Saddam Hussein

Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
« Reply #640 on: May 22, 2015, 09:49:37 PM »
I have now beaten AssCreed III.  Apparently this game got a fairly mixed reception from fans of the series, but I'm not sure why.  I thought it was great, and a big improvement of the general format of the series.  The controls are simplified, the combat is much improved, with lots of fun animations that take into account details like the environment and the character you're playing as, the optional content fits the setting well and helps with immersion, and the story is fantastic.  That last point stands out to me the most.  It would have been so easy for Ubisoft to go the "rah rah America fuck yeah" route and end the game with the player assassinating George III or something, but thankfully the game largely averts that and keeps the moral focus of these historical events on the conflict between Native American tribes and settlers, regardless of whether they're British, French, or American.  Personality-wise, Connor is a bit low-key, but I was fine with that.  After three games of Ezio's flamboyance, a more dialed-down hero was the right call this time around.  And speaking of our hero, I love that Connor is a Native American himself, rather than a benevolent white man come to rescue the helpless colored folk who can't...sorry.  I've explained my distaste for the "white savior" trope in quite some detail before, no need to give a repeat performance.  I'm just glad it wasn't here.

And then we get to the modern-day subplot.  It wasn't all bad.  Desmond and his friends have grown on me a little by now, the sections that interrupt the main story are very well-timed, and it's neat to try out your assassin skills in modern settings.  But the story, this overarching apocalyptic crap, is just awful.  Who the fuck thought it was a good idea?  These games are about being an assassin in a historical setting.  That's what gets marketed, that's what people like about them, and that's why they play them.  They are not about the Matrix, mythical advanced races, or the end of the world.  Those concepts are about as far away from the core element of being a historical assassin as humanly possible.  I'm not saying they're inherently bad, or that they offer nothing to enhance the core game (I do actually like the idea of these magical MacGuffins linking all these individual stories together), but you can't just tease them for five minutes in every game up to now, then suddenly make it a huge priority five games in and expect everyone to be super-invested.  I don't know who Minerva is, I don't know who Juno is, I don't know what they were arguing about in the final cutscene, and I don't really care.  And I really wish they hadn't used that stupid "December 21st, 2012" crap as the basis for their apocalypse.  That simply dated the game, dated it as surely as if they had made a dumb pop culture reference to Rebecca Black.

I've also been playing Just Cause 2.  It's enjoyable, but I can't say it's deserving of the level of glowing praise that the Internet seems to have bestowed on it.  It's repetitive, full of artificial difficulty (the enemies respawn so quickly they might as well be rising from the dead), and the writing and voice acting are so bad that it's actually pretty distracting.  That Southern guy in particular is just agonizing to listen to.

Thankfully, I'm much more satisfied with The Witcher.  roosroos's enthusiasm for these games has encouraged me to play through the trilogy.
« Last Edit: July 27, 2015, 05:13:28 PM by Saddam Hussein »

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Offline Snupes

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Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
« Reply #641 on: June 13, 2015, 02:02:19 AM »
Just Cause 2 isn't fun to play through, it's fun to screw around in. Have a good arsenal and some creativity and it's a blast.
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Offline Vongeo

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Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
« Reply #642 on: June 15, 2015, 08:27:46 PM »
I don't thinks startcraft is a strategy game. I think its a who can click the fastest game with rock paper scissors elements.
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Offline Fortuna

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Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
« Reply #643 on: June 19, 2015, 09:40:38 AM »
Finishing up Halo 4 and then I'll probably finish Ori and the Blind Forest.

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Offline Pongo

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Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
« Reply #644 on: June 23, 2015, 12:45:38 PM »
Is anyone looking forward to EverQuest Next?  It looks like a carbon copy of WoW.  Like, they sat in a meeting one day and decided to just copy WoW as close as possible.  If the EQ Next logo's weren't on these screens, I would have bet money they were WoW pics.




Offline Blanko

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Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
« Reply #645 on: June 23, 2015, 12:50:55 PM »
To be fair, WoW was a carbon copy of EQ, not the other way around.

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Offline Pongo

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Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
« Reply #646 on: June 23, 2015, 01:16:10 PM »
To be fair, WoW was a carbon copy of EQ, not the other way around.

I mean in the graphics sense.  Not in the MMO sense.

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Offline Rushy

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Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
« Reply #647 on: June 23, 2015, 06:23:33 PM »
On the notion of generic fantasy.

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Offline Vongeo

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Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
« Reply #648 on: June 27, 2015, 10:43:37 PM »
Donkey kong 64
Maple syrup was a kind of candy, made from the blood of trees.

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Offline beardo

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Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
« Reply #649 on: July 06, 2015, 08:41:06 PM »
Let's change the subject to Fallout 4 and why it's gonna be great.
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Offline rooster

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Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
« Reply #650 on: July 06, 2015, 08:58:08 PM »
Let's change the subject to Fallout 4 and why it's gonna be great.
It's gonna be great because Bethesda is making it.

Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
« Reply #651 on: July 07, 2015, 03:56:11 AM »
It's going to get rushed out too quickly and be full of bugs, like most Bethesda games.

But it'll be so fun and immersive that no one will care.
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Offline Rushy

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Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
« Reply #652 on: July 07, 2015, 04:14:32 AM »
If there is one word in gaming that I despise, it's "immersion".

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Offline Jura-Glenlivet

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Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
« Reply #653 on: July 07, 2015, 08:18:00 PM »

Going through a box of old stuff and I found the disc for "Total Annihilation Kingdoms" and it works!
Got hooked the first time, about to do the same again.
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Offline Fortuna

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Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
« Reply #654 on: July 13, 2015, 08:39:03 AM »
Bethesda sure as heck tries, I'll give them that much.

Saddam Hussein

Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
« Reply #655 on: July 30, 2015, 02:50:15 AM »
I'll try to keep this fairly brief so as to avoid turning this into another capeshit thread, but I've been playing through the Arkham series in preparation for Rocksteady pulling their heads out of their asses and finally making the PC port of Knight actually playable.  In short, Asylum and City are both solid, enjoyable games, if not quite masterpieces, while Origins is just kind of meh-to-passable due to its lack of adding much new to the series and its absolutely terrible setting.  I don't have much to say in praise of them that everyone else hasn't already said.  Stuff like the hand-to-hand combat, the stealth, the puzzles, etc. are all great.  However, one thing that I feel compelled to complain about are the stories of these games.  They're inane, convoluted messes that don't really make sense and squander the open world settings by guiding you through them on a rigidly-linear path.  Was that really necessary?  The appeal of these games is that you get to play as Batman and face off against his famous enemies.  That's it.  There's no need to attach these epic narratives where you discover that the fate of the entire city is resting on your shoulders because blah blah blah, and especially not if the writers aren't any good at coming up with these epic narratives - which they aren't.  A non-linear, almost episodic story that encouraged player freedom and exploration would have made these games much, much better.

Also, the overuse of the Joker really bugs me.  Three games with him as the main villain is just ridiculous, especially when he was so clumsily shoehorned into the role in the latter two titles.  Batman has an excellent rogues gallery, and they ought to make much better use of it.

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Offline Ghost Spaghetti

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Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
« Reply #656 on: August 03, 2015, 12:54:47 PM »
Quote
They're inane, convoluted messes that don't really make sense

So basically staying true to the source material...

Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
« Reply #657 on: August 13, 2015, 05:04:40 AM »
I just picked up Pillars of Eternity.  I'll probably write more after I get into it more, but for now I can see why it's been so highly reviewed.  It took me at least 471 hours just to make up my mind on all of the different options in the character creator.
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Offline beardo

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Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
« Reply #658 on: August 13, 2015, 10:46:22 AM »
Waiting for a -75% off for that one.
The Mastery.

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Offline Fortuna

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Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
« Reply #659 on: August 14, 2015, 10:12:30 AM »
I tried playing AssCreed because it was free on the Xbone. My character felt like he was stuck in quicksand with the way he moved and the sluggish controls. How is this series so popular? I suppose they made it that way to make it seem like your character has a weightier presence in the game world, but wow, it's just not a very good mesh with the whole "super sneaky and deft assassin" role you're supposed to be playing.