What JRPGs would you recommend, by the way? Must be PC or emulatable. Vagrant Story's on my list. Done FFs, CT, Grandia, Earthbound, Suikoden II, Kingdom Hearts, Valkyria Chroniles.

Things on my to-play list (that I might never get around to): Persona 3 & 4, a Mario game (RPG or Paper), Xenogears.

My problem with them is mostly that they're just too long and grindy. Anything that breaks that mold would be ideal. Also tactical is always better.


I needed to recover from Dishonored so I installed Thief 2. I haven't played it before, been saving it.

Just got a new PC with the following specs:

GTX 1060 6GB
Ryzen 5 1400
8 GB RAM
Directx 12
1TB HDD

Been playing a lot of games, such as:

-Max Payne 3: I finally ended the trilogy I started playing back in 2005. Fucking glorious game. (9.5/10)
-Battlefield 1: The campaign is decent enough and the multiplayer is huge. (7.9/10)
-Saints Row 3 and IV: The first two games were just GTA copycats. However 3 made a change for the better, it's funny and damn entertaining. IV push things too far and the result was even more brilliant. (8/10 and 9.2/10).
-GTA IV: Yaaa it was good to play again one of the best games ever. (10/10).
-GTA V: Overrated, the characters were not as likeable as Niko, the physics were not as good as the ones in IV, the story was crap and it left me disappointed after the end. GTA Online is good and made my purchase worth it though (6.4/10)
-Batman Arkham Knight: I'm still playing it, it's great until now and it might be even better than Arkham City, however the port is completely crap, I've got to turn down some graphic options to play decently at 48-90 fps. Battlefield 1's graphics are completely superior to the ones here and I can run it at 60 fps with no problems. (pending)
-Assassin's Creed Black Flag: Still playing it too, terrible port, It's a game from 2013 and I still have to disable some options so I can play with no problems. (pending)
-Overwatch: Great asses, I prefer Team Fortress 2 during its golden years though (7/10)

Written by Maco on 06.10.2017 at 02:29

Just got a new PC with the following specs:

GTX 1060 6GB
Ryzen 5 1400
8 GB RAM
Directx 12
1TB HDD

Been playing a lot of games, such as:

-Max Payne 3: I finally ended the trilogy I started playing back in 2005. Fucking glorious game. (9.5/10)
-Battlefield 1: The campaign is decent enough and the multiplayer is huge. (7.9/10)
-Saints Row 3 and IV: The first two games were just GTA copycats. However 3 made a change for the better, it's funny and damn entertaining. IV push things too far and the result was even more brilliant. (8/10 and 9.2/10).
-GTA IV: Yaaa it was good to play again one of the best games ever. (10/10).
-GTA V: Overrated, the characters were not as likeable as Niko, the physics were not as good as the ones in IV, the story was crap and it left me disappointed after the end. GTA Online is good and made my purchase worth it though (6.4/10)
-Batman Arkham Knight: I'm still playing it, it's great until now and it might be even better than Arkham City, however the port is completely crap, I've got to turn down some graphic options to play decently at 48-90 fps. Battlefield 1's graphics are completely superior to the ones here and I can run it at 60 fps with no problems. (pending)
-Assassin's Creed Black Flag: Still playing it too, terrible port, It's a game from 2013 and I still have to disable some options so I can play with no problems. (pending)
-Overwatch: Great asses, I prefer Team Fortress 2 during its golden years though (7/10)

That sounds awesome! I agree with most of your opinions on those games as well.

So broke down and got timesink FF7 for PS4. look forward to hours and hours of drinking watery south american beer-like lager and breeding/racing chocobos.

PS is running a special for Bioshock, $30 (down from $60) for the collection. Worth a go?

Written by BitterCOld on 20.10.2017 at 03:10

PS is running a special for Bioshock, $30 (down from $60) for the collection. Worth a go?

The first Bioshock is outdated, I played it last year and it wasn't as amazing as people say. However, Infinite blew my mind and improves the formula implemented in the first two games, it's a new story so you won't be missing anything important. Play that instead.

Written by BitterCOld on 20.10.2017 at 03:10

PS is running a special for Bioshock, $30 (down from $60) for the collection. Worth a go?

Maco is crazy. The original Bioshock is a genre defining game and totally worth the praise it receives. I replayed it over the summer and it hasn't even remotely lost its appeal. Bioshock Infinite, similarly, is an incredible game (particularly for people looking for a colorful and unique story). Bioshock 2 is trash though, so I would honestly just skip over it. I'm a massive Bioshock and System Shock fanboy though, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

Written by Alex F on 20.10.2017 at 18:55

The original Bioshock is a genre defining game and totally worth the praise it receives. --- I'm a massive Bioshock and System Shock fanboy though, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

Does not compute, to be honest. Since you've played SS you have a pretty clear frame of reference. How is Bioshock, for all intents and purposes a AAAified, watered-down copy of SS (2) "genre-defining"? I'm not saying it didn't have its original twist, but I don't think it brought anything substantially new or important.

I've only played the first Bioshock, maybe four years ago or something, but it didn't feel dated to me. It felt casual as fuck, though. It completely misunderstood the System Shock formula: despite superficial similarities the core gameplay of resource management, tension and avoiding fights if you can was replaced with ostensibly limited but practically endless ammo, waves of enemies and cookie-cutter FPS action. The oppressive SS fear of "Oh fuck I'm almost out of ammo and I don't want to go into that storage room to find a keycard because I know what's there, but I have to" is replaced with, well, jumpscares. "Oh shit maniac lunging at me. Ah right, shotgun, nevermind." It's not challenging, it's not tactical, it's not particularly tense and it's not very fun.

It's not a bad game despite all that criticism. The story is good (although the method of delivery through audio logs is forced, at times) and the setting is really atmospheric. If you want a straightforward, pass-the-time shooter with hilariously creepy characters and dark, outlandish tone, give it a go. Don't expect the spiritual successor of SS2, though.

Written by IronAngel on 20.10.2017 at 21:56

Does not compute, to be honest. Since you've played SS you have a pretty clear frame of reference. How is Bioshock, for all intents and purposes a AAAified, watered-down copy of SS (2) "genre-defining"? I'm not saying it didn't have its original twist, but I don't think it brought anything substantially new or important.

I've only played the first Bioshock, maybe four years ago or something, but it didn't feel dated to me. It felt casual as fuck, though. It completely misunderstood the System Shock formula: despite superficial similarities the core gameplay of resource management, tension and avoiding fights if you can was replaced with ostensibly limited but practically endless ammo, waves of enemies and cookie-cutter FPS action. The oppressive SS fear of "Oh fuck I'm almost out of ammo and I don't want to go into that storage room to find a keycard because I know what's there, but I have to" is replaced with, well, jumpscares. "Oh shit maniac lunging at me. Ah right, shotgun, nevermind." It's not challenging, it's not tactical, it's not particularly tense and it's not very fun.

It's not a bad game despite all that criticism. The story is good (although the method of delivery through audio logs is forced, at times) and the setting is really atmospheric. If you want a straightforward, pass-the-time shooter with hilariously creepy characters and dark, outlandish tone, give it a go. Don't expect the spiritual successor of SS2, though.

I think the unique game mechanics, flawless story, and phenomenal ability to create atmosphere all play to Bioshock's (both 1 and Infinite) advantage. They obviously aren't as good as SS2, but SS2 is pretty much in a league of its own along with the original Deus Ex. I generally try not to compare the two directly. I can't think of many story based "FPS" type games that can really compete with Bioshock aside from maybe Half-Life and the Metro games. I'm a sucker for a game with a story that draws me in, and to me Bioshock has been able to do just that. I don't think a game has to be overbearingly difficult (or even remotely so) to be fun or achieve tension. Horror games like Outlast for instance are super easy, but still tense as all hell. Also, to be fair, I've become a far less intense gamer than I used to be, which may factor into my enjoyment for Bioshock recently. SS2 is in my top 5 games while Bioshock isn't though, so don't think I don't agree with you that it's certainly not as good.

I guess it's somewhat atypical, yeah. The FPS aspect is pretty mediocre though, and the superpowers aren't all that fun.

I haven't played them yet, but maybe Dead Space? Deus Ex: Human Revolution, though not as action-oriented. Dishonored felt potentially quite similar too, although of course less gun-toting. Only I made the mistake of playing it stealthy instead of having fun with the powers. I dunno, it's not my genre of game to begin with (I also was not too impressed with Half-Life 1 or 2), I only seem to really get into FPS when it's stealthy, tactical or RPG (i.e. Deus Ex, Thief, bit of S.T.A.L.K.E.R., New Vegas, SS2) so maybe I'm not judging fairly.

I still have to try F.E.A.R. and Metro. I have both on Steam for some reason, must have been a bundle.

Written by IronAngel on 21.10.2017 at 00:43

I guess it's somewhat atypical, yeah. The FPS aspect is pretty mediocre though, and the superpowers aren't all that fun.

I haven't played them yet, but maybe Dead Space? Deus Ex: Human Revolution, though not as action-oriented. Dishonored felt potentially quite similar too, although of course less gun-toting. Only I made the mistake of playing it stealthy instead of having fun with the powers. I dunno, it's not my genre of game to begin with (I also was not too impressed with Half-Life 1 or 2), I only seem to really get into FPS when it's stealthy, tactical or RPG (i.e. Deus Ex, Thief, bit of S.T.A.L.K.E.R., New Vegas, SS2) so maybe I'm not judging fairly.

I still have to try F.E.A.R. and Metro. I have both on Steam for some reason, must have been a bundle.

The F.E.A.R games are fairly mediocre in my opinion, but I enjoyed them somewhat. Both Metro games are absolutely phenomenal in my opinion (particularly when you play on harder difficulties). The storytelling is, in my opinion, superb, and the general mechanics of the game are so perfectly implemented. The gun selection is a bit limited, but for a ~10 hour game it's not too bad, and the modification system is pretty cool. I would definitely recommend playing the redux versions on the "survival" game-type (instead of "spartan", which is more guns-blazing action oriented).

I'm almost always more interested in a game if there's an RPG element like in the STALKER games. I honestly never got too into Thief, though maybe I should revisit that and see if my opinion has changed. I've also never played Dishonored so might consider buying that if it goes on sale on steam.

Written by Alex F on 21.10.2017 at 21:30

I'm almost always more interested in a game if there's an RPG element like in the STALKER games.

Have you seen Tarkovsky's Stalker (1979), or read Roadside Picnic?

So continuing my old game splurge, got FF7 for PS4 ... thank fuck for the 3x speed mode, so the horrible post-Midgar 30 minute sequence was trimmed to like 10. still some annoyances and bugs.

Aslo got Fallout, Fallout2 and Fallout: New Vegas for the lappy.

These and the MSAs hould keep my occupied for a while.

Alright everyone, let's all share our #7FaveGames

Here's mine:

Final Fantasy VI
Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night
Shenmue
Pokemon HeartGold
Majora's Mask
Resident Evil 4
Metroid Fusion

Hrgh, mine are always changing depending on what I'm playing at the moment and how that reflects on past experiences. Also, games I would like to replay or recommend today vs games that influenced me a lot for a long time in the past vs games that exhibit some genius design even if they may be outdated now. Anyhow, for some kind of a mix of all three with an eye on genre diversity, maybe:

Morrowind - my great PC love ever since release.
Deus Ex - it just works all-round.
Crusader Kings II - started PC gaming with AoE, this is the strategy game I'd now pick over others.
Silent Hill 2 - proof that video games, horror of all genres, can be art-
FFIX - my first RPG.
Thief 1/2 - perfect map design and uncompromising execution of concept.
NWN2: Mask of the Betrayer - could choose a number of story-heavy RPGs here, but I want to promote this. I just recently replayed it and was blown away by how good the writing is. It's on par with Planescape: Torment, only the gameplay is actually good and you get to make choices. (Serious contenders include New Vegas, VtM Bloodlines and KOTOR, at least.)

I'm not so exicted about "all-time fave games" though, to be honest. I find it very hard to judge games as a whole nowadays, I usually look for something specific in game. I am very interested in games that have a concept and do it right, all else be damned. Thief is a great example, but so are Portal, This War of Mine, Tales of Maj'Eyal, Dark Souls, M&B: Warband etc. I am getting increasingly tired of jack-of-all-trades games, while they are getting increasingly popular.

Written by [user id=159927] on 22.11.2017 at 18:11

Alright everyone, let's all share our #7FaveGames

1) The Witcher 3. Like MrBtongue said, CD Projekt did so many things so right with Wild Hunt that it is borderline unrealistic that such a game even exists. Expansive scope, memorable characters, awesome quests, a deep and emotionally involving story, great design and an amazing soundtrack. Probably the greatest game ever made.

2) Baldur's Gate 2. Basically the W3 of the 2d era. Not a game so much as a life replacement service.

3) Final Fantasy VII. I loved IV and VI, but VII was the biggest leap in storytelling, design, and atmosphere in the series. The plot was more about mystery and less about just saving the world. When Kefka blew up the continents in VI, it was pretty bad, but when Nibelheim in VII was still there and made me wonder whether Cloud's story was BS, it was much more interesting than just shit blowing up. VII took traditional story elements of the previous games and turned them on their head. Also, VII had villains like Shin-Ra and the Turks that blew shit up and blamed it on the heroes. Now THAT is evil. I could talk for days or weeks about everything VII did right, about how amazing the locations were, how awesome the soundtrack was etc.

4) TES: Skyrim. Crafting your own adventure and being almost completely free to do whatever is what makes Skyrim one of my all-time favorites. While it doesn't have the depth or scope of TW3, it does have more replay value for me. I can just load a random save at any time and get right back into that amazing world, feeling like I never left at all.

5) Warcraft III: Reign Of Chaos. Played this one a long time ago, but the story was epic, the gameplay addicting and the music awesome. My favorite RTS.

6) Dragon Age: Origins. IMO, the last 10/10 truly amazing Bioware game. It's a sign of great storytelling and characterization when the most memorable moments and the moments I most looked forward to were not clearing dungeons or completing story quests, but simply talking to my companions in the camp by the fire.

7) Can't decide between Mass Effect 1 and Ocarina Of Time. If OoT didn't have that nightmare of a water temple, I'd go with Zelda in this case, but...

7 fav games? probably a lot of old JRPG...
If I had to say right now, in no particular order:

*) Final Fantasy V: Although not necessarily very plot-based and a bit poor character-wise, it had one of the best gameplay for its era plus it was really challenging (i.e: for a player who didn't know what were the best jobs and kept farming until he got X-magic and X-fight like every lets player seems to do)
So it comes as my favorite FF, even better than the glorious subsequent FFVI, which although had the best OST of all, didn't quite match the previous in gameplay or difficulty. I got my nick from this game :p

*) Breath Of Fire 3: Don't know what makes this that much above. I think it's a combination of plot and gameplay. The skill learning system with enemies and masters plus the dragon assembling routines make the gameplay great, but the plot has also that inherent character development, like when you are with Rei and Teepo the game is goofy and heartwarming, while with the rest of the party it gets serious and with less character interaction. It's like it was all done on purpose in order for you to actually miss the old times and look forward for meeting with Teepo and Rei again

*) Wild Arms (the first, original and not the remake): How come some of the best songs ever written are only about forty seconds long? Oh well... Aside from gameplay this game had a lot of secrets and hard fights which made it fun. Plus it has that thing in Wild Arms wjhere the villains are present all the time and aren't like that last boss which you only, know the name of and fight with once in the entire plot (lame enemy kind)
When you actually see the villains appearing, being mentioned and even better: interacting with each other regularly it just adds so much more to the anticipation in fighting them

*) Crash team Racing: This. Is. The. Best. Racing. Game. Ever. I hate racing games because they are often all the same with different graphics, but at first sight you can see this has different build-up because it has all that box system where you earn items which can either buff you or fuck your opponents up (like in Mario Kart) and at first glance it would seem like a game centered on itemspamming which is already better than regular racing. But the better thing is: There's an even better gimmick: the slide turbo. It's a relatively complex turbo system which can give advantage only for the high-skilled player. And it is something you can only get better and better but never perfect, it really enhances the competition there. And even better than all: The tracks have inherent weird shortcuts which will give you advantage and also require some training in order to take them, but also the tracks themselves were poorly designed so that people also come up with even weirder made-up shortcuts, exploiting glitchs, requiring absurdely hard skills, etc. Adding everything up there's no way you can ever master the art of this game, it'1s a constant work in progress and I love that.

*) osu!: I used to play this game a lot (even almost got tendinitis on my left hand) and it simply has something on its simple gameplay which makes it addicting. I'm not very fond of guitar hero stuff but when I saw videos on it and knew it could get insanely hard with tracks requiring borderline inhuman skills I had to give it a try. I never got that good on it but I got somewhat better. I even invested on some hardware specific for playing osu! Nowadays I don't play it anymore. But every time I see a fb post or something on it I miss playing it...

*) Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale: You play as an item shop owner (an RPG item shop that is) and have to hire actual adventures to slay monsters and get you items for free to seel on your shop (well not for free since you are hiring them) it's a good mix of a JRPG style dungeon crawling and market simulator. Plus that cheesy cute humor. There's something so adorable about it that makes it all more worthwhile playing

*) Valkyrie Sky: This was the only MMORPG which had danmaku/platform shooting as a fighting style. You would travel on the map for your dungeon and once in you would enter this platform shooting area where the enemies came from above and you had to kill them, also you had to dodge their bullets and all. But above all it had the RPG level system (your shots wouldn't do jackshit on higher level enemies for instance, you had to upgrade your character and all)
And that combo makes this simply the best MMORPG I ever played. Too bad it's not available anymore for some reason. In fact I used to be so addicted I realized I was going bad on university because of it back then, then I had to take a time out... I stayed about three months away from it, only to read online that the game was about to go shut because of some business related stuff with the owner idk... I joined the game once again when it was on its last days and found some of my old online friends mourning its death... that was the last time I ever played it.
Now I see myself watching some videos but realizing I will never be able to play it again...

Hookay... I've played a few hours of Tomb Raider (2013) now, and it's... terrible. It is so restless, environments lacking clarity and interesting design, garbage QTEs with very little other gameplay, absolutely nothing in common with the series. Let's not even get into the awful storytelling that happens through piles of logs, video tape recordings, confusing cutscenes and soliloquies. I knew it was a re-imagination but I thought it would actually have some of the old feel and modernized solutions for loosely the same things (like platforming/climbing, or hubs with puzzles). The things we get instead (collectibles, modern combat, upgrades and survival elements) are realized poorly even for mainstream standards, they're basically just cosmetic gestures. It's a cookie-cutter AAA title that could literally be any other AAA game if you took away the name.

Been playing the MGS games on my new PS2

Written by [user id=142921] on 02.01.2018 at 13:27

How come not the legacy collection for Ps3?

Because:
A) I dont have a PS3 nor do I really want one
B) I just got the first 3 games and a PS2 from a friend

Played Shadowrun: Hong Kong. Solid as expected, about as good as Dragonfall (probably comes down to NPC/story preference).

Started Divinity: Original Sin. I was skeptical because of its popularity; that's usually a bad sign with RPGs. But holy shit, this is fun. The story seems inane and the humour a bit silly, but the gameplay is so fun and old school. You get to figure things out on your own and break the game, and it feels so satisfying. It's genuinely challenging, so you don't feel bad doing whatever you need to do.

Written by IronAngel on 06.01.2018 at 01:46

Played Shadowrun: Hong Kong. Solid as expected, about as good as Dragonfall (probably comes down to NPC/story preference).

Started Divinity: Original Sin. I was skeptical because of its popularity; that's usually a bad sign with RPGs. But holy shit, this is fun. The story seems inane and the humour a bit silly, but the gameplay is so fun and old school. You get to figure things out on your own and break the game, and it feels so satisfying. It's genuinely challenging, so you don't feel bad doing whatever you need to do.

I too am skeptical towards these "Divinity" games. As you say, popular RPGs tend to be either Bethesda-style giant sandboxes or new Bioware-style badly disguised action RPGs. As an old school computer RPG player I'm always looking for my next "Baldur's Gate" fix, maybe I'll give it a shot.

Video games I am playing? None at the moments, got exams to study for... Looking forward to Wasteland 3 and Pillars of Eternity 2 though.

Written by [user id=142921] on 08.01.2018 at 14:40

Don't torment yourself with Divinity OS 1. Divinity OS 2 is quite goodish. At times it's actually excellent, namely the first main area. Shit starts to derail quite quickly through late act 2 and act 3 imo. Don't expect everything to be full of exposition. Don't expect zombies (or the Divinity equivalent) to have a paragraph on how they have leather wrapping and nails holding their skin intact, or how they have a cloth hanging from their skull with the number 765 tattooed on their forehead. It's got some neat features like talking to animals.

Some people like the combat, some don't, some aren't fussed. I think it's alright but the problem for me lies in the fact that enemies (and your crew) have separate physical and magic armour stats. So essentially, if you mix your crew to do both physical and magic damage you're compromising combat effectiveness for variety.

At times creative, at times infuriating but in the end you can play as a lizard so I'd say worth my $30.

Haha, well I'm not looking for another "Planescape", last year's "Torment" was pretty good but nowhere near... I'm just happy if I get a decent story, mature writing (i.e. not ME: Andromeda even though the gameplay was pretty fun), immersive character progression and strategic combat. The recent "isometric revival" has been wonderful (and burned a wonderfully large hole in my pocket). It sounds promising, will definitely check it out. Also heard good stuff about its co-op capabilities!

It's not great writing. The characters are kind of funny but throwaway, and the PC character growth/personalisation (in terms of dialogue) is kind of superficial. Both your main PCs get personality traits based on their choices (they can disagree) but the actual lines you get to choose are usually pretty crude. The entire Divinity series is full of juvenile humour. I think it's charmingly old-school and I love getting to just play a good, high-fantasy romp without all the serious drama video games are recently jammed full of in an attempt to "grow up" and be "art."

I love the fact that it isn't overly wordy, like PoE or something. I don't mind reading a lot if the writing is good, but when it comes to video games, it very rarely is. It's short and to the point, flavored enough to give a general vibe and get the point across (not like early Final Fantasies!), but you don't have to read pages of second-rate Tolkiens fabulating about every peasant and tragic companion.

The real meat is the combat (don't see why anyone who likes turn-based RPGs wouldn't like it), character building, freedom in solving quests/problems and actually having to find the answers looking around the world and maybe even reading stuff. Very few quest markers or shit like that. A bit too much micro-management though (in terms of identifying items, shifting shit around in inventories etc.).

The comparison isn't exact (one being a party blobber and the other an isometric tactical turn-based), but in terms of atmosphere/genre I'd look to Wizardry rather than Black Isle or Troika stuff.

The first Divinity game is also quite fun, played it a bit. It's a Diablo-like but an actual RPG.

About 3/5 into Xenogears, first time playing it. A wonderful game so far, though the story is complex and messy as hell. A couple of too long and boring dungeons though (sewers, that Babel tower).

Games I dugged in 2017:

Nier: Automata - Best story in a game I've played in ages, with possibly the best, most awe-inspiringly meta ending in any. Otherwise has great, fun mechanics, amazing music and generally does very little wrong. GotY.

Divinity: Original Sin 2 - The game I've spent most time on in a single playthrough in any game I've played. Finished at 110 hours I think and took me a month to finish. The combat and exploration / questing is the best in a PC RPG I think I've played, and the story is reasonably ok. Loses a bit of steam near the end and is buggy as hell but the core experience earns this a modern classic title for sure.

Night In The Woods - While it doesn't necessarily represent my youth it's hard not to relate to this in a roundabout way and gave off some Kentucky Route Zero vibes.

Zelda: Breath Of The Wild - I bounced off this pretty hard at first, thinking it was empty and aimless, but after returning to it I loved the vast, open and minimalist world. It's far from perfect though; the combat is a bit mediocre and the 4 dungeons are pretty poor, but I can't fault the overall experience. Also looks great played on a PC.

Dark Souls 3: The Ringed City - Great swansong for the series, and finished on the best and most fun boss in the whole series.

Everspace - Really fun roguelike space shooter with very pretty visuals. Can get boring after a while but it's great to come back to every now and then for a quick fix.

OneShot - Definitely for fans of Undertale, in fact I think I preferred this for some reason.

There were other games I liked: Hollow Knight and Dead Cells were good metroidvanias, and Resident Evil 7 was fun for a playthrough, even though it was basically Resident Evil 1 in first-person and did nothing new whatsoever outside of the perspective change. Generally though unless I like a game I won't play it to the end and just give up on it. Stuff like Sexy Brutale and Observer would probably earn high marks if I put the effort into them though. I got through most of Tales Of Berseria too, which actually had a story nearly worthy of a modern JRPG, but the Tales series need to up their dungeon and world art / level design game so badly it hurts. Cave. field, castle, forest with the most unimaginative rendering, recycle - repeat.

A few disappointments too:

Nioh - Think it's safe to say Dark Souls ruined games that ape it before they even come out. Nioh I wanted to like so much but the garbage art and level design, repetitive enemies and terrible Diablo loot system put me right off from the beginning. I can see why people like the combat system, but for me it was too mechanical and not fun to play.

Prey - A game with this level of high quality level design and visuals deserves a combat system that isn't this frustrating and counter-intuitive.

Torment: Tides of Numenera - Planescape: Torment is brilliant because it told a convoluted, fascinating story. T:TN sucks because it tells a mediocre story through verbose nonsense which constantly gets lost up its own arsehole. Shame because the visuals were very pretty and imaginative.

Written by Mercurial on 02.02.2018 at 14:16

Games I dugged in 2017:

Nier: Automata - Best story in a game I've played in ages, with possibly the best, most awe-inspiringly meta ending in any. Otherwise has great, fun mechanics, amazing music and generally does very little wrong. GotY.

I finished the game once with 2b, I don't know if I should keep playing it.

Written by Maco on 02.02.2018 at 17:33


I finished the game once with 2b, I don't know if I should keep playing it.

Hell yes you should. The next playthrough is with 9S, and is more of a slightly different perspective to 2B's playthrough, and is probably the weakest part of the game, but after that the plot blows wide open with a new character and story. It's worth playing the game to its conclusion.

Written by Mercurial on 02.02.2018 at 14:16

Games I dugged in 2017

If you're really THE Joe, then I owe you one. It was after I'd almost given up on gaming due to nothing living up to The Witcher 3 anymore (in my eyes anyway, I just couldn't get into newer games), that I remembered your quote about Xenogears that went: "Mmm, Xenogears. I think I may have spent more time thinking about the plot of that game than any other". I thought to myself if new games can't interest me, how about looking to the past? BOOM! 2-3 days of playing Xenogears and I was in love with RPGs once again. It's just so depressing that Square pulled the plug and forced the 2nd disc to be what it is.

Written by Metren on 04.02.2018 at 16:58


If you're really THE Joe, then I owe you one. It was after I'd almost given up on gaming due to nothing living up to The Witcher 3 anymore (in my eyes anyway, I just couldn't get into newer games), that I remembered your quote about Xenogears that went: "Mmm, Xenogears. I think I may have spent more time thinking about the plot of that game than any other". I thought to myself if new games can't interest me, how about looking to the past? BOOM! 2-3 days of playing Xenogears and I was in love with RPGs once again. It's just so depressing that Square pulled the plug and forced the 2nd disc to be what it is.

Glad you liked it, I'm due for a playthrough of that and currently working my way through a bunch of PS1 RPGs on my PSP (I find games with pre-rendered backgrounds look prettiest on that). Just finished FF9 and just started Chrono Cross.

I didn't mind the 2nd disc fiasco as much as some. There's still something like 10 - 15 hours of gameplay on disc 2 and the first I think is about 35 - 40 so it's still a 50+ hour game. If they had fully fleshed out disc 2 it might have even made the game overly long. I'd recommend the Xenosaga games too. They're not as immense but the stories in them still go beyond what most games do, though beware Xenosaga 2 is a bit of a chore to play but necessary if you want to follow the plot to it's end.

The only other JRPG that made me think as much about it afterwards was SMT: Lucifer's Call (called SMT: Nocturne in the US) but it tackles very different themes to Xenogears where the ideas of good and evil are largely grey, and explores personal motivations to an extreme degree. If you like the Persona games but want a more esoteric and unusual story with a waaay better and more varied battle system then it's worth playing. No social link system though but has proper dungeons and exploration anyway. The version I played, Lucifer's Call (the SMT: Nocturne Maniax version I think it's called in the US) also has Dante in from Devil May Cry in, which is weird but somehow kind of works in the universe it's set in. That version also has an extra dungeon and bosses which is tackled slowly over the course of the game, as well as a "true" ending so I would always recommend that version.

Written by Metren on 30.01.2018 at 03:22

About 3/5 into Xenogears, first time playing it. A wonderful game so far, though the story is complex and messy as hell. A couple of too long and boring dungeons though (sewers, that Babel tower).

Story is complex and messy exactly, but it's an absolutely amazing game.
First key word of the story is the panspermia theory.

Don't forget to work those finish moves by practicing.... the game doesn't tell you how to do it directly, it lets you discover (by just repeating the combinations many times)