What are you playing?

[kick51]

early impression of yakuza 2:  faster loading, faster fighting

early impression of otogi 2: more ambitious but inferior to the first.  Edit: upgraded to on par with the first, possibly a bit better.

[fistfulofmetal]

Warframe has come a long way since I first played it. They replaced the menus with a hub ship you walk around in. They beefed up the campaign missions with more story and context which helps with understanding what you should be doing.

[Positive Touch]

Dragon Age 3 when you're moving thru a linear area killing dudes: omg omg omg

Dragon Age 3 when you're wandering around a big-ass map doing a bunch of checklist quests: zzzzzzzzz

still an awesome game overall but man like 60% of these quests should not exist

[mormapope]

Alien Isolation.

Shit is pretty legit, more legit than I thought it would be. Probably the best horror game in the past few years.

[cool breeze]

Majora's Mask on 3DS.  great port and all the gameplay changes really help the tedium of waiting til certain hours.  it's been some time since I last played it through and the classic Zelda parts, dungeons, puzzles, bosses, etc. are weak.  and there's only around half as many as OoT.  but it's a longer game than OoT.  I forgot how much time is spent on side quests about exploring spaces in different times and it's the most enjoyable part of the game.  I think it's why the classic zelda parts are so underwhelming.  it's a fairly unique concept (shared by like way of the samurai, dead rising, and the last express) that becomes a so-so OoT expansion pack in dungeons.

[kick51]

otogi 2 is fucking hard.  not always in a good way, but that's no different from otogi 1.   :'(

Fromsoft didn't really work fairness into their games until the Souls series

[Rufus]

I must be near the end of Tomb Raider 3 now. It's in some ways better than 2, if only because you're not fighting as many goons, but the level design is often too clever for its own good. I shamelessly started consulting a guide once I got to London. Nevada was already pretty bad (I sequence broke one section accidentally after running around aimlessly because I didn't see the right path repeatedly), but London takes the cake. It is guaranteed to waste your time with bullshit and even bugs.
For insance, one level in London, Aldwych, requires you to move a block to get to a key, but it only teaches you much further into the level that this is 1) a block and not just some random un-intelligible texture and 2) actually movable. All other areas in the game make it obvious. It also let's you progress very far only to realize that you're missing a critical item, like that key for example. To end the level, you have to jump down a random hole, with no indication that it's the exit. I suspect London was either made first or last.

[Fifstar]

Played some Burnout Paradise, realldy don't like this open world approach, especially not in the races themselves. I really want a good arcadey racer a la Project Gotham Racing for PC :/

[archie4208]

Infinity Engine still has its charm. 

I find BG2 more pleasing than some early 2000s RPGs like KOTOR.

[chronovore]

I must be near the end of Tomb Raider 3 now. It's in some ways better than 2, if only because you're not fighting as many goons, but the level design is often too clever for its own good. I shamelessly started consulting a guide once I got to London. Nevada was already pretty bad (I sequence broke one section accidentally after running around aimlessly because I didn't see the right path repeatedly), but London takes the cake. It is guaranteed to waste your time with bullshit and even bugs.
For insance, one level in London, Aldwych, requires you to move a block to get to a key, but it only teaches you much further into the level that this is 1) a block and not just some random un-intelligible texture and 2) actually movable. All other areas in the game make it obvious. It also let's you progress very far only to realize that you're missing a critical item, like that key for example. To end the level, you have to jump down a random hole, with no indication that it's the exit. I suspect London was either made first or last.

By TR3, I assume Core had their heads firmly up their butts about how infallible they were, after the successes of TR and TR2.

One of the most frustrating things a player can experience is unevenness in a game’s instruction. When a game has the gall to teach basics, but then not essential-to-progress parts of gameplay, the player is worse-off than if they’d received no explanations of any kind. When the game shows that it’s going to handhold you, and then walks you out onto a tightrope only to let you go, that’s not cool.

[benjipwns]

Played some of the latest Dirty Bomb beta, which is from Splash Damage (Wolf:ET, ET:QW, Brink, Batman Arkham Origins multiplayer) and maybe I don't know how to do things but it needs Brink's movement system with Titanfall style wall-running and crap. It "feels" like Brink (like Batman did) in terms of basic movement/camera sway/etc. so I kept trying to hurdle stuff and you can't seem to do it like in Brink.

It's somewhat basic at the moment, but they've refined some of the Brink issues, it's basically, movement aside, a Brink sequel with a bunch of the stuff FPS multiplayer has added since that came out. It's heavy on objectives, which I've always liked more than TDM and it's why I liked Brink. There's all your various classes, there's crap to call in, kits to deploy, etc. The way you get different loadouts is you unlock cards that have them for the classes. This is obviously where the payment model will come into play. You earn ingame currency from challenges like in Titanfall, etc. They don't seem to have any of that stuff in place yet except for buying two of the classes.

Would like to get my hands on the one medic card because I was already spamming healing stations all over the map and getting endless XP and this one expands their range 50% and cuts the cooldown time to place another 50%.  They appear to stay even as you add more unless they get destroyed. 

Runs smooth and the matchmaking is on the ball, which were some issues in Brink and B:AO.

For free (it'll be f2p at release) though I'll probably play it from time to time if it doesn't die off immediately.

EDIT: Also, like Brink, if the defenders are any good, attacking is basically impossible.

[Positive Touch]

holy shit splash damage is gonna put out a f2p? time to party like it's 2003

[benjipwns]

PC only, lots of objectives:


Guess you can do some wall running type stuff so I must suck.

[tiesto]

Made it pretty far into Alter Code F. Been playing for about 30 hours and just beat the Demon Lab. It's an OK game but it definitely lacks the charm of the original WA. And it's weird how the game doesn't have an inventory system, just a skills system. And even though you can cancel random encounters, they still happen really damn frequently. But after this, its just WA5 and I'm done with my series playthrough.

Also played some games over my friend's house:

Intellivision console - my first time ever playing one. The graphics seem a slight step up from the 2600, the Space Invaders clone had some nice animation (for the time), but the controllers are horrible. Wasn't really impressed with any of the games I've played but I did like Snafu, a multiplayer Snake game.

Legendary Axe 2 - controls a bit better than the first game, but the graphics are much uglier. Not bad.

Mass Destruction - obscure overhead tank game for PS1 that reminds me a bit of Return Fire on 3DO. The game has tank controls (obviously) that I just couldn't seem to get down.

Fire 'n' Ice - classic NES puzzler. I love these kinds of puzzle games, unfortunately its just so damn expensive.

Dino Land - bad pinball game on Genesis by Wolfteam (RIP)

Rollerball - awesome pinball game on NES by HAL. Love the music.

Final Lap Twin - interesting cross between an F1 racing game and an RPG with some really weird-looking NPCs.

[Rufus]

I must be near the end of Tomb Raider 3 now. It's in some ways better than 2, if only because you're not fighting as many goons, but the level design is often too clever for its own good. I shamelessly started consulting a guide once I got to London. Nevada was already pretty bad (I sequence broke one section accidentally after running around aimlessly because I didn't see the right path repeatedly), but London takes the cake. It is guaranteed to waste your time with bullshit and even bugs.
For insance, one level in London, Aldwych, requires you to move a block to get to a key, but it only teaches you much further into the level that this is 1) a block and not just some random un-intelligible texture and 2) actually movable. All other areas in the game make it obvious. It also let's you progress very far only to realize that you're missing a critical item, like that key for example. To end the level, you have to jump down a random hole, with no indication that it's the exit. I suspect London was either made first or last.

By TR3, I assume Core had their heads firmly up their butts about how infallible they were, after the successes of TR and TR2.

Yeah, it does feel like it. I'm now really curious how 4 and 5 turned out. If they're more of the same it's no wonder the series declined. They banged these out so quick they didn't have time to change how these games played. Environments are even less boxy, you get a couple new moves (crawling, hanging off ceilings, sprinting) and the levels get bigger and more complicated. More of everything, basically. But the controls are still clunky and slow, the environments feel cramped, so much so you sometimes wish it were first person, fighting is still a mad scramble if you get caught off guard, the camera still likes to move to Laras side or her front, you still set off mechanicsm without knowing what they even do (though that's a general video game problem I guess)...

[chronovore]

Apparently CORE was good at adding traversal moves without ever improving the actual input, or level design. They just jammed more of the same in.

At GDC before Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness came out, I remember seeing a self-promotion piece they were running as part of their sponsorship of the lounge area. Various CORE developers were standing in castle and ruin settings, posing while their voiceover described what they were going to do with AoD. It was unclear what the point of the promotion was, other than “We’re awesome.”

When Tomb Raider went to Crystal Dynamics, I laughed and laughed.

[demi]

The Airshok fight in DA2 was garbage as fuck.

Smattering of stuff I dipped my shaft into:

Phoenix Wright 5:

A middling entry. Getting tired of them going for more "supernatural" court antics (Apollo's Bracelet, Athena's Therapy) over just traditional shit.

1 > 3 > 4 > 5 > 2 > Edgeworth (havent played AAI2 yet)

Majora's Mask 3D:

Yup, best Zelda game re-confirmed, now more modernized for easier gameplay.

Dying Light:

Dead Island x Mirror's Edge

Dragon Age Inquisition:

Looked up the broken OP class to start on Nightmare with (Knight Enchanter, some people like Tempest Rogue as well I guess).

Kirby and the Rainbow Curse:

This game is so adorable omg. Shame it gets wasted by making you look at the WiiU gamepad over the TV.

[Positive Touch]

dammit knight enchanter is the good class? I went with rift mage, which is just ok. the most important thing to surviving (I'm playing on hard not nightmare) is crafting. regular lot, even the unique stuff, is usually shit compared to what you can craft.

[Rufus]

For free (it'll be f2p at release) though I'll probably play it from time to time if it doesn't die off immediately.

Yup. This will replace Blacklight: Retribution as my go-to multiplayer shooter.

Does it crash a lot after rounds for you to? Seems to only happen in non-ranked.

[Purple Filth]

Still more Warframe, those hooks be deep now

 

Warframe

....

Mario Kart 7

 

[Supermanisdead]

dammit knight enchanter is the good class? I went with rift mage, which is just ok. the most important thing to surviving (I'm playing on hard not nightmare) is crafting. regular lot, even the unique stuff, is usually shit compared to what you can craft.

knight enchanter was straight up broken, but i think they've patched it a bit. you could basically solo anything with it back when the game first dropped and it's still pretty op after the patch.

[chronovore]

Was going to play Capcom’s Dark Void, which I’d deleted to make space on my HDD. Capcom has since decided that out-of-region downloads for existing purchases should be blocked, so now it self-corrupts. Good jon, Capcom! Protect me from my valid purchases!

[Beezy]

Dying Light:

Dead Island x Mirror's Edge

Goddammit... *pulls out wallet*

[kick51]

now that I'm almost done with Otogi 2, I can't decide which one I like better.  There are trade offs.  The second one has worse frame rate but a bunch of characters to choose from and the graphics are even more fucking insane.  Level design is about equal.  Only thing for sure is that they are my #2 and 3 favorite xbox games behind Ninja Gaiden Black. 

[toku]

Infinity Engine still has its charm. 

I find BG2 more pleasing than some early 2000s RPGs like KOTOR.

I don't. Kotor looks way better.

Filth.

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

Dragon Age 2

Welp, just duelled Arishok and by duelled I mean I was running around in circles all the time, ha The whole party battle is very interesting. It's right up there with the best Throne of Bhaal fights i.w. Yaga-Shura battle, and the battle with the turned-to-stone party unstoned on the pre-last level of the Demigorgon dungeon. Gotta think about how to deal with it later (too many Sarebaas in it). Incredible ending to Act 2 which was so very dumb in itself (your mother gets zombiefied and dies and you are like no fucks given, Viscount's son dies in the next 5 minutes in a shitty, staged up scenario etc.)

(Image removed from quote.)

(Image removed from quote.)

Back to Arishok, I pitied him, he was a fantastic "villain". Magnificent design, role, dialogues and VO delivery.

Him and Caius Ballad from FF13-2/-3 are two of my favourite "villains" from the past gen. Such incredible characters that in reality are no villains. You should never battle them.

Saddest thing about DA2 is how much of it felt wasted on the game. Arsishok deserved way more than second string villain.

[Am_I_Anonymous]

Xbone: Destiny   not as bad as people make it out to be but not that great (I'm only level 12)...kinda reminds me of mass effect meets halo meets Defiance with better graphics.

Fifa: It is what it is I suppose

BF4:      

[Cerveza mas fina]

Playing tons of Hearthstone still, cause thats wasy while holding the baby

Dragon Age 3 when you're moving thru a linear area killing dudes: omg omg omg

Dragon Age 3 when you're wandering around a big-ass map doing a bunch of checklist quests: zzzzzzzzz

still an awesome game overall but man like 60% of these quests should not exist

Glad I didnt buy it so

Typical by the numbers 2014 game

[Positive Touch]

you just played thru the order, so I know you're trolling me. yet still I find myself enraged

[tiesto]

Air Buster - cool 2player Genesis shmup.

[kick51]

Otogi 2 is the best looking ps2/xbox/gc gen game.  fight me.

[sarslip]

replaying Witcher 2 because fuck my backlog and also fuck Tomb Raider and Batman Origins for being such homogenized pieces of product that I can't get into them after multiple hours with each.

Witcher 2, wow this has possibly the most sloggy intro five hours of any game since Twilight Princess.  That said, man do the graphics hold up.  Once you get to that first town (Flotsam) things get really Witchery and good.  This game does not tell you shit though.  Pretty much told myself I wouldn't use the wiki, but find myself having to for stupid stuff like, how do I close those nests again?  Oh right that one bomb type and only that one bomb type.  I love that even the most simple conversations can go three or four different directions that aren't binary good vs evil BS.  I think I might actually get through this game in time for Witcher 3, 

[Cheddahz]

I started the Xbox One version of Sleeping Dogs last night and there are definitely some weird things about the game (for example, while I was driving last night, the car sounds just disappeared for a few seconds and came back)

[Am_I_Anonymous]

I started the Xbox One version of Sleeping Dogs last night and there are definitely some weird things about the game (for example, while I was driving last night, the car sounds just disappeared for a few seconds and came back)

Loved that game on 360, just hit the right notes with me.

unfortunate to hear there are some glitches. Any improvements over the original aside from graphics and how decent are the graphics?

[Cerveza mas fina]

you just played thru the order, so I know you're trolling me. yet still I find myself enraged

 

[Joe Molotov]

I know you're trolling me. yet still I find myself enraged

Official Bore Motto

[Rufus]

and also fuck Tomb Raider and Batman Origins for being such homogenized pieces of product that I can't get into them after multiple hours with each.

Meanwhile here I am, playing them back to back. I finished TR3 yesterday (nothing remotely interesting left to say about that) and today I've started Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation, aka TR4. They decided to have a mandatory tutorial this time instead of the optional obstacle course that is Croft manor. They use it as an introduction to the villain too, who is some German dude who may as well be calling you Mr. Jones with the way he talks. Contempt drips off every syllable.
 
It's apparently set entirely in Egypt this time, which I find disappointing. New move this time: rope climbing and swinging. Otherwise: It looks better, the cute ring menu with the skeuomorphic icons is gone and you can combine items in your inventory, which may as well be automated.
Puzzling detail: I couldn't figure out how to exit the game, so I had to Alt+F4 out. Having read up on it now there seems to be a separate pause menu that didn't show up in the controls when I was re-binding the inputs.

[Supermanisdead]

im really enjoying tomb raider. i wish there were less shooting sections and more puzzles tho. and harder puzzles. much harder.

[sarslip]

i'm no Tomb Raider expert, i liked Underworld the best 

new one is just ridiculous, lara yelling, wincing in pain all the damn time, really horrible puzzles.  way too much action.  way too many ideas from other games.   tried so many damn times, game looks good, runs well,  but is just too derivative for me

[Rufus]

I liked the new Tomb Raider. Very well paced game. Could have done with more actual tombs to raid. They finally got the combat right though, so that's something...

[brob]

Combat was a lil too boilerplate thirdpersonshoot imo

Would have been neat if it made the wildlife the primary enemy and then only had a few human enemies for you to kill one by one on some 'I am one with the forest' type shit. And it's not even like the game needed to have combat as a primary gameplay function. Would be nice to play as Ms. Tomb Raider and spend most of the time Raiding Tombs figuring out ancient locks and puzzles.

I don't really care for the AAA set-piece third-person shooter in general though. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Positive Touch]

I loved the last tomb raider, but like everyone else I thought it could have used a lot more puzzles. woulda helped them with that budget problem they had too, as you can increase a games length yet keep assets down by having single, complex rooms that you spend a relatively lengthy amount of time in. hoping they make some changes for the upcoming game.

[Rufus]

Yeah, but it was functional boilerplate thirdpersonshoot. Not being a fumbly, broken mess alone puts it leagues ahead of the old games. If you're gonna have shootan and stabban, you can do a lot worse. Even if it's just a result of raised base lines for technology and game design. I mean, I liked the game before and it's probably best to judge games by their contemporaries, but playing the old Core games puts things into perspective.

That said, I didn't need it to be as combat heavy either, but given SE's sales expectations they probably wouldn't have greenlit something that didn't have you kill a lot of dudes. AAA being AAA. /shrug

What bothered me more was all the character building by way of gruesome violence and injuries they tried to do. It's so over the top.
As were the deaths, btw. The old games had had bit of fun with Lara's deaths themselves. A terrified scream when she fell for longer than a second, her body crumpling into a heap of limbs with the camera lingering until you press a button, or getting slowly impaled by spikes, which sounds like a grapefruit being dropped on sewing needles. Crystal Dynamics went above and beyond...

[Stoney Mason]

I liked Tomb Raider reboot. I thought it was a fun functional remake. I thought the combat situations allowed you to move around in the environment. I thought there were bits that broke up the combat nicely. It followed a good deal of the Uncharted script but hey I thought it did it well.

It also probably helps that I don't really have a lot of fondness for the old tomb raider games.

[brob]

I mean, I liked the game before and it's probably best to judge games by their contemporaries, but playing the old Core games puts things into perspective.

Did you play Legends/Anniversary/Underworld recently? They seemed to be regarded as more or less well executed efforts on the old template. I think I played one, but honestto blog I can't recall any of it.

[tiesto]

I've played TR1-3 (but not beat) and Underworld... Underworld was pretty good. Although Guardian of Light is still definitely my favorite TR.

I should give the new TR a shot one of these days, but those linear setpiece driven shooters are just so dull. Would have much preferred a game that built on and refined Underworld.

[chronovore]

I mean, I liked the game before and it's probably best to judge games by their contemporaries, but playing the old Core games puts things into perspective.

Did you play Legends/Anniversary/Underworld recently? They seemed to be regarded as more or less well executed efforts on the old template. I think I played one, but honestto blog I can't recall any of it.

I really liked the Legend and Anniversary games -- I 1000/1000’d Legend, and need to finish Anniversary, which will require a restart from zero, but whatever.

Underworld is on standby, and I am looking forward to playing it, but Crystal got too clever for their own good with the camera, and there’s a lot of frustration with some of the camera choices in it. The first couple of those are why I stepped away from it.

I liked Tomb Raider reboot. I thought it was a fun functional remake. I thought the combat situations allowed you to move around in the environment. I thought there were bits that broke up the combat nicely. It followed a good deal of the Uncharted script but hey I thought it did it well.

It also probably helps that I don't really have a lot of fondness for the old tomb raider games.

Same. Honest truth is I never really liked the old Tomb Raider games, but I really loved this new one.

Same. I wanted to like the first one, but the controls were horrible. That waddle-in-place rotation is burned into my mind, as well.

[Rufus]

I mean, I liked the game before and it's probably best to judge games by their contemporaries, but playing the old Core games puts things into perspective.

Did you play Legends/Anniversary/Underworld recently? They seemed to be regarded as more or less well executed efforts on the old template. I think I played one, but honestto blog I can't recall any of it.

I played Anniversary and Underworld, but I also don't remember much. Control wise they might be the best iterations of the old formula though. I know combat didn't infuriate me. They added a combat roll, I believe. Some way to evade without confusing yourself, anyway. And there's generally more room to fight in. And I didn't save before every god damn jump, so that's definitely improved. Anniversary had a grappling hook that is used for some really frustrating platforming in the last level. The original level was actually easier. Aside from that...
I barely recall Underworld. I still have it on 360, so it might be time to take another gander once I'm through with old Raider.

[sarslip]

What bothered me more was all the character building by way of gruesome violence and injuries they tried to do. It's so over the top.
As were the deaths, btw. The old games had had bit of fun with Lara's deaths themselves. A terrified scream when she fell for longer than a second, her body crumpling into a heap of limbs with the camera lingering until you press a button, or getting slowly impaled by spikes, which sounds like a grapefruit being dropped on sewing needles. Crystal Dynamics went above and beyond...

 

[kick51]

can't even tell what's happening in that video...that was uploaded in 2014, really? 

[Rufus]

Yeah, it looks like it was filmed off of a television, then re-coded by someone else along the way.

Here's another death reel from the definitive Edition, not as tightly edited though:

[Stoney Mason]

Same. I wanted to like the first one, but the controls were horrible. That waddle-in-place rotation is burned into my mind, as well.

Yep.

And I'm someone who tends to be very understanding of the evolution of games and not trying to place modern expectations on older games, but I hated the controls of Tomb Raider even way back then.

Where as something like Resident Evil while not ideal, at least I could wrap my brain around when I played those originally.

[cool breeze]

what helped me get into Tomb Raider 2 after all these years is viewing everything a grid and to be patient.  it's a 3d version of those flashback, another world, old prince of persia style platformers.

and yeah, the Legend/Anniversary/Underworld games hit a nice balance of making the controls immediate and forgiving, more like prince of persia sands of time.  so when there's a ledge jump in tomb raider 1, you walk towards it, take a step back, run forward while holding jump, and press the grab button in the air.  in anniversary you press jump at the edge.   

[Rufus]

What helps me is quicksave, because I have no patience.

The only game(s) in that mould that I've thoroughly enjoyed are Abe's Oddysee and Exoddus. It works in 2D, but it's really tedious in 3D exactly because of those measuring steps you have to take. Right now I'm more annoyed by the bad hinting though. That fucking broom and hook puzzle in TR4...

[kick51]

for some reason i got a cheap copy of Death By Degrees and I just played it for an hour and now i think i hate video games

[kick51]

on the plus side, it made Ninja Gaiden 3 Razor's Edge seem like a masterpiece.  Feels much better than regular 3 so far. I threw it on hard mode and am learning how to play on the first Test Of Valor, which seems to go on forever.  Steel On Bone still feels like some lazy "hey we gotta come up with a new feature for the sequel" shit.  But so far, halfway through the first level, I like the game better than Sigma 2 at least

[chronovore]

Rez HD, making my umpteenth attempt on Zone 5. I never knew how to unlock the last zone, but now I'm having trouble clearing it. I think I got to the lasy stage, but I couldn't identify its pattern and bit it. Great game. Also, I have a weak spot for this era's techno. Jeez, it was great.

[sarslip]

totally, rez and lumines are my kind of electronic music. 

[Bebpo]

Finished the main game in Tales of Zestiria.  Game is good and engaging for about 20-25 hours and then the plot falls apart and the budget disappears; In the end there's a good game in there but the overall everything is a mess, so basically it's like the majority of modern jrpgs.  Graphics are quite nice and on PC it should look as good or better than Vesperia cell-shading; music is better than most Tales, but not as good as Legendia.  Battle system is good and different, but Graces battle system is better.  MC and main cast is good stuff, antagonists and NPCs suck.  There's some good exploration and a few good dungeons, but a lot of bland areas too.  Equipment system is awful to the point where it's best ignored.  Good amount of sidequests, optional bosses, hidden villages/skits.

Overall just ok.  Probably better than the Xillia games (better battle system, better fields & real dungeons, better cast) but I only made it 10 hours into Xillia 1 and never played 2 so can't fully compare.  I liked Graces a lot more even with the dumb story because it was a cohesive dumb tale with a freaking awesome battle system.  Liked Vesperia more too.  Xillia/Zestiria suffer from the 2010 onwards Scamco budget cutting; Tales either needs to go back to fixed camera or needs a bigger budget for the future.  They don't seem like they have enough budget to do the full 3d rpg thing they wanna do.

[Cerveza mas fina]

Killzone Mercenaries is a good game, kind of makes me want to the PS4 one.

[archnemesis]

Killzone Mercenaries is a good game, kind of makes me want to the PS4 one.

Killzone: Shadow Fall is decent, but overall worse than Mercenaries. If you ever decide to pick up a PS4 then you should give it a try.