What Games Are You Playing?

[ayase]

Finally started Mass Effect 2! Seems both as good and as bad as I expected so far.

I keep hearing statements to this effect. Perhaps I'm being a bit thick, but I just can't see these differences myself. I played ME2 first (I didn't have a PC at the time) and going back to ME1 the only changes I found noticable enough to comment on were ME1's planet exploration via buggy and horrible inventory system.

 

[ilmaestro]

Maybe you still don't have a PC if you think the ME1 inventory system is still that bad. They cleaned it up a lot for the PC version.

I have still not played a lot of ME2, but the change in tone and direction seems quite apparent, as well as the dumbing down of the weapon customization and the removal of speech skills to put points into.

 

[ayase]

Now that I remember, it did annoy me that you couldn't choose your team's loadouts in ME2 (and my inner pedant was particularly irked by the fact that Garrus' alt armour had the same damage you actually see him sustain in his original armour* - I mean WTF?). But the ME1 inventory system was awful. Just one massive uncategorised list of **** when you came to sell things - and on mission you had to *destroy* things to make room for more.

*spoilered in case you haven't got to that part yet.

 

[ilmaestro]

Ah, it basically self-categorized on the PC version, much smoother than on the Xbox (and in several other areas - the Mako was still a bit iffy granted, but I prefer it to my first impressions of the new planet scanning in ME2). Just by making it easier to see which items you had multiples of and which you had several inferior versions of it made it much quicker to sell or junk items, and so imo you didn't end up with a constantly full inventory.

I played through ME1 PC over Christmas, having played the Xbox version when it first came out, for reference.

 

[ayase]

I'm confused now. I'm sure the inventory was a mess when I played it through on PC... Maybe it was patched and I didn't get the patch? Or I had an Xbox 360 and a copy of ME 1 and someone has blanked my memory of the console and taken it away, leaving only my memories of the game?

 

[ilmaestro]

It's certainly not impossible that it was patched, then, I would say, as it's fine now imo.

 

[Castlevania]

I played ME1 for the first time about 2 months ago. I don't wanna start ME2 until all the DLC is on deal again, too expensive otherwise.

Right now though, enjoying Resonance of Fate.

 

[ilmaestro]

I only intend to buy the Kasumi and Shadow Broker DLC, I think, so I will probably go straight for it.

 

[Ath]

Last night I decided to finish off Solatorobo on the DS. Pretty good game, though it got a bit repetitive after a while. The world it's set in is lovely though, and I love how all the voice acting is in French...or rather Japanese actors speaking French!

Also on my currently playing (or attempting to play) list are Link's Awakening DX (replaying for the first time in 13 or so years), Alpha Protocol, Fallout 1, Pullblox and Super Scribblenauts.

Next up, it's Pandora's Tower on Friday. I'm mainly getting it because I support Operation Rainfall but I'm still looking forward to it all the same. Plus it comes with a sexy Steelbook and it's hard for me to resist those :wink:

 

[mangaman74]

Next up, it's Pandora's Tower on Friday. I'm mainly getting it because I support Operation Rainfall but I'm still looking forward to it all the same. Plus it comes with a sexy Steelbook and it's hard for me to resist those :wink:

Do you know if HMV are still stocking it? I preordered it from HMV over a month ago but their site doesn't list the game at all anymore (although they still list my preorder on my account).

 

[Ath]

Ahhh yeah I saw that, here's the official line:

We can confirm that Nintendo Wii Game, Pandora’s Tower has been officially removed from our website and is no longer available to order with hmv.

What I think this means is that all pre-orders will be fulfilled but they've run out of the limited edition slipcover for all three Rainfall games that they were offering as a pre-order bonus. I went with HMV for The Last Story but delivery has been super slow from them lately so I stuck to Amazon for this one.

 

[mangaman74]

Ahhh yeah I saw that, here's the official line:

We can confirm that Nintendo Wii Game, Pandora’s Tower has been officially removed from our website and is no longer available to order with hmv.

What I think this means is that all pre-orders will be fulfilled but they've run out of the limited edition slipcover for all three Rainfall games that they were offering as a pre-order bonus. I went with HMV for The Last Story but delivery has been super slow from them lately so I stuck to Amazon for this one.

Thanks for that Ath. I thought it might be the case. It is cheaper at Amazon UK but HMV's packaging is better for this kind of thing (less likely to end up with a squashed box). Also get reward points at HMV so I will stick it out to the weekend before looking to cancel.

 

[Max Takeshi]

Thankfully I got my Pandora's Tower order in beforehand. For some reason that box for the three games is so tempting.

 

[MercenaryRaiden]

I'm on the finale for Yakuza: Dead Souls so my opinions are now with a rather suitable chunk of the game, and are pretty much my final ones. I've spent 28 hours playing it, far less then I would with a normal Yakuza game and that's probably telling. It's not...horrible. It's just not great. You get used to the gunplay and it's actually ok. The different characters do play different enough, although upgrades are shared. When the story kicks in it can really get going (Chapter 4 Part 1 being absolutely brilliant for a certain character wise, plus any part that includes the second playable character.) although it attempts to pull off some of the usual Yakuza twists and turns but ends up being a bit flat set on this zombie background. The substories are genuinely funny and well written though.

But...The game has enough about it to put me off against the parts that I like. Subterrania is the biggest offender, offering you Yakuza's version of "sewer levels" with endlessly repeated rooms and corridors. Each character has to go through twice, with the exception of the final character who just gets one huge version. It's horrendous design and should not be in the game, especially as you cannot start halfway. If you try and rush through it you can easily be met with Molotov throwing zombies who can literally stun lock you to death in a corner. It is possible the most unfun thing about the entire series.

So yeah, I don't have much to go but I highly suspect my opinions won't change over the last 1 or 2 hours. It's...A shame. It could have been good but, and I hate to say this, it just isn't. The true quality of the game is outside of the quarantine area - where all the Yakuza mini games and delights reside; all of which are found in Yakuza 4. If anyones still waiting for this one, bargin bin it. It'll no doubt go down in price soon as I very much suspect that no one will buy it.

Next up, it's Pandora's Tower on Friday. I'm mainly getting it because I support Operation Rainfall but I'm still looking forward to it all the same.

After what has been said about Last Story, I'm highly tempted to start this first. I don't know much about it gameplay wise but I really like the sound of the concept. If pulled off well it could give some emotional tugs, or it could be completely awkward like a lot of jrpgs! Although I should probably go back to the Xenoblade beast first...

 

[fabio de lunatico]

What I think this means is that all pre-orders will be fulfilled but they've run out of the limited edition slipcover for all three Rainfall games that they were offering as a pre-order bonus.

I was mildly concerned that all traces of Pandora's Tower completely vanished from the site just a few days after the exclusive LE went up, but my copy was posted this morning so I'm resting easy. It's odd that they haven't re-listed even the regular edition, though.

Oh yeah, and I played through Binary Domain four times, on all difficulties except easy. I just couldn't stop shooting dem bots.

 

[MaxonTreik]

Finally started Mass Effect 2! Seems both as good and as bad as I expected so far.

I keep hearing statements to this effect. Perhaps I'm being a bit thick, but I just can't see these differences myself. I played ME2 first (I didn't have a PC at the time) and going back to ME1 the only changes I found noticable enough to comment on were ME1's planet exploration via buggy and horrible inventory system.

The combat was changed in ME2 a little too. Controlling your squad members was made a bit simpler, so you could make them go stand in the corner and not get in the way. However, actions were mapped to one key, and I wasn't comfortable with having both crouching behind cover and leaping over cover mapped to the same key. Basically combat was streamlined but sacrificed the amount of control you had. It's been years since I played it though, so it could just be my crappy memory.

To stay on topic: currently replaying Persona 4, and after blitzing Persona 3 FES a little while ago, I can now say for sure I prefer Persona 4 since I have been unsure of which one I prefer for the last few years.

 

[FourthLion]

I'm on the last chapter of Asura's Wrath.

Really surprised the game hasn't had more mentions here, the game practically is an anime series. There isnm't a whole lot of 'gameplay' to it really but I've really enjoyed it. Most ridiculous over the top thing I've seen since Bayonetta.

Got Binary Domain, MGS Collection, new Blazblue and The Darkness 2 all lined up to play too...

 

[Mutsumi]

More SWTOR. Just made a second character; a Twi'lek smuggler named Eriss, who is very tall. Anyone spot the reference to a main character of an anime in that name and height significance?

Doubt it.

 

[ilmaestro]

The combat was changed in ME2 a little too.

I wasn't comfortable with having both crouching behind cover and leaping over cover mapped to the same key.

Yes, it's things like this where you can really feel them trying to move to a more populist "shooter" emphasis.

 

[mangaman74]

Ahhh yeah I saw that, here's the official line:

We can confirm that Nintendo Wii Game, Pandora’s Tower has been officially removed from our website and is no longer available to order with hmv.

What I think this means is that all pre-orders will be fulfilled but they've run out of the limited edition slipcover for all three Rainfall games that they were offering as a pre-order bonus. I went with HMV for The Last Story but delivery has been super slow from them lately so I stuck to Amazon for this one.

Panic over. I checked my emails last night and HMV have shipped it.