What games are you playing now?

Sorry, and did I forget to add story? Good storytelling absolutely. Also, I liked the atmosphere and that there were just enough cinematics to draw you in and pull you along.

It made the game feel more alive to me.

You probably did mention it, I just wanted to add my only two cents about it. I felt like it was the standout strength of the game.

It's been nice to see your posts, RivianWitch. This is a pretty hardcore PC group, so I figured everyone looked down their noses at the game. I assumed that when I said I was enjoying it, no one else would relate. Nice to see someone else can.

I'd love to see a sequel, where they fixed all the mistakes and really did a good job with it. Of course, given the sales, I doubt we will see that.
 
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I'd love to see a sequel, where they fixed all the mistakes and really did a good job with it. Of course, given the sales, I doubt we will see that.

We've seen sequels in the case of good sales, and sales in the case of critical acclaim ... but in the case of crappy sales and near universal critical lambasting? Seldom ;)
 
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Interesting to hear a different take on Rise of the Argonauts. I was really interested in the game during development but all the reviews scared me off. Not much of an adventure-style gamer though, so it still may not be for me. But glad to hear it wasn't a complete waste and I may pick it up someday now that the price has plummeted.

Finally through with A Farewell to Dragons (review should be up soon) and was lured away from Elven Legacy by a gift of Armored Princess, which I've been playing all day. Is it just me, or is the game way more front-loaded with goodies than KB? Tons of high level items at the vendors, hardly any encounters except weak or weaker, and there's a vendor every time you turn around selling royal snakes. Also seems quite a bit easier on normal, but this could be keeping things low level for starters I guess. Hopefully it ramps up a bit later on. Anyone gotten into the middle or end of the game yet?

Other than feeling like I'm getting away with something, I'm really enjoying the game. It seems to have kept all the original good stuff and added a bit more.

Edit: Never mind--I left the first island and things are back to normal.
 
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We've seen sequels in the case of good sales, and sales in the case of critical acclaim … but in the case of crappy sales and near universal critical lambasting? Seldom ;)

Yup. Maybe Zeus will intervene, but I won't hold my breath. Too bad, the game did have its charms. I hope other RPG makers stray from the usual sword & scorcery stuff and venture into new territory — Ancient Greece, the Old West frontier, the Renaissance, Biblical times, ancient Egypt … That was part of my affection for RotA. I've always loved ancient Greece/Rome. They butchered the hell out of the characters, of course, but I didn't care. It was just nice to see that period represented in an RPG.
 
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Yup. Maybe Zeus will intervene, but I won't hold my breath. Too bad, the game did have its charms. I hope other RPG makers stray from the usual sword & scorcery stuff and venture into new territory — Ancient Greece, the Old West frontier, the Renaissance, Biblical times, ancient Egypt … That was part of my affection for RotA. I've always loved ancient Greece/Rome. They butchered the hell out of the characters, of course, but I didn't care. It was just nice to see that period represented in an RPG.

I agree - but when you look at history: Titan Quest was a mess and the studio went under, now RotA ...
 
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Yes, much as I love Elves and Orcs, and post-nuclear apocolyptic landscapes, and playing with light sabres on spaceships, as they say " a change is as good as a holiday", hmm?

Do you know what I've thought for a long time that I'd like to see as an RPG: something along the lines of Dumas's 3 musketeers - just the setting - not the exact story.

Robin Hood has been tried, and didn't seem to work all that well, and although ancient Greece and Rome seems to be a fave playground for strategy games, I haven't seen all that many RPG's with that theme. Well not proper CRPG's at any rate.

There is a series of books that I've been aching to play as game: Gene Wolfe's Books of the New Sun series (That starts off with The Shadow of the Torturer).

If I had the resources, I'd make a game of it. Since my reading tastes seem to be a bit on the geeky side, not sure how well it would be recieved…
 
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Interesting to hear a different take on Rise of the Argonauts. I was really interested in the game during development but all the reviews scared me off. Not much of an adventure-style gamer though, so it still may not be for me. But glad to hear it wasn't a complete waste and I may pick it up someday now that the price has plummeted.

Aren't you the one who likes action games? :police: There is a lot of action inbetween all the talking - believe me… ..and I don't just mean mashing ONE button, I mean mashing MANY buttons! :dance: :XD:

Heheheh (evil laughter)
 
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Aren't you the one who likes action games? :police: There is a lot of action inbetween all the talking - believe me… ..and I don't just mean mashing ONE button, I mean mashing MANY buttons! :dance: :XD:

Heheheh (evil laughter)

I do love my arpgs, but I'm abysmally bad at button mashing. I can do games like The Witcher or Gothic just fine, but Jade Empire killed me. I'll try the demo one of these days and see whether I can handle it. Oh, and nice smilie usage!:salute:
 
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ive installed/uninstalled quite a few this weekend. Titan Quest has been pretty fun, I like the approach to the mastery thing. Unfortunately my attention span w/ arpgs tends to wane fairly quickly. Lots of grass, lots of satyrs sums up my experience thus far. I hope it changes soon.

Goodbye DDO - sorry, have no time for MMo's. Just aint happening!

Rise of Legends, so far, has been a pretty big disappointment. A game should look ok at least on 1280x1024. This game looks like hell, particularly the Alin faction look downright awful. The gameplay, well it's just not grabbin me. Mafia, nah. Just Cause was some fun, but I dont see it as any kind of a long-term game. Play for a weekend or so of mayhem.

The clear winner this weekend was Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth, I'm having a good time w/ that one. I almost wish it was all just story and puzzle, I'd be fine w/ that.
 
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Glad to hear you like DCotE! It was one of my favorites from last year; great atmosphere, though somewhat wonky controls. The first half was best, where it was really survival horror before it turned into more of a shooter. Lots of fun panicky moments!
 
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yeah, i was trippin out when i saw that hanged lady. Havent been spooked by a game in a long time!

That is one #$%^& scary game.. creepy, I tell ya…

I almost got as depressed as the protagonist... :p
 
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I really need to replay DCotE. I played through it right after it was released, and I wasn't too impressed. I think I might have been expecting too much, and I also knew very little about Lovecraft lore at the time.
 
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yes, as a fan of HPL i really catch on to everything, it's like being in one of his stories (which makes me wish the whole thing was "adventure game" puzzle style) I think if youre in on the lore beforehand youll have a better time playing.

Not unlike how I felt playing DA after reading Gaider's DA book "The Stolen Throne". Still have to go grab "The Calling"
 
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Other than feeling like I'm getting away with something, I'm really enjoying the game. It seems to have kept all the original good stuff and added a bit more.

Edit: Never mind—I left the first island and things are back to normal.

The first island is a piece of cake, but the other islands will kick your behind if you are not careful. Try to get every advantage you can with the little things like moral. I normally ignored it unless it was in the red, but a few battles were made easier if I had a higher moral.

Later on when you click on the bad guys and it says "impossible", that is not always true. My mage character is always going against impossible foes, but wrecks holy havoc with a few black and red dragons and those red plant things (can't remember their names). The spells make a huge difference between winning and losing.
 
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Later on when you click on the bad guys and it says "impossible", that is not always true. My mage character is always going against impossible foes, but wrecks holy havoc with a few black and red dragons and those red plant things (can't remember their names). The spells make a huge difference between winning and losing.

Yeah, I'm playing as a paladin and I really miss having an area effect spell. Still, I'm usually able to take out all the strong, very strong, and slightly stronger stacks. I did get caught by one of those pirate ships that used to ignore you(!) and have to fight a Custer's last stand with an 'invincible' opponent--lost every troop but one, but managed to win. The royal thorns are cool, but I've done surprisingly well with polar bears and inquisitors. And the little droids aren't bad either.
 
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Finished RotA tonight. I felt compelled to push through the last several hours of the game. Fair to say I was hooked. I enjoyed the climax quite a bit, and the story stayed solid right through to the end. Nothing spectacular, but well told.

Framerate, camera, and combat control problems became much more evident in the last third of the game, because of the number of enemies and effects on screen. It was pretty bad at times, you could hardly tell where you were or what was going on. The levelling up was less rewarding in the latter half of the game, too. I had plenty of points to distribute but a lack of worthwhile options to spend them on. Also, the game became very much a button-masher in the last third.

So the game's deficits (in camera, control, levelling up, and combat) became a lot more obvious in the final stretch. I still enjoyed the game, though.

Rating? Objectively, 6.5. Subjectively, 8.0.
 
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Framerate, camera, and combat control problems became much more evident in the last third of the game,


This is something that I find puzzling about the current generation of game consoles. In the past, one of the pros about console systems vs PC was that people usually didn't need to worry about framerates. They understood that while the visuals might not be as good as a PC title, at least they didn't have to worry about uneven framerates due to system requirements. Most console games always had a more or less consistent framerate. It seems that with the PS3 and Xbox 360 however, quite a few titles suffer from framerate issues.
 
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