The Bill's Now Playing Video Game Thread (Now with Bames)

[Comrade Slinky]

Alpha Protocol had some killer dialogue options that directly impacted how the story played out. Really cool. The gameplay however was on par with, say, the force unleashed.

A couple of you guys need some head examinations.

[guardianoftheblind]

you aren't used to it yet?

[Wang Mandu]

Alpha Protocol had some killer dialogue options that directly impacted how the story played out. Really cool. The gameplay however was on par with, say, the force unleashed.

A couple of you guys need some head examinations.

No one's going to deny that. I'll take super ambitious and innovative with a healthy serving of jank over safe AAA garbage every time.

it seemed like baby's first RPG to me.

That would be Mass Effect 2.

I like the art style of Amalur considering game after game after game is set in a gritty and visceral world. Skyrim, Dark Souls, Deus Ex, Batman: Arkham City....I like colors other than brown, black and grey in my games once in a while.

ME3 demo on Tuesday, . Ashley's redesign reminds me of a ladyboy I met in Malaysia.

SPOILERSPOILER_SHOW

[Wolfey]

Alpha Protocol had some killer dialogue options that directly impacted how the story played out. Really cool. The gameplay however was on par with, say, the force unleashed.

A couple of you guys need some head examinations.

No one's going to deny that. I'll take super ambitious and innovative with a healthy serving of jank over safe AAA garbage every time.

Exactly why I didn't like Mass Effect 2

[Wang Mandu]

Right. I love both ME1 and ME2 but they took out too much in the sequel. Sounds like the gameplay is going to be fantastic in ME3 and they did expand the loot and skills. It's the story I'm most worried about.

[Wolfey]

Actually I guess that shouldn't of been my statement, because I replayed ME2 again recently, and it was still enjoyable. About halfway through it got too rudimentary, and it made me realize how much they took out of it. I'd love to see some of that stuff return in the next game, but I'm not counting on it. Probably my favorite thing in that game was the Shadow Broker DLC.

[Wang Mandu]

Probably my favorite thing in that game was the Shadow Broker DLC.

I think just about everyone would agree. The level design in terms of gameplay was awful but everything looked pretty. Shadowbroker completely fixed that and the enemy encounters were a lot more fun than shoot those dudes hiding behind boxes on the other side of the room. Supposedly, the guy who wrote Shadowbroker is in charge of writing the squad's banter for ME3. They should have named him lead writer instead.

[riley-o]

the jank level in the AP controls wasn't even that bad. it wasn't perfect or even close but it was a far cry from unplayable. i sometimes wonder why you people won't just let me love you

[ungodlywarlock]

Got that new Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning today.
I loved the demo and apparently it has something like 200 hours of gameplay or something in it.

Anyone else grab it?

Keep us updated on your thoughts and opinions as you play it, man. I'm interested in what you think of it.

Sorry for the delay, I actually didn't even get to really start playing it until last night, which I got a good solid evening of play (8 hours or so?).

For starters, I can already tell this game is immense. 8 hours in (which admittedly does include tutorial - which is very linear) and I never even got to the main quest. And that part of the quest was only a "Go talk to this dude and that town" kind of quest. Everywhere I go there is some side quest or something that distracts me. So the longevity of the game is not going to be an issue, that's for sure.

The combat is fucking awesome. It's not super precise like your Dark Souls type of games. A lot more forgiving. But it's very kinetic and I find that they make each of the main styles of gameplay (sorcery, finesse (rogues, basically), and Might) very attractive to play. I honestly can't decide which path to go down....so it's a good thing they offer respeccing later on. I also really love how they handle skill trees. Basically, as you crawl up a combat tree with points, you unlock "Destinies". They are little tarot card looking things (I think of them as "stances") that buff your gameplay and style. At the start there is just your 3 basic ones, but as you move through it unlocks hybrid destinies dependent on what you are playing. So if you are sort of half digging rogue and half digging the sorcery, you can be a warlock or whatever. I don't how if that affects the looks of your spells at all yet, though. I think it does.

I do wish there was some kind of "Z-targetting" type of thing, but I deal with it.

Stylistically, I think it would be a bad idea for anyone to go from Skyrim to this (despite the fact that this game has a way better combat system). Skyrim excels on being very realistic with a totally open world. This one excels more at being a jack of trades pulling from a variety of RPGs. I'd liken it a lot more to Fable meets World of Warcraft without the annoying MMO aspect. As I am playing, I keep forgetting it's a single player game, because it feels more like "The way an MMORPG SHOULD play, but doesn't". So to me that is a good thing.

I agree that it seems a little childish compared to Bethesda kinda games, but if you compare it to any RPG that isn't into super-realism, I think it holds up quite well. I'm pretty into it so far! I can see why it's getting good reviews.

So far the only super negative thing that I have found is the stupid moaning bitch in the main town. God I want to finish that quest so she shuts the fuck up.

[Spooky Apparition]

thanks for the thoughts. definitely leaning towards getting this now. quick question... is the combat somewhat challenging? you couldn't die in the demo, so i'm curious what the full game is like.

i wouldn't expect it to be dark souls hard obviously, but is it hard enough to warrant the (what sounds like) hundreds of combat/character options that are thrown at you throughout the game? i definitely blocked and parried a lot in the demo, so i'm hoping you can't get through the game by just hitting a X a bunch.

[ungodlywarlock]

Yeah, definitely nowhere near Dark Souls level...but with this game I am only playing on Normal. I've died a couple of times because I went at things with the wrong tactic so that is something. But overall, it's not TOO difficult 8 hours in. I'm sure if you play on hard it should meet your challenge requirements, though. Worth noting that you don't regen health very fast at all. Like...barely at all. So if you don't have a health potion and you are out in the boonies, you will need to fast travel to a town to get healed/sleep.

Also, the stealing is a little weird. When you steal something it gives you a percentage that you'll be caught, even if they are not in the room. So I stole some shit last night and got the entire castles worth of guards on my ass and they did not seem to de-aggro. I have read after a day or so they calm down, but geez. Stealing apparently equals murder? Because they were out for blood, haha.

I know people hate the passes and shit, but if you buy it it gives you a pretty sweet set of mass effect 3-styled Shepard armor and these crazy flying blades of doom (at least I think the blades are part of the pass) as well as some quests (which I naturally haven't hit yet). So not too bad there.

Oh yeah, finally...even though it's totally bright and colorful World of Fablecraft vibe, it does actually have a fair bit of blood. When you use your special power that builds up over time, he really goes to town, repeatedly stabbing and eviscerating shit with blood spewing everywhere. Kinda fun.

[Spooky Apparition]

you should write reviews man, for real. i've learned more about KoA in those two posts than a dozen or so reviews i've glanced over. definitely going to get this soon.

sometimes i wonder if curt schilling thought about gaming during the biggest moments of his career when millions of people were watching him. maybe he was thinking of fetch sidequests striking out his 3000th guy..... life is amazing.

whitney houston RIP

[Wang Mandu]

these crazy flying blades of doom

Chakrams are really fun. I love using those and daggers.

sometimes i wonder if curt schilling thought about gaming during the biggest moments of his career when millions of people were watching him. maybe he was thinking of fetch sidequests striking out his 3000th guy..... life is amazing.

I read an interview and he said part of his baseball contract required a high bandwidth connection in whatever hotel they stayed in on the road. While most guys were probably out drinking and picking up skanks, Schilling was playing an MMO.

[Wang Mandu]

Alright, about 5 hours in KoA and I think it's a pretty fantastic game with a fairly shitty camera. I'm hoping they improve it in a future patch. It's also a cakewalk on Hard right now so I'm hoping the difficulty ramps up later. The amount of lore built into the world is a bit staggering but I'm still essentially in the beginning of the game.

Fable meets World of Warcraft

I think this game is more inspired by Divinity II: The Dragon Knight Saga than Fable. A lot of the subtle touches of humor, hidden chests and loot through the world sections, a focus on fast paced action, crazy amounts of lore, etc.

Ffffff....

[copstache]

KoA is a lot of fun. it's not super deep and it's maybe a little too easy but it was obviously made by people who know and love rpgs. for a game as big as it is, they put a lot of effort into the small things like menus and general ease of use, and that makes all the difference.

you know what i like? vendors with bottomless pockets. you hear that skyrim?

[spacehamster]

So, uh, do all the Catwoman levels in AC end up with her in some sort of predicament, and then she's just out again with no explanation in the next one? Great stuff indeed. The fighting's kind of fun because she's so fast, though.

[Frickin' Slayer]

i noticed Scorpios posting n this thred. i wuz at my Scorpio friends house recently,and he wuz playing video games. Scorpios enjoy problem solving,and figuring out mysteries,so it makes sense.

[The Bill]

i noticed Scorpios posting n this thred. i wuz at my Scorpio friends house recently,and he wuz playing video games. Scorpios enjoy problem solving,and figuring out mysteries,so it makes sense.

Fuck is this crap. FO'ED!


Friday was Darkness Day, apparently. Played several levels of the Darkness II and then found some crazy demon armor in Skyrim that reminds me of the Darkness.

Darkness II is quite enjoyable, quite enjoyable indeed. So good to play a non-military shooter with now a days graphics. Quote of the day goes to "Rip her ams off??! I'm going to rip her old tits off!"

I will not be starting Reckoning any time soon as I had planned. Still way too much to do in Skyrim and Mass Effect3 approaches. I think I'll finish the Civil War quest and main story. Keep the Dark Brotherhood and Thieves Guild (fuck Mages College?) for the future whenever a DLC comes out.

[spacehamster]

So, uh, do all the Catwoman levels in AC end up with her in some sort of predicament, and then she's just out again with no explanation in the next one? Great stuff indeed. The fighting's kind of fun because she's so fast, though.

All of her missions suck. Badly.

In other news, Talia al Ghul may have the best rendered ass in videogame history.

[guardianoftheblind]

nope

[spacehamster]

I dunno. I think the walk animation makes a big difference too. Miranda always seemed kind of awkward. And I know this has nothing to do with the quality of her CGdonkadonk, but those spindly arms always creeped me the fuck out.

[spacehamster]

Just played the ME3 demo. Looks good so far. The level design's really good, it lets you level up before missions are over, and there seems to be something resembling proper looting. It doesn't show how weapon upgrades work and there's nothing inside the Normandy, though.

[Wang Mandu]

Downloading the ME3 PC demo...

Staying up way too late to dl this = nerd status complete.

[The Bill]

You know, having a demonic tendril monster with Mammoth tusk teeth rip some one's heart out via the rectum maybe crossing a line some how.

[Cryptoplasty]

I am the only one here who has zero interest in the Mass Effect franchise, but whatever....

Xenoblade is one of the few JRPGs I've had any interest in in the last few years. The game actually looks really good, and I may need to dust off the Wii.

Has anyone played Bastion? I'm mildly interested in trying that game.