General Gaming Thread

[Tyr]

wtf, I never had any problems in Fallout 3 regarding difficulty except that one time where I was like level 2-3 and I walked straight into those mercenaries' headquarters.

That hurt. A lot.

Something to be noted was the fact I never used VATS, as I found the system a nice little gimmick but overall I didn't feel it belonged in the game. Slow motion gore is awesome, but the fact you just empty your action points (or whatever they're called, can't recall) and then switch to just shooting normally? lol

[Saz]

I only found it differcult in the first hour or two after you leave the vault. Killing gangs of raiders with a pistol can be pretty tough, once I started to level up a bit and get some better weapons I can't remember having many problems.

[Super Buu]

I think VATS is the most boring combat system I've ever played. It's essentially rolling dice - if you get a high number, you win, if you get a low number, you lose. Funnn. The reason it's far too hard in the beginning and it's far too easy later on is because fights are mostly just predetermined based on your character's stats and skills. As soon as you learn how to use up all your action points, hide, pop out and do it again and repeat, there's not a lot of point doing anything else. Combat is a chore whether you use VATS or not, so you may as well just finish it quick so you can play some of the vaguely interesting parts of the game.

[Jonathan Meer]

Much more interesting in the first two.

As far as combat sucking or being difficult, I'd disagree. Definitely not as good a shooter as CoD 4 or something, but if you're not using VATS you're doing it wrong anyway.

With VATS though, it might as well just be a glorified turn-based combat system. If you place the points right, anyway.

[Jesper]

I didn't even know people cared about the combat systems in Bethesda games.

[Sage]

With VATS though, it might as well just be a glorified turn-based combat system. If you place the points right, anyway.

=/

It was supposed to be totally turn-based. Fallout 1 and 2 were, that's why VATS exists at all. Pandering to the fans of the previous games. The... zealous ones. I'm not saying I support the decision of trying to mix the two styles together but it's there and as far as I'm concerned it works fine. This game isn't a masterpiece but Bethesda made it so what were you expecting?

Bioware and the late, great Black Isle can't make everything.

Still better than a Square game, anyway. lol

Er, back to VATS, if you don't like it, nobody's making you use it. And I don't believe the FPS combat is as clunky as you and others make it out to be. I haven't ever had issue with it. I've had far more trouble with other games. That said (again), it's no CoD4/HL2/etc when it comes to gunplay.

[Kaden]

I like VATS. If you don't want to deal with the, admittedly, clunky shooting, just flip it on. If you want to become a leet pro hax0r mast0r at it, you're free to do that, too. Neither are perfect systems (given the context in which they're presented) but together I think they make something that works just fine.

[Super Buu]

On a different topic, Prototype is awesome. I've been playing it a lot in the last week and I think it's pretty close to, if not my game of the year. Just so fun. Then again I have a history of loving superhuman sandbox games (like the Spider-man titles) and this is the best one I think I've played, so it's not a big surprise.

[Sage]

On a different topic, Prototype is awesome. I've been playing it a lot in the last week and I think it's pretty close to, if not my game of the year. Just so fun. Then again I have a history of loving superhuman sandbox games (like the Spider-man titles) and this is the best one I think I've played, so it's not a big surprise.

It is just epic.

The ability to grief Manhattan and get away with it?

It's like Grand Theft Auto with super powers.

The Web of Intrigue, I think, is one of the coolest ideas to come out of a game in years.


* * * * SPOILER! * * * *






Adding that extra scene at the end for when you get all of them was a nice touch, too.





* * * * * /END SPOILER * * * * *



In slightly different news ...I've been consumed by Fable II. I'm a bit shocked; I expected it to suck, but I'm having a really good time. A touch too far on the easy side, but at least it's done in an entertaining way. Might not be hard to kick a guy off a cliff, but, you're kicking a guy off a cliff.

[Tyr]

*reads Sage's spoiler*

Ah son of a, 2 playthroughs and I actually forgot to get all those.

[Jonathan Meer]

=/

It was supposed to be totally turn-based. Fallout 1 and 2 were, that's why VATS exists at all. Pandering to the fans of the previous games. The... zealous ones. I'm not saying I support the decision of trying to mix the two styles together but it's there and as far as I'm concerned it works fine. This game isn't a masterpiece but Bethesda made it so what were you expecting?

Oblivion was well-nigh a video game masterpiece, I daresay. Morrowind was insane as well.

Fallout 3 is just junk (imo). It's fun, don't get me wrong, but I don't at all understand the GotY awards and hype. I like collecting trophies, but I just can't force myself to go back through Fallout. The combat is dumb and there isn't any depth to the items (remember Oblivion and all the enchantments you could put on weaponry?).

The atmosphere is really cool though. They got that right.

Er, back to VATS, if you don't like it, nobody's making you use it. And I don't believe the FPS combat is as clunky as you and others make it out to be. I haven't ever had issue with it. I've had far more trouble with other games. That said (again), it's no CoD4/HL2/etc when it comes to gunplay.

No, it really is shit. Trust me. It plays like Goldeneye (which, for some reason, people still bother to play these days).

Games that do a lot of things need to do those things at least passably right, and going back to N64/PS1-esque gunplay just doesn't cut it. I refuse to believe that the FPS system in place minus VATS is the best they could have done.

[Kole T. Merr]

I picked up the new Shin Megami Tensei game for the DS, Devil Survivor. I'm grooving on it, but part of me just wants to max everyone's magic and only use magics. With nearly every demon toward the beginning of the game weak to some kind of magic (Zio, Agi, Bufu or Zan) it makes boosting strength and using regular attacks seem kind of pointless. But oh well. I'm sure there will eventually be something that is immune to every single form of magic imaginable.

[Kaden]

You never really got into Persona, did you? The reason you don't go all magic is because you'll need your MP for healing and the like, most of the time. Just weaknesses is too draining. If you don't have decent strength it takes forever to get through fights without relying on magic. Using weapons is just faster and simpler.

In Persona I would gravitate towards the Strong/Fast Arcana (like Chariot or Star) for using physical attacks and then just try to fuse in whatever elemental attacks worked with my preferred party.

[Sage]

Oblivion was well-nigh a video game masterpiece, I daresay. Morrowind was insane as well.

Fallout 3 is just junk (imo). It's fun, don't get me wrong, but I don't at all understand the GotY awards and hype. I like collecting trophies, but I just can't force myself to go back through Fallout. The combat is dumb and there isn't any depth to the items (remember Oblivion and all the enchantments you could put on weaponry?).

The atmosphere is really cool though. They got that right.

*Shrug*

Personal opinion. I thought FO3 was way better than Oblivion, and I really liked Oblivion. But I've played better RPGs than either. I don't go into a Bethesda game expecting much more than a solid game.

No, it really is shit. Trust me. It plays like Goldeneye (which, for some reason, people still bother to play these days).

Pffft. You talk like I haven't played it. Not to mention, Goldeneye still plays as an FPS better than some modern ones do, ignoring the bleary-eyed graphics; makes for a bad comparo for your point in my opinion.

Games that do a lot of things need to do those things at least passably right, and going back to N64/PS1-esque gunplay just doesn't cut it. I refuse to believe that the FPS system in place minus VATS is the best they could have done.

Again, personal opinion. I thought it was competent and I never had much trouble with it. If anything, I thought the game was too easy. I had the same problem with Oblivion, too, actually, only it was much more pronounced.

Anyway, what the hell am I doing defending the game? The awards and acclaim and general consensus speak for themselves. It seems you just didn't like it and are trying to find fault. Even the best games look like shit when you inspect them with that attitude, so, you know, whatever. Better luck next game, I guess?

[Super Buu]

Vidja games are serious business.

[Kole T. Merr]

Actually, it's a bit different from what I played of Persona. There's no weapons, so you just rely on your strength stat. And it is an SRPG, each fight scenario puts you on a grid, and you've got your buddies with you and all of them can each have up to two demons. You walk around the grid pwning demons until they're all gone. If one of them dies, you can actually summon another one the next time your turn comes around, but depending on your speed, that might be a while. Probably my hardest choices are going to be which demons to use, because they all have their own strengths and weaknesses. I think I'll probably just end up using Zapdos. Wait...wrong game. Anywho. It's definitely fun. If you really want to see how it's played there's some youtube videos up of the gameplay.

[Kaden]

I've seen a handful of trailers already, but they never show status screens or menus or anything that's useful in determining the breakdown of the systems, y'know?

[Kole T. Merr]

That's why I usually go straight for the playthrough videos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbVIJrfJ2...F&index=10

It's kind of annoying because of the commentary of the recorder, but the video starts pretty quick into a battle.

[Kaden]

To shift topics slightly, anyone who likes fighting games to any degree should get BlazBlue.

[Jesper]

To shift topics slightly, anyone who likes fighting games to any degree should get BlazBlue.

If you can find it.