The secret to enjoying Dishonored is nerfing yourself creatively. Went for ghost & non-lethal on my first playthrough. Unfortunately I failed because the environment killed an unconscious guard off-screen.

Yeah, next run will be no kills. I'm doing what's natural now (i.e, trying to sneak all the time, but if I get caught and have to slice up fools, I'm gonna).

lol, well, I don't know if it's worth a purchase Keep in mind I played it for free as a PS+ subscriber so I'm far more lenient towards its flaws*. But as far as PS+ freebies go, that's one of those I'm glad I checked out. The gameplay is kinda shallow, but the story and protagonist are pretty cool and the art direction is spectacular. Also, I think that for once I actually preferred the French voice dub O_o it's a bit weird. I tried both, and ended up playing most of the game in English, since the protagonist's VA is pretty good, but it felt more... "right" in French. Perhaps it's because the action is set in Paris (or "Neo Paris" haha) with French or bilingual signs in the backgrounds, or just because it reminded me of French dubs of old sci-fi movies that I'd see as a kid and somehow scratched a nostalgic itch, I dunno, but the French VA had quite a bit of charm. if I ever replay it, it'll be fully in French. I don't know how a non-French speaker would find that, though, it might be a bit annoying for you guys.

*On the flipside, a PS+ freebie I really wouldn't recommend whatsoever is Hitman: Absolution. You want to talk about cool ideas that fail spectacularly in execution, there's a fine example right there. I mean Remember Me's "failed execution" is really more in the sense that it was underused or didn't reach its potential; in Hitman Absolution, it fails so bad that it makes the game a plodding chore to play. It's just plain unfun. I think I posted a large rant about it a while back, so I won't repeat myself, but I ended up deleting the game from my console because I can't imagine forcing myself to finish it.

About Deus Ex: Human Revolution: Anyone have any recommendation on regular version vs. director's cut? Will definitely be picking this game up at some point but I wasn't sure which version was preferable.

Definitely the director's cut. Certain areas are rebalanced (in a good way; not making things easier), better AI and graphics, and integration of the expansion pack with the core game (which you had to buy and launch separately on PCs.)

http://store.nintendo.co.uk/wii-u-ddc/t ... 91121.html
Oh my god I want this, especially if it's real/comes stateside

Didn't they also fix the ultra lame boss fights? That alone would make the game superior to the original version.

Quick Dark Souls 2 question not worth bumping the other thread for:
I tried beating Dark Souls twice but the pacing, level design and general sense of learning/discovery really go downhill in the second half of it, how is Dark Souls 2 in that regard?

Yeah, that's I was meant with rebalancing - I haven't actually played the director's cut, but apparently the boss fights are completely redesigned so you can use stealth/strategy.

Don't over-exaggerate the boss fight changes. The second one (with the girl) was still fairly annoying. I remember they made it sound like you could almost literally opt out of the fights, but they're still there... just with a few new extra rooms and hackable stuff around, more ammo, etc. Yeah, they're definitely better though. Just still there.

Anyways, one thing about the Director's Cut is that the DLC for the game was absolutely amazing and it comes with it. It's worth it for that alone.

BUT, I have to honestly say I am one that was disappointed with the decision to revert the gold lightning effects to standard fair. I can't remember if it was mentioned here or elsewhere, but others really put it best... the game just looks straight up like Mass Effect, Halo, or other modern sci-fi games with normal lighting. Whereas the gold lightning in the original version gave it a bit more unique flavor. I thought the absolute biggest difference was all too apparent when you get to China. In the original game, I felt like I was choking in China's megacity and that's probably the point, the atmosphere in that place especially was not that same to me. Another part was the infamous Jenson apartment window moment, that wasn't as heavy hitting when I saw it a second time around with the standard lighting.

The art direction is still solid in general, but I don't think it's being picky. It really does change the experience to me.

I think the character models were definitely improved. But I played the original on the 360, and the Director's Cut on the WiiU, so it's hard to say. Obviously that version was going to look better in some areas. But the lightning almost degrades it back. lol

People even apparently modded the PC version to have normal lightning before this came out. Who knows, check both versions out for yourself and see what you think. I for one hope if a sequel comes, they'll stick with the gold lens again.

What an odd choice, you improve the game in all these ways and simultaneously sap out a big part of what gives the game its own atmosphere. They should've just given you the choice to opt for original lighting filter or redux lighting filter. Weird. Hmm, maybe I'll just have to play both. Or just buy the director's cut and a pair of yellow sunglasses to go along?

Seriously, how hard would it have been to make that an option? It's just shaders I think.

Would be amusing if there's mods to put that lighting back in the PC Director's Cut or something haha...

That's what it's for....

You didn't miss much. Just a piece of shit ending to a piece of shit game. Yes, I finished it. I felt like I had to at least suffer through 'til the end, considering I shelled out $60 for that trash. Yes, I preordered. I was expecting, y'know, Hitman. Now the franchise is dead to me. Blood Money was the conclusion, unless they can somehow redeem themselves with the sixth installment, but I doubt it. After all, IO Interactive is made up of totally different people than those who worked on the Hitman games prior to Absolution. I've got a feeling the current IO team just wanted to make a Kane & Lynch game that would actually sell.

Hey, Morrigan, have you ever played any of the previous Hitman games? Because if Absolution was your introduction to the saga, then I gotta say that I feel a tad sorry for you Blood Money, in particular, is absolutely terrific if you're into stealth games.

It is! $8 per pack, or $12 for both! Pretty amazing value for all that's included.

Big images with details:

If Remember Me has a good story I can forgive easy gameplay. Sort of like how you can't ever really lose at a point and click game but some have good stories.

I really liked Hotel Dusk: Room 215 on the DS. I couldn't remember which room number was in the title so I googled Hotel Dusk and DS and found out the title. Another interesting fact.

http://www.amazon.com/Hotel-Dusk-Room-2 ... B000KRXA28

It's selling for $60.

Anyways, is Remember Me's story good?

WOWOWOWOW.

Mario Kart 8. Need. Now. Gotta buy a Wii U for me and the lady. Will prolly get the Wind Waker bundle..

The ending sequence with the last boss is a bit meh, but otherwise, it's pretty good. It's not The Last of Us or Legacy of Kain but it's still way above average as far as game stories go.

Seriously hope this means more time trial ghosts. Loved beating those on MK8.

More content is most welcome. This is DLC done right.

Has anyone here played The Witcher 2's Combat Rebalance Mod that was actually made by the same guy who designed most of the combat for W2? It looks amazing... but does it PLAY amazing?

I haven't played it yet, but I'm going to go through both games later on this year in anticipation for Witcher 3, and I'll be using it then. It does look more responsive, and the add of the pirouette is some much needed variation to dodging to make it less of an ugly-looking rollfest. It's also appropriate seeing as how pirouette's seem to be a big part of Witcher combat training since Geralt did it a lot in the books. Personally, I still think the first game had the best idea in the form of three different, distinct styles that had different animations to reflect the concept and training of said style. I wish they'd return to that system.

Almost every listed feature says "easier combat".

Why would I want easier combat?

Been in Afghanistan this whole summer, can anyone tell me any good releases that came out this summer? Preferably on PC, Xbox ( One or 360 ). Thanks in advance!

Wow, that's disappointing to hear. I thought the games level design, especially China, had amazing atmosphere and character. The gold lighting definitely lent the environments some interesting character, even though it's such a small and superficial element. But yeah, loved the hub stages in that game. Detroit was great, China was even better.

I heard that the Director's Cut had a huge performance hit for PC. Is that true?

@BloodSacrificeShaman: it's too bad that combat was too inaccessible to be worth putting back in at this point. A return to what was a very much old-school cRPG combat system would get the game eviscerated in the media. I'm a much bigger fan of that than action game combat in RPGs, it just doesn't seem like a viable design choice in a AAA title these days. Maybe if they made a small scale spin-off game funded by a kickstarter or something ala Pillars of Eternity we could see a return to the Witcher's old school roots, but I'd seriously doubt that. Anyway, I find that the branching story and characters is what really makes the Witcher games great (despite the awkward "get the ladies" sidequests/minigames).

It seems to vary. I didn't have any performance problems or bugs, so it was a fantastic definitive game for me.

I mean... the game is worth more than a few runs heh, so if you don't mind double dipping it's worth playing the Director's Cut to see for yourself.

The hubs were some of my favorite parts in the first game and yeah, they really did them well here too.

Xeogred, still waiting for your comments on Homecoming and Downpour, both compared to the first four and as standalone games of course.


I played Homecoming and really enjoyed the Jacob's Ladder atmosphere in it, especially in the beginning. Some of the enemies and boss designs were also cool . The story initially starts really good but turns into a jumbled mess by the end and we can thank our notorious friend Tomm Hulett for the cluster fuck as he reported that it was by his intervention that the story was jumbled to make it uncertain and mysterious . All in all it was a fun game though it pales in comparison with the first four in terms of story, atmosphere and immersion.

Downpour was a total bore, i give up on it half way through. Boring enemy design, boring overused purgatory story line, boring cliche ghost haunting side quests. Everything about the game screams low budget especially in the repetition of interiors, I was sick of seeing the same decors over and over... Also i was looking forward to witness the rain mechanics they advertised BUT NOTHING OF THAT SHIT IS IN THE GAME...

OK I'm getting Super Smash Bros. no matter what after this latest character reveal.

Megaman was enough to get me interested. They threw in Little Mac. And now they're all going overkill on making sure Kahalachan buys Super Smash Bros.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5U43lBsWsw

Downpour was a nightmare - I guess Homecoming was tolerable - I do agree that the atmosphere in some areas was great, but man, it's so loud! There's always noises all the time, there's no weird feeling of being alone - kinda ruined it for me. BUT, some boss designs are a catch - the gas chamber guy is hella cool, and the prison design is neat. BUT, a huge gripe is it's more or less the movies, so everything's bright and fiery, with lava and rust and stuff, but there's no real downtime to combat it....oh well, it's cheap now so it's worth playing at this point.

Homecoming has always sounded like the better one of the two. Not that it's saying much haha...

The boss designs in Origins were great too but man, same deal there with the last boss. It was as generic and stupid as it gets. Not that any of these games have ever had much emphasis on the final bosses or anything though, so I can cut it some slack.



This might be why I loved the Silent Hill overworld (if you will) in SH1, 2, and Origins. The subtle noises of... things... in the distance is so awesome and frightening. Maybe you fans can recall exactly what I'm thinking of, but I think the weirdest and most disturbing sound is the weird rumbling buzzing noise that pops up sometimes.

I had to look it up, here's a decent video. You can hear it pretty well around 4:20. That was always the creepiest sound to me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coz9Vot14Tk#t=4m00s

Is the city... breathing?

Anyways I quit my job recently so it might be a bit before I get to those two.

A new 3DS upgrade was announced today, which looks pretty cool. I hope they don't remove the Super Famicom button styling when they bring it to the US.

Azure Striker Gunvolt released on the 3DS eShop today. Quite a fun game, especially if you're a fan of Mega Man X / Mega Man Zero, as I am. Added bonus, it comes with the NES Mega Man styled Mighty Gunvolt for free, which is a short but pretty fun game in itself.

Downpour and Homecoming both aren't that great, but in nearly opposite ways. Which one you'd like more depends on what aspects you value the most. Gameplay, art style, and graphics? Homecoming. Atmosphere and storyline? Downpour. Homecoming is like a typical mainstream modern adaptation of Silent Hill, that gets a lot of the aesthetic stuff but completely fucking misses the boat when it comes to the storyline. The storyline to Homecoming is fucking stupid and makes no sense, in a bad way. Downpour feels almost like a hobby project made by some college guys on a shoestring budget - except they were all huge Silent Hill fans and actually understood what the series was about. The enemy design sucks for the most part, the boss design mostly sucks, the gameplay sucks, and honestly big parts of it just seem downright unfinished - there are some really intricate optional side quests that are really cool and interesting, but have rewards that basically amount to nothing. The upside is, when the atmosphere clicks, it's fucking great. You have way more freedom to just run around the town of Silent Hill than before, and there's actually a lot to do, with plenty of optional houses to enter and things to do, and not just "oh, a house with one room, a creepy note, and a medkit, neat." Many of the houses you can enter start intricate sidequests that involve difficult puzzles, creepy set pieces, and other things. There's that feeling of "anything can happen" that just really isn't present with Homecoming, which feels way more structured and predictable. Downpour's storyline seems very stock at first, "guy with dark past drawn to Silent Hill and then tortured by monsters representing his inner demons," but it's actually way more clever than that. It suffers a bit in that there are a number of endings and some of them don't really capitalize on the storyline, but when you get the most effective endings, they're a billion, trillion times fucking better than Homecoming's utter dogshit non-endings, which include the joke "alien ending" which you can accidentally get the FIRST TIME THROUGH without doing anything at all unusual.

What Homecoming did best was enemy and boss art design. The bosses especially look fucking great in that game, and it's a shame they wasted those awesome designs on such a worthless story. Both games suck but are worth playing if you're hardcore into Silent Hill (like me, duh), but Downpour was one of those games that was painful but satisfying, while Homecoming was just painful.

Downpour sounds better to me then I guess. But it being more open yet "painful" doesn't sound all that inviting.

But hey, I've beaten Resident Evil 6 and Revelations. Surely I can do it!

Oh and yeah, I made sure to mention Revelations there. I'll never understand why fans like or hail it as a return to form. Easily one of the worst games I've played in the last several years.

And it's going to have Xenoblade Chronicles

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBop-Dqp2ik

Well it's good that I didn't make it sound inviting, because it's really not. The combat can be quite irritating, the weapon system sucks (ALL items can break, including unique quest reward weapons), the enemies can get quite annoyingly tough later, and some aspects are just idiotic. Necessary spoiler: at one point during the main quest, you get on a boat. Be warned that once you get on the boat, you won't be able to access regular Silent Hill ever again, AND all of your items get taken away for good. So don't bother hoarding special weapons, medkits, or any of that for the boat trip.

But yeah, the story and characters are actually good, and very "Silent Hill", unlike Homecoming. We can talk about the ending more if/when you beat it.

Does it have difficulty selection like the others?

Yep. Before I knew they had announced an upgrade to it, I saw the article announcing Xenoblade Chronicles exclusive to the "new 3DS". I literally went, "Oh, Xenoblade Chronicles on 3DS, that's c-- wait, new, what?"

I'm pretty amped though. I love the 3DS but it's been a little bit dry for releases lately. Maybe this upgrade will give it a kick in the ass and get it going again.

Okay, wait a minute. Playing Dishonored and so far:

-You escape from an oppressive regime through the sewers
-You travel to the ramshackle rebel coalition via boat
-You meet an enigmatic, possibly supernatural man who speaks weirdly at you in a landscape of floating islands and distorted time.

Is this Half-Life 2

Topped off with the same art designer...

lol