n slash right now. How are the dungeons and all that crap in Darksiders?

Lastly, my download for SMT: DDS 1&2 just finished, so I'll fire 1 up at some point this week and see if that grabs me

Really though, the most important thing is I'm playing minimal amounts of SC2 and no other online games

[Smooth Groove]

Oh, and the 360 controller->PC integration (I guess via Games for Windows Live?) is pretty awesome. I didn't have to config anything and it even changed all my in-game button prompts to the 360 buttons

Most multiplatform games have that nowadays, regardless of GFW.  Also, in case you didn't know, Darksiders is also available on the PC and runs at 60 fps on not very powerful hardware.

[Smooth Groove]

Well arent u just hardcore. Better play on Hard man, nothings a challenge for you

It was intended to solicit opinions, not to brag about my hardcore cred or lack of it. I could give a crap what you or anyone else thinks of my gaming ability

I only play on the highest difficulty

spoiler (click to show/hide)

with trainers. 

[close]

[Cormacaroni]

aw, look at all their widdle lightsabers

[The Sceneman]

Well arent u just hardcore. Better play on Hard man, nothings a challenge for you

It was intended to solicit opinions, not to brag about my hardcore cred or lack of it. I could give a crap what you or anyone else thinks of my gaming ability

I'll be nice 

Yeah with Batman hard might as well be normal. Died a few times on the bosses but the rest of the game was a comfortable difficulty. Not too hard but not too easy either

[Cormacaroni]

cool, i'll bump it up a notch then. I'm a terrible gamer and getting worse as the years go on, but on Normal you can win every fight with one button. Removes all motivation to use combos, get upgrades etc.

[magus]

My party would also change "paradigms" without the need to change paradigms

but that's what i like about it! it makes the battle feels automatic and fast paced without making me feel extraneous to the whole system or simply un-needed

anyway anybody have any suggestion how i can kill those turtle quicker? should i bring fang ravager to level 5 instead of 4? bite the bullet and grind her synergist too? fang has about 2700 ATT,hope 2500 MAG and lightining 2000 ATT and by the time i finaly stagger the thing after knocking it down i can barely attack it twice at best which only shaves half of his HP bar

[demi]

Just go look on youtube...

[magus]

Just go look on youtube...

ok let's do as you say.....

[youtube=560,345][/youtube]

there! are you happy? do you want me to go find some kingdom hearts/linkin park mashup while i'm there uh? uh?

[demi]

Yes

[magus]

after FINALY bringing fang synergist role to level 3 i'm able to murder these little guys in 2 minutes straight in a single knock down

hallelujah!

anyway do collector catalogue and connoseiur catalogue stack? heck should i equip a connoseiur catalogue at all? i'm already hurting a little for accessory space....

[demi]

No they dont stack. Just one of each is fine.

[magus]

ok another question then

from what i understand the secret super turtle that appears after doing all the marks drops dark matter,should i try to hunt for these guys or is it better if i just stick to normal turtle and simply buy them?

[demi]

Just means you're a Level 2 Commando

[magus]

What's the deal with level "roles" in FF13? For example Commando LVL2? Just unlocks new skills?

each role has an intrinsic bonus to them,increasing the level increase that bonus

Commando deals more damage
Ravager increase the chain bar more quicker
Sentinel takes less damage
Synergist buff last longer (which is why i was complaining about fang being a low level synergist)
Sabouter gets higher chance to stick their debuff
Medic heals more

[brawndolicious]

I'm level 14 in New Vegas and just got Jury Rigging, this perk is so easy to exploit by buying cheap garbage weapons and armor to fix up and sell "expensive" ones.  Of course the slot machines are even easier to exploit if you've got a lot of time.

I heard that to get all the achievements you have to do 1 playthrough and 3 partial playthroughs.  Does anybody know at what point the quest lines split?  My oldest save is at Cottonwood point right before you use the platinum chip to enter the bunker.

[magus]

since i can now farm the turtle,i think i'm going to start aiming for that treasure hunt achievement,i guess getting all the weapons is the hard part?

[iconoclast]

the amount of money and trapezohedrons required is the "hard" part. it cost me over 12 million gil IIRC.

[Don Flamenco]

about to fight the very last battle in Dragon Age.  I'd like to do a pure evil playthrough, but...so many other games to play.

[Stoney Mason]

Was cleaning up and found an old copy of Panzer Dragoon Orta that I thought I had lost years ago. I was surprised when it actually ran on my 360.

[Don Flamenco]

Was cleaning up and found an old copy of Panzer Dragoon Orta that I thought I had lost years ago. I was surprised when it actually ran on my 360.

One of these days, I will beat this game.  It's awesome, but pretty tough. 

Saw a copy of Panzer Dragoon 2 at a pawn shop...whenever I see that title, my heart skips hoping it's gonna be Saga  :'(
Panzer...DRAGOON...fuck. 

The only copy of Saga I've seen in the wild was part of an art installation this guy did at an apartment gallery.  I didn't contain my nerd excitement.

[chronovore]

I picked up Tony Hawk Proving Ground, Bullet Witch, and a Lego Batman/PURE double pack for 21 dollars during my trip to the USA. Playing PURE right now. Wow, this game is so freakin' polished, it's amazing. Loads of fun. I'd played the demo when it came out, and always intended to buy it, but I'm definitely LTTP here.

Some kid walked into the gamestop while I was perusing the aisles, and asked the clerk for an ATV game. The clerk looked baffled, so I said "How about PURE?" The kid says, "I didn't like PURE."

:weeps-for-tomorrow-because-of-the-youth-of-today

[Positive Touch]

Was cleaning up and found an old copy of Panzer Dragoon Orta that I thought I had lost years ago. I was surprised when it actually ran on my 360.

One of these days, I will beat this game.  It's awesome, but pretty tough. 

Saw a copy of Panzer Dragoon 2 at a pawn shop...whenever I see that title, my heart skips hoping it's gonna be Saga  :'(
Panzer...DRAGOON...fuck. 

The only copy of Saga I've seen in the wild was part of an art installation this guy did at an apartment gallery.  I didn't contain my nerd excitement.

well why don't you buy my copy right now

[Don Flamenco]

I'm actually less interested in the game itself than randomly finding it for cheap.  Then staring at it for a minute, then selling it off.   

I hear it's good but maybe a bit outdated and eye-rape early 3D graphics.

[Himu]

Panzer Dragoon Zwei is the best Panzer.

[Positive Touch]

i bought a copy from some hillfolk for $2 but never played it because it i don't have a/v cables for my saturn

[Bocsius]

I'm enjoying FFXIII. I'm in Ch7.

[Joe Molotov]

I picked up Tony Hawk Proving Ground, Bullet Witch, and a Lego Batman/PURE double pack for 21 dollars during my trip to the USA. Playing PURE right now. Wow, this game is so freakin' polished, it's amazing. Loads of fun. I'd played the demo when it came out, and always intended to buy it, but I'm definitely LTTP here.

Some kid walked into the gamestop while I was perusing the aisles, and asked the clerk for an ATV game. The clerk looked baffled, so I said "How about PURE?" The kid says, "I didn't like PURE."

:weeps-for-tomorrow-because-of-the-youth-of-today

PURE is awesome, you should have punched him in the vagina.

[demi]

pure is gey. play the real deal - split second

[iconoclast]

Got Split/Second today. I've only cleared the first episode, but the game isn't very good so far. Nice graphics I guess, but since it's only 30 fps, who cares. The track design so far has been pretty basic and not very interesting, but what really sucks about the game is the drifting. I'm hoping the drifting will stop feeling atrocious once I unlock some better cars, but I'm not really counting on it.

Still playing Red Dead once in a while as well, and at this point the only thing that's keeping me going is the story and characters. The missions are pretty varied as well, but the problem is that the combat is just so incredibly dull. Each combat area is the same tired shit you see in most other cover-based TPS, with waist-high walls and crates strategically placed for you to plant yourself behind as you pick off wave after wave of repetitive enemies. This wouldn't be so bad if the combat was fun, like in Mass Effect 2 for example, but it's not. The autolock aiming nearly plays the game for you. I also hate traveling from mission to mission, but that's a problem I have with open world games in general. So, needless to say, I don't like this game very much.

And I started playing Espgaluda II Black Label again. When it first came out, I enjoyed playing it for survival because the bullet patterns and stage design are top notch, but since the scoring system is pretty complex and involving, I never took the time to understand it properly and eventually threw it in my backlog until I was ready to really dig into it. And after watching this Black Label scoring video, I decided the time was now because the game looks super fun once you know what you're doing. Not to mention that I've been listening to the Black Label soundtrack lately, and it's really started to grow on me. I love the stage 3 and Seseri themes in particular:

spoiler (click to show/hide)

[youtube=560,345][/youtube][youtube=560,345][/youtube]
[youtube=560,345][/youtube][youtube=560,345][/youtube]
[youtube=560,345][/youtube][youtube=560,345][/youtube]

[close]

So good Ryu Umemoto


And I'm about to start up Heavy Rain. I hope it's not half as bad as the internet has led me to believe!

[demi]

wow, another pro-jap post from icono. forever alone.

[pilonv1]

Finished VVVVVV last night. Some of the final screens are absolute cunts. I had 153 deaths on one room alone

[Joe Molotov]

pure is gey. play the real deal - split second

I've already played Blur, no need to play the second best.

[iconoclast]

wow, another pro-jap post from icono. forever alone.

not my fault I don't like shitty games. /shrug



Oh my god why is the PS3 so annoying. Every 10 minutes Heavy Rain keeps asking me to download a 1GB patch. I have pressed circle like 5 times by now, fuck off

[Don Flamenco]

Finished dragon age.  whenever i finish games like this, i feel like I never want to play a D+D style fantasy game again.  It's all "My lord!  My lady!"

great game though.  ~65 hours, got the traveller achievement, and not sure what enemies I missed to miss the 1000 darkspawn achievement.  I thought I did every last thing in the game, including the main game DLC, aside from one or two glitched quests.

[Bebpo]

Lost Planet 2 is $10 at newegg on the X360 and I have a $10 gift card so it'd only cost 83 cents tax w/free shipping, but I still don't think it'll be worth it.  No one's left to play coop with and I really don't want to 1p the game from everything I've heard :\

Oh my god why is the PS3 so annoying. Every 10 minutes Heavy Rain keeps asking me to download a 1GB patch. I have pressed circle like 5 times by now, fuck off

Why not just download the patch? ^^;

[naff]

Oh my god why is the PS3 so annoying. Every 10 minutes Heavy Rain keeps asking me to download a 1GB patch. I have pressed circle like 5 times by now, fuck off

I hate this so much. Ever since I had to reinstall Wipeout i've had this and shit, so annoying. LBP also had the longest damn patch download in my history of patches 

[Don Flamenco]

PS3 fail overflow 

debating on whether to hack my PS3 tonight or start the Reach campaign...