What games are you playing now?

HoMM4 is good, I always replay it after a good round of HoMM3, simply because it is somewhat different than the others.

There is no reason for me to play HoMM1, 2 or 5 as long as I have 3 (it's simply superior in every way), but 4 has a different feeling.

I also like how the story ties in with the MM games, so I tend to play MM6, 7 and 8 combined with HoMM3 and 4. Good fun, takes months to do all that.

Edit: My two favourite campaigns are:
- Armageddon's Blade (HoMM3 add-on main campaign)
- The Price of Peace (Academy campaign of HoMM4, with Solymr and Emilia)

I love those campaigns!
 
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Great to see someone else agree about the HOMMs, Maylander, though I wouldn't really throw 5 away in favour of 3. I haven't finished 5 yet, but there's quite a bit of additional complexity you didn't have in 1-3, I feel.

Annyway, incidentally I'm currently on the first map of the Price of Peace campaign, and never played it before, so glad for the recommendation. :)
 
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Reminds me I started up HoMM 3 a few months ago and was really enjoying it but put it aside for some reason... maybe time to get back into it.

It was the first HoMM I've played - now having enjoyed it, are the rest worth getting?

I'm definitely going for the sequels but is it worth it to get HoMM 1 & 2?

Currently playing: my bass :)
 
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HoMM2 has an excellent campaign, IMO, or rather 2 campaigns. There were some definite improvements from 2 to 3, though, so you'll lose those going back. I wouldn't worry about 1.
 
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Yeah. What dteowner said. 2 was definitely an improvement on 1.

However, personally I'd probably try 4 or 5 next.

On topic, I also added The Whispered World to my "currently playing" list, and might interrupt my Witcher replay for a continuation of NOTR, since so many people have been posting about it lately. They've whetted my appetite for it again.
 
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Thanks DTE for recommending HoMM 5! I'm really enjoying it for my first foray into the HoMM series.

That 3rd Inferno scenario really kicked my butt, though. Had to go back to earlier saves a couple of times before I figured it out the need to rush things in the right order.

Figuring out the priority of claiming towns and meeting certain objectives ASAP vs. exploring things along the way has bitten me on a few occaisons.
 
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Glad I could help. Much like King's Bounty, the HoMM series is one of those with a ton of depth hidden under a simple hood.

The big thing I liked about HoMM2's campaign versus HoMM3 is that they didn't do the "chaining" thing where you carry armies forward. While the "continuing toon development" angle was nice in some ways, I felt like it forced me to alter my strategy solely to satisfy bringing them to the next episode. If I only needed 2 heroes to level 8 to complete a scenerio, it was a waste to develop 2 more simply because I was allowed to take "my 4 highest heroes up to level 8 to the next challenge".
 
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Also, I end up spending far more time on maps than I'd need just to beat them, because I end up taking my "super heroes" all over the map to pick up every bonus (places that give +attack, defense, experience, spells, etc).

Of course, if a hero gets Earth Magic and Town Portal, every scenario will be significantly easier (and faster) than it normally would, so there are pros and cons here.
 
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I like the bit of extra strategy it brings in if you can take your hero with you, which is why I find the level capping in HOMM 4 slightly irritating.
Disciples 2 also lets you develop your hero as you go along, which CAN have the effect that some maps start off a bit easier if you really grind with the previous map.
 
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If only Town Portal in Homm 5 could take you back where you came from.... I've found I have to create heroes just to ferry creatures reinforcements from towns since the summon creatures spell is too limited and takes too many movement points.
 
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I'm currently playing "Jedi Academy" - at last after all of these years.
Interestingly the game stubbornly defies any kind of anti-aliasing I try to apply to it.
Anyway, it doesn't look too bad without it, still.
 
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I enjoyed it a lot, especially the way combat and general exploration worked. Also, I preferred the "RPG" way of building a character, compared to the previous versions where most skills became available based on certain quests.

Also, there's a light/dark side choice in it that many seems to have missed..
 
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Since I'm usually (read : almost only) playing a true "light side" character, I won't see that many choices, I guess ... ;)
 
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Just played thru most the sp campaign of Magic the GAthering: Duels of the Planeswalkers on xbox360. It was pretty fun, I havent played Magic in like 15 years so I was rusty going in but the tutorial was pretty thorough. Near the end the pc players starting pulling aces out of their sleeves left and right, it's kinda annoying.

Overall it was fun, and worth the ten bucks imo if you've every played MTG and want to dive back in til your sick of it. Without having to buy a zillion cards. The only real downside I'm seeing so far is that the deck customization options are pretty much non-existent. You can unlock new cards by beating fully-fleshed out decks w/ starter decks, or buy the full deck for a buck.

Update -
Unshaven, hungry, going on third day of MTG. Bought the full decks on XB360live (they were 1.00 apiece) and having a blast still, I'm feeling the addictive lure of MTG again. Look at the tone of my first post ("it's ok, i can take it or leave it"), then this one ("this is great! just one more match!"), pretty funny. It's a testament to the addictive nature and staying power of the franchise. The good thing is that this version of the game is relatively cheap - I used to play the card game when it came out and it wasnt exactly cheap. Out the door, this has cost me no more than 20 bucks total so far and I'm having a great time w/ it.
 
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I just played Overlord. I liked it quite a lot, with the exception of the occasional life force grinding. Fortunately, I didn't have to do it that often. I found the whimsical nature of the game quite charming :).

Overlord: Raising Hell and Overlord II were included in the $5 deal, but the former looks like I wouldn't like it at all, and the second seems a bit more complex, but not necessarily better. Well, I guess I will play something else before I get to these. I don't want to spoil the fresh and fond memories yet.
 
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I'm currently working my way through Gothic 2 and Mass Effect. Blomming Steam deals have me buying games before i finsh the one i am on.
 
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I finally installed Dead Space over the holiday weekend.

I think playing on hard may have makes it too frustrating at the beginning and on certain boss / set pieces. I had to resort to a walkthrough to get through at least one puzzle. Liking it otherwise! In particular, the requirement for dismemberment to stop enemies is a new twist for me. That, and stomping bodies into pieces so they don't get "infected" and reanimated is unique, although both are rather twisted gameplay elements... Not just a pure shooter.

Atmosphere is good, although the attack music is too loud and annoying. The game is less irritating with the sound off, even though I can't hear the enemies or warning horror music. Sound is more of a distraction than helpful.

Really like the zero-g jumping once I got used to the disorientation of the 3rd person camera turning me around. The guns are sort of boring, except for the flying skill-saw-like ripper. It brings back fond memories of Painkiller. Fun, that one! Item upgrades are a nice touch. And the infinite storage capability at the store is great!

Although advertised as a survival horror, it really is a 3rd person shooter with awkward controls, slow character animations that get in the way of self-defense, and the occasional puzzle. Many fights are inescapable and can result in instant death if your reflexes are lacking. There really should be a save anywhere with this sort of instant death game. Waiting through long and loud unescapable death animations on your 10th try gets VERY tiresome...
 
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Why are you playing on hard?


I agree that the default controls were a bit awkward. I used a key mapping program to tweak them, and they were fine after that. I also adjusted the mouse via the config file.

I thought the sound effects were great.
 
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