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What are you playing right now? Why?


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Wandering Samurai



Joined: 30 Mar 2014
Posts: 875
Location: USA
PostPosted: Sun Mar 30, 2014 4:03 pm Reply with quote
Currently I am playing the following:

Gears of War 3 - Trying to finish getting the heavy weapons onyx medal, of which I am halfway, and then I can let my 360 play King of the Hill to finish that mode. Once I'm done with those I'll only need to finish Insane Beast Mode, Insane Horde mode, and several campaign related medals, and then I'll have Seriously 3.0 and will have 100% achievements for GOW3. I'm hoping I can have it done by the end of this year.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 - In truth I'm playing Zombies, boy that sure is addicting. Trying to go after the achievements is fun, but you really need to play with friends to get some of them. Fortunately people have been adding me to their friends lists, so hopefully I'll be able to get some of those Easter egg achievements before too long.

Thief - I was quite hooked on Dishonored, and Thief in a sense is a familiar type of gameplay, so I'm glad to be able to play this type of game again. The one I like about this one is stealth plays an even bigger part in this game than Dishonored did. And the story is intriguing too.
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zawa113



Joined: 19 Jan 2008
Posts: 7357
PostPosted: Sun Mar 30, 2014 11:04 pm Reply with quote
I am currently playing Ratchet & Clank. During the PS2 era, I liked Jak & Daxter and adored the hell out of (and still do) the Sly Cooper series. Ratchet was the odd one out. But now I must accuse my younger self of not giving it a fair shot (I had only ever played demos). I got the PS3 collection for $10 back on Black Friday. PS2 was my first console, but I also played and loved the original Spyro series, and Ratchet does feel like a spiritual successor in many ways. In fact, I think I've heard a few sound effects (specifically of me killing bird enemies) that sound almost identical to the ones used in the Spyro series. So yeah, glad I'm getting into this, even if it is 10+ years too late! But if I have one problem, it's that I find Ratchet bland as all hell. But since the gameplay is fun, I can let it go. Now to figure out how many games are actually in the main series (It appears to be 5, then another "future" series has 3, then a bunch of spinoffs?)
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Chibiterasu11



Joined: 15 Apr 2011
Posts: 13
PostPosted: Thu Apr 03, 2014 12:56 am Reply with quote
Bravely Default because it's rad. Cool
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zawa113



Joined: 19 Jan 2008
Posts: 7357
PostPosted: Wed Apr 16, 2014 3:57 pm Reply with quote
Finished the second Ratchet and Clank the other day! On to the third! I love how you can test out weapons before you buy them, and the vacuum cannon returned even better than before! As did the Lava gun! That makes happy. I also quite enjoy Captain Quark in this game, he's like Zap Brannigan, who I must admit I enjoy is a way because he's over the top useless.

But for some odd reason, the game froze on me suddenly, I played it again today, it didn't this time, I wasn't sure how close to the freeze it had saved, but it did auto save. In the meantime, I booted up Conception II, what a weird game... I think I'm going to go for sleaze ball jerkwad when it comes to all options, see how well that serves me. This concept is bizarre.
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Ghost_Wheel



Joined: 30 Jan 2013
Posts: 203
PostPosted: Thu Apr 17, 2014 3:30 am Reply with quote
I'm currently playing Tales of Xillia coop with a roommate and it's pretty fun. The combat is much cleaner than other Tales games and the story isn't as time hogging so I can actually enjoy this one. That and the fact that the character I get to play is a good magic user, which is the more interesting way to play the game for me. Coop + better game means this will be the first Tales game I actually manage to finish.

I also recently got a copy of Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War. Holy shit, that game is good. Very involved mechanics, different from other classic FE games in that weapons and items are more personal and repairable, the arena is more compact, less random, and more useful, most of the characters are actually good, even the classes that I don't like to train as much, the maps are big and and incredibly involved, and the AI is noticeably better than other turn based army strategy games. I'm definitely looking forward to finishing it.

Recently I also beat the Area-88 game for the SNES. It's a Gradius alike with selectable characters that lets you buy new planes and special weapons (with ammunition) with money you earn by killing enemies. Lots of interesting geometry, enemy layouts, and boss battles that force you to optimize the strategy to the fullest and deal with the pressure. I'd recommend it to anyone who likes Gradius games and is looking for a different type of thing.

I'm also a speedrunner, but I haven't had as much time for that recently. But when I do get time, I run Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories and Pokemon Sapphire. Maybe I'll route something else or try my hand at FE4 in the future. As far as I know, that game does not have a large documented speedrunning history.
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Gewürtztraminer



Joined: 14 Nov 2007
Posts: 1028
Location: Texas - Its like whole other country.
PostPosted: Sun Apr 20, 2014 3:16 pm Reply with quote
Finished off the Stick of Truth: my thoughts are probably a mirror of virtually every review out there. It is South Park, lots of incredibly tasteless jokes and shout-outs to events in the series. I loved that part. As an RPG, it was not bad how they managed to build on what started as a LARP, and by the end was real? Maybe?
Some of the boss fights were quite tedious, and even with Sir Timmy's Fast Travel (Tim-may!), walking was a chore. Keeping up with the best equipment took way too much time. I sided with Cartman, I think next playthrough I will be the Jew class and side with the elves.

classicalzawa wrote:
In the meantime, I booted up Conception II, what a weird game... I think I'm going to go for sleaze ball jerkwad when it comes to all options, see how well that serves me. This concept is bizarre.

Started this up, and I do see some promise, but there is a lot of side humor that I can not tell is intentional or unintentional (or maybe both). I am dragging my feet making 3 teams of star children before going to the first circle.
Really all you need to know: you ARE God's Gift to both women and the world.
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phia_one



Joined: 15 Jan 2012
Posts: 1654
Location: Pennsylvania
PostPosted: Sun Apr 20, 2014 6:58 pm Reply with quote
Tried to play the original Castle of Illusion. After all these years, I still can't make it past the ruins part on normal difficulty. I get so close, but then I die.
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Dessa



Joined: 14 Jul 2004
Posts: 4438
PostPosted: Sun Apr 20, 2014 10:26 pm Reply with quote
Streetpass Plaza games. Lots and lots of Streetpass Plaza games. Do you realize how many streetpasses you get at a convention?!
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zawa113



Joined: 19 Jan 2008
Posts: 7357
PostPosted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 12:56 am Reply with quote
Man, that 99 cent blitz on the PSN got me good! I've played two games so far, Retro/Grade because it's a short game. But I've been looking for a quirky music game and that it is! I do enjoy those. I played it casual difficulty, I have no guitar controller to go along with it, but one can use the guitar controller with the game, which is pretty cool. I do plan to play it again on a higher difficulty.

But the real prize I was after was Tales of Monkey Island. Those who know me know I take the pirates side in the "pirates v ninjas" debate, and it's all because of this game. My mom played the original two on the PC when I was just a kid (and yes, I totally bought those) so I've been into the series for a long time. I do have Escape from Monkey Island on PS2. The only one I've not beaten was the third one. Anyway, just beat ep 1 of Tales, it's more Monkey Island goodness! And don't anyone spoil anything for me or I will kill them, I have been avoiding spoilers for years for this game! Anyway, controls are ok, I do wish Guybrush walked faster, but what can you do? Being able to cycle through clickable objects with the shoulder button is quite useful I must say. I will want to look into more Telltale games in the future I think. And of course I want more Monkey Island games in the future! And I want 3 and 4 on PSN.

*edit
Oh Celestia, so then I played some Plants vs Zombies. Boy is that addicting and awesome! I quickly realized "hey, crack doesn't cost 99 cents, so I win" but yeah, I love it already!
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zawa113



Joined: 19 Jan 2008
Posts: 7357
PostPosted: Thu May 22, 2014 11:53 pm Reply with quote
I'm playing the best Zelda game I've played in a while, it's called 3D Dot Heroes for the PS3. It's rather deliberate with its homage without a doubt. It's weird because the gameplay feels classic Zelda, but the towns feel more like Dragon Quest (even the data laod music sounds like Dragon Quest). Apparently, 3D Dot Heroes developers went on to make Bravely Default on 3DS. Anyhow, I purposely had to pick some "refusal of the quest" answers because they were funny (the king is all "we both know that answer won't advance the story", hehe). The dungeons are very very Zelda overall except for one thing: I seem to be dying way more in this game. One of the coolest things is that you can choose your hero. And it's not just "male or female" that most games have, I've been playing the game as a chicken with sunglasses. There's other hilarious choices, like Santa, a gentleman with top hat, cane, and pipe, a mecha, a dog, a shark fin, and lots of others (and you can change when loading from the title screen!). The game is also purposely done in block style and it works really well and it just looks awesome. I do have some minor complaints that, unlike Link's sword, this rather can't go through walls. Of course, it can also reach across half the screen at any given time, so that's fun. All in all, it's just a damn fun game and fans of the top down Zelda games absolutely need to play this (I just learned how to fill the bestiary: hit things on the head until they get logged into the book, heh). Also, the music is fantastic, almost as addictive as Zelda tunes, but every bit as good.
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Gewürtztraminer



Joined: 14 Nov 2007
Posts: 1028
Location: Texas - Its like whole other country.
PostPosted: Thu May 29, 2014 10:06 am Reply with quote
Conception II
The dungeons in this game are a perfect example of what you would consider a slog. No real danger, but mind numbingly repetitive. The first 40 battles were interesting, but the next 400, are not. You can skip most fights, but then you might be under leveled for a boss.
I have started the last dungeon, and i am not looking forward to it. The story is passable, but overall the combat is such a boring chore, i really would have a hard time recommending this game to anyone.
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shamisen the great



Joined: 08 Jun 2010
Posts: 658
Location: Oregon, USA
PostPosted: Thu May 29, 2014 11:36 pm Reply with quote
I just started Cthulhu Saves the World on my Ipad. The retro jrpg style gameplay is nice (if a bit simplistic). The main draw is the humorous dialogue. If anyone hasn't heard of it, the plot is basically Cthulhu's powers are drained and he has to become a hero to get them back. His ultimate goal is of course the destruction of the world, but his teammates seem oblivious to this. My ultimate enjoyment will probably depend on how long it is. I can see the joke wearing thin if the game goes on too long.
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ikillchicken



Joined: 12 Feb 2007
Posts: 7272
Location: Vancouver
PostPosted: Sun Jun 01, 2014 11:45 pm Reply with quote
Dragon's Dogma

A really fun if also really flawed game. The online Pawn system is a neat idea. You create your character plus one primary "pawn" but then also hire two additional followers from pawns created by other players. In practice though I just wish they let you create three of your own. I mean, you level up so fast but your hired pawns don't so you're constantly replacing them. Thus, it pretty quickly becomes more trouble than it is worth to try and find the best pawn with an appearance and skill set you really like. I think this game needs a lot more structure too. Open world is fine but it's a bit perplexing when you very quickly start getting side quests that take you to the absolute farthest reaches of the map. It's also potentially disastrous because the map is very oddly structured and blanked out and simply walking in the direction of the X will not always get you there. Add to that that the lack of a consistent fast travel system. Plus the difficulty curve is really unpredictable. It translates to a very up and down experience.

Still, the combination of classic action RPG mechanics with a Shadow of the Colossus style climbing system is really great. I mean, you can fight a dragon by leaping through the air onto its face and stabbing it in the eye. So there's that. And the scale of the monsters is great. It's pretty damn cool to fight some of these giant mythical creatures and there's a nice variety of different kinds of creatures. Outstanding music too. Oh, and I like the crafting system. Quite a bit of depth there and it actually does enough to make it worthwhile. A lot of upgrading systems are rendered pointless because by the time you get the materials you can usually just buy new stuff which is better. But here, by upgrading your armor and weapons you can easily stretch their life quite a bit. A basic weapon, 2-3x upgraded will be better than the next couple weapons you unlock. So it definitely makes it worthwhile to invest in the stuff you have rather than constantly just buying the newest item at the shop.
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Gewürtztraminer



Joined: 14 Nov 2007
Posts: 1028
Location: Texas - Its like whole other country.
PostPosted: Fri Jun 27, 2014 11:10 pm Reply with quote
Conception II
So, nearly a month to finish the last dungeon.
This game is horrible for a completionist.
Sitting here watching the credits roll, knowing I have to do this 15 minutes 6 more times...
This game is fun for about 5 hours, and then becomes something you despise. Put it down, it is not worth it.


Finally started the nice Stein;Gate release from JAST. I avoided the anime, wanting to get the original experience via game first.
Usually but not always the game is better. Exceptions to this: Shuffle, the anime was way better.

I am not sure how much game there is here, but so far so good.
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phia_one



Joined: 15 Jan 2012
Posts: 1654
Location: Pennsylvania
PostPosted: Sun Jun 29, 2014 6:59 pm Reply with quote
Finally got a 3DS XL, so I've been playing Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion. I'm really enjoying it, but I do admit that it gets tedious at times when you have to replay levels in order to complete side-quests.
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