The problem with FFX (and yes I liked it, too) is they tried out what they called "cinematic gameplay" or something like that. The game focused more heavily on cutscenes and a smaller, more linear world in order to put more focus on story and characters, but in doing so pulled a lot of what made the JRPG genre, and FF itself, fun. FFXII went back to a much larger world and the Tactics-esque political story (also taking place in Ivalice, the FFT world), but then for whatever reason, dropped that for XIII and its sequels. I think XII was one of the last games made with the majority of Square's old guard, but I'm not sure. I know the directors of FFT and FFIX worked on it.
Part of the reason FFXIV failed so hard was actually because of the over-focus on graphics, as opposed to actually making the game itself fun. The revamp basically rebuilt the game from the ground up and is now doing incredibly well.
That is quite literally what happened. Balthier was supposed to be the focus character originally, but they didn't think the teenage girls would woo over a 30 year old, so they put Vaan and Penelo in to appeal to the teenagers.
They're adding a Golden Saucer area to FFXIV, and it's going to have Triple Triad as a minigame. Also Chocobo racing. I don't think I want to go back, but damnit.
As if Shadow of Mordor couldn't get better, now I can mind control.
I decided to take out a warchief by dominating the minds of his two bodyguards. The first one ... I killed him by accident. Cut his head off. Couldn't be helped after that. The second I managed to dominate, but he had a weird trait--being afraid of Talion. So chasing him down was a chore. Anyway, got to the warchief, turned his remaining bodyguard against him, things seemed to be going well, but I got caught offguard and pressed the wrong button during my Last Chance against a random orc.
Well, that random orc becomes a captain, as these things go, but he also becomes a replacement bodyguard for that warchief. So I decide this is my moment, and I turn the guy who killed me into my bitch. This time, things don't go well for the warchief, and he gets killed by me and his two former closest former followers. After that, the guy who killed me becomes the new warchief. It still has a little revenge token up top for him.
Such a great game
.
I decided to take out a warchief by dominating the minds of his two bodyguards. The first one ... I killed him by accident. Cut his head off. Couldn't be helped after that. The second I managed to dominate, but he had a weird trait--being afraid of Talion. So chasing him down was a chore. Anyway, got to the warchief, turned his remaining bodyguard against him, things seemed to be going well, but I got caught offguard and pressed the wrong button during my Last Chance against a random orc.
Well, that random orc becomes a captain, as these things go, but he also becomes a replacement bodyguard for that warchief. So I decide this is my moment, and I turn the guy who killed me into my bitch. This time, things don't go well for the warchief, and he gets killed by me and his two former closest former followers. After that, the guy who killed me becomes the new warchief. It still has a little revenge token up top for him.
Such a great game
.
Shadow of Mordor is basically an orc* political simulator. It just so happens that there's lots of bloodshed in orc* politics.As if Shadow of Mordor couldn't get better, now I can mind control.
I decided to take out a warchief by dominating the minds of his two bodyguards. The first one ... I killed him by accident. Cut his head off. Couldn't be helped after that. The second I managed to dominate, but he had a weird trait--being afraid of Talion. So chasing him down was a chore. Anyway, got to the warchief, turned his remaining bodyguard against him, things seemed to be going well, but I got caught offguard and pressed the wrong button during my Last Chance against a random orc.
Well, that random orc becomes a captain, as these things go, but he also becomes a replacement bodyguard for that warchief. So I decide this is my moment, and I turn the guy who killed me into my bitch. This time, things don't go well for the warchief, and he gets killed by me and his two former closest former followers. After that, the guy who killed me becomes the new warchief. It still has a little revenge token up top for him.
Such a great game
*ok, technically they're uruks.
Arkham Origins
I finished up ARKHAM CITY today, so decided to finally move onto a Batman game that I'd not only hadn't played yet but was dreading.
And it's...okay. It's not bad. It's not the horrible, terrible game that I was expecting. It's just very unspectacular. And INCREDIBLY unpolished. There's so many little things that the previous Arkham games did that made you feel like you were part of the world. Plus, there's some really weird design choices, like the sound effect when you've taken down a thug is lowered considerably, so I'm not even sure if that last hit was the last hit. This also makes defeating thugs a lot less satisfying.
While CITY's overall city sandbox design was confusing at times, it wasn't difficult to navigate. Here, I don't know. It looks like a city, but it doesn't feel like one. I recognize some locales from CITY, but the overall map design feels just as uninspired as the rest.
The fighting feels...off. I can't place my finger on it, but it just doesn't flow as smoothly as this game's predecessors. It's more or less unchanged, but there's that missing polish.
Also, instead of Riddler trophies, I get "Enigma" collectibles. Oh boy. So it's the same shit, only without all the iconic question marks all over the place. And I spotted an Anarky symbol to scan like a riddle, so I guess those duties were split? Yipee skippee. But seriously, "Enigma"? Why even bother if you won't even call him The Riddler. It feels so force fed, like they HAD to have Riddler collectibles in there.
As far as glitches go, I had one game-breaking one so far: during the first "boss" fight (which was a joke). The screen went totally black but I could still see button prompts and the combo counter. So I restarted from my last save point and didn't encounter another major glitch. Had a minor one where I glided towards a gargoyle and rather than automatically plopping myself onto the gargoyle, Batman clung to the roof edge, actually phasing through the gargoyle. The only way to right this was climbing onto the roof and then walking onto the gargoyle.
There also seem to be more cut scenes in this than its predecessors.
So yeah, it's not terrible. It's just nowhere near as polished as ASYLUM or CITY. Honestly, it's so ho-hum, unpolished, and uninspiring that I don't know if I can stomach playing through the whole game.
I finished up ARKHAM CITY today, so decided to finally move onto a Batman game that I'd not only hadn't played yet but was dreading.
And it's...okay. It's not bad. It's not the horrible, terrible game that I was expecting. It's just very unspectacular. And INCREDIBLY unpolished. There's so many little things that the previous Arkham games did that made you feel like you were part of the world. Plus, there's some really weird design choices, like the sound effect when you've taken down a thug is lowered considerably, so I'm not even sure if that last hit was the last hit. This also makes defeating thugs a lot less satisfying.
While CITY's overall city sandbox design was confusing at times, it wasn't difficult to navigate. Here, I don't know. It looks like a city, but it doesn't feel like one. I recognize some locales from CITY, but the overall map design feels just as uninspired as the rest.
The fighting feels...off. I can't place my finger on it, but it just doesn't flow as smoothly as this game's predecessors. It's more or less unchanged, but there's that missing polish.
Also, instead of Riddler trophies, I get "Enigma" collectibles. Oh boy. So it's the same shit, only without all the iconic question marks all over the place. And I spotted an Anarky symbol to scan like a riddle, so I guess those duties were split? Yipee skippee. But seriously, "Enigma"? Why even bother if you won't even call him The Riddler. It feels so force fed, like they HAD to have Riddler collectibles in there.
As far as glitches go, I had one game-breaking one so far: during the first "boss" fight (which was a joke). The screen went totally black but I could still see button prompts and the combo counter. So I restarted from my last save point and didn't encounter another major glitch. Had a minor one where I glided towards a gargoyle and rather than automatically plopping myself onto the gargoyle, Batman clung to the roof edge, actually phasing through the gargoyle. The only way to right this was climbing onto the roof and then walking onto the gargoyle.
There also seem to be more cut scenes in this than its predecessors.
So yeah, it's not terrible. It's just nowhere near as polished as ASYLUM or CITY. Honestly, it's so ho-hum, unpolished, and uninspiring that I don't know if I can stomach playing through the whole game.
It does pick up, and the story gets at least a little interesting. Some of the later boss fights are fun, though you can tell they were still just looking at all the stuff Rocksteady had already built and saying "What can we do with these?" Like an arbitrary hallucination sequence. As for the city, I think the biggest problem is that there are some areas you simply can't grapple to. In City, if you saw a ledge, you could grapple to it and get up in there to explore. Origins has several that, for whatever reason, never allow you to grapple, so you end up with sections you can't explore purely because they didn't want to design those areas.
Yeah, I'm finding the same thing. And it's infuriating just trying to get around because there are several areas that I should clearly be able to grapple to, but for some reason, it won't let me.
Dark Souls: One thing this game gets over Skyrim is surprising me. After 2o hours of Skyrim, I knew every enemy type and form I was going to ever encounter. With this, I thought I was sort of getting there ... and then the game throws guards with giant snakes for heads. It got me panicky because I didn't know what the hell was coming out of the dark.
Anyway, in Arn Londo now and hoping that whatever I heard about bullshit archers has been exaggerated.
Anyway, in Arn Londo now and hoping that whatever I heard about bullshit archers has been exaggerated.
It has not. You have three options:
- Rush the one on the left, kill him quickly (try not to get shot in the back), then try to fight the one on the right.
- Rush the one on the right, draw him into melee, then parry him to ether knock him off or out of the way and then run past. Killing him is kind of a crap shoot.
- Buy a ton of poison arrows and try to snipe them until the poison hits (it'll take 3-4 hits in relative closeness and you'll see a bit of damage each time you hit, with a constant tick when it's finally kicked in). Female undead merchant in the Water Way/aqueduct between Undead Burg and Firelink sells them and they are dirt cheap at like 100 souls a pop.
I recommend number 3. It's just way easier. Once you get past the two archers and into the fog door, the bonfire is directly to your left. If you are playing online, I recommend you drop your sign in this room and help some other players, because this is a fight most players want help with. You'll want a bit of practice on the next boss.
Oh, and if you aren't playing online, Solaire can help you on this boss. Look for his sign.
This was the one that I did after an hour and a half. Ugh ...
Now I'm at the boss(es). They're manageable, but after those archers, I need a break for the night.
EDIT: Also, I did go human briefly. What followed was my first invasion for this character. I did not win.
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Having a startling amount of fun with Dragon Age: Inquisition. There are things I don't like, but all in all they're pretty minor (don't put use/loot and jump on the same fucking button!). Also, as with any BioWare game, character animations are weird and stiff and everyone's faces are oddly shiny and have dead eyes. Also, the voicework is pretty lackluster, save for Sera. She's kinda funny.
I do like that I can finally play a Qunari, though, it adds some interesting flavor to the conversations
I do like that I can finally play a Qunari, though, it adds some interesting flavor to the conversations
especially once people start thinking I'm the Herald of a God I don't even worship.
I love Cassandra's voice. It's not quite Claudia Black's voice (which I think I could get off to her just reading the phonebook) but it's still pretty good.
I do have to say hers is growing on me, and I guess Varric's is pretty good still. I think it's still Leliana that's one of the worst to me, out of all of them.
Arkham Origins
Eh, still okay, overall. Though at the moment, I'm stuck trying to beat Deathstroke. It's actually a pretty cool kind of boss fight where they're two masters of combat trying to find an opening on the other. I'm still having trouble beating him, though.
Walking Dead, Season 1
Still a very tense game with tough decisions to make. I'm playing through this a second time to ready myself for Season 2, which I'd also purchased.
Eh, still okay, overall. Though at the moment, I'm stuck trying to beat Deathstroke. It's actually a pretty cool kind of boss fight where they're two masters of combat trying to find an opening on the other. I'm still having trouble beating him, though.
Walking Dead, Season 1
Still a very tense game with tough decisions to make. I'm playing through this a second time to ready myself for Season 2, which I'd also purchased.
I really like that fight. It's very cinematic, and does a good job of portraying both Deathstroke and Batman as being evenly matched.
My only issue with Transistor was the combat. It was fun at first but then became insanely tedious to me. I don't really like that type of strategy combat, it felt similar to FFXIII's (fill in commands, let them play out) but without the Paradigm switching (which kind of made up for the watch-us-fight part of XIII).
I'm really loving the combat. I like the strategy, and I like how insanely modified you can make every single ability, with all of them combining in different ways to produce different results. Of course, if you don't like the planning style, you can fully play the combat in real time instead, and the abilities even act differently (no real cooldown) when doing it that way.
Started romancing Cassandra in DA:I, and oh man
Her first mission is a huge fucking pain, though, don't even have all the areas I need opened yet. Plus the required thing is always way off in some opposite corner from where you start.
Also, holy shit the lock-on camera is beyond terrible. I find myself never locking on now, it's so bad.
catching her reading porno novels might be the best part of the game so far. Even moreso finding out Varric writes them.
Her first mission is a huge fucking pain, though, don't even have all the areas I need opened yet. Plus the required thing is always way off in some opposite corner from where you start.
Also, holy shit the lock-on camera is beyond terrible. I find myself never locking on now, it's so bad.
I only ever use it for Dragons with my mage so I could keep it's head targeted.
GasBandit
Staff member
Fallen Enchantress:Legendary Heroes (which is having a free weekend and is on sale for 75% off, so 10 bucks) is actually a pretty good civ clone with hero units. I like that battles between armies/units are carried out in turn based tactical modes (kinda reminds me of Fire Emblem or Shining Force) and yet the city building/expansion and resource management is both on par with Civ 4 and yet also does its own thing. I recommend checking it out to see if you like it while it is free until sunday.
Yeah I locked onto a bear and the camera positions itself at my heels and refuses to move. If you try to turn it, you lock onto other mobs. It's awful.
Dark Souls:
GasBandit
Staff member
It was a buddy of mine's birthday, so he got to justify the expense of buying a two-pack of games that he wanted to play with a friend, that friend being me. He chose Divinity: Original Sin.
Thing is, my buddy has the attention span of a coked-up 11 year old, and D:OS, it turns out, is a very detailed, in depth, conversation-heavy roleplaying game with turn-based combat. He barely lasts a few seconds in any conversation before he starts spazzing and flailing about clicking shit crazily at random just to get back into real-time control, which is bad because the choices you make in conversation define your character and shape the course of the game. Also he does things like accidentally draw his weapon or open "off limits" doors and when npcs gripe at him he can't tell what's going on so it starts a fight and we have to kill a guy because he said "hey you can't go in my house" or something. /facepalm
I gifted him L4D2 for his birthday. Hopefully I can convince him to try playing that with me, I think it'll be more his speed.
Thing is, my buddy has the attention span of a coked-up 11 year old, and D:OS, it turns out, is a very detailed, in depth, conversation-heavy roleplaying game with turn-based combat. He barely lasts a few seconds in any conversation before he starts spazzing and flailing about clicking shit crazily at random just to get back into real-time control, which is bad because the choices you make in conversation define your character and shape the course of the game. Also he does things like accidentally draw his weapon or open "off limits" doors and when npcs gripe at him he can't tell what's going on so it starts a fight and we have to kill a guy because he said "hey you can't go in my house" or something. /facepalm
I gifted him L4D2 for his birthday. Hopefully I can convince him to try playing that with me, I think it'll be more his speed.
Probably. If it was the first game I'd say there are a lot of points where you need to calm the fuck down and corner up, but L4D2 is more run and gun than the first game.