Last game you finished, tell us about it

I agree completely about New Vegas! Like you I played it this year, i.e. in a patched and polished state and it just captured me completely.

I'm sure Skyrim will get mightily praised when it's release but, for me, New Vegas shows how good a "Bethesda-style" open-world can be and gives Skyrim a lot to live up to.

It would surprise me greatly if Skyrim was anywhere near New Vegas quality. I expect something along the lines of Morrowind/FO3 at best, which isnt shabby but not quite up there either...
 
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Last game I finished was the Frayed Knights beta. You'll have to wait for my review to learn what I thought about it though!! :)
 
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Aug 31, 2006
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I finished Sanitarium a week or so ago.

I'll just say this - I generally dont like "adventure" games. I find the "adventure" moniker quite misleading anyway. To me, Tomb Raider is an example of an adventure game. Spending hours hunting pixels, endlessly trying inventory combinations on everything in sight, feeling a headache gnawing at the base of my skull is not. I usually loathe so-called "adventure" games for this reason.

However, I enjoyed Sanitarium because it was not as described above - it was a truly unique experience. The items are readily available, the puzzles are logical (some may even think theyre too easy), and the story is good. You do have to thoroughly search and explore every level, and you do have to try some things out, and the way isnt always clear. But it's doable. It's logical, and overall it's fun. Loved every minute.

And the game consistently had me saying "what the #%$@ just happened"? It's definitely bizarre, and quite morbid. But it had me coming back, night after night, to play it because I just had to see what the hell was going to happen next.

I cant recommend this game enough. Even if you normally shy away from the "adventure" genre, you owe it to yourself to play this game.
 
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Oct 18, 2006
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San Diego, Ca
Bioshock

At first, I though Bioshock is extremley overrated in all aspects ( especially in terms of story and atmosphere ) and I had this feeling toward the middle of the game, but after the plot shows some of its twists and I totally became familar with the game-play and the combat, the game starts to show it's true potential. I want to describe every aspect that I liked about the game seperately.

Storytelling: Unlike many games which force their story and lore to the player, Bioshock slowly , carefully and most important of all, constantly presents it through radio messages and audio diaries. This way, you don't need to read long texts or see long scripted events or cut-scenes to understand what's going on. Story presentation in Bioshock is vert well thought and makes the story look like a lot better than it is.

Combat: Combat in Bioshock is very interesting and engaging. Although you kill a lot of splicers in the game, but I personally never felt tired doing so. Mostly due to the fact that you have lots of way to kill your enemy. In other words, combat is dynamic. ( Especially for big daddies ) You can freeze splicers and shatter them with wrench, you can burn them with incinerate plasmid, you can throw explosives and objects toward them with telekenesis, you can hack some turrets and then lure splicers to them, etc. I can't say the possibilites are limitless, but there is enough variation in combat to prevent boredom. Of course, I recommend you to play the game on hard. The combat is quite challenging and enjoyable on hard, especially if you limit your use of vita chambers like I did.

Sound effects and voice acting: Sound effects and voice acting in Bioshock are among the best in my recent memory. The scream of splicers, the sound of electro bolts, the delightful sound of your wrench's blow on enemies, Big daddies roar, they all add up to the whole experience. The same thing can be said about voice acting, There aren't much characters and NPCs in Bioshock, but the voice acting for those few characters is greatly performed and truly fits the character.

Experience behind the creation of the game: Soemtimes you play a game and like it a lot, but there are some aspects in the game that you don't like, they are moslty the result of the lack of care or experience from developers. This is not the case with Bioshcok. Developers really knew what they were making. For example, the game always has a new thing to offer you, even near the end. You can always go back to all of the levels you have been in case you have forgot something to pick up. The levels are full of little details that you can easily pass by them unnoticed. Pacing is great. These are all signs of experience and care behind the game and I really appreciated it.

Well, to sum this post, I have to say Bioshock is a game that you can't turn a blind eye into. No matter how do you feel about it. It's not one of the best games ever, but still, it's a very worthwhile experience especially when it's compared to many of the other games of this generation.

Score: 8.6/10
 
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Feb 19, 2011
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Arcania: Gothic 4
Were a higher budget enough for Spellbound to redeem Gothic from its previous title Forsaken Gods?

A quick history lesson
Gothic 1-3 was developed by Piranha Software and managed to get some success with their unusual non-linear and free-roaming titles in which you could go in any direction as you please, with few physical barriers. When it was released Gothic 3 was a very ambitious title, but released too soon an extremely buggy. The fanpatched version is still one of the better RPG’s out there though. In the aftermath Piranha Bytes and the publisher JoWood parted ways. Piranha Bytes went on to make Risen that share many similarities with their Gothic trilogy. JoWood kept the Gothic franchise and got Spellbound Software to make the next title; a standalone expansion called Gothic 3: Forsaken Gods. If you visit Gamerankings and search for worst RPG on PC with at least 1 review, Forsaken Gods is about 12 from the bottom. For my comments on that game, search this thread. Unlike Forsaken Gods, Arcania is a serious title, with much higher budget, built from scratch up by Spellbound.

Story
Spoilers of earlier titles will follow.

The protagonist from the first titles are now a king gone mad, conquering the nations around Myrtana. The new hero in Gothic 4 is a young man from a small village on an island. He is just about to get married when his village is attacked and everyone but him killed. With help by his friend Diego he begins his quest for revenge. Eventually he learns that the attack was not random but done for very specific reasons; he was supposed to die as well.

The story of Arcania builds slowly through cut scenes and dialogue. You spend about 2/3 of the map without really knowing what’s going on, moving from place to place in a linear fashion. Many of the known NPC's from earlier titles reappear to assist you and there are also a couple of reoccurring characters. That said, for some reason I found that Arcania couldn’t absorb me.

Stories in fantasygames are often cliché, but a good story isn’t about how it’s written but how it’s told. In Arcania, there’ just not much happening throughout most of the game. First half you move slowly through wolfs and goblins and meet NPC’s who are often either satirically rude, overdemanding or mad. Even the sensible people you meet were often presented in a such fashion I couldn’t connect. I felt no emotional attachment to anyone, just ticked off. Then there’s a trek through a section which is just a lot of combat until you reach a large city where the game briefly got more interesting to me, thanks to having many of your old friends present at once who rely on you to do pressing matters throughout the city. Had the entire game been made in that fashion, Arcania would have been a much better game for me.

Satirically rude, overdemanding or mad, yes. Much of the time, Arcania feels like satire or parody of RPG clichés. Very few NPC’s you meet feel agreeable and warm. Many quests are delivered with complete bluntness and the player character even comments on this later on “just tell me what monster I need to kill or item I need to find for you and I’ll be going”. The “mad person” quickly became an old cliché in Forsaken Gods and it’s also carried over to Arcania. Most people are crazy in some fashion which might be funny if you think so but to me it was too overused. An even stronger issue with NPC’s were that faces are often reused and voices are often poor (sometimes disturbingly poor). Without looking at the name of people you can barely distinguish them. Later on when a lot of names were dropped in dialogue I found it very hard to remember who were who. All of this made me even more disencouraged to care for NPC’s beyond those who I learned to like in earlier titles.

Without spoiling too much I might also mention that the ending was a lackluster. Gothic 3 had a very powerful ending and really could have been seen as the end of the series, Forsaken Gods teared that ending apart, Arcanias ending made me forced to google it up to verify I got the actual ending which I did.

Engine: Graphics & Sound
The Engine in Arcania is top notch. Arcania simply looks and sounds amazing. The vegitation looks great, monsters look gruesome, boss monsters are unusually large and horrifying, faces look very realistic with realistic looking skin, clothes and weapons are well designed, the landscape is well crafted and the weather system works. Sure, I did have a lot of glaring errors, like NPC's having visual polygon holes right through their bodies and very odd lightning on teeth and in mouths. I just want to mention that this is an example of how excellent graphics can’t replace poor storytelling. Kinda like Oblivion.

But again I have to mention voice acting which is often rather bad. Also many NPC's share similar faces with other NPC's which made it often confusing to remember who's who once the plot begins to wrap up towards the end of the game.

Gameplay
I will not spend too much time complaining over how simplified Arcania is to earlier parts of the series, but I will instead consider how Arcania plays out compared to other traditional designs.

As a whole, combat is solid. The character moves fluid and controls generally works great. I had no issues controlling my character and pull off some great moves.

As a mage I focused on spellcasting and was quickly good enough to hurl fire around me. However, there are only three direct spells you can level up (fireball, icebolts, lightning) and five special runes with special spells in them. Compared to Risen I say that at least the spells are better balanced. The three offensive spells do different things and are useful for different characterbuilds. Personally I prefer to have access to multiple weak spells than one strong through. Had you got access to weaker versions of all three you might have been able to be more varied and strategical in your spellcasting. As it is now you are likely to spend the entire game hurling the same spell over and over again.

Unlike previous titles, Arcania is linear. You follow the plot into a new area that opens up when you make a quest or two, there are no good way to get back except for running long distances. Once in a new area you are likely to talk to all NPC's to get all quests, run around in circles and kill all the monsters, loot all the chests and pick all the flowers, then move on again. Having spent days doing this carefully I cannot say it was worth the extra hassle to chase for the loot. You find ten times more loot that you need and I ended up buying almost nothing and crafting almost nothing since I did not need to.

Most of the quests are delivered in an absurd fashion, almost like the writers tried to insult you for normally enjoying NPC quests, or make a parody out of the traditional "fetch me x items" or "kill x monsters" in other RPG's. Very rarely a quest made me care for its outcome. One interesting thing though is that the game realizes when you did a quest before you get it. When you get your quest your character will automatically say he already did the task awhile back and you still get the XP for doing so. Good stuff.

Now there is something I wanted to mention about the simplification they did. In previous games you had access to lecterns that permanently increased your magic and potions that permanently increase your stats. In many areas this was a reward for exploring. In Arcania you get four quests that spans the entire game. If you find 30 ancient relics, 30 statues, 30 goatskulls or 30 graves you get some really powerful items near the end of the game. This doesn’t make sense to me because the game still have treasure hunting like before, finding the hidden stuff is just as hard as finding the old lecterns and special plants you needed for permanent potions, the only real difference is that here YOU HAVE TO FIND THEM ALL, each and every single one of them, else you get no reward! This is awful gamedesign. It doesn’t make the game more accessible, rather it makes it inaccessible. It exploits people with OCD, it demands a tremendous effort with little reward and high risk of getting no reward. I personally used a map so I would be able to see these special items towards the end of the game, but without the map I wouldn’t even had tried. Imagine putting in the effort for a week just to get cheated on your reward for missing a single hidden item? It’s something about “gotta find them all” quests and achievements that ticks me off and have to stop. I guess it’s a sideeffect of the introduction of Acheivements and Trophies on consoles which developers try to implement without knowing how to make it fun. One better way would be to at least give partial rewards on the road (which is how former games in the series were designed actually), or scatter 60 items when you just need 30. Then you can still enjoy searching for them and still have a chance of reward for being into it. Now if you find a single item and move to the next area you can’t finish the quest. Awful.

Final Conclusion
I believe Gothic is effectively dead and that people who play the series should simply ignore everything beyond Gothic 3 even happened. Spellbound Software just can’t make interesting games or stories. It’s not a question of oversimplification, I could live with that, my problem with Arcania is about the emotional disattachment to the game, a product of bad writing and bad storytelling. Do not make the graphics fool you. New or old, if you care for a good story, npc’s that makes you care, rewarding exploration etc, Arcania isn’t worth your time.
 
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The collectibles part sounds like the magic/old chests in Gothic 3, you needed to open >20 to get something worthwhile. Really baffling design choice.

Don't see why we have to accept Gothic is totally dead after PB hinted that they intend to use the Gothic rights.
 
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Dear Green Place
honestly i'd rather see pirahna bytes take some chances and after risen explore the sci-fi realm. there's no reason to think they can't make a futuristic game. in fact when i first played the gothic demo back in 2000 the thing it reminded me most of was the movie no escape which took place on a prison colony in the future that was cut off from the rest of the world. they have talent and although risen was a great game as i'm sure risen 2 will be i think if they pushed themselves out of their comfort zone they could blow us all away.

just finished bulletstorm which i had only bought a) because i got it for `$15 and be because of any interview i heard a while back with ken levine. its a very fun action game of which i normally never play or like despite any setting. the story is not great but the art direction i enjoyed and the furistic resort setting that a bunch of the game took place in was quite enjoyable and quite art decoish which is but one of the things it shares in common with bioshock. the combat is diverse and the physics you use in combat never ceases to be fun. the "xp" system in the game rewards "combat creativity" through many different techniques and this is really the selling point of the game--trying to figure out different ways to use the environment, weapons, and even the enemies themselves. its a fun romp and full of crash language. its got a number of similarities to bioshock, borderlands, though i prefer it much to the later as its linearity keeps the game from getting boring. for someone who had never played duke nukem, serious sam, and didn't like max payne i suprisingly enjoyed this action game for he earlier reasons described. i really haven't seen a game besides bioshock or dark messiah where using the enviroment in combat played such a huge rule though it is a far more shootfest than either of those two. despite earning points for achieving things in the game i'd hesitate to say the game even has "rpg elements"
 
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California
Just finished KotOR 2: The Sith Lords with the Restored Content Mod 1.7.

Actually this was the first Obsidian game I played. I have never played one before, because I have a queer belief of upholding chronology when it comes to specific artists/musicians/etc that I feel are somehow important. And with Kotor 2 being somewhat unfinished and a restoration effort in the works I always held back.

And now that I finally played I am incredibly glad I did. Actually I think I have to consider it as one of my favorite games, possibly even my favorite RPG. The story and the setting resonate very well with me, and I am quite baffled why the game doesn't get more praise. It touches upon various philosophical, spiritual and psychological issues without feeling heavy-handed. And unlike PS:T the development of the main character is a lot more relatable metaphorically.

Of course the game has flaws and even with the restored content there is an area transition in the end game which feels a bit rushed, but the game definitely feels complete (although I don't know how "unfinished" it was without the restored content). There were still a handful of crashes, but nothing really annoying.

While I have to encourage everyone who hasn't played the game before to do it, I don't really know whether the restored content would justify an additional playthrough since most restorations seem to be minor quests and little pieces of dialogue here and there. From what I can gather, the only really big addition is the HK manufacturing plant which is not the droid planet and the actual gameplay there is very tedious, if you haven't built your HK-47 specifically to be able to solo other droids. But I found the small amount of dialog there actually more funny than most normal dialogs with HK-47.

Kotor 2 is a very introspective game and I was surprised at how good it actually is.
 
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Mar 12, 2011
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Limbo

Limbo is unfortunately another indie title that got overrated by critics and some gamers. It's basically a set of trial and error based platforming puzzles with an art direction which looks unique at first, but after a while, it loses its uniqueness. Some of the game's symbolization are meaningful and intelligent, ( Especially the whole idea of the Limbo itself or the main character's brutal deaths ) and also puzzles are enjoyable and rewarding, yet very easy to solve (compared to other indies like Braid ) , but that's that. Limbo is a good game and I fairly liked it, but unlike what many people say, I found it to be pretty forgettable. Still, I highly recommend you to play through it at least for once.

Score: 6.9/10

Call of Duty: United Offensive

UO as an expansion pack, is a really worthy product. It's not a quick money grab. Actually in many parts, it tries to be better than the original Call of Duty and sometimes succeed. CoD series is famous for its realistic atmosphere, well directed set pieces and fast-paced combat. These qualities are all present in UO in their very best form. Some of the set-pieces and scripted events in UO are outstanding.
Also the game is basically looked harder to me than the original CoD. ( Especially in American campaign and the last level of Russian campaign ) Because most of the time, you are in an open battlefield and you don't know what and form which direction hits you. ( Especially if you play the game on veteran, because first aid kits are removed and you have to play through all the level without trying to get shot. )
Although UO can't hide the fact that it's an expansion pack and brings more of the same, but it does a great job doing that.

Score: 8.0/10
 
Joined
Feb 19, 2011
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Iran
Just finished KotOR 2: The Sith Lords with the Restored Content Mod 1.7.
...
Kotor 2 is a very introspective game and I was surprised at how good it actually is.

Glad to hear I'm not the only one enjoying Kotor2. I actually found it among the better Aurora-engine games. The women feeling slightly less like angsty teenagers and the lack of Imoen/Mission type thieves helped:)

You are right that the droid factory is a bit of a slog, and it sort of highlights the issue that bothered me the most about the game. It forces you to use certain NPCs at certain times, and if you havent equipped them properly this can bite you...

Still a good game, even if the ending is off (I played it with the 1.6 version of the mod and it was still disjointed).
 
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Nov 4, 2006
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Just finished Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodlines yesterday with all the fan updates. What a great game! It reminded me a lot of the original Deus Ex with the modern setting and the many, many ways you could approach battles. I really liked the way the game gives you XP for *finishing* a quest instead of giving you XP for every poor schmuck you kill off. The music was also a huge plus. I took a couple of videos just to record the music in the game!

This looks to be a game with some serious replayability, too. Going through again as a Nosferatu sure won't be like my playthrough, that's for sure!

The graphics are rather dated but not horribly so. The animations are quite good (particularly the sneaking) and the voice acting is well done. The story is great, too, with some real memorable characters.

About the only downer I can come up with are some difficulty spikes here and there. I'm not sure if those were the result of some of the fan-made changes or not. They could simply be the result of how I built my character, who was a LOT better at taking down normal humans and talking her way out of situations than blasting away at other vampires.

It did have some serious trouble with doors. I had to reload a few time simply because some object was blocking it or it closed on me as I went through and I couldn't escape. After awhile I learned to fear the doors, which cut down on my problems in the later game.

Next in line, Two Worlds 2, with its improved 3D. The graphics sure are awesome but the voice acting and animations...
 
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Finished Deus Ex:HR a week or so ago. Great game indeed ^^ I had a lot of fun with it, it reminded me something of the first two Deus Ex atmosphere with a bit of Metal Gear Solid 4 gameplay. Ending scene wasn't too bad either ;).

The next in line will be Eschalon book I: the best thing is character development IMHO, and landscapes too are very beautiful for me, considering it's in 800*600 resolution in fullscreen xD.
 
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Sep 2, 2011
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Europe's Boot
Ball_Breaker said:
Finished Deus Ex:HR a week or so ago. Great game indeed I had a lot of fun with it, it reminded me something of the first two Deus Ex atmosphere with a bit of Metal Gear Solid 4 gameplay.
I haven't played the last two Metal Gear Solid titles, but I think (mostly because of the inclusion of boss fights) that Square Enix intends to make the new Deus Ex series a viable alternative to Metal Gear Solid.

Zloth said:
This looks to be a game with some serious replayability, too. Going through again as a Nosferatu sure won't be like my playthrough, that's for sure!
I replayed VtM:Bloodlines just a few weeks ago for the second time. After I finished it for the first time years ago, I played some characters up until the second area to check out some of the other clans' abilities, but never really completed another playthrough.

And I was quite disappointed, actually. I remember that I loved the game when it first came out. I didn't have any problems with bugs either, so I was quite disappointed with the fan patch, too, which restores only very little unused content.

Apart from the combat the game really does not offer much opportunity to change your playstyle. There are only a handful of dialogs were you have an actual choice and most of it is in the first area and at the very end. The humanity system is also fairly restricting since most choices usually involve a good action and some heinous alternative which loses you humanity, so if you actually do play a bad guy you either have to pay to increase your humanity with experience points or stop actually playing a bad guy. Which is pretty much self-defeating.

Bloodlines maximizes the illusion of player choice while only having the absolute minimum of alternative paths available.


Zaleukos said:
You are right that the droid factory is a bit of a slog, and it sort of highlights the issue that bothered me the most about the game. It forces you to use certain NPCs at certain times, and if you havent equipped them properly this can bite you…

I actually liked the idea of using two groups to accomplish goals "simultaneously" as I feel that it makes for a much more cinematic and dramatic experience. I have also replayed KotOR 1 before 2 to get the most out of the game, and it's a plus for me to be forced to use more companions than I would normally do. Having a companion just waiting aboard the ship, never seeing any real action just feels awkward to me.

It is problematic though, because sometimes you really don't want them to "lose" experience by levelling up in the wrong class too soon.

That said I really like the game. And it convinced me to finally play PS:T again.

I also looked up some of the Star Wars background and it seems that KotOR 2 is actually more grounded in the Expanded Universe's lore than the first part, which I find pretty surprising.
 
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Mar 12, 2011
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101
Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood

CoJ was one of those rare games that had a unique story and settings for a shooter, but due to some shortcomings, it couldn't reach a very high position. But BiB is different. It's a very well made game. It has hardly anything unlikable. The story, character development, perfect connection with the first game and of course the cut-scenes are downright awesome. Ray Mccall who is somehow a main character in the series is among my favorite characters and he is one of the reasons I like the story in both CoJ games so much. Also the gun-play is very well designed and completely delivers a wild west game. ( specially the duels ) Also the visuals in this game are great and in the highest settings, game looks absolutely gorgeous at some points.
Also the multi-player in the game is extremely addicting. I play it every day. The designing of the maps is great and there are lots of small details that you can use in your advantage. Also due to the fact that weapons in this game are a lot older than other FPSs, you have to be more careful about when you shoot. A single missed shot can lead to a loss which makes the multi-player a lot more tense and skill based.
The bottom line is if you are a shooter fan, you should try CoJ: BiB. There's a lot to appreciate in it. But be sure to play the first CoJ first. It makes the experience a lot better.

Score: 8.7/10

Rise of the Argonauts

Between all of the underdog games I have played, I feel sorry for the failure of RotA the most. It's obviously a game that its developers put their heart into making it and they did it with enthusiasm and concern and I personally didn't see any sign of lazy work in it. But the problem is that RotA suffers from some wrong major and minor design choices which show themselves from the start and made many people abandon the game without advancing far into it.

The biggest problem which most of the critics and gamers complained about is the enormous amount of dialogues in the game which takes around 70-80% of the game's time if you are willing to listen to all of it. Dialogues in the game are very well written and personally didn't get bored listen to all of it. But for a game which many looked at it as a God of War clone with RPG elements, it's a major turn-off.

The other big problem of the game is the uselessness of RPG elements. When you do certain things in the game ( like finishing a part of the story, killing a number of enemies, etc ) you complete a deed and you can dedicate it to one of the four gods in the game. You can also gain favor with gods by choosing dialogues that represent their symbol. For example, blunt and ruthless dialogues gain favor with Ares or compassionate and forgiving dialogues gain favor with Apollo. Ares, strengthens your mace, Hermes, your sword, Apollo, your shield and Athena your spear. Each God has 25 skills ( some of them are upgrades. ) The problem is these skills won't have a significant effect on game. Since there isn't much combat in the game and when there is, it's just very easy. You really don't have the need for the skills.

RotA is one of the easiest game I have ever played. I was playing it on legendary ( hard difficulty ) and died 5 times in the whole game. ( all of them during boss fights ) Jason is just basically strong himself, but then he has the company of two ( one at first ) other strong Argonauts who kill all of the enemies even if you don't interfere. Let alone when you do it. The problem is when Argonauts lose all of their health , the fall on the ground and you simply need to get to them and press the left mouse button and they resurrect at full health. It's easy as that. But with all of the things said, RotA's combat is very enjoyable and slashing your enemies with those rewarding slow-motions can be quite delightful.

Well, as the title says, RotA is about the famous Greek mythological tale. But expect some iconic events and characters, RotA is very different form its main source. For example, in the original mythology, Jason's uncle, Pelias, orders him to look for the golden fleece. But in the game, Jason tries to find it to bring back his dead wife, Alceme. Also, Jason's wife in the mythology is a witch named Medea who meets Jason during his journey for the fleece, not before it. But this dramatic change is not a very bad thing, because the developers knew what they are doing and made a good story and excellent character development ( especially for Jason himself ). So although story in the game is good, but you shouldn't expect anything similar to the original tale.

The other worthy aspect of the game is its epic, cinematic and sometimes amazing cut-scenes which are followed by a great and suitable musical score.

RotA uses Unreal engine 3.0 and it shows it. I believe the engine has been fairly put to a good use in this game. Some levels like Tartarus or Saria look great. But the problem is that the game doesn't take advantage of strong PCs. There is only one graphical settings that you can change and that is resolution. Nothing else. Quite disappointing.

Also the voice acting in RotA is good due to the fact that there are lots of dialogues in the game and also the financial success of the game was not certain at all.

In the end, I have to say RotA had problems and some serious ones, but in the end, when I finished it, I had the feeling that it deserved the time I dedicated to it. If you don't mind lots of dialogues and some rough edges, Rise of the Argonauts is definitely a game worth to play.

Score: 7.7/10
 
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Feb 19, 2011
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Iran
Resonance of Fate/End of Eternity(エンドーオフエテリニチー)

This game is a bit worth a shot, but I don't suggest you guys play it, unless you have got willpower, courage and patience to complete it. It has very small, yet ludicrous story, but its optional things are VERY large, such as the 50 Arena ranks' 10 matches per one rank, the submissions and the Neverland(Optional Area), which will take for about 150 hours of gameplay. If you wish to complete it with 100% trophies, like me, then try playing all of them within 150 gameplay hours, which will take you for about 2 weeks to complete it fully. if you do a speedrun, it completes within 4 hours.

Enjoy…

Off for the next game, Valkyria Chronicles.
 
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Jul 13, 2011
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270
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Thessaloniki, Greece
Finished Vampire:Masquerade Bloodlines. 1st time I played it to the end. Played as a Malcavian, which was a somewhat strange but very entertaining experience. Both because the weirdness of his way of talking, and all the easter eggs which seems to be missing for other clans (?). "No one expects the/a Malcavian".

Started replaying it, now as a Nosferatu, which is ... challenging, and must be played differently.

Says pibbur who thinks Bloodlines may be the third best RPG he's played.
 
Joined
Aug 31, 2011
Messages
164
Mass effect 2,

Finally finished ME2. I started sometime ago but gave up however finally finished the main story.

The goods,
  1. I like the FSP style combat. This is change from combats found in other RPGs and I really liked it.
  2. The main story was short and sweet but predictable. I did enjoy the philosophy behind some of the alien races as well as some characters.
  3. Some of the alien environments were nicely done. Specially the collector ships and stuff.
  4. The game actually felt like "proper hard" sci-fi rather than fantasy set in space.
  5. I actually liked the planet scanning mini-game! It did break the flow of the main game but I sort of liked it
.

The bads,
  1. RPG mechanics were streamed line form ME1. I wish there is more to character development like more skills, stats etc.
  2. I hated the loot mechanics. I did not like this upgrades business. I like to loot stuff and equip my character and companions.
  3. Too many NPC companions and some of them were not really flushed out. I wish they reduced number and added more personal quest.
  4. I did not like the way how you have to obtain the companions. This is why I got bored when I started the game. It felt like grind. I wish they were incorporated into the main quest and you "acquired" as part of the main quest.
  5. Apart from Tail, Garrus and may be Thane, I did not like or care about any of the other companions. I think liked Kelly and the doctor better than the rest of the companions
  6. I did like the story on its own but what's the point of it when you compare it with ME1? In ME1 the story is reapers are taking over the world using the Geth. In ME2 the reapers are taking over the world with collectors!!! In other words the story did not progress much from ME1. It's really the same thing. I wish the story progressed in some other way.

Score 7/10
 
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I finished this a couple of days ago but didn't have time to post a review, but here goes.

Fallout: New Vegas DLC4 Lonesome Road
Fourth and probably last storybased DLC for Fallout New Vegas tells the story about the "original courier" who have been a mystery ever since the beginning of the game.

Story
This will not spoil anything beyond the first 10-20 minutes.

Before the player known as "The Courier" accepted the mission that bought a bullet to the head, the mission was offered to a mysterious man who, when he saw the players name next on the list, turned down the mission and walked away, but only after expressing his wish that the player would have the mission. Who was that man? Why did he turn down the mission? Why did he want the player to have it? That's what DLC4 is all about.

Like previous DLC's, Lonesome Road calls you to a location that will move you into the DLC's own area. This time the Canyon Wreckage. You can keep your complete inventory this time around and you may even return back to the Mojave if you like.

Unlike previous DLC's there's no introduction, only a short trip into a base where you find another ED-E, you know the Eyebot you probably had as companion for most of the game. Upon leaving the base on the other side you are for the first time contacted by the original courier Ulysses via ED-E's radio, calling you too him.

What follows is a trek throughout the ruins called The Divide, overrun by a particular brand of ex-NCR, ex-Legion ghouls who are all hostile to you. At various points throughout this journey Ulysses will contact you again and again, each time giving you more insight on who he is, what he thinks and why you are there.

Gameplay
The worst part with Lonesome Road is that the bulk of it consists of simply wading through hordes of enemies through an unusually complex mapdesign. The ruins of the Divide twists and turns and will most likely be a strain to your brain. You walk around, through, beneath and over remains of buildings that are often tipped over to the side, making them unusually difficult to navigate. Now I did not have too much problems with the mapdesign even if it's noteworthy, but rather that fighting through waves of enemies in this place seems to be the only thing you do.

The earlier three DLC's had some content to it, stuff you had to do while walking around. Dead Money had the gathering and interaction between the NPC's you find, Old World Blues was packed with content while Honest Hearts was blasted for it's simplistic MMORPG-style quests. It's saddens me to say that Lonesome Road is weaker than Honest Hearts in this regard. Most of the content involves finding X of Y to solve the included challenges, a boring achievement-hunt that really have little to do with the story. You can find 20 hidden posters (that have nothing to do with the story), 10 hidden messages (that have nothing to do with the story). You can also unlock upgrades for ED-E which is also about finding the hidden eyebots scattered around the divide.

I guess the best new gameplay idea in Lonesome Road are blasting up warheads. Blasting warheads is a way to make progress in Lonesome Road. You will find a tool that looks a lot like a laser pistol. If you use this to fire at large cone-shaped warheads they will explode, often opening up new paths or secrets. There are 30 of them throughout the Divide but only about 2/3 of those actually unlocks new stuff.

There are a few new weapons but none I found were usuful for my Energy Weapons character. There are stores that are unlocked by ED-E and there's a challenge involving buying all upgrades for one of the weapons.

Final Conclusion
Lonesome Road is one of the weakest DLC's for both F:NV and F3.

Unless the story of Ulysses is interesting to you, I would skip this DLC. If you are interested in Ulysses and your true identity as a courier, then grab it because that's what this one have to offer.

I really looked forward to DLC4 after seeing hints about Ulysses in the first three DLC's but was quite dissappointed when I realized that all Lonesome Road is, is about walking a long distance and kill non-stop hordes of enemies, with very little else that adds to the experience.
 
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