I'm revisiting Donkey Kong Country Returns on Wii, and playing Ikaruga whenever I don't have much time. DKCR is just amazing, the variety in the level design is something to behold and I'm having fun going after the KONG letters. Played the first bonus level and it ripped me in two from sheer difficulty. Awesome stuff.

So, how's Borderlands 2 so far? Probably going to pick it up next week.

I've been playing Skyrim again the last week or two, though I'm starting to get bored with it again. I'm probably about 70 hours in, bringing my total (over 3-4 play throughs) to somewhere in the 400 hour ball park.

I'm about 20 hours into it, and I have to say it's... very, very similar to Borderlands 1, despite assurances that "everything is better!" So yeah, if you liked Borderlands, you'll no doubt like this one. If you didn't like Borderlands, I don't think the new one will really change your mind much - though I assume you did like it, since you're asking.

There are some improvements. I think the skill trees are generally more interesting, and there are more skills too. In BL1, skills were mainly stat bonuses as I recall, and while there are still many of those in BL2, there are more unique effects that make unlocking new skills more exciting. There are also very few skills that give bonuses to specific types of guns compared to BL1, so you don't feel obligated to use certain weapon types based on your class like you did in the first game. Each character has three skill trees that can result in fairly different builds (say, sniper assassin vs melee assassin), though a problem is that the game kinda forces you to pick one tree and stick with it, because if you spread your points too much between the three trees, you'll never have enough to unlock the last few skill tiers (where the most powerful skills are of course) in any of the trees. That rather limits character variety. I can agree that you shouldn't be able to max out everything, but more freedom in picking skills would be nice.

There's this new, ahem, "badass rank" system, which is an evolution of the previous game's... medals, was it? The bit that gave you experience points for killing X enemies with so-and-so weapons and the like. Now, you still have a huge list of challenges like that, as well as other challenges specific to each area (kill the boss by doing X, find all the collectible somethings in the area, etc.), and these will increase your "badass rank" as you complete them. In turn, this gives you tokens that you can redeem against your choice of bonuses to various stats, for instance increasing your gun damage, your recoil reduction, your shield capacity, etc. So that's pretty neat. It's like achievements... but with an actual in-game effect!

One of the big problems in the first game was the dull and repetitive quests, and this is now... hmm, slightly improved, I would say? There are less "go kill some number of this type of enemy" quests at least, and while quests are probably a bit more varied, it's still rare that you'll go "wow, that's a cool quest!" What does help a bit is more interesting writing surrounding the quests, so even if most of the time your objectives can be summarized as "go fetch this", or "go kill that", there's usually an original situation or at least amusing banter accompanying it. To my great disappointment though, the problem remains that if you do all side-quests, you will be way over-leveled and the game's challenge is thus greatly reduced. It doesn't help that they still do the thing where you go to an area for the main quest and clear all enemies in your way, then after that you get side-quests for that area and you need to return and kill stuff all over again, giving you more XP and making you even more over-leveled. I really, really wish they'd use level-scaling for quests under your current level, or at least give the option to do so.

Story-wise, well... I could certainly say the story is better, but that's not saying much when it was so thread-bare in the original game. Up to now, the narrative is nothing to write home about, but it's adequate enough for this type of game. The main story quests are actually fairly decent. The player characters from Borderlands 1 return as major NPCs in the sequel, and *gasp* they actually have personalities now - though the characters you're now playing still don't. :/ It's in fact pretty cool to see them again and interact with them like this, and there is some pretty priceless dialog between Lilith and Roland. I'd say the game is generally funnier than the original too; even Claptrap is occasionally funny now.

So overall, yes it does feel like an improved game, but by a small increment rather than a big leap forward.

I know, right? If this remake would be a direct copy of the original with updated graphics, then I will get my money's worth in full. And I'm certain it will be more than that, so it does look like the smartest investment in a new video game one can make at the moment.

Exactly! I'm a little worried about the squad sizes, I think you can have up to six people/things in your team which is definitely less than UFO Defense (only one I've played). But, that game was all about getting your ass handed to you until you finally didn't get your ass handed to you, so I won't fuss. I haven't heard anything about there being blasterbombs in this one, though, and those ruled. I'm sure it will be fun regardless, as those gameplay videos I've seen show a game I'd definitely be interested in playing over and over again.

Man, I accidentally stumbled upon this, and it brought back so many memories..... I still fondly remember the first Prince of Persia game for the PS2, as it was my favorite of the trilogy (a trilogy which, may I add, I hold very dear) and in general one of the best games I've played. The gameplay, the graphics (for it's time), the emotion, the story, the music (damn, I loved the music), etc..... Shit, now I feel the need to play the game again.

Really? I always thought that old game had aged terribly, I really wouldn't want to play that --

...Oh.

But hey, Morrigan, what does that "G" (I think it's a "G".....) symbol mean?

EDIT: Forget it, forget it, I just realized it.....

I own both of those and I beat em. They were never cheap but Gamecube games in general have had their prices drop across the board in the past year. You could probably pick up either of those for $25 or so now, whereas a year or two ago they were upwards of $40. My fave RPGs on GC were the two BATEN KAITOS games, however. They are pretty unique.

The next RPG on my list is either SUIKODEN V (I got the guidebook with it, I love playing a game with a compliment like that) or SHADOWHEARTS COVENANT.

Over 90 hours into Xenoblade Chronicles and at level 70. I'm at what is most very likely the end of the game. This is cause this is an obvious point of no return but it looks like I can still take care of some sidequests if I want.

Some of the story spoilers are just By the time you fully understand the Monado and Shulk's connection to it, every character's role in the whole story, and the direction the story seems to be headed, it's amazing how far you've come since you were just a group of friends at Colony 9. This game has some of the biggest spoilers ever. So avoid them like the plague.

This game could've used a bit of streamlining. There's too many unimportant sidequests that are just used to build affinity. Fewer sidequests with faster affinity building would've been better. I'm still not maxed out as far as affinity goes.

It has bad English voice acting.

Some characters have bad AI. I don't really notice it until some of the tougher boss fights when they aren't working with my main character that I'm controlling. The only way to guarantee a Break, Topple, Daze combo is during a chain attack. Otherwise some characters just suck at doing this, at healing you, or doing anything strategically important.

I guess those are my main complaints. It's been a lot of fun so far. Everything that I like about RPGs: character building, layouts and customizations for battle, music, story, theme, environment, mood, this game excels at.

This has the best soundtrack of all modern games. It's just leagues above all others and nothing really comes close.

Not quite sure what I wanna do now. Beat it and see the ending or try to savor the last of this by being a completionist.

Indeed, although the game was bare bones after awhile (very straight forward and simplistic), the expansive length just made it all feel like such a vast adventure. From a boy to tinkering with some machines, to ... wow. I'm just talking what you cover by foot, the environments told a story itself. Are you at the final dungeon? You can spoiler tag stuff if you want. The final bits of the game were freaking amazing. Gets pretty Xeno crazy on you and has this segment that I think was like one of the coolest things I've seen in games this gen.

No doubt about the OST. Loved how the battle theme was changed up in the second half too. I completely loved the second half, visually. I'm all for megastructures and sci-fi... damn, boners everywhere.


Hmm, wasn't quite the case for me... I tore things up with Dunban and was always getting a lot of Break/Topples going, Daze is harder to pull off though.


I might hit up Shadow Hearts soon, you a fan?

Suikoden V is fantastic, up there with the first two I'd say. I couldn't get into III, IV sounds awful, but V is definitely one of my favorites.

Suikoden 5 is looooong to really "start". I mean, it's long before you really get into Suiko-mode of recruiting, building your castle and so on, not that nothing happens before that, but it's more linear and scripted IIRC. Good game though, the last good jRPG I played.

I must be the only person to like the VA in Xenoblade. Probably helps that I'm from the United Kingdom. I just never got bored of hearing the battle chatter. Dunban has some awesomely cheesy lines. And of course, NOW IT'S REYN TIME.

So, if I drop the word "Okami" here..... What reaction does it incite in you people?

Okami <3

Dunban's good AI. I like him as the computer controlled character.

I'm not sure if I'm at the end but this seems like a very likely final showdown. I'm at....



And if there's still more Xenoblade after this......just no way. That's impossible.



"Xenoblade? What's that?"

Almost forgot Okami's also a good contender for best Wii game of all. And with the new Wii coming out this year the Wii will be phased out so we can start voting on best Wii game.

The PS2 version of Okami was kick-ass, as well. Such a fun game.

There was a PS2 version? The only reason I never played Okami was because I thought it was a Wii-exclusive After years of hearing praise for this game, I definitely need to dig that PS2 version up somewhere and play it! In other news: I just downloaded the X-Com: Enemy Unknown demo and getting ready to play it as soon as I'm done with schoolwork. I'll post my thoughts later tonight, I've been waiting for this one for a long time!

Ah, glad to see people here like Okami It was a beautiful game, with striking graphics, a terrific story and awesomely varied gameplay (loved the paint brush mechanics). I remember it was pretty long too. I gotta admit though, that it took me a bit of time to get used to the strange mumbling that the characters use instead of actual, intelligible speech.

Oh, there's a demo out already? Thanks for the heads up!

Ooooh, XCOM demo!

So, here are my first impressions of the X-COM demo:

First off, the graphics are dated as shit. How dated? Doom 3 dated. The animations also feel somewhat uncanny, as I think designers have already learned and known for a few years how to make the bond between leg movement speed and the characters' actual advancement look natural, which is not the case here. So if anybody cares for this stuff - here's a heads up. I personally don't.

The demo itself also leaves a lot more to be desired, since what one gets here is basically two tutorial missions (and very streamlined as such), so it's impossible to properly deduce what degrees of freedom you have in the actual game. You only get a taste of the on-foot combat, which is pretty good I must say, but I do hope the full game would let me to get involved into dogfights and manage my base/the missions I choose to take more freely (like in the original game) and not just jump from mission to mission.

On an unrelated note, Castle Crashers is finally available on PC via Steam.

It does...

Well, this is crazy. A patch for Thief 2+System Shock 2 has arrived. The majority of these changes are stuff that requires the full source code. Even a reverse engineering genius couldn't do this.
http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=140085


As for new X-Com, the demo was pretty horrible. The Giant Bomb quick look gives a better look at the game.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzAaeo5LtKg

That's not too dated... I think I can still appreciate games with engines of similar quality.

That's exactly my point. I know it does, at least if I am to believe the previews, but what about potential players that didn't bother to do the research? Basically it's just another example of the notion that crafting a good demo takes more than ripping out the tutorial level from a game.


In this case probably yes, since most of the time you'll be watching stuff from up above in X-COM, so it wouldn't be that obvious - but when it is (that is, during cutscenes and when the camera zooms into the action), you won't be able to help but to notice how "plain" everything looks compared to what AAA games have achieved during the last, say, 3 to 4 years.

*shrugs* Their loss. The demo for the original X-com was just one combat mission too. I replayed it over and over until I could get the full game.

Long game in general too, I actually don't think I beat it but clocked in quite a bit of time. Loved how it felt pretty connected to the first two games a lot as well.


Oh man, that place... and the boss there sucked so bad, I was pretty disappointed by that area. Felt like just panning for more time.

Not the final area, nope. You've seen nothing yet. The final stretch is insane.


Heard about this, sounds amazing. These two are such a pain in the ass to get running well though, so I'm a little hesitant to mess with my installs haha. Still in the middle of Thief 2, but I might try this out for SS2.

Hmm, I don't think anyone mentioned it yet... just FYI, the Humble Indie Bundle 6 is currently running, five days left. It's a pretty good selection, though not really as amazing as last time, but for once I don't own most of the games already.

That's probably the one off putting thing I could never get past when I tried playing it. Besides that grating mumbled dialogue (and that annoying sidekick to boot), it was a uniquely beautiful looking game with a fantastic musical score and mythology. It was my first foray into the Zelda variety of adventure games so maybe that was another reason I could never stick with it. I still have my PS2 copy in excellent condition and will trade it for some CD perhaps.

Same here. I see they added 4 games for those who pay more than average (which includes me of course), but 3 of them I already got with other HBs. I'm mostly buying them for the platformers and sidescrollers like Aquaria (which was damn epic) or NightSky. Vessel seems to be a promising concept, using the power of modern PCs for advanced physics gameplay and such - and Dustforce seems perfect as a casual distraction inbetween (during?) lectures

Oh come on. You are a filthy commie if don't like Reyn time.

Chock another one up for Okami=awesome. I own both versions, there's differences in the visual effects on Wii.

I thought the demo was alright, still pretty excited for the full game.

Deal. I'll send you The Unspoken King.
...
So I just bought Dark Souls, partly because of your countless discussions on the game. I'm not sure I want to play it, I prefer my XBox in my room as opposed to defenestrated.

I finally caught a snippet of the latest X-COM. I can't say I'm disappointed, but I'm not overly excited either. It looks like the combat system allows for a slew of useful tactics that I haven't seen in other X-com games/mimics. Soldier specialisation and skills are also welcome features. The graphics aren't too bad, as long as it's not a resource hog then I'd be happy playing it. Haven't seen what multiplayer is like.

Some complaints: a maximum squad size of 6? Bullshit. I want 18 motherfuckers, 4 tanks, and an all-out war against mutons... Seriously, 6 is way too few. How would that work in base defense?
Also, and that's maybe because I haven't played it yet, but the defining element of early X-COM games, i.e. atmosphere, seems to be quite lacking. From what I've heard, the music is mostly action-y and very stock-sounding, like you could throw it in any B action film and it would fit. This is as opposed to the original's brooding bom bom bom bom bom bom... Not much for music, but hey at least it conveyed a sense of dread and terror, which IMO is part of what makes X-com stand out among other turn-based combat games. Aliens didn't look intimidating either.


aarrghhhh WHY? Ship disembarkment was one of the most intense parts of the battlescape. Having good disembarkment tactics was something critical for maximizing survivability of the crew in the first few turns. What they could've done is make a ship upgrade available that enables it to auto-launch a couple of smoke grenades at the start, instead of eliminating it altogether.

Maybe ship disembarkment will be available on future DLC. Still want!

One the many great things about X-COM was seeing missions go horribly wrong. Like when the highly ranked soldiers get taken out and rookies start shooting in random directions (this is why I make low bravery soldiers my point men). Trying to recover from a bad disembark or losing an entire fireteam is one of my favorite things to do in X-COM. The remake has a berserk/panic mechanic, but due to smaller squad sizes and higher HP per soldier, I'm afraid it won't be the same.