The Gaming Thread

[gunsage]

They create a seemingly fabulous world then drop you in the middle of it and say "Here, go find your own entertainment". Then the world itself, while amazingly large, tends to be rather shallow once you pick away at the surface.

Wow...you nailed it right on the head. Again, I don't mind sandbox games, but it eventually feels lazy on the developer's part. On the one hand, you develop a game that operates to YOUR whim, so that's a nice touch, but on the other...wo ist derr plot? There are a few others I'd criticize of this, but surprisingly they were more addictive to me...

- Gothic
- Gothic 2
- Metal Saga
- Uplink
- Shadowrun (Genesis version, though I suppose you could count the SNES version also)

As you can probably tell, I don't play a whole lot of sandbox-style games. It's not that I need to be told where to go and what to do, nor that I want to be completely handheld. I guess what it comes down to is I like a nice blending of sandbox and lineality. For example, in the GTA series, it's very sandbox, but also mission-based. Even then, the missions only slightly hold your hand and often require you to be creative, as there's not necessarily one right way to do something.

Then you have games like Final Fantasy X where there's basically no backtracking, the world isn't open, but rather, quite linear, etc. FFX was both amazing and disappointing for reasons like this. By the way, I absolutely suck at Uplink. Ironically, I'm hoping my knowledge with Network+ and my impending knowledge of Security+ will help with that, but often I'm found out rather quickly in the game. I ought to install that again and start playing it again. Hmm.

By the way, though my posts are long (sorry), I totally forgot to mention what I was playing. I really couldn't decide what to play, so I knocked out a chapter of Fire Emblem for the GC, then knocked out a couple of chapters on Suffering: Ties that Bind for PS2. I'm still going over various tables on Visual Pinball and testing them to see if I ought to keep them or if it's even worth it (crappy quality, table's not fun, etc.). As far as MAME goes, I pretty much have what I want (over 2000 titles), but I've been investigating more titles and adding more Neo Geo titles while I'm at it...especially if they don't work well/at all on other Neo Geo emus.

Beyond this, I'm investigating the possibility of selling older strategy guides and I'm probably going to group together various PS1 titles that aren't selling or would sell very low anyway for an auction. There...that's about it.

[RichS]

As far as MAME goes, I pretty much have what I want (over 2000 titles), but I've been investigating more titles and adding more Neo Geo titles while I'm at it...especially if they don't work well/at all on other Neo Geo emus.

Another MAME fan! I've been with MAME since 0.033U6 (number changed to fit the new version scheme - the current version is .122u8). It's great to play all those arcade games from my much younger years... And it's amazing that they not only add games, but continually improve emulation on the supported ones.

I'm hoping my knowledge with Network+...

Off-topic - could I send you a PM about getting Network+ certified? I'm in a networking class, and if I get certified, I get an automatic A.

[Shangri-laschild]

Neverwinter Nights 2 is epic failure to be bluntly honest. Its not made by Bioware. It was a bug ridden horribly coded mess when it was first released and isn't much better currently. The engine requires far more system resources then it should. Tons of stuff was left unfinished ( This will become painfully obvious when you try to follow character subplots ).

As for the game itself the story is awful, you'll end up wanting to kill half the characters and the ending ( If you can call it an ending. Feels more like the budget ran out. ) will make you want to choke the writers with a pillow case. Its not even an ending. Its like a cruel joke on the players because the writers hate you. ;p

The only upside to the whole game was the stronghold part. Other then that...<wince>

You have been warned.

The entire game is a running joke among my friends. ><

Go find yourself a copy of Baldur's Gate 2 if you want a fantastic rpg ;p

Damn....I haven't finished it yet and was just going off what I had played. So far the only complaint is I wish the henchmen would stop fighting so much. Luckily if it sucks, I still love replaying the first one.

[Gravekeeper]

Damn....I haven't finished it yet and was just going off what I had played. So far the only complaint is I wish the henchmen would stop fighting so much. Luckily if it sucks, I still love replaying the first one.

It gets like a B grade movie. You keep playing just to see how much worse it can get. -.-

But that ending...ugh. I picked it up right after it came out and finished it in a couple weeks and I'm *still* pissed about that ending. There's an expansion now too which one of my friends picked up to see how bad it is and its continuing the epic fail rather faithfully according to him.

[gunsage]

Well, it seems we get the most members commenting here while I'm on lunch, so here goes! I'm not so sure I'd call myself a "fan" of MAME, but possibly of emu in general. Right now I'm just going through a certain site and seeing what does/doesn't work...whatever does, I consider keeping, but often don't because it's either not that great or I have something much better.

Obviously, I have my favorites...

- Robocop
- Contra
- R-Type series
- Parodius series
- Block Out
- Golden Axe: Death Adder's Revenge
- Arkanoid
- Tetris
- Columns
- Aliens
- Ghosts n Goblins
- I'm Sorry!
- Bonanza Bros.
- Space Harrier
- Just about any Pac Man derivative

Then Capcom system favorites...

- Final Fight
- Cadillacs & Dinosaurs
- Super Puzzle Fighter 2 Turbo
- The Punisher

Then Neo Geo favorites...

- Sengoku
- Alpha Mission 2
- Fatal Fury series
- King of Fighter series
- Crossed Swords
- Puzzle Bobble 4

And so on. BTW, PM away. I only got about 100 over what I needed to pass Network+, but I can make some suggestions on what to study and such, certainly.

Edit: BTW, w00t to me for having a pic up in the albums now!

[gunsage]

So yeah...since I sold Alundra, I decided to pick up some more games. No, not for the intent of selling more, though that may happen anyway. Here goes...

- Just Cause (X Box)
- Gun Valkyrie (X Box)
- Jade Empire (X Box)
- Touch Detective (DS)

Now allow me to explain...I'd only played Jade Empire out of that bunch. And it's one of the few Bioware games that grabs my attention and doesn't let go...probably because I really enjoy martial arts and sorely regret never actually getting into them. I wish the combat system was a little more involved, almost as if it was a brawler, but it's still very fun. I kinda figured I'd enjoy Touch Detective given that I really enjoyed such titles as Trace Memory, Hotel Dusk, and the Phoenix Wright games...and I do, so there.

Just Cause and Gun Valkyrie, therefore, are the anomalies. And here's the verdict...they're...okay. Just Cause only ran me...$12? So no biggie there. GV was about $5, but so no biggie there either. Why only "okay?" Just Cause reminds me of Scarface, except that it's anti-drugs and you're looking to overthrow a government regime, not rival druglords. Further, it's also like they threw Mercenaries together with it what with the abilities to signal for drops and all kinds of crazy additionals.

For example, you can parachute at just about anytime. You can hop on top of speeding vehicles and comandeer them. You can paraglide...I mean, really, I could spend an entire page just talking about all of it (and might later). In concerns to GV, well, it was recommended. I can't really find the review that initially supported it, but come on...it was cheap and it's not TERRIBLE, but clearly it's not on par with modern shooters...even fun arcade shooters like Panzer Dragoon Orta, which is really sad, because that was also done by Sega.

And now to more properly explain both Touch Detective and Jade Empire (for the few of you still living in a cave that never tried it). In concerns to JE, it's kinda like KOTOR, but interesting. It's based more on martial arts than forcing its way into the Star Wars universe and while the dialogue is expansive like in KOTOR, it's not so horribly cumbersome that you get bored asking NPCs questions. A lot of PC RPG critics (me included) often whine that NPCs have all kinds of information, none of it relevant.

Sure, there are a few moments where you might feel that way here, but 90% of the time, it's relevant and concise. Perfect. And yeah, I whine about the combat, but it's not that dull and further, the plot more than makes up for it. In regards to Touch Detective...played Monkey Island? Yeah, it's kinda like that except you're a junior detective. Silly and fun.

[gunsage]

Now that I've played Touch Detective a little more, I'm ready to hand down a more "educated" opinion. Okay, here's the deal. It's very cartoony. Now, when I say that, I don't just mean it's cartoony in the way it's drawn or the wacky hijinx. Yes, it has that, but that's not the point. The real issue here is that the puzzles are done in a cartoony style. The reason this presents a problem is you often end up having to think in a very obscure way in order to solve various puzzles.

Obscure how? *SPOILER* You have to inflate someone in order to have your little buddy go under her, then later pop her so as to catch a thief. Anyway, you get the idea. Not all puzzles in the game are like this, but enough of them are to the point that even after you figure it out, you'll be scratching your head going "...What?" It's not a bad game, just very very weird. In its defense, it's a very cartoony title and has plenty of slapstick. The characters are nice and vivid and have decent personalities.

It's no Hotel Dusk, but it'll do. Speaking of adventure games, what are your favorites? I think my favorite is still Curse of Monkey Island with a runner up of Return to Zork.

[Chanlin]

On Jade Empire.

I have to say I really enjoyed the various martial arts styles. I'm curious as to what if any of your favorite support styles are and if you used any of the magic or demon transformation styles at all.

I personally prefer Thousand Cuts, Spirit Thief, Crimson Tears and Legendary Strikes. This is the set up I ran through the entire game with and it served really well.

As for games to add to the mix, I know its a little old but I just got and started playing STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl.

I have to say so far I really enjoy the game. Its got a survival rpg feel to it in that you start with next to nothing on you and have to run missions to get money and looting fallen foes is your primary source of equipment. The best factor is that it is completely non-linear and allows you to complete missions in any order. Couple that with a fairly decent FPS mechanic and you have a solid game. The story itself is somewhat interesting, but almost feels incidental. I like the idea behind the alternate future time line and it seems kind of odd.

Overall the gameplay has been really good. There are plenty of ways to tackle each encounter using superior tactics or superior firepower to your advantage. I can't say much for the AI as of yet. I will reserve more judgement for when I get further into the game, but by and large I'm quite pleased with the game and could easily lose track of time while playing it

[gunsage]

I'm not sure if STALKER will work on my computer, but one of my coworkers has it on his laptop. It definitely looks very nice and I enjoy a well done FPS every so often. Another one I was interested in was Crysis...but if I'm not able to do STALKER, I can nix that!

[Gravekeeper]

Now that I've played Touch Detective a little more, I'm ready to hand down a more "educated" opinion. Okay, here's the deal. It's very cartoony. Now, when I say that, I don't just mean it's cartoony in the way it's drawn or the wacky hijinx. Yes, it has that, but that's not the point. The real issue here is that the puzzles are done in a cartoony style. The reason this presents a problem is you often end up having to think in a very obscure way in order to solve various puzzles.

Touch Detective was pretty bad, yeah. The puzzles typically make no sense. They're just being insane for the sake of being insane. Which made the game more annoying then fun to be honest. You end up just trying everything until some random item turns out to be the solution.

The art was nice though. Same with the sequel. It looks really cool but playing it gets annoying. -.-

[Chanlin]

Well I can't add any to the present topics that Gunsage brought up, but as I just got my tax return (read money to spend on new games) I can add a new game to the frey

Rogue Galaxy for the PS2. This is actually quite the interesting RPG. It has a real time action combat system, but still has random battles. It's quite similar to the Tales series of games in this respect except that the battles are on a fully 3d field and many of the enemies have special means with which to do damage to them. For example some enemies require that you hit them with a charge attack before you can damage them. You can also pick up and throw enemies or objects on the battlefield.

Quite possibly the most unique point to the system I have seen is the suggestion system. During battle your allies will suggest a move to use for example "Healing Potion" or "(Name of Special Attack)" which correspond to L1 or L2 on the controller. You can then push L3 to reject the suggestions or push L1 or L2 in turn to confirm which one you want them to use. This in turn allows you to conserve AP for skills later on and also gives you complete control over which items the AI uses or does not use. Its also nice in when they suggest an item they show you how many you have left in your inventory. You can then select which special movies the AI has on its suggestion list. Even if you have a move off the suggestion list you can still pause the combat by opening the menu and then give a manual command to use an ability. Essentially you have complete control over your characters and quick access to common commands. The other nice thing is the AI prioritizes suggesting healing items vs special moves so you sort of don't have to pay attention to your HP because it will suggest a healing potion when its needed.

The system for learning new skills is rather interesting too. Common items that you find in the field go into what the game terms the "Revelation Flow" chart. Each block on the chart consists of a number of items and once the correct items have been placed in the chart you earn a new skill for that character. In this respect it is similar to the Sphere Grid system in FFX, however you don't require and exp to move along the chart, just the appropriate items.

The other good mark I give to this game so far is the voice acting is of a very good quality. That is the voice actors sound good for the character they voice and the actors can actually act. The overall story has been fairly engaging so far and the whole system of moves and art have been unique amongst many RPGs that I have played. I think this game is easily an instant classic.

[aniwahya]

I'm surprised that no one has brought up Xmen Legends or Marvel Ultimate Alliance. Or if someone has I've completely forgotten about it, which doesn't suprise me at all. Anyways, I think they are alot of fun to play, allowing people who don't play fighting games to play some awesome super heroes.

Morrowind and Oblivion are alot of fun to play around with. Although I find the main story quests to almost be a chore. The scaling mobs aspect of Oblivion sucks. I hate how challenge in games is being not just toned down, but obliterated.

Speaking of challenge, yeah Shinobi is kickass, it is also just as hard as you've heard. When it first starts out, it doesn't seem that hard since the controls are intuitivem fluid and responsive. Then about the second chapter they cut the health orbs (health refil thingies you find) in half and to make things more fun somthing happens and if you aren't killing enemies to refil a thingabobit you start losing health. While this can be extremely frustrating sometimes, theres nothing quite like the adreniline rush of beating the levels. Shinobi gives you the "I'm a kick ass ninja" rush better than any other ninja game. Especially when you kill enemies back to back, only to have the screen freeze as you sheathe your sword, followed by showing the enemies you just killed literally falling apart. Like in movies how the protagonist delivers the death blow, but the antagonist doesn't realize it until their head falls off, or their whole torso.

Rogue Galaxy was fun, but it wasn't as good was i was hoping it would be.

Hmm, I have more to say. but since i'm faak I'll say it later.
Just remember I *did* warn you! =p

[gunsage]

Honestly, I never tried the XMen Legend/Alliance games. I'm sure they're good, but I'm not a big Marvel fan to begin with. Yeah, I liked The Punisher, but primarily because you're taking Manhunt-esque "negotiation" plus third person shooter with unlockables and upgrades...LOVE IT. I only wish it was longer, really. Morrowind is okay and I'm sure I'll like Oblivion when I get something that can run it, but I'm sure Oblivion shares the same problems Morrowind does in terms of combat, sandbox = SUPAR GAEM DEVELOPMENT style.

The revelation flow and factory aspects of Rogue Galaxy is where the game truly shines. I see what they were trying to do with the combat and I'm not saying it doesnt' work, but I'm not really understanding the purpose of having an action bar. I mean, if anything, if I'm not doing anything, let it refill or something! What was always annoying was it'd be down to virtually nothing, I just killed the enemies I was focusing on and I'm going up to support my comrades who are getting their asses handed to them, I do ONE MOVE...and it has to recharge!

Virtually every Level 5 game is done remarkably well. I'd go as far as to say they are as Squaresoft was in the 90s. I mean literally, I eagerly anticipated ANYTHING they made during that era but now? Not so much. They're very hit or miss. Still a very good company and founded on a lot of great games, but they may have lost their audience. Also, I'm not saying Touch Detective is bad. The slapstick and dialogue is quite nice, but yes, the puzzles are crappy. Where they'd probably counter with "Thinking outside the box," I say "Friggin' ridiculous and thank goodness for walkthroughs."

Played Just Cause a little more and what I'll say is this. I like driving uber-fast on my motorcycle, flying off a cliff, going into parachute mode, landing on a car, commandeering said car, wash, rinse, repeat. What I DON'T like is trying to land on a car and, fine, I get run over...but it's all glitchy so it makes it look like my character flew 100 feet straight up and...stays there. The game is glitchy. It's not always glitchy and when it works, it works well and is DAMN awesome.

Unfortunately, the difficulty ramps up a liiiiiiittle too quickly. No, I don't want all the missions to be ridiculously hard, but come on, they REALLY throw you right into it. I don't know...maybe it's just me. In concerns to Jade Empire, I'm doing pretty much what I was doing last time. I've got a balanced character following the open palm path, constantly working on legendary strike and golden staff, keep heavenly wave and spirit strike also on the speed dial for just in case, and have Dawn Star for support. Simple, easy.

Haven't really gone back to playing Gun Valkyrie or anything else, really. Mostly just Jade Empire.

[gunsage]

Well, I beat Jade Empire last night. The ending was...eh. The game itself is very fun and pretty long for an action/RPG. Definitely worth a play through if you've never tried it. Since I beat it, I decided to pick up some more stuff. Here's what I got...

- Viewtiful Joe (PS2)
- Genma Onimusha (X Box)
- Rygar (PS2)
- Jak 2 (PS2)

VJ and GO are the only ones I'm concerned about. I've played Onimusha on the PS2 and even the PC, but not the X Box...not sure if it's going to be better, worse, or what. Same thing with VJ. I played it initially for the GC and it was VERY fun, so hopefully the port is no biggie. As far as Rygar and Jak 2, I've played them and I like them. Unfortunately, Jak 2 is a bit difficult, so I may be looking at some controller throwage later.

I really enjoyed the first Jak and I wanted to beat this one so I could move on to the third. I only played Rygar for a while, but I liked what I played. Kinda like Devil May Cry with a little God of War thrown in. Unfortunately, it's not the best of both worlds, but still a fun game nonetheless. And if you haven't hopped on the Onimusha bandwagon, GET HOPPIN! Anyway, that's about it for now. See you guys later.

[Shangri-laschild]

Don't know if it's been brought up but has anyone here played portal? I'm debating playing it and was wondering what you all had thought of it.