What are you playing?

[Sabaku Ika]

I want to be playing FF13, but it freezes on me every time I play. I know the disc is fine, so I'm going to send the machine somewhere for repair. I hope they'll be able to do something even though I can't tell them exactly what's wrong. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... ryalot.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':D' />

[aine]

Fiiiiinally finished Trials and Tribulations. And boy if the ending wasn't worth all the wait! Cases 4 and 5 were simply amazing. Definitely the brightest point in the main series. And made me realise that what I was missing really badly from all the media I was watching/playing/reading was a solid serving of a proper mindfuck. It was nowhere as twisted as my favourite mindfuck of all times, but it fit the series perfectly and was just so very satisfactory.



Now I'm through 1.5 of a case of Ace Attorney Investigations, and I'm not digging it so far. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... #>/sad.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':sad:' /> Edgey is awesome and all, but the game is boring and annoying. Boring, because the structure of the case feels just flat and anticlimactic without the trial sections. Annoying, because it virtually leads you by the hand, almost insulting your intelligence. The former perhaps will be fixed by a game-wide plot that will get more intense in the later cases, but so far nothing points to it. The latter is rather beyond help. I guess I'm just not digging this kind of classical early 90's adventure games. I never did.



Also, I can't point it down, but there's something inconsistent in the graphics that throws me off. But surely during the talk sections, the character sprites that are simply mirrored on the left and right side, instead of being properly re-drawn, stink of cheapness. Also, the music if flat and not memorable.



ALSO, "grape juice" is making me rage so fucking hard. It's a game about murders and other twisted stuff, damn it! <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... dammit.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':lol:' /> I did some search on it, and some sources say that was actually a joke by the original creators, rather than a bowdlerization by the English publisher. If that's the case, the joke was lost on me. Speaking of which, the only thing that pissed me off in T&T (other than Oldbag, please die already) was how few times in the last case they insisted how everyone was American. Which made perfect sense, with the setting being a Japanese shrine, with huge kanji writing above the gate, and with the heater and cushions being referred to by their Japanese names. FFS. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... wheely.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':D' />



Back to AAI one more time, what I said above makes me double sad, because it was actually the first game ever that I have pre-ordered. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... #>/sad.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':sad:' /> Crossing my fingers that it will blow my hat off later on, but not holding my breath...

[Zounder]

@Aine: The story gets REALLY good as it goes on, but the gameplay doesn't change much, sadly. I suppose it gets a little harder, and more in-depth in each investigation/confrontation portion, but the overall hand-holding vibe kinda hangs around, unfortunately. I'm still enjoying it though. I agree with your assessment of the end of T&T: Case 5 is my favorite case in the series. If you liked the epicness of T&T's case 4 and 5, you'll probably like cases 4 and 5 of AAI, too.



Thinking about T&T got me thinking about my favorite cases... numbering the games by order of release, my favorite cases would have to be: 3-5 (The way it tied everything together), 4-4 (The Mason system was a neat way to tell the story), 1-5 (Probably the toughest case for me), 2-4 (Unique twist on the gameplay), and 3-2 (It wasn't meeeeeeeee~).

[Ap2000]

Metro 2033



Usually I hate horror games, but this one is so well done.

I can't play it for more than ~60 mins, it's just that nerve wrecking.



EDIT:

Also, the graphics are absolutely stunning at times. I can run it fine at 1680x1050 with "high" settings. ("very high" looks basically the same to me, but it's constantly stuttering)

This game has so much atmosphere in ever single pixel.

However, it has absolutely linear gameplay. You could say it's Half-Life 2 set in a Stalker-ish scenario.

[al kusanagi]

Finished FF13 and after 50+ hours I still have no fucking clue what the game's plot was beyond "free choice is kewlz!"



As I said before, pretty good RPG, but horrible entry into the FF series.

[Zounder]

Damn, everybody seems to be finishing FF13 so fast, I'm only on chapter 9 and I feel like I've been playing it pretty often.



I'm having no problems understanding the story so far. It has a drastically different feel from FF12's story, which was plot centric and had a birds eye view on the whole story unfolding, and while it focused on some characters like Larsa and other members of the Empire, the main (playable) characters often took a backseat to the overall plot. In 13, (so far at least) not only is the plot driven mostly from the main playable characters, we, as the player, only see things from their point of view, and I guess this can lead to confusion about the plot. But personally, I like trying to piece things together as I watch. I guess that's why I like Lost so much.

[al kusanagi]

There's no problem as to why the characters are there and who they are. They did the whole "13 days" thing pretty well. It's when you get to chapters 11-13 (damn, now I'm noticing a plethora of references to the number 13) that things start becoming senseless. I thought I had a pretty good grasp as well until I got to that point and the bad guy started ranting about his plans.

[neshcom]

My friends pressured me into getting Pokemon HeartGold and, to make myself feel good about it, I also got Space Invaders Extreme 2. HeartGold is decent. I'm not noticing a lot different from Ruby, but hey, Johto again. The Pokewalker is a cute little accessory. I walk everywhere, so I'm sure I'll have a steroid-pumped Bellsprout soon enough.



Space Invaders is definitely fun, but absolute bat-shit crazy. I only just now got how it works. You try to get two power-up types in a row and then destroy the rainbow UFO. Then you start 'round' and, when you beat that, you do another round to get you a bingo chance and, if you beat that, you get to mark off that corresponding bingo square. Three in a row on the bingo card gets you an ultra fever round or something. Whatever. Just shoot stuff.

[Sabaku Ika]

I'm trying to learn to solve a Rubik's Cube. Smart people can do it and I thought I was smart, but it's going to take a bit of practice. I haven't given up yet.

[aine]

This is absolutely adorable. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... #>/wub.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':popper:' />



I've seen the title mentioned a lot in the news but still have no idea what this game is going to be about. But if anything could get me interested, this did. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... /laugh.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':lol:' />





[quote name='Ap2000' post='77258' date='Mar 18 2010, 03:40 PM']Metro 2033



Usually I hate horror games, but this one is so well done.

I can't play it for more than ~60 mins, it's just that nerve wrecking.[/quote]

I have been following the development of this title for quite a while and really wished it to turn out good and seems like my wishes came true! That would be yet another under the radar title that proved superior to all the overhyped major Western productions. I think I'll read the book first though before I get around to playing it.



As for the truly nerve wrecking playing experiences, my last one was The Suffering. I told myself never to try that again after finishing it, but it's like a drug...



[quote name='Ap2000' post='77258' date='Mar 18 2010, 03:40 PM']absolutely linear gameplay. You could say it's Half-Life 2 set in a Stalker-ish scenario.[/quote]

Sounds like exactly what I crave for, being pretty weary of Fallout and Stalker's sandboxness. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... umbsup.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':frown:' />

[Tsuki]

Is Metro 2033 actually scary? I like survival horror games but I am always so let down by them these days, they mostly leave off the "horror" part and just focus on the "survival"; ie blow shit up.

[Melon]

I'm currently playing FFIV DS instead of XIII because I'm a rebel like that (I'm waiting for my bro to finish so I can borrow it). I miss Amano designed characters. I also miss the "fantasy" part of the game. Cecil is such an awesome character, and to a lesser extent so is Kain.

[Ap2000]

[quote name='Tsuki' post='77312' date='Mar 19 2010, 09:38 PM']Is Metro 2033 actually scary?[/quote]



Most of the time it's you walking over something (glass e.g.) while your nerves are on the verge because you wait for enemies to appear.

Also, sometimes you're guided by an AI companion and just think "wow, I DO NOT want to experience [chapter name] alone and I'm so happy to have you with me !", which is imho very rare in a game.



Play this game at night, with your headphones on and its atmosphere will be just as good as Stalker, but more horror-ish than having that lonesome-guy feeling that Stalker has.

You will encounter quite a few "different" kind of enemies, but I don't want to spoil it by saying how you're going to face them.



About the survival thing; You do run out of ammo quite often (I play on hardcore), however, you can switch to "money bullets" (that's just what I call them, because those kind of special bullets also act as the money in the game), but you REALLY feel like just shooting one bullet at a time, because you do not want to shoot a single unnecessary bullet.



Well, in conclusion, if you are ok with this game being very linear (there are some areas you can explore of course) and don't care about it being not tooooo long (~10h afaik), then you're pretty much going to enjoy it. It has some extremely beautiful set-pieces. So far I would give it an 8.7/10.



Aaaanyway, to come back to your initial question (at least that's what it seemed to me to be about), it is hugely different from games like Doom 3.

[al kusanagi]

Just picked up Yakuza 3 in preparation for Yakuza 4 and massages from Yaguchi.

[Ap2000]

[quote name='Al Kusanagi' post='77333' date='Mar 20 2010, 01:10 AM']Just picked up Yakuza 3 in preparation for Yakuza 4 and massages from Yaguchi.[/quote]



The US/EU or JAP version ?

The western version is so goddamn heavily cut, it's the biggest disgrace from Sega ever. (and they have an enormous history of shitty games)

[al kusanagi]

US version. If I've never played the original, I won't know what's cut anyway. And since they've already sold roughly 10 times more copies that they thought, I'm sure most of the missing stuff will be stuck back in via DLC.

[Special Needs Tricycle]

Aren't they going to cut the massage parlor features too? I've heard something along those lines.

[al kusanagi]

4 hasn't been released yet in Japan. Next week I think. That's the one with Mari and company. 3 just came out in the US this week, and apparently all the hostess club parts were removed.

[Ap2000]

Hey, would anybody here be interested in making a bbs gaming night ?

Like Call of Duty, Counter-Strike or some other online multiplayer thing ? (Maybe even something free or a demo)

[al kusanagi]

Well, if it's multi-player, I'm up for it on 360. All I have for PS3 are exclusive titles and all I play (well, used to) on PC is WoW.

[Special Needs Tricycle]

I'd be up for it if I had enough Xbox live games to warrant buying gold/had a PS3/had a gaming PC. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... #>/sad.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />

[Special Needs Tricycle]

Double post woo!



Final Fantasy 11 is being sold on Amazon for $2 right now. Should I buy it and just fuck around for a month with the free subscription or claw my eyes out before I have a chance to do it?

[al kusanagi]

I think it's one of those games where you need to put in a credit card just to use the "free" month of play, and getting it taken off their records after the trial is over is far more than $2 worth of hassle.

[Special Needs Tricycle]

Damn, really? I've been in a Final Fantasy mood lately and never checked out 11, so I looked it up and saw that it was only $2 on Amazon. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... #>/sad.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' /> I guess I'll have to pass that up, then.



It does look like fun, though, even though I've heard that actually getting to the fun part is a bitch.

[Sabaku Ika]

I've been playing Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey which came out a couple days ago and is completely excellent. Probably my favorite in the series so far.

[Melon]

[quote name='Sabaku Ika' post='77674' date='Mar 25 2010, 03:43 PM']I've been playing Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey which came out a couple days ago and is completely excellent. Probably my favorite in the series so far.[/quote]





I just started this game too. I love it so far, but there's not a SMT game that I don't love.

[Sabaku Ika]

Most others that I've played have at least one thing that I can't stand. This doesn't.

[Ap2000]

[quote name='Sabaku Ika' post='77719' date='Mar 27 2010, 02:19 AM']Most others that I've played have at least one thing that I can't stand. This doesn't.[/quote]



"others" as in Shinmegami tensei games ?

[Sabaku Ika]

Yes. Usually not objective flaws, but things that annoyed me. Like how you miss most of the Social Links if you're not using a guide for the newer Personas. Or how hard it is to know where to go next in Nocturne.

[Beecubed]

I need to catch up with the SMT series!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Right now, I'm playing Mass Effect. Awesome game.



I want to get into more RPGs though. I miss them! I can't wait to play FFXIII! <3