What are you playing?

[Himu]

The DS version of CT is not superior in any way, aside from translation, especially if we're talking about the bonus content.

[demi]

More content, cutscenes from PSX without the awful loadtime - inarguably the best version

[Himu]

Most of the content sucks tho. I'll give you the cutscenes.

Doesn't matter what version you play tho. CT is CT.

[demi]

Right - so if CT is CT - DS is superior since there is more CT

[Himu]

But it's CT not by CT team and it bridges the gap to CC.

[magus]

the guy gonna come here next week asking us what we think of suikoden so does it really matters?

[Great Rumbler]

Playing some PS3 games today:

Ni No Kuni - Feels a bit like Babby's First RPG, but I really like the Ghibli-ness that it's got all over. And the graphics are really nice.

Lollipop Chainsaw - If the combat was more fluid, the camera not total garbage, and the levels not so brutally long, this would be a really great game. I do still enjoy it, though, but it's kind of a mixed bag with everything that isn't the style and the music.

[Rufus]

Rayman: Origins is just lovely. A platformer without an archaic life system. The later boss fights (against the four kings or whatever) are kinda crap in that they are about learning by dying, but once you've seen all three phases it's not too bad. Chasing the treasure chests is the best thing.

[BobFromPikeCreek]

Finally beat Spelunky (sans hell), no shortcuts. I had a siiiick setup to take on hell, but I idiotically whipped a  UFO in the Ice Caverns that blew me up and wasted my Ankh. :'(

[chronovore]

Finished GTA V's Story Mode. What an awesome game -- and I'm not even through with the single player content.

It's US$34.99 on Amazon now, for the 3 people who haven't bought it yet.

Man, great game.

[Himu]

Around 80 hours clocked and still haven't beaten it.

[Smooth Groove]

Played Beyond Two Souls demo. Holy SHIT that is AWESOME. Anyone play the full game? I really liked it.

I played halfway through with my friend.

I'll post impressions later but basically you'll like it if you,

-care more about atmosphere than a coherent, intriguing plot

-like high production values, such as the high quality voice acting and graphical details -- the facial models and animations are excellent

-like QTEs, including frequent sequences for mundane actions

-don't mind a slow pace -- in certain levels you don't do much other than walk around and talk

-don't mind jumping back and forth in time -- you keep having to replay kiddie sequences as the game progresses, it annoyed me because I wanted the plot to move on

[Himu]

Played Beyond Two Souls demo. Holy SHIT that is AWESOME. Anyone play the full game? I really liked it.

I played halfway through with my friend.

I'll post impressions later but basically you'll like it if you,

-care more about atmosphere than a coherent, intriguing plot

-like high production values, such as the high quality voice acting and graphical details -- the facial models and animations are excellent

-like QTEs, including frequent sequences for mundane actions

-don't mind a slow pace -- in certain levels you don't do much other than walk around and talk

-don't mind jumping back and forth in time -- you keep having to replay kiddie sequences as the game progresses, it annoyed me because I wanted the plot to move on

Sounds great to me. Like all of those things.

[Smooth Groove]

I think it's worth checking out just to see what a game can do with a movie-like budget.  Some of the tech is amazing.  There are times when it looks like a next-gen game. 
Overall, while it's disappointing that they couldn't do better with such great tech and actors, it's not nearly as bad as some reviews have claimed.  Yeah, it's probably a pretty crappy film if simply evaluated as such but there are certain action sequences that make you feel like you're right in the middle of a big budget thriller and no passive film watching can match that experience. 

[Great Rumbler]

Played some more PS3 games today:

Valkyria Chronicles - A good idea to combine turn-based and real-time systems, because it puts you into the action at the ground level while not sacrificing the reliance of strategy and the use of multiple units in different way afforded by the pulled-back style of TBS games. The serious down-to-earth story, which so far hasn't introduced a ridiculously evil villain [and I hope that continues to remain to], is a nice change from the flashy, flamboyant style that's become the norm in Japanese RPGs.

Journey - I'm not ashamed to say that I instantly fell in love with this game. It reminds me of The Dig, without the reliance on story and characters. It reminds me of ICO/Shadow of the Colossus without the fear of death hanging in the background. It reminds me of those old CG animation showcases that used to crop up on VHS and DVD during the 90's, only playable. Exploration in its most distilled form, the desire to discover what's hiding behind the next dune. True to its name, it's not the destination that's important. And I really like the way they've integrated multiplayer without dragging along all the noisome baggage that allowing in random strangers from the internet usually brings along. If these guys make another game in the same vein, I won't hesitate to get it.

[BobFromPikeCreek]

Just had another great Spelunky run, but I goofed and Olmec pinned me to the wall for an instant death. I was convinced I'd get through hell because I had 30 lives from having the Kappala and letting a mummy barf on my head repeatedly.

[Rufus]

Rayman: Origins is just lovely. A platformer without an archaic life system. The later boss fights (against the four kings or whatever) are kinda crap in that they are about learning by dying, but once you've seen all three phases it's not too bad. Chasing the treasure chests is the best thing.

Aaand done. Good game, BUT: Fuck that last section with the falling bits. I must have tried fifty times before I finally did it with some mixture of luck and memorization. I was never stuck for more than two minutes before and this took me half and hour at least.
I really hate it when the difficulty curve shoots up vertically right at the end. Why do this? These autoscrolling sections feel like playing a piece of music off the sheet. Except in this you don't even get to see the next bar. No fun at all.

[magus]

Aaand done. Good game, BUT: Fuck that last section with the falling bits. I must have tried fifty times before I finally did it with some mixture of luck and memorization. I was never stuck for more than two minutes before and this took me half and hour at least.
I really hate it when the difficulty curve shoots up vertically right at the end. Why do this? These autoscrolling sections feel like playing a piece of music off the sheet. Except in this you don't even get to see the next bar. No fun at all.

that's a funny consideration considering that in rayman legends the autoscrolling level are rhythm based and now jumps and stuff happens in time with the music

anyway did you do every single chest chase?

[Rufus]

Yeah, well, maybe I just suck. T_T

No, I unlocked two more by then end, but I didn't really feel like doing them or collecting more purple things to unlock them all. I think I only did five of them, so half.

[magus]

Yeah, well, maybe I just suck. T_T

No, I unlocked two more by then end, but I didn't really feel like doing them or collecting more purple things to unlock them all. I think I only did five of them, so half.

the reward for doing every chest chase is worth it... i'm putting it on spoiler

spoiler (click to show/hide)

it's an extra level that features all original graphic,it's hard as hell,takes a lot of death's to clear and has really kickass music

[close]

[Rufus]

Yeah, pass. I'll watch it on Youtube.

[demi]

I didnt think the last level was that hard, or the bonus one.

[Rufus]

Oh really?

[The Sceneman]

Played some more PS3 games today:

Valkyria Chronicles - A good idea to combine turn-based and real-time systems, because it puts you into the action at the ground level while not sacrificing the reliance of strategy and the use of multiple units in different way afforded by the pulled-back style of TBS games. The serious down-to-earth story, which so far hasn't introduced a ridiculously evil villain [and I hope that continues to remain to], is a nice change from the flashy, flamboyant style that's become the norm in Japanese RPGs.

Don't worry, the story never gets too stupid (relatively speaking). Incredible frickin game, one of the best of the gen.

[Great Rumbler]

Don't worry, the story never gets too stupid (relatively speaking). Incredible frickin game, one of the best of the gen.

That's good. I'm also playing Suikoden II right now and I like how it does a similar down-to-earth story, but the main villain is so ridiculously pure 100% evil that I keep expecting him to kick a puppy.

[The Sceneman]

Well the central villain (when introduced) is very JRPG evil emperor (looks wise) - but he's more naive and deluded than evil really. (hopefully thats not too spoilerish)

One of the best game stories ever, anyhow. I oved the game the whole through, the storyline is perfectly paced and interesting the whole way. One of the best endings ever. It was so nice to play that after playing a bunch of western games with bullshit cliff-hanger endings which are BUY FOR THE SEQUEL FOR ANY PAYOFF

[fistfulofmetal]

Took Ratchet Into the Nexus over my brothers house and played on his PS3 for a bit cuz mine has been put away.

I'm liking it. It's a stripped down Ratchet and Clank direct to dvd sequel but it's still a lot of fun and has made me laugh a few times. The graphics and art design is still amazing but at the cost of performance which chugs at times.

[tiesto]

Don't worry, the story never gets too stupid (relatively speaking). Incredible frickin game, one of the best of the gen.

That's good. I'm also playing Suikoden II right now and I like how it does a similar down-to-earth story, but the main villain is so ridiculously pure 100% evil that I keep expecting him to kick a puppy.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Luca's not the main villain

[close]

[The Sceneman]

They're giving away Blimps as prizes for the Thanksgiving event in Pocket Planes. So fucking boner

[The Sceneman]

Finally beat Spelunky (sans hell), no shortcuts. I had a siiiick setup to take on hell, but I idiotically whipped a  UFO in the Ice Caverns that blew me up and wasted my Ankh. :'(

My fuckin man!

I never did any hell runs. The majority of my ~1200 runs were going for "Speedlunky" cheev. Holy shit how that game destroyed me. Worst one was when I was climbing out of the pit after beating Olmec, then dying to one of the scorpions he had spawned, then seeing my time was 5:30, which would have been #4 on the leaderboard at the time. I was fucking SPEWING

[Himu]

Don't worry, the story never gets too stupid (relatively speaking). Incredible frickin game, one of the best of the gen.

That's good. I'm also playing Suikoden II right now and I like how it does a similar down-to-earth story, but the main villain is so ridiculously pure 100% evil that I keep expecting him to kick a puppy.

Is this your first time playing Suikoden II?

[Great Rumbler]

First time playing any Suikoden game.

[Himu]

Oh my GOD.

Play 1 after II. You actually did yourself a disservice playing II before 1.

[Himu]

FFVII pre rendered graphics.

That's another thing I like about Beyond. It nails scripted scenes that should feel tense and out of a movie and yet fully capable of being a game and fully interactive. Modern FF's ain't like that. They don't have any visual eye candy for me. Sure, they look good, but they lack vision. They're just run of the mill. But FFVII! Pure piff. That game was a result of passion. Even if LR is a great game, I don't feel that passion from those guys anymore. Last one that had it was XII.

Where are you in VII, Ruz? Disc 1 is great, but disc 2 is better.

[Himu]

No, I know that. You can't get to disc 2 in 11 hours your first run. Where on disc 1.

[Himu]

The theme in Costa Del Sol

Don't like bright and sunny? Well good. You're getting the opposite pretty soon.

[Smooth Groove]

FFVII pre rendered graphics.

That's another thing I like about Beyond. It nails scripted scenes that should feel tense and out of a movie and yet fully capable of being a game and fully interactive. Modern FF's ain't like that. They don't have any visual eye candy for me. Sure, they look good, but they lack vision. They're just run of the mill. But FFVII! Pure piff. That game was a result of passion. Even if LR is a great game, I don't feel that passion from those guys anymore. Last one that had it was XII.

Where are you in VII, Ruz? Disc 1 is great, but disc 2 is better.

Have you played more of Beyond? 

The demo has the best parts of what I played in the first 70% of the game.  The rest of it doesn't come close to being as exhilarating. 

[BobFromPikeCreek]

Finally beat Spelunky (sans hell), no shortcuts. I had a siiiick setup to take on hell, but I idiotically whipped a  UFO in the Ice Caverns that blew me up and wasted my Ankh. :'(

My fuckin man!

I never did any hell runs. The majority of my ~1200 runs were going for "Speedlunky" cheev. Holy shit how that game destroyed me. Worst one was when I was climbing out of the pit after beating Olmec, then dying to one of the scorpions he had spawned, then seeing my time was 5:30, which would have been #4 on the leaderboard at the time. I was fucking SPEWING

Haha, I bet. I'm slow as shit, so I doubt I'll ever get that one. Right now I'm just really focused on getting through hell and curb stomping Yama. Game's so much harder when you have to spend 50k on the Ankh. Otherwise you can just buy butt loads of bombs and dominate.

[Purple Filth]

just bouts of muramasa rebirth and Treasures of Montezuma blitz.

plus the game of steam/amazon sales

[StealthFan]

Jesus Christ, beat a game, Ruzbeh.

And just use an emulator. If you can't run a ps2 emu just get P4 for ps2. It probably costs literally 5 dollars.

Shut your fucking mouth. I'm just planning ahead. I'm like 11 hours in with FFVII. There was a small dip in my overall enjoyment but I'm enjoying it more now that I've found some new stuff. Like summoning shit. Pretty cool. Also I have a PS2 bro. Don't insult me.

[fistfulofmetal]

State of Decay seems to be hoping nobody will realize it's kinda terrible just because it has loot, zombies and is open world.

[Great Rumbler]

State of Decay seems to be hoping nobody will realize it's kinda terrible just because it has loot, zombies and is open world.

I enjoyed it.

[iconoclast]

Been playing Muramasa Rebirth on the Vita. It took a few hours to grow on me, but I'm really enjoying it now. I just wish you didn't spend so much time running through empty fields. It would have been better if they cut out all of that padding and made it pure action from start to finish. Dragon's Crown was much better in that regard, but Muramasa is still really fun.

[tiesto]

Been playing more Tales of Graces F. Up to what I think is the final dungeon of the main game, of course then I have to do all the sidequests and the Future chapter... probably won't get to play much of anything these next 3 weeks sadly

[Yulwei]

Dropped Final Fantasy 13 at 30 or so hours. That game is SHIT! I was enjoying it at first but then realized the game wasn't ever going to change things up. It was extremely repetitive and basically the only good things about it were the graphics and music.

Not sure what I am going to play next. Trying to decide between Knights Of The Old Republic and Baldur's Gate II.

[Himu]

Do Baldur's Gate II.

[Stoney Mason]

Dropped Final Fantasy 13 at 30 or so hours. That game is SHIT!

You made the right choice. I wasted another 17 hours before I realized the same thing.

[Great Rumbler]

If you haven't played Kotor yet, just play Kotor 2 instead.

[Stoney Mason]

If you haven't played Kotor yet, just play Kotor 2 instead.

I like Rumbler but keep in mind his allegiance to all things Obsidian before you make that choice.


I didn't like Kotor 2. But then I haven't played the restored edit version so perhaps that is better.

I enjoyed the original Kotor. Not the deepest RPG but a fun game that does a good job with the Star Wars universe.

[Yulwei]

  tough choice

btw I DO know about KOTOR's twist, and I don't know if that will make the rest of the game less interesting or not. Jumping straight into KOTOR II might not be such a bad idea now that I think about it.

[Stoney Mason]

tough choice

btw I DO know about KOTOR's twist, and I don't know if that will make the rest of the game less interesting or not.

It does make it less interesting. I still liked the game though.

[Himu]

GI spoiled the twist for me and yes, it does ruin it. I personally don't think KOTOR is good but you may have a different opinion. However, I do find it to be a more stripped down version of Baldur's Gate, which is easily the better game imo.

[Stoney Mason]

I'd really like to carve aside some time to go back and play FF 12 and Xenoblade chronicles. I started both and was enjoying both but it doesn't look like that is going to happen anytime soon.

[Stoney Mason]

State of Decay seems to be hoping nobody will realize it's kinda terrible just because it has loot, zombies and is open world.

As opposed to Last of us which hopes to distract us with its serious business story over its awful stealth and repetitive shooting linear gameplay.


Just saying.

[Himu]

Anki + DQ + Dictionary.



 

[demi]

Sweet, you get to play japanese versions of already translated games.

[Himu]

I'm using the game to practice my Japanese. Using an excuse to play a game to study.

[Great Rumbler]

I didn't like Kotor 2. But then I haven't played the restored edit version so perhaps that is better.

I've only played the restored version, but apparently the amount of content it adds back in is pretty massive.

[chronovore]

State of Decay seems to be hoping nobody will realize it's kinda terrible just because it has loot, zombies and is open world.

I was going to go with "Shut your whore mouth," but it seemed like a tactless and judgmental statement. I loved the game back to front, and will double dip when it comes to Steam, and will probably play the next thing from Undead Labs, which is an MMO based on the same property.

What is it about SoD that you don't like? I mean, what is "terrible" about it?

[fistfulofmetal]

Pretty much all the mechanics feel pretty bad. Combat, traversal, shooting, etc. It's all pretty cheap and feels like a budget game. It's not very fun to play unless you REALLY like this kind of thing and can get over how bad it all plays.

Plus the PC version is a technical nightmare.



edit: I mean I'm also not a fan of the Dead Rising series so maybe jankfilled zombie open world games are just not for me.