The Whatever The Heck You're Playing At The Moment Thread

[isfet]

ok, so the part where everything starts blowing up after the cutscene

what's the plan there?

also, is that close enough to the end?  i'll go ahead and beat it if i'm almost there.

[Fitz]

Spent the weekend mindlessly indulging in Batman:Arkham Asylum.  Finally a productive use for all that Bat-trivia I have in my head.

[dmauro]

ok, so the part where everything starts blowing up after the cutscene

what's the plan there?

also, is that close enough to the end?  i'll go ahead and beat it if i'm almost there.

I don't know how you had a problem with that. I did it without the friction dampeners on my second attempt. You just run back the same way you came in. Out that room to the right, up the ladder, run to the left, up the elevator shaft, and out the door to the left and you're good. You can then look for more power-ups you might have missed, or head for the lake for the final battle which is pretty damn easy, but sort of awesome.

[dhex]

but neither game is overdramatic, nor are the choices you make in the game painfully obvious and trivial. 

i think this is huge. HUUUUGE even. at least for rpgs. it'd be nice in most games but a lot of extra design work for most genres. a little bit of subtlety goes a long way, i feel.

[dmauro]

I'm going back through and collecting the stuff I missed out of sequence to see if anything weird happens right now. I did find an interesting area where you had to go straight up, but it had a soft ceiling that kept you from jumping, and I foamed my way through it, which was pretty awesome.

[FortNinety]

In addition to Beatles Rock Band, my labor day weekend was dedicated towards beating MGS4. I forget what the opinion around here is on that game, but it went a long way towards validating my PS3 purchase.

And as noted in the aforementioned review, I finally ditched my copy of Guitar Hero 4, towards Muramasa for the Wii, which is pretty neat thus far. Also gave Shadow Complex another shot, and sorry, but that game can no longer hold my interest for more than 30 seconds.

[dhex]

almost done with prototype. running up buildings in times square to throw taxis at a giant exploding mutant lady is compelling stuff.

[dmauro]

I think I like Shadow Complex more than Super Metroid maybe. It's the best side scroller I've played in a while. Becoming a badass new-god as you level up is very satisfying in insane mode because it's nice to finally be able to just wipe everyone out (there's definitely still a threat of dying though), and the foam gun is such a great idea.

[Fitz]

running up buildings in times square to throw taxis at a giant exploding mutant lady is compelling stuff.

Didn't we try that once?

[dhex]

yes, but we were defeated by the ascotted avatar of tedium and the giant shrimp alien that controls tiger woods. there were also cows and a security guard.

it's too bad i have no urge to make games because i'm pretty sure that's half an outline right there.

[ryan]

Demon's Souls arrived today. So far, it's a bit of a bitch to have to start over from the beginning of the level after dying, but I'm having a great time. Need... more... souls...

[isfet]

i downloaded Contra Rebirth on the Wii tonight.  i've really been looking forward to it and...it's kind of lopsided, on all accounts.  it definitely has heart in some of the right places, but the difficult is waaaay too scattered.  it's only five (rather short) levels, two of which aren't difficult at all.  the others have difficult parts in them, but nothing practice can't handle.  at the same time, you have unlimited continues, so nothing is really stopping your from credit spamming your way through the game.

i guess if i want to get satisfaction from it, i'll have to have to self-imposed limits.  which, to some extent, always comes off to me as being somewhat lazy on the part of designers.  unless it's a straight arcade port or something (which this is not).

the parts that are good are definitely good and it feels more like Contra to me than Contra 4 did, but i just wish there more of something in this game.  kind of a shame, and kind of a waste.

but, i definitely see potential with this game for making a decent two-player experience.  the problem, i've found, with most Contra games is that if one person is good at the game and the other is not, one person is ultimately going to end up watching the other play for 30 minutes.  this one, especially on Easy mode, is pretty accessible, so i think it might be a good time with another person.

oh, another thing that kind of sucks is that there are only four weapons:  machine gun (which you start with), spread, laser and homing missiles.  Contra: Shattered Soldier technically on had two or three weapons, but they were perfectly balanced and you had access to all of them at all times to use depending on a situation.  in this game, it just feels like laziness.

[isfet]

but neither game is overdramatic, nor are the choices you make in the game painfully obvious and trivial. 

i think this is huge. HUUUUGE even. at least for rpgs. it'd be nice in most games but a lot of extra design work for most genres. a little bit of subtlety goes a long way, i feel.

though i know it'll never happen, i feel that, for the reasons stated above, Nocturne on PS2 might be the only game from Japan you might possibly like in this day and age. 

but um, even biases aside, with your upcoming...stuff!...i'm sure a 40-50 hour RPG is probably not high up on your "to do" list right now.

but hey dude, i'll totally let you borrow my PS2 in 20 years.


as for Fallout:  i'm finding myself at somewhat of an impasse.  i find that the end part of games is where things generally fall apart for most games.  while i wouldn't say everything has gone to shit (at all), i do feel like to finish up this very last part, i'm going to have to invest some time in not-so-fun things, game wise.  but i'm there, and maybe this weekend i'll try to go through it again.

i'm having issues with miniguns.  they're very inconsistent.  they go from doing zero damage to killing me instantaneously out of nowhere.

[FortNinety]

Demon's Souls arrived today. So far, it's a bit of a bitch to have to start over from the beginning of the level after dying, but I'm having a great time. Need... more... souls...

I'm embarrassed to admit that I've had this for almost forever and have yet to give it a spin! I guess now that I'm done with MGS4, I've got no excuse...

[dhex]

i'm having issues with miniguns.  they're very inconsistent.  they go from doing zero damage to killing me instantaneously out of nowhere.

the rule is "stay away from burst weapons at all times".