Nah, it's not very replayable. Linear story.
GasBandit
Staff member
Well, I'm mostly still playing Space Engineers despite past frustrations I've had with it. In addition to a series of tutorial videos on youtube I've produced for it, I've also been producing some more videos that just kinded of ended up as a continuing cohesive story I've dubbed the PMCs vs Pirates Saga, which chronicles the battles between the fascist "AntiPiracy Coalition" police state and the lawless pirate cutthroats on the server on which I play. It's a story of conflict, ethical gray areas, and explosions in space in which the only certain thing is the suffering of innocents and the violent waste of resources.
Still going to town on Hyrule Warriors. Impa a best. Adventure Mode is insanely beefy, there's so much to unlock in terms of heart containers and weapons, plus the extra characters I haven't gotten out of it yet. The map is LoZ1's, and on top of needing to hit certain "Grades" to unlock things and/or advance, you can use item cards you get in battles to open secrets (usually the extra characters or special weapons). What's especially cool is, as far as I can tell, the secrets are where they were in the original Zelda game, too (save for a couple that use non-LoZ1 items).
Every character feels different, which is a big deal for a DW game. Some even have multiple weapons, each having a different feel than the other (Link, for example, has a ton. Fire Rod, Hylian/Master Sword, Power Gauntlets, etc). I'm impressed at how deep the game is, and on top of that how rewarding it is to stomp out an A rank on Adventure Mode tiles. If you own a WiiU you seriously need to give this game a shot.
Every character feels different, which is a big deal for a DW game. Some even have multiple weapons, each having a different feel than the other (Link, for example, has a ton. Fire Rod, Hylian/Master Sword, Power Gauntlets, etc). I'm impressed at how deep the game is, and on top of that how rewarding it is to stomp out an A rank on Adventure Mode tiles. If you own a WiiU you seriously need to give this game a shot.
Agreed, it was a cool touch. I also actually like the original characters they came up with (Lana, Cia, and Volga). There's a paid DLC (costumes, more Scenarios, etc) that, like Mario Kart 8's, is getting a staggered release. The cool thing, though, is the first bit with Cia, Wizzro and Volga as playable characters, is free and due out this coming week, I believe.
Mind_The_Moose is my tag thingy. I generally main Impa, but Link's my highest level thanks to the last parts of Legend Mode being all about him.
Tried the Bayonetta 2 demo last night. There are some control differences despite the Wii U having identical buttons. They now have a trigger button for some of the Madame Butterfly attacks. Also (at least in the demo) can't have Bayonetta roll around on her back shooting in all directions. Maybe she needed her long hair for that. Otherwise, the action is pretty much the same. I miss having my weapons and powers from the first game, but I'm sure I'll get the chance to re-earn them.
Spectacle and story-wise, that was one hell of a prologue. Fun enemy stuff and action stuff, and then there's a pretty nasty cliffhanger that may or may not have been spoiled already in promotional stuff, but was news to me.
Both my wife and I groaned--the demo is only 20 minutes, and that's if you fuck around a little in the tutorial to get re-acquainted with the buttons and how Bayonetta works. And of course, cliffhanger.
If we weren't already buying Bayonetta 2, the demo would've sold me. Which is pretty much how things went with the first game, and you get that with Bayonetta 2 as well.
EDIT: Oh yeah, graphics look awesome; even smoother than the PS3 original. So yay Wii U, you can be superior to the last gen.
Spectacle and story-wise, that was one hell of a prologue. Fun enemy stuff and action stuff, and then there's a pretty nasty cliffhanger that may or may not have been spoiled already in promotional stuff, but was news to me.
I knew Bayonetta would have to go to Inferno at some point, but I thought it was because she was dragged there. Nope! One of Bayonetta's summons turns on her, leading to the first Inferno book profile before a boss fight. It knocks Jeanne's soul out of her body, leaving her open to be dragged down like all of Bayonetta's enemies. Then a big fight up a skyscraper between winged Bayonetta and the summoned monster. Demo ends with Bayonetta holding Jeanne in her arms.
Both my wife and I groaned--the demo is only 20 minutes, and that's if you fuck around a little in the tutorial to get re-acquainted with the buttons and how Bayonetta works. And of course, cliffhanger.
If we weren't already buying Bayonetta 2, the demo would've sold me. Which is pretty much how things went with the first game, and you get that with Bayonetta 2 as well.
EDIT: Oh yeah, graphics look awesome; even smoother than the PS3 original. So yay Wii U, you can be superior to the last gen.
Last edited:
All my play time has gone to the wayside as my grad school obligations are just too much right now to allow for any gaming. I can only fit in the odd game of Spelunky or Crypt of the Necrodancer.
Necronic
Staff member
Wow, intro to the new borderlands is amazing. These guys just keep getting better and better. Gunfights so far are kind of weird for me. Since you have to manage O2 I don't find myself hugging cover and slowly moving forward. It's a far more insane run and gun kind of thing.
Injustice: Gods Among Us
Playing on the free weekend. Keyboard controls aren't terrible, but they aren't as precise as I'd like them, either. Counters and combos are hard to time correctly, though this may get better with practice. May grab this game if it goes down really, really cheap.
Also, the Joker is hilarious. "Ow! Why does she hate pancakes?
"
Playing on the free weekend. Keyboard controls aren't terrible, but they aren't as precise as I'd like them, either. Counters and combos are hard to time correctly, though this may get better with practice. May grab this game if it goes down really, really cheap.
Also, the Joker is hilarious. "Ow! Why does she hate pancakes?
"
Necronic
Staff member
Oh yeah, I also played some Panzar a few weeks ago. Had an interesting concept and funny videos and it was free. I have never had a game make me feel more nauseous while playing it than that game. Some combination of the screen shake, resolution, etc. Just made me damn near instantly sick.
Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Father (20th anniversary edition)
This was a remake by Jane Jansen and Phoenix Online Studios. The original is hands down my favourite game of all time (or at least neck-in-neck with Final Fantasy IV).
This remake? It's...not bad. If I had to choose between this or the original, I'd still say the original. But this one has a lot of positives.
The graphics and redone art is GORGEOUS. No complaints there, except that I can't put it in widescreen without losing some of the art around the edges. That's apparently common for most, after skimming the Steam forums. Some of the character animations are a bit awkward, but they're much better than their last game, Moebius.
Most of the voice acting is spot on, but there are many little, intricate details in the voice acting in the original game that's lost. For example, there's a German poem you can read in Gabriel's shop that's important to the story. Tim Curry's reading of it in the original game sounded like someone like Gabriel, who was a writer and spent a lot of time studying writing and poetry. The delivery by the actor in this remake is just so dry in comparison. Mostly little things like that, really.
There are also some nice little additions, like some special features like sketches and commentary. I also like that you can hit the map button at any time to go to the map rather than backtracking through two or three screens to get to it. Most of the game's puzzles are intact, but there are a few little tweaks, like how Gabriel finds the last part of the outfit to impersonate a priest. From what Jensen's commentary says, there are a few other little tweaks like that and I'm kind of looking forward to that.
So yeah, overall? If you're a longtime fan like I am, you'll probably still prefer the original. But most of the charm is still there. If it ever goes on sale for like 75% off, I'd say give it a whirl. I can't really recommend paying $20 for it when the original is on GoG for $5 or less.
This was a remake by Jane Jansen and Phoenix Online Studios. The original is hands down my favourite game of all time (or at least neck-in-neck with Final Fantasy IV).
This remake? It's...not bad. If I had to choose between this or the original, I'd still say the original. But this one has a lot of positives.
The graphics and redone art is GORGEOUS. No complaints there, except that I can't put it in widescreen without losing some of the art around the edges. That's apparently common for most, after skimming the Steam forums. Some of the character animations are a bit awkward, but they're much better than their last game, Moebius.
Most of the voice acting is spot on, but there are many little, intricate details in the voice acting in the original game that's lost. For example, there's a German poem you can read in Gabriel's shop that's important to the story. Tim Curry's reading of it in the original game sounded like someone like Gabriel, who was a writer and spent a lot of time studying writing and poetry. The delivery by the actor in this remake is just so dry in comparison. Mostly little things like that, really.
There are also some nice little additions, like some special features like sketches and commentary. I also like that you can hit the map button at any time to go to the map rather than backtracking through two or three screens to get to it. Most of the game's puzzles are intact, but there are a few little tweaks, like how Gabriel finds the last part of the outfit to impersonate a priest. From what Jensen's commentary says, there are a few other little tweaks like that and I'm kind of looking forward to that.
So yeah, overall? If you're a longtime fan like I am, you'll probably still prefer the original. But most of the charm is still there. If it ever goes on sale for like 75% off, I'd say give it a whirl. I can't really recommend paying $20 for it when the original is on GoG for $5 or less.
Finished the story mode of Injustice. Not bad. I'm still terrible at the game (seriously, my Superman was getting beaten up by Aquaman) but it was a fun little diversion.
I feel like I've already derived all the enjoyment I'm likely to get from this game though, so it's getting removed from my wishlist.
I feel like I've already derived all the enjoyment I'm likely to get from this game though, so it's getting removed from my wishlist.
I got the GOTY Unlimited all DLC edition of it, beat the story mode once, and decided to move onto the other unplayed games at my disposal (which currently still consist of Borderlands 2, Dishonored GOTY, Resident Evil 5...sheesh).
Shadow of Mordor gets compared (fairly so) to Assassin's Creed and Batman: Arkham Asylum/City, and that seems like a really good comparison... but it occurs to me there's another franchise that is has some similarities to, as well: Legacy of Kain. Think about it - a Protagonist who is killed in the Prologue, but is resurrected and kept from true death by a supernatural agent, and whose quest to release himself from his bound state is entwined with the fate of their world. Throughout his ordeals he learns more about the state of the realm at hand, acquires more supernatural abilities courtesy of his mysterious benefactor, and comes to terms with the legacy of a past long forgotten.
Shadow of Mordor could then be considered partially a spiritual successor to Legacy of Kain.
.
.
.
Now I want someone to make "Shadow of Nosgoth"
Shadow of Mordor could then be considered partially a spiritual successor to Legacy of Kain.
.
.
.
Now I want someone to make "Shadow of Nosgoth"
Nosgoth is already a shadow of its former self.
I refuse to acknowledge that game.
Finished round 1 of the Pokemon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire demo. Thoughts:
- Menu aesthetics have been altered to more resemble the design for the original Ruby and Sapphire.
- Pokemon now move more smoothly in battle than in XY.
- Moving on the field without skates feels more like true 3D as opposed to an invisible octagonal grid.
- The dialogue has gotten even weirder, which I'm fine with. In my opinion, the weirder the dialogue, the more likely I am to read what people say in a Pokemon game. The closer they can get to Earthbound, the better.
- You get to mess with a starter and its mega evolution.
- No manual save function. To save the game and any Pokemon you could transfer, you have to finish a round (quest/episode) of the demo. It'll save and then you can play another round if you want, but this makes it a little difficult being a portable game.
- If you're playing on an XL, the jaggies and aliasing are worse than ever. I'm hoping it just looks like this in the demo, but I have a feeling that won't be the case. This game is seriously making me consider the smaller model of the New 3DS, because XY doesn't look this jagged, likely because the environment is more grid-like in XY. Here, there's a lot of color and features that stick out, which would be good if the XL wasn't stretching them. Of course, it still looks better than the GBA original
.
tldr; a good demo so far.
- Menu aesthetics have been altered to more resemble the design for the original Ruby and Sapphire.
- Pokemon now move more smoothly in battle than in XY.
- Moving on the field without skates feels more like true 3D as opposed to an invisible octagonal grid.
- The dialogue has gotten even weirder, which I'm fine with. In my opinion, the weirder the dialogue, the more likely I am to read what people say in a Pokemon game. The closer they can get to Earthbound, the better.
- You get to mess with a starter and its mega evolution.
- No manual save function. To save the game and any Pokemon you could transfer, you have to finish a round (quest/episode) of the demo. It'll save and then you can play another round if you want, but this makes it a little difficult being a portable game.
- If you're playing on an XL, the jaggies and aliasing are worse than ever. I'm hoping it just looks like this in the demo, but I have a feeling that won't be the case. This game is seriously making me consider the smaller model of the New 3DS, because XY doesn't look this jagged, likely because the environment is more grid-like in XY. Here, there's a lot of color and features that stick out, which would be good if the XL wasn't stretching them. Of course, it still looks better than the GBA original
.tldr; a good demo so far.
GasBandit
Staff member
Bully - Scholarship Edition.
Wow, this game is REALLY good. I mean, the controls are awful, probably one of the worst console port jobs I've ever played control-wise, but I really dig the story, the situation, the characters, the satire, the sandbox factor, the ability unlocks... just.. everything. This is a better GTA clone than GTA 4 was.
Wow, this game is REALLY good. I mean, the controls are awful, probably one of the worst console port jobs I've ever played control-wise, but I really dig the story, the situation, the characters, the satire, the sandbox factor, the ability unlocks... just.. everything. This is a better GTA clone than GTA 4 was.
Wasn't that the game where at one point you had to press 2 buttons at the same time...and if you were using default controls those buttons were mouse wheel up & mouse wheel down?
GasBandit
Staff member
That hasn't happened to me yet, but it wouldn't surprise me. I've already had to remap some controls because a ridiculous amount of stuff is mapped to left shift and left alt, while WASD are for moving. And the mouse/camera controls are the worst thing since the early 2000s.
Also right click is supposed to be target lock (for talking/fighting/whatever) but often it randomly changes targets even while you hold down the button.
But if you can get past the controls, it's fun as hell. It's like.. GTA Animal House/Revenge of the Nerds edition.