Last game you finished, tell us about it

Just finished Folklore in the PS3, good game, something like action (80%)/RPG(20%), with the RPG part being how you collect and upgrade your 'weapons' (similar to Shin Megami Tensei). It's not long, took me about a week without being completist but still trying to do all the quests.
Before this I finished Bladestorm in the PS3, which was a really good action(30%)/strategy(40%)/RPG(30%) game set in the 100 year war between England and France (not historically accurate though, just used the setting as a backdrop)

Originally Posted by JDR13
Definitely not as bad as some people make it out to be, although it's nowhere near as good as Deus Ex.

I had done a blog back in late '05 where I 'let go' of two years worth of hate for the game … basically with the same thought. In the context of being a promised DX sequel at a time when XBOX was really just starting to poach top released of traditional PC games, and seeing how DX:IW shipped with numerous glaring issues like ini file lines that said 'set to 0 if not on XBOX' that were still set to 0 on PC … it really deserved to be hated.

That said, even in the context of a couple years distance from the original release, it was not a terrible game. Dumbed down and inferior in every way to the original, for sure, but a ~75% shooter with minimal rpg-lite stuff.

Last finished - Drakensang.

What to tell? Levelling reminds a lot on BG/BG2 (ruleset implementation in a cRPG), the graphics engine is something between gothic and the witcher.

Some things are not polished enough: plenty of useless skills, too easy to kill some foes (you kill a dragon easier than a big rat), some locations get locked after you deal with the main quest in there, random encounters tend to get boring and repetative (you can't get almost any nifty loot there).

Good things? There are plenty of quests, and not just "bring this there" or "kill that mob" ones, but many fun and original ones (don't want to spoil on anyone, but workers turned into chicken quest is brilliant).
Graphics ain't stunning, but it's really nice. Sound is also pretty good, although below sounds and music from mentioned Gothic and Witcher.
And what I loved the most - monster respawn doesn't exist or is minimal. Ok, in some areas they do jump out all the time, but you can deal with it and stop it (kill necro - no more zombies). Yea, I hate RPGs where you have to grind for no reason at all, just because you have not anything else to do (read, RPGs with almost no quests, that's probably the reason I don't play most of MMOs and find them boring).

In short, if you hate "no story, grinding only" RPGs, Drakensang is a must have. Although it's not a masterpiece, you'll definetly have fun with this one.

Finished Cryostasis:The Sleep of Reason this morning.

I had been looking forward to this game, as first-person survival horror games are few and far between, but I was ultimately disappointed. I kept waiting for the storyline to makes sense but it never did, and the ending was just awful. The game is also very poorly optimized, and doesn't even utilize dual-core CPUs or hyperthreading.

The game has surprisingly received above-average reviews in general, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, unless you're just desperate for something from that genre.

Originally Posted by JDR13
Finished Cryostasis:The Sleep of Reason this morning.

I had been looking forward to this game, as first-person survival horror games are few and far between, but I was ultimately disappointed. I kept waiting for the storyline to makes sense but it never did, and the ending was just awful. The game is also very poorly optimized, and doesn't even utilize dual-core CPUs or hyperthreading.

The game has surprisingly received above-average reviews in general, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, unless you're just desperate for something from that genre.

That pretty well summarizes my thoughts … well, except for the end since I haven't gotten there yet and find it hard to think I will. The reviews are definitely more positive than I think is deserved ,…

Recently finished The last Remnant….. which was kind of mediocre in my opinion. First JRPG I played and there were a few very annoying issues: like the pseudo-cool slang/voice of the protagonist ("Hey Dave….") and especially the enormous amount of tedious combat….. The story was interesting with some twists and politics…. but all in all not really my cup of tea……

Yesterday i bought "Sherlock Holmes vs. Jack the Ripper" which seems pretty good, although I just started it…….


L.

Originally Posted by Lannister
Recently finished The last Remnant….. which was kind of mediocre in my opinion. First JRPG I played and there were a few very annoying issues: like the pseudo-cool slang/voice of the protagonist ("Hey Dave….") and especially the enormous amount of tedious combat….. The story was interesting with some twists and politics…. but all in all not really my cup of tea……

Yep - it is a huge game filled with all the typical jRPG tropes … mediocre about calls it for me.

Finished Crysis:Warhead.
A fun easy and very short FPS.
So short that I completed it in a day and I wasn't in a rush.
I think the atmosphere was better than in the 1st Crysis and I liked Psycho more than Nomad.
The game is much easier than the original Crysis as I died only a couple of times.
I have the feeling that they optimized the machine a bit cause it looked great on my crapware.

It's the 1st game that I completed in many months so I hope I'm proud of that.
Following: Dark Messiah of M&M and Kings Bounty.

I really enjoyed both Crysis games and look forward to replaying them in the future, hopefully after a system upgrade…

Finished Fahrenheit aka Indigo Prophecy

Great game. Gripping story, even if a bit too weird in the second half. Great, unusual gameplay, reminded me a bit of DDR and others. Clearly made for consoles, although in this case I didn't mind the controls, because like Gothic 1, it worked for what it was supposed to do and felt very natural after a short while.

I particularly liked that you couldn't save at all (!) - all saves were done automatically each chapter, or when you've progressed to certain key points. This provided a healthy amount of tension, similar to what I felt in the original Dark Forces from way back, particularly because you often have to make quick decisions under time constraints. Normally I don't like time constraints in games, but here it works. If you made a mistake, you can try again. In a worst case scenario you only have to redo a couple minutes. The game was a tiny bit frustrating at times, but never unfair.

Minus points: no wide-screen support. Maybe there weren't too many widescreen monitors available in 2005, but for a game that's made like a widescreen movie: no good. So now I had big black bars at the sides, due to the 4:3 format *and* at the top and bottom (from the game). And from what I've read, the XBOX version did support widescreen. Go figure.

9 / 10 game for me, which means: I was never bored, wanted to play whenever I had the time.

PS: The first fight against the [censored] was absolutely thrilling! Like a complex dance and full of action.

Finished a few minutes ago,Dark Messiah Of Might And Magic(twice)
After dosens of problems from overheating(guess living in a hot country does have it's drawbacks)and literally striping everything so my computer could breath I completed it.
A rather good action game with a few RPG elements.The visuals were the best thing I've seen on my P4+GeForce 7600 PC.
The fighting part was well done but got too easy near the end.
The idea of a demon speaking inside you was interesting in the beggining but got tedious after a while.
The story was just meh and the 2 choices have to take just alter the end video.
A bit longer than I expected but it didn't feel forced.
The only reason I completed it twice(fighter,mage)was so that I could put it on the shelf and never remember about it,It certainly wasn't bad but I see no reason to replay it.
The best thing about the game was kicking,if I ever play this again I'll search for some endurance cheat.

Finished Mass Effect. Thoughts here.

Recently finished Last Remnant, a Squeenix jRPG for PC & X360, review here:

My quick synopsis - generic fishing trip through the sea of JRPG tropes featuring generic teenager Spike McWhiny searching for his sister suddenly getting embroiled in a earth shattering series of events. I know the main character’s name is Rush Sykes, so you can guess that my calling him Spike McWhiny isn’t a compliment! When playing I found myself constantly jerked out of the action by annoying cut scenes where I had to listen to the main character, and thinking of him as the annoying whiny kid with the typical spiky hair. So he became Spike McWhiny to me.

I just finished Sora's side of Kingdom Hearts re:Chain of Memories for PS2 (US version). I now understand some stuff I didn't get when playing KH 2 (or rather, I hope I understood it this time). Beating all three incarnations of the end boss was a cakewalk for my beatdown deck (no magic, no sleights, just swords, reloading- and healing items). Took me two attempts to kick his pink butt; the first got me killed, of course, but it served to figured out how he worked. Well, the the end boss was nothing compared to Axel who (as I wrote elsewhere) handed me my butt on a silver platter about fifteen (or so) times before I finally managed to sort out my cards and blow him into oblivion.
The Sora playthrough took me 39:59… nearly 40 hours, and I didn't regret spending them with this game. Now I'll go and see if Riku's story is substantially shorter. But since game mechanics are a tad different… well, we'll see .

For the past weeks I have been finishing the DLC for Fallout 3, and I thought I should give you are minireview for each one of them. In short, the fourth is the best, the third is the most useful, the first and second are short and add little more than a few hours of sidequests.

Before I go on, let me say this at once, if you intend to play any DLC's, I suggest you get Broken Steel first so you get the level cap increase and be allowed to do the DLC's after finishing the main game instead of before.

Here goes:

Fallout 3 DLC 1. Operation Anchorage
In Operation Anchorage the player enters a "virtual reality simulation" in which they help the US to fight off chinese invaders in Anchorage, Alaska. This is basically a challenge for most of your current abilities, but mostly combat. You begin the simulation without weaponry, or companions, and you have to use what you find on the way to defeat hordes of chinese soldiers throughout military bases and a frosty landscape.

I cannot say that there are any glaring problems with the execution of the idea. The frosty landscape looks kinda good, and it's a change from the capital wastelands. It was actually interesting to have to go back to the "roots", using weapons I found on the path, compared to my "real world" character who can kill everything in it's path without breaking sweat.

My concerns might be the idea itself. Yeah, it's a bit inspired by the Guns of Navarone, and it's a war scenario, kinda like using the Fallout 3 engine to tell a story… it even add some canon. Overall though, Anchorage felt like a short sidetrip, and virtual reality in the Fallout universe? I don't know. This feels like one of those quests you do just to get a bit more out of the game. Even worse, Anchorage is almost completely based on combat and shooting stuff, and if you like me F3's strong point never was about combat, but about quests and exploration, so having an entire DLC based on combat was a bad idea. You aren't even allowed to go back into the simulation once you are done so once you are done, that's it.

Even if the only thing you get from the simulation itself are skills and experiencepoints, you do get some decent loot out of it that can be used in the "real world". The best imo, is a near permanent power armor (glitched duration?) without agility penalty for it, which might be a good thing. If you are a fan of Fallout 1 and 2 you might also want to check out one of the weapons you get.

Play Operation Anchorage if you want more out of Fallout 3, and if you need a good power armor that doesn't decay, but I would recommend having Broken Steel installed first.

Fallout 3 DLC 2. The Pitt
In The Pitt you are sent undercover into a den of slavers, as a slave, to find out if the leaders of the slavers have found a cure for mutations. Like Anchorhage you cannot take anything with you, neither weapons, armor or companions, so you have to do with what you find. I actually liked this because like I said before, my character is a bit too good otherwise, and it felt a bit refreshing to have to do with lousy armor and weaponry.

The new area looks great. It's darker and more gritty than previous games. If you just look out over the horizon you see a city covered in smoke with fire shooting up here and there, like a dark industrial setting.
The Pitt is actually the remains of Pittsburg, which is now basically a forge (The Mill), where the slavers force the slaves to make stuff. Much of the DLC takes place in an isolated place called the "steelyard" in which you must track down and find iron bars, kinda like a MMORPG grind quest. You go in there without anything on you but a small pistol, and it's filled with a new type of ghoul a long with a new type of raider called the wildmen. Once done there you will get into the ""Uptown" where the slavers reside, and you have to decide if you want to support them or free the slaves.

The bulk of The Pitt means chasing down the iron bars and you will get quite a few prices if you do. The most important new weapon is the "autoaxe", which is basically like a weedwhacker with a rotating blade that cuts down foes like butter. It's quite effective against the ghouls in the steelyard and you get better versions if you chase down the iron bars.

While I enjoyed The Pitt a bit more than Anchorage, and that it felt far more like Fallout 3 itself than Anchorage did, it's felt very short, consisting of only 2 small main areas and a very short story which really wasn't that surprising to me. If you have a melee weapons guy or unarmed you might like the rewards, and it also have a good energy weapon, but I think the power armor from Anchorhage was more useful.

It should be noted that earlier reviews smacked down on The Pitt due to it's bugs, but the only bug I encountered was a texture bug that might got fixed in 1.6. It made the skin of humanoids dark green, almost hulk-like, while the faces keep their original look. Also many of the NPC's got eyes that looked like blood, which I actually thought was part of the expansion but it wasn't.

Play The Pitt if you want more out of Fallout 3, but I would recommend having Broken Steel installed first.

Fallout 3 DLC 3. Broken Steel
Ok, now we talking. Broken Steel is the first DLC that feels like more than a short sidequest. Broken Steel takes place after the main quest of the original game (yes indeed). I won't give any spoilers here, but Broken Steel primary focus is on what happens after the character did what he/she did in the end of the original game. Much of the game will be a military campaign, but this is also the first expansion to have sidequests besides the "main quest" of the DLC.

There are seveal nice features in Broken Steel.
* It allows you to continue the game so you can actually finish the main quest before you go exploring the rest of the game (including the other DLC's).
* It extends the level cap with another 10 levels a long with new perks.
* It adds tougher enemies such as the Super Mutant Overlord.
* Unlike the first two you can both use all your items and your companions while playing the quest, meaning this is the one you want to play if you want to try out custom companion mods, or really get to use the new weapons/armor you found in the other DLC's.
* If you felt like me about the original ending, Broken Steel might be more satisfying to you.
* It's a lot longer than earlier DLC's.

Broken Steel basically feels like what should have been in Fallout 3 in the first place. Having said that, this is not really an expansion. There are more quests than in the first two DLC's, and the final part of the main quest takes place in a huge area with a new feel to it and loads of tough enemies that feels more challenging. Finally the new ending is more fulfilling than the ending of the earlier DLC's, and for some, even that of the original game. Overall Broken Steel is an epic continuation of the F3 story, but no Oscar.

Play Broken Steel if you want more out of Fallout 3. If you intend to play any of the DLC's, Broken Steel should probably be installed first. It's not the best of the expansions, but it is the most useful.

Fallout 3 DLC 4. Point Lookout
Best of the DLC's IMO. A ferry, the Duchess Gambit, appears down by the river, and allows the player to go to Point Lookout, an area that wasn't nuked, but abandoned. This new area feels very different to the rest of the game. Instead of capital wastelands you get an island with actual vegitation, trees and bushes. Some of it takes place in an actual forest/swamp. Point Lookout itself is a harbor to which you are taken by boat. On the island are a couple of mansions with inhabitants that you can help if you like, and you will eventually need to pick sides between two factions that aren't clear-cut good/evil. New enemies consists of smugglers, inbreeds and tribals. There are more quests and bonus content than the three earlier games, and much more to explore. Point Lookout is also pretty atmospheric and even borrows some horror elements inspired by HP Lovecraft.

Playing Point Lookout is basically about exploration of a new area, which is a refreshing change from the original game. In many ways I felt PL to be a reference to the exploration of Fallout 2 that also took place in a real wasteland, not just ruins. Then there's ofcourse the tribals which feels like a F2 reference. The new loot fits the theme of the expansion, with confederate hats and workman's coveralls, which you might not want to use as actual equipment but might be fun to wear. There's a few new and awesome rifles that really packs a punch and a very unique energy weapon, but no real armors.

Play Point Lookout if you want an atmospheric sidequest with somewhat better quests than the other DLC's. This fourth expansion is actually the first that make me want to see more DLC's that takes place in the real wastelands outside the ruins of the capital.

I just finished my second play through of Mass Effect and this time I came to truly love it. It has it's faults, but I got so into my character and companions, and the story and stuff. Plus it just has this cool atmosphere, music and so forth that I dig.

But now it's over and I'm sad. I'm sad because I want to keep playing it. I didn't want it to end and ME 2 is still six months away!

I'd give it an 8 out of ten because there is definite room for improvement. One of the more minor balance issues that I had with it is there's far, far too much loot and it's too easy to make money. You get very rich by the end of the game and since you find all your best stuff it detracts from the enjoyment of shopping for items at stores. And since you rapidly become quite wealthy with all the loot you collect, and all the mineral and planet surveying you can do, it takes all the fun out of being paid for quests, and saving up for that swanky new weapon or piece of armour.

So what I decided might be fun if I play it again (and I'm mentioning this if you're one of the few people who think like I do) is to not put any skill point into the Decryption skill, so I won't be able to unlock as many containers. And to not use the override mini game, AT ALL. That way I'll have to use omni gel to open containers and I won't be able to survey mineral deposites or retrieve artifacts. Thus collecting loot from enemies and surveying planets will be much more fun because that, and quests will be the only way to make money.

The only drawback to that is Decryption opens up a valuable power, and it's a bit silly from a role playing point of view for someone like Tali, who's a tech specialists not to have Decryption. But what the heck I just won't use her.

Just finished the first chapter of "Tales of Monkey Island". It is short (I started yesterday) but fun.

For me it managed to revive the atmosphere of the Monkey island Series very well. Of course you meet several old friends but also some new original characters.

The puzzles were easy but fun.

Definitly worth the about 30 € (the price for all 5 chapters, so they are about six € each).

Now starting the first Wallace and Gromit chapter, which was included for free in the steam purchase of the Monkey Island tales (only for a few days).

Monkey Island: Special Edition
The classic adventure game Monkey Island get's a facelift in MIE which gives a new generation a chance to check out this old gem. The credits end with a special thanks to all the fans worldwide. Well, one of them of me. As one who finished the classic numerous times (awhile I finished it at least once every year) I had things I liked about the remake and things I didn't like.

The good first; it's fun to play this classic with enhanced graphics and sound. The original game didn't have any voice acting at all and the music was MIDI. There wasn't any images for your inventory either (except for the CD version). In many ways the new graphics are well done. I was particulary amazed over the first screen, outside the scumm bar. Here you can now see a dock in the background and there's a large tree with falling leaves in the foreground. I particulary remember that on the PC/Amiga version you could see the face of a dog you can talk with in the bar but you would never get to see that in the game, that was actually one of the first things I had to check out, turns out they added the dog's face in the SE version. Just a minor thing.

The bad… well, some of the voice acting could be better. I felt that the Sword Master were emotionless and I didn't really like the voice of Governor Marley. Another major issue for me was the new look on many of the characters. Guybrush new haircut is terrible, and when he is facing you he have this hollow glare which I just thought annoying. The first characters you meet, like the pirate with one eye and the one who makes fun of your game… well, they looked kinda bad. Worst was probably Governor Marley though, who where very pretty in the original, and in the 3rd game as well, but looks very poorly done in this remake.

I also thought that some scenes missed the OOOMPH they had in the original game. A certain explosion in the end just wasn't as cool as the original, and the few seconds of silence that happens if you insult the important-looking pirates wasn't there in the Special Edition.

On the technical side, the game refused to run on my TV that's connected to my 2nd graphiccard. Finally I thought the controls was quite bad. You do not get the options on screen anymore, you rotate them with your mousewheel or you have to push keys on the keyboard. This is quite annoying in places where it matters if you use "pick up", "pull" or "push" and you have to push P, Y or S.

Why remake a 2d adventure game? nothing is as beautiful as a hand-drawn 2d adventure games…..

Originally Posted by GothicGothicness
Why remake a 2d adventure game? nothing is as beautiful as a hand-drawn 2d adventure games…..

MI: SE is still 2d, but in hires.