1006 replies to this topic

[legacyme3]

I think that's unfair, for a game like VIII to be hated, while something that's full of holes, and is even "more" cliche than IX, in VII gets applauded for being the best game of all time in some circles.

 

I'm all for nostalgia, but once it blinds you to the point you can't see inherent flaws, it goes overboard.

 

My main problem with IX's story is that I was able to more or less guess something, and then instantly have it be true a few minutes later, with no prior knowledge of the game. If I can see something coming, it feels boring. And I'll be honest, I got up to the Final Dungeon, but then quit playing. It wasn't that I chose to quit. Just other things came out. And I felt more inclined to play something I enjoyed. I don't know if the Zidane/Kuja thing ever worked itself out, but the game never did a good job of making me feel like it mattered if it did or not. Based on what other people have told me, there was maybe a half hour of gameplay remaining, and I can get all that's relevant out of the post big bad cutscene. I still have the save file, I just don't feel compelled to go back to it.

 

When I don't feel compelled to finish a game, I don't know, it just feels like that game failed in its job of hooking me. For a game that is talked about in rarified air (I've had people try comparing it to VI), it felt shallow and half hearted. I didn't feel the same things about the game, and that's fine.

 

I love the Final Fantasy series. I really do. I have actually played through nearly all of the games in the series. The exceptions being the MMOs, Lightning Returns (which I'm working on), and IX. Each game has its faults, and the series is far from perfect. I'll just never understand the love affair for VII, or IX, or the hatred for VIII and X (some people hate it for whatever reason).

[Monkeydog]

I never said FFIX wasn't cliche, and I never said it even had a good story. I even said the opposite of that in my last post. :/

 

The whole point of FFIX is that it hearkens back to the series roots and the story progresses as so. The reason I prefer FFIX over FFVIII or FFVII is because it does try and play a bit safe, and the twist, while maybe predictable, do not detract from the story or feel cheap as a whole (except Garnet being adopted). What really brings that game alive, is not the story, but the characters, because almost all of them grow alongside the story and feel individual from each other (even terrible ones like Steiner). And that's not to say FFVIII doesn't do that either. It actually has pretty good character interaction and growth. I think it particularly just decides to skip some steps with Squall/Riona and you can definitely miss stuff depending on how you're playing the game, but it's there. Hell, even Squall isn't that bad of a character, and he gets hated on a lot. I think he's a bit overwhelming, but in the context of his past (despite how dumb it may be), it all works. 

 

I'm not saying you need to like FFIX more than FFVIII. Or even like the story more. I like plenty of things despite the story or certain aspects (I hold a soft spot for this game, after all). What I am saying is I don't understand how you can ignore the glaring terrible issues the game has in the one thing you praise it for that really drags the game down for a lot of people. I also don't understand why you correlate cliched with flawed, or even boring.

 

But, I guess,

[legacyme3]

I finished Valiant Hearts today. 

 

I have very mixed feelings about the game.

 

I guess, for starters, the high point (and only one high point) is the story. It does an alright job of making you feel like what's happening matters, and the world never breaks the rules it sets for itself. It stays grounded and fair, without ever feeling "too" cliche or half assed.

 

However, there are a few gripes I had. For starters, the game is short. This in itself isn't bad, but when a game is short, I expect it to give me a novel concept or try something new. The issue? It's a glorified fetch quest that lasts four hours. Go to room D to get object A, then bring object A to the man in Room F to get Object B, so you can get past the obstacle in Room D, and so on.

 

Sometimes, it breaks from this formula, with somewhat entertaining (and unfortunately, easy as hell) taxi driving sequences where you try to dodge cars, bombs, and people to fun music. Unfortunately, these segments end quicker than they begin, and you are back to the grind of finding objects to give to people to get more objects.

 

I'm not sure I could recommend this game to anyone, because I honestly have trouble seeing it as a game. It felt like a slow collectathon fetch-quest on rails. Maybe people like that in a game, but I feel genuinely annoyed that people actually bought it. I fortunately got it for free, so I don't have to feel too disgusted.

 

I don't know. Maybe I'll come back to it in a week and give it a fairer shake. I'm in a rut of having played a lot of unsatisfying games, as of late, with only a few exceptions.

[legacyme3]

In more positive news, I started playing Counter-Spy.

 

It's a pretty awesome game. It's fairly easy so far, but I'm also allegedly only 3/5ths of the way through a playthrough.

 

I'll have full thoughts on it, once I finish it, but it's nice to play a good game for the first time in a while.

[eyre]

I got a 3DS last week so I've been playing through Majora's Mask as the last time I started up my N64 the cable fell out of the controller. I also got the new Super Smash Brothers so I've been playing a bit of that. The 3DS has resparked my desire to play Rune Factory 3 (loved the first one and haven't gotten to start 3) and Pokemon as well, but I haven't gotten around to it. 

 

Aside from those I've got a playthrough of Dragon Age: Inquisition going that I'd really like to finish if I had more time. I just can't bring myself to sit down and play as I want to spend hours doing it but with work and life I find myself on the DS more as I can play for a little bit and call it a night. Oh and FIFA 15. When I feel like raising my blood pressure by a multiple of 100. 

 

As usual...too many games, not enough time. 

 

EDIT: Ugh and Crusader Kings 2. Damn you. TOO MANY. 

[rosedragon]

jumping around from terraria, hammerwatch, modded minecraft.. dunno @_@ ... 

[kspr]

final fantasy tactics advance

[legacyme3]

Fuck this last mission in Counter Spy

[legacyme3]

I finished my first run of Counter Spy, and my first impression is that I'm impressed.

 

Too many stealth games try going too far, and end up making things wicked complicated (For Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes, you practically have to read a novel to figure out how to play properly). Counter Spy subverts that though, and is an extremely simple (yet challenging at times) game.

 

Basically, you move with the left stick. It's a 2.5D field, with you moving on a 2D track in a 3D environment. Because you are limited to going left or right, you don't have to worry about 100% accurate positioning. You shoot with a combination of the L1 and R1 buttons (L1 to aim and R1 to actually shoot) or with the right analog stick and the shoot button, depending on the scenario.

 

Beyond that, you use Triangle to open safes, and open doors, and in general open things, and the circle button to cover behind yellow objects. You also melee with the square button, which results in a lengthy, but instant, kill.

 

This all sounds very easy, yes? Well, that depends on how you play the game. If you are good, and don't alert suspicion, you will have the guards at DEFCON 5 in both places. If you are bad, or sloppy, you will end up at DEFCON 1. The difference between 1 and 5 is huge. On 5, there are basically no guards, and the ones there are, tend to be lower leveled ones. On DEFCON 1, everything is a tank, bullet sponge that will murder you unless you are careful.

 

This simple premise, combined with the simple control scheme, in a rogue-like format (basically, no playthrough will be the same, you buy upgrades throughout your playthrough, and the maps are always different, with different guard placement. The only place that is the same, as far as I can tell, is the last level.)

 

It ranges from being supremely easy (where I was able to get the "Silent Killer" trophy for 10 stealth takedowns in a level) to frustratingly difficult (the last stage, where I had the world at DEFCON 2), but it never stops being fun during the first playthrough.

 

Once I've logged hours in other games (way behind), I think I'll come back to this. I rather enjoyed my 2 or so hours (yeah, you can beat the game in 2 hours) with the game over 4 different periods. If you are in a rush, you can do a level in anywhere from 5 minutes to 15 minutes, depending on how lucky and how stealthy you are. So it's a good game to pick up and play.

 

For anyone who wants to play this, it's free on PS+ this month, as part of the Instant Game Collection. It's also cross buy, so you get it on PS4, PS3, and PSVita. And though I played on the PS4, I'd highly recommend this to anyone who was even thinking about trying it.

 

Replayability is high, as there's a leaderboard function (though to get a high score, you'll have to play many many days, long story short, you can keep doing missions, before the final one, even if you've unlocked the final mission) and it's fun to play to beat your own score.

[panda]

I decided to get the Forgotten Shores expansion of Monument Valley. It's totally worth the money for the interesting twists in the game. I initially forgot about it, but was excited to see that Frank Underwood is a fan of the game in season 3.

[Vicious Parker]

So Transistor is pretty awesome. It's gorgeous, and the setting is intruiging. Everyone should play it.

 

[Stars]

I've been interested since I first heard about it. I just need a computer that can handle it. (My desktop still runs XP, and my laptop runs hot when I try to play Bastion.)

[legacyme3]

I have Transistor on PS4 (thanks Instant Game Collection!) but haven't gotten around to playing it yet. I've been pre-occupied with other games, unfortunately :/

[legacyme3]

Today/yesterday, I finally got around to playing Papers Please. I enjoyed it, and I'm up to Day 6 or 7, but I can't say I understand the hype yet. It's a solid concept and best of all, it is something new, but I haven't yet hit the point where it is addictive. Maybe it's yet to come, but thus far, it's merely a good game, not this great thing I've been told about. I'll continue playing it later.

 

I also started (and finished a run of) One Way Heroics. It was pretty fun, but long lasting appeal is yet to be found. I beat the Demon Lord (or whatever his name is) only to find there's more to accomplish, like beating the game on harder difficulties, or according to the achievement list, by getting to the end of the world. I'm assuming to get to the end of the world, I need to keep running from the big bad, because when you beat him, the game "ends". I dunno, it's another fairly decent concept, but it's too shallow for the premise it sets out on. It makes a big deal of the Dimensional Vault (which allows you to use items from a past playthrough) and unlocking classes and perks, but it only ever allows you to buy 6 classes or so (which you can acquire in a playthrough or three) and a couple of perks you'll never use anyway. I think I'd like it more if it was a far deeper experience, in the mold of Rogue Legacy. They are different games, but Rogue Legacy did the upgrade system perfectly, whereas OWH doesn't have much of one. I enjoyed the one full run I've done, and I may ever go back to it down the line. But it's not nearly as interesting as I was led to believe either.

[Monkeydog]

Beat the Final Fantasy XV Demo.

 

Played a bit of Final Fantasy Type-0 HD.

[eyre]

Splitting my rare free time this weekend between Fantasy Life, Crusader Kings 2, and Dwarf Fortress. Possibly some Dragon Age: Inquisition at some point. 

[Vicious Parker]

I'm making real progress in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. I'm farther in the game than in any other previously attempted play through. It helps that I can play it on my phone, and have done a whole bunch of playing during my breaks at work. Being able to upload my saves to google drive, then download them on to my computer so that I can play them on my PC/TV helps a lot, too. This was the dream of the PS Vita.

[Monkeydog]

This was the dream of the PS Vita.

Do you mean like PS4 games?

 

Because I do that with PS1 games. It's a pain though.

 

Also, Mario Party 10. Not as good as it used to be, sadly. The amiibo mode is the closest to what it used to be but it's stupid I have to use an amiibo to play something even halfway close to classic Mario Party. It's also just a really dumb mode. 

[Vicious Parker]

I dunno. I just remember some commercials about switching from PS3 or 4 (I don't remember which) to the vita to continue playing on the go. Then nobody really talked about it. If it worked well, I could see it being a really awesome feature. Even if it only worked for older games.

[eyre]

I'm making real progress in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. I'm farther in the game than in any other previously attempted play through. It helps that I can play it on my phone, and have done a whole bunch of playing during my breaks at work. Being able to upload my saves to google drive, then download them on to my computer so that I can play them on my PC/TV helps a lot, too. This was the dream of the PS Vita.

 

How's your experience so far on a mobile device? I've played through the game multiple times on PC and I've fought back the urge to buy it on my tablet for quite a while now just because I'm not sure how I'd like it on anything other than a PC.