What Games ya Playin' 2012 - Suplex a Train Edition

[Sierra]

You know Darrow is actually a pro-authority ending that serves Illuminati goals, right? Beacuse, Darrow... you are a puppet. This is a Deus Ex game; the Illuminati are just way too many steps ahead of you. Consider this: no matter what you choose, the fact you make it through everything means Bob Page wins.

I'd assume all of them are, to some extent. Prequel, can't fundamentally change the mythos. Shutting the industry down or leaving it up for mind control abuse both seem to serve them, after all. I figured this option was less egregious due to at least including an effort at unmasking them, even if it's not likely to go anywhere because see above + loony-sounding conspiracy theory even if it happens to be true + one of Adam's lines to Darrow was absolutely correct, who's really going to listen to what Darrow has to say given what he did, etc. Still, didn't involve outright being someone's lackey (Taggart in particular said all the wrong things to convince me) or killing everyone, which I really can't see being any kind of solution* especially after I made an effort to get through Panchaea without killing people. Contrary to what Eliza said, I don't see how that would prevent anyone from spinning the situation--it's not like the Illuminati are going down with Panchaea, they could say whatever they hell they wanted about it through Picus. There's an air of futility about the situation no matter what the choice.

*Unless, as you seem to imply, Adam being alive is crucial for series developments elsewhere, given the whole miracle DNA thing. Note that I haven't played DE1 and have no idea who Bob Page is outside of his appearance here.

[Grefter]

Note that I haven't played DE1

You should get about fixing that.

D3 - Okay one last post, finished normal.  We were going to find the town in Act 4 to sell stuff because our inventories were full after end of Chapter 3.  Then suddenly final boss and finishing gaming at midnight and I have gym in the morning.

I didn't like Act 3 much honestly.  It touches on all the parts of D2 I didn't enjoy much.  Specifically it is Act 5 of D2:LoD and shades of the first couple of zones in Act 4.  Act 4 itself promised more than it delivered as well.  I was hoping for some neat architecture and straight up wanted to see a town after what we saw in Act 4 town in D2.  Instead I got some okay stuff and then more Act 4 first 2 zones again.  Meeeeehhhhhhhhhh where is the architecture eye candy.

Gameplay is still what it is.  On the fence on how much I will play, but it was worth picking up for myself at least.

[Anthony Edward Stark]

You know Darrow is actually a pro-authority ending that serves Illuminati goals, right? Beacuse, Darrow... you are a puppet. This is a Deus Ex game; the Illuminati are just way too many steps ahead of you. Consider this: no matter what you choose, the fact you make it through everything means Bob Page wins.

I'd assume all of them are, to some extent. Prequel, can't fundamentally change the mythos. Shutting the industry down or leaving it up for mind control abuse both seem to serve them, after all. I figured this option was less egregious due to at least including an effort at unmasking them, even if it's not likely to go anywhere because see above + loony-sounding conspiracy theory even if it happens to be true + one of Adam's lines to Darrow was absolutely correct, who's really going to listen to what Darrow has to say given what he did, etc. Still, didn't involve outright being someone's lackey (Taggart in particular said all the wrong things to convince me) or killing everyone, which I really can't see being any kind of solution* especially after I made an effort to get through Panchaea without killing people. Contrary to what Eliza said, I don't see how that would prevent anyone from spinning the situation--it's not like the Illuminati are going down with Panchaea, they could say whatever they hell they wanted about it through Picus. There's an air of futility about the situation no matter what the choice.

*Unless, as you seem to imply, Adam being alive is crucial for series developments elsewhere, given the whole miracle DNA thing. Note that I haven't played DE1 and have no idea who Bob Page is outside of his appearance here.

Just the fact that he made it through all the shit thrown at him is proof enough.  That's how far ahead of you the Illuminati are.  There is no choice you can make that doesn't work for them.

[Sierra]

Which is really quite a depressing conclusion.

[Anthony Edward Stark]

You don't get to be a shadowy global conspiracy that controls the whole world by not understanding backup plans, scapegoats, smoke screens and catspaws.

[Hunter Sopko]

Ys: Ark of the Napishtim - Started this. The quality of the voice acting is inversely proportional to how damn much of it there is. Honestly kind of surprised everyone has voiced lines. I weep for how much money the company lost on this. Still sort of getting my ARPG touch back, but having fun with the gameplay so far. Crossed through the tunnel to the human settlement. Kind of amusing how blatant they are with the real world location references. Gives Valkyria Chronicles a run for it's money.

[Meeplelard]

Pokemon Black: Reached Undella Bay!  Yay progress or something!

Kid Icarus Uprising: Cragalanche beaten with Poseidon Cannon (about as bad a Poseidon Cannon as you can get too...), Lightning Valley Girl Bitch beaten with a Meteor Bow, and SPACE BUTLER defeated with WORST WEAPON IN THE GAME NO SERIOUSLY WHY DOES IT SHOOT A SHITTY RANGE SHIELD THAT DOESN'T DEFEND MUCH AS ITS CHARGE MOVE!?!??!

[Shale]

Diablo 3: Barbarian. Still in Act 1 because work owns me. Just finished up the spider caves and holy crap is this game good.  Sounds like Act 4 is somehow even shorter than it was in D2 which is lame, but I guess that's what difficulty levels are for. Shale#1151.

[AndrewRogue]

Corpse Party: Up to Chapter 5. I... honestly can't quite decide how I feel about this game. It has some relatively brilliant things and well done things, then it does some absolutely pants on head stupid things. Got a Wrong End for Chapter 5 that just sort of seemed weird as it careened wildly out of control and didn't really explain anything that happened on Ayumi's end?

Dunno.

[Cotigo]

Diablo 3: Barbarian. Still in Act 1 because work owns me. Just finished up the spider caves and holy crap is this game good.  Sounds like Act 4 is somehow even shorter than it was in D2 which is lame, but I guess that's what difficulty levels are for. Shale#1151.

I'm only slightly further ahead of you.  Next time I'm on (Friday evening your time?) if you're on I'll try and join your game.  D3 is fun but I have more fun with it with other people.

[Anthony Edward Stark]

Just picked up Endless Space on Steam. The build is only an Alpha (5/8 races playable) but it really doesn't feel like it. I've only encountered a couple of bugs, graphical only, and game balance is a little off with tuning build times and such, but that's a constant process.

Really scratches my space 4X itch after the disappointment that was SotS 2. You customize your ships loadouts to a weight limit, but hulls are fixed, so it's not QUITE GalCiv 2 (RIP USS Dongphin) but I really like the way planet management works.

Systems have 2-5 planets of different quality. Some will have anomalies that penalize or benefit them in some way. They also have different climates and being able to settle them is linked to that (as well as production and such). Initially you can only colonize planets that have fairly tame climates, but as you expand the tree you can settle desert worlds or build gas giant habitats or whatever.

Combat's also pretty interesting. It's fairly automatic, as your fleet starts out at range and closes in. You have some special maneuvers you can execute to help you or hinder your enemy. While this is happening, huge starship fleet battle porn is going on. You dont fight forever, though, your fleets do a sortie and then pull back. Makes it harder to pin down a losing enemy, which is good and bad. Different weapon types are more effective at different ranges, so that can affect your choice of maneuvers as the fight continues. I'm not that advanced so my ships primarily rely on projectile weapons, as I don't have access to the resources to make beam weapons or newer torpedoes like I do cannons.

Anyway, it's 25% off on Steam for the forseeable future so if you like space 4X you should check it out.

[Idun]

Waterga!

All the enemies go "poof!"

[Scar]

Tales of Graces F - Beaten. For good this time! Bu, I am still playing, because there is so much I forgot to do. After beting the game, not selecting NG+ allows me to jump back into the first part of te game and collect all those things I missed.

90% of the treasures collected.

75 % of the skits.

and 80 % on the item discovered.

Hubert's is the only character who has almost all of this titles. Guess I will have to play as everyone else to and start unlocking some skills.

D3 - This game is fun! Never played any of the other Diablo games, but since all my friends were raving about them, I figured I might as well give it a try! I started as a Demon Hunter. The character is fun, my friends really help improve the game though. Solo questing can get dull. We are just a shade into act 3 right now.

I made some ults so I could play with other people, but I have a Monk, Barb, and Wizard all around 10 as well. The wizard is a tough character to play! But that's my own fault since I joined up with a friend who was near the end of act 1 while my guy was only around level 5 or so. I then left him and tried to solo the end of the act with my weak ass mage only to get one shotted by every damn enemy! I eventually managed to get past the butcher and into act 2 with him, but man was it challenging! He is level 11 currently.

Also, the Scoundrel is a blast to have tag along with you. His conversations are entertaining. Not sure wha my gamer tag is. I will have to go back and check later on today!

[Idun]

Just left Mah'habara, got Hectonheir (sp?) and simply saved and turned the game off. So everyone has their individual eidolith. I have a couple L4 roles, and have decided to stop branching out to unlearned roles until the end of the game.

I feel like the battling is getting faster (Ruinga+Thundaga); spamming specific moves've gotten the battles a bit too formulaic at this point.

[OblivionKnight]

So...

Picking up D3 tonight, will play a little bit of it, then probably not for a week or so (yay Virgin Islands for a week).  Make sure not to completely finish off everything before then, people!

[AAA]

Pfft. Come play Path of Exile with all the cool kids instead.

[AndrewRogue]

D3: Purchased, both Ash and I are playing (one compy, sadly =( ). Barbarian for moi, currently past getting all three sword pieces. Ash is playing a Demon Hunter and up to the Skeleton King.

League of Legends: Bad couple of games in a row =(

[OblivionKnight]

Also picked up D3 yesterday.  Running a female Witch Doctor.  In Act II, level 18. 

Game is good.  There are a LOT of awesome improvements from D2.  It feels a little less like Diablo and a biiiiiiit more like AARPG stuff (which...is the designed purpose).  Seemed so easy early...and then, at the first major boss fight against King Leoric, it actually got tough.  Final boss of Act I in particular was nasty.  The characterization...they actually finally made the generic characters have a personality.  This is probably the best part - it's less of a "skip text, grind more" and actually interesting storyline-wise.  Feels longer overall than D3 (although...Act I was fairly short in D2).  The support characters are a great idea...honestly, you should be able to have all of them (3...I assume, as that's how many I have now) active at once.  Would be great, and give a neat party aspect to single-player. 

The fact that mage stats now actually impact damage is great.  Lots of different skills, and, so far, a reason to change them around.  I actually CARE about armour defensive stats now, because enemies actually are intelligent enough to go attack your character and not your meatshields.  Especially bosses!  Holy shit less micromanagement of town portal and identify.  Also, awesomeness incarnate - more relative inventory space!  Holy shit!  Also, buying weapons (i.e., crafting) gives money a use.  And now money is a decent commodity, instead a dump for rings.  On the flipside, stuff sells poorly, so it's not worth picking up anything but magic items and money now. 

Bad stuff...while I don't care about it myself, there should be an off-line single-player capacity.  Don't like health potions having such a cooldown...but on the other hand, they are immediate-acting...but so were the D2 ones.  Enemies are rough, and some of the unique specials are brutal (although for good reason - they're used intelligently, and make teamwork more important) - Waller and Vortex and Jailer are nasty attributes, as they limit your ability to kite.  I'd like to see a bit more individual customization (maybe +3 stat points per level to distribute how you want in addition to the automatic 5), but otherwise, pretty pleased with the game.  It is fun, addicting, and clears some of the dumb stuff from D2.  Decent story progression, and holy shit sidequests.  I did Act I in...8-ish hours?  And I still found out I was missing out on half the dungeons and a bunch of sidequests.  Holy shit.

So yeah, when I get back from St. John, anyone up for teaming up?  I wish it were more than 4 people, but...

[Cotigo]

I had to start clicking white things again for gems.  But that's about it.  A less genre savvy friend of mine picks up absolutely everything and it is infuriating.

Change classes (or maybe I will, I don't think I know anyone who plays monk) and I'm in.  2 witch doctors is asstarded though.

[Anthony Edward Stark]

In my latest game of Endless Space, through random happenstance it came out that I started out in a part of the galaxy isolated from the rest except through one stable wormhole. Naturally I went about setting up a base on my end, then eventually crossed through to explore, and start setting up outposts on the other side of the wormhole when I make contact with another empire.

I know you're thinking "wait isn't that like exactly what happened in DS9?" Well, you'd be half right. On the other side of the wormhole was an empire but it wasn't so much the Dominion as it was an all-consuming enemy horde that exists only to kill. The Cravers are like part Borg, part Reaver. Their ships are cheaper, tougher and more powerful, while they get a bonus to all output from worlds they hold. After 50 turns their worlds are depleted and take huge output penalties, so they gotta keep conquering shit.

Fun enemy, except that last patch made them more formidable by breaking fleet cap sizes for them. At this point in the game my cap on command points was 7. Destroyers/corvettes are 1 point, battleships and cruisers 2, and dreadnoughts 4. Well, the Cravers come at me with fleets whose CP value reads 30/7, made up of ships with passive bonuses to HP and damage.

Currently I've been pushed out of the galactic core and am fighting them on my end of the wormhole. I'm hoping that if I can stall them for several more turns by continuing to hold the bottleneck, their worlds will deplete and I can turn shit around. Fortunately I'm no Federation, and it I was, I'd be the Captain Kirk kind.

[Grefter]

Some days it is easy to forget that you are a big enough nerd to actually partake in a full blown conversation on this site instead of just vastly improving it with colour commentary.

Today is not one of those days.

[Anthony Edward Stark]

Hey, not my fault it's been a while since there's been a 4X or RPG actually worth talking about. This was gonna happen when the Civ V expansion dropped.

[Cotigo]

Are you telling me that Fantasy Odyssey Sword 3 is not a game that deserves all the discussion it's been getting around here?

What are you, some kind of fucking socialist?

[Fenrir]

And this is why you will always be my favourite.

Less than 3, man.

Hey Super, did you draw your own Wizardry maps or did you just faq the whole game?
You should probably try one of those DS dungeoncrawlers. Strange Journey or Etrian Odyssey. Having the second screen act as a map is so great. (I could say the same thing about Castlevanias) (and I know, FM5)

Wizardry Labyrinth of Lost Souls Solo: Losing interest because 1) I've already played the game 2) The main character is a guy not named Yattaf


Inindo: Beat three dungeons of Learn Some New Skill At The End, then one dungeon of Powerful Equipment.
There are a ton of potential party members and I have no idea what's the real difference between any of them beyond "Slightly more magic oriented" or "Slightly more physically oriented". All I know is that I want some chicks in my team instead of those two boring samurais.

Turned the sound on then immediatly off. The battle music makes me want to start another horrible music tournament. I don't hate it more than the Second Miltia music or anything, but still.
 
By the way, this is the guy who wants to kill Nobunaga:

[Shale]

D3: I finally got to Act II! Jesus Christ those acid-spitting bugs are annoying when you're pure melee. And when you're getting 400ms ping and can't dodge their shots. I was going to play more this morning and hopefully take advantage of less-crowded servers to run through that part but oh look bnet is down again. I swear, my boss is paying them off.