[The video game thread]

The PS3 KILLeR · Post by **The PS3 KILLeR** » Sat Mar 01, 2014 7:37 am

Picked up Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare to wash the taste of Thief out.

Gotta say it's REALLY fun! Plus it's only $40 ($30 on 360) so that's nice as well!

It's got a lot of charm and whit and so far most of the classes seem really balanced. It's almost like a family friendly Team Fortress 2 but in Third person, which turns out really nice when you get to try it.

Highly recommend if you have an Xbox One or 360. It's got an awesome co-op mode too!

HeavyArms · Post by **HeavyArms** » Sat Mar 01, 2014 8:16 am

I bought Batman Arkham Origins: Blackgate on the PS Vita last Sunday at EB Games. It's not great but it is a companion piece to the PS3/X360 version.

Heinrad · Post by **Heinrad** » Sun Mar 02, 2014 12:01 am

Well, my tax refund hit, and while most of it is going into getting a new car(new to me, anyway), I've also upgraded my iPad to an iPad 2(and doubled my storage on it. It's white, though. Second time I've replaced an iOS device, and the second time it's been white. Odd, that.). This has let me download a few games I couldn't get before due to Apple dropping support for the old iPad.

Stargate SG-1: Unleashed - yes, I'm a fan of Stargate, and this game hits most of the right buttons. Not all of them, but most of them. For one thing, while they went with the main cast, they appear to have been it. I know Don S. Davis has died, so getting him to do the voice for General Hammond would be a bit hard, but I don't think Gary Jones is dead. It also feels a bit.... Flat. It's good, it's fun, it's worth getting. It's just not blowing me out of my socks.

Tengami - literally the first game I downloaded onto this iPad. It's beautifully done. You're a pop-up character in a pop-up book. No combat so far, in fact the closest I've come to combat was using wind chimes to put wolves to sleep. It looks like you have to put cherry blossoms back on a tree to bring the world out of deep despair. Given how this winter's been, I need this.

Robocop - based on the new movie, it's a fairly straightforward shoot bad guys, get money, and upgrade yourself game. As there's no IMAX theater anywhere near me, at least I now have some clue what's going on. It's also not a game I'd highly recommend, mainly because while it's free, unless you're willing to spend a long time collecting money by completing missions, it's going to cost you lots of real-world cash.

CSR Classics - I downloaded this one, also free, because I was curious about other games from the company that made it, Natural Motion. I've got Clumsy Ninja, and it's great. This game is fun, but it's also a 'Give us your money if you want to get anywhere despite it being free' game. Not bad, but Clumsy Ninja is more fun.

As I now had a spare iPad and had nobody to give it to, I took it in to Gamestop and traded it in for credit. Didn't get as much as I'd hoped for, but I got more than I was expecting. Did I leave the store with that credit? Of course not.

Etrian Odyssey Untold: The Millenium Girl Special Edition - Also known as Fate smacking me up side the head. I wound up trading my old iPad in for regular store credit than towards the new iPad thanks to impatience and timing, and I used the credit to get this game. I've played the demo and enjoyed it a lot, and since they had the Special Edition(comes with soundtrack CD and art book.... Although art pamphlet would be more accurate), I decided to get it.

Resident Evil: Deadly Silence - Yes, the DS port of Resident Evil: Director's Cut from the PS1, a game I've been looking for since I got a DS. Not that hard, admittedly, but I've been looking. And I finally found it. If I'm very lucky, they redid the voice acting.

Megaman Zero Collection - All four Zero games on one DS cartridge. Given the dearth of traditional cart-based Megaman DS games that I've seen, finding this little gem is quite nice. I've never played the Zero series before, and so far, it's a lot of fun.

ganon578 · Post by **ganon578** » Wed Mar 05, 2014 7:12 pm

Auntie Slag wrote:It certainly seems to require a lot of patience. Apparently you need to play for a good few hours before the game really introduces you to what's good about it. That's a lot of messing around if you ask me. And I thought Zelda games started slow! They're positively light speed after playing this!

Twilight Princess is definitely the star of that show.

After being in video game limbo for a while, I went back to Darksiders 2 last night. After finishing off the last boss again, I started a New Game+ on Apocalyptic. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed this game, and how beautiful the scenery and music can be at times.

Clogs · Post by **Clogs** » Wed Mar 05, 2014 11:46 pm

I'm sooooo retro right now!

Playing Neverwinter Nights Kingmaker expansion modules on the laptop. Had to adjust Windows 7 to take the XP game, but that was no big deal. Running pretty well, bar the occasional crash; regular saving is de rigeur.

After this, I have Neverwinter Nights 2 to play through. Yay!

Heinrad · Post by **Heinrad** » Thu Mar 06, 2014 1:32 am

Currently playing Etrian Oddyssey Untold: The Millenium Girl on the 3DS. Fun game. The hardest part is getting used to mapping everything.

HeavyArms · Post by **HeavyArms** » Sat Mar 08, 2014 7:50 am

Bought Resident Evil: Revelations for just $5!

ganon578 · Post by **ganon578** » Fri Mar 14, 2014 2:47 pm

Did some Nintendo eShop shopping recently.

Using some Club Rewards, picked up Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters. I had it on the original GameBoy (it's actually the game that thankfully made me get a GameBoy; thank you relatives that didn't know a GB game from an NES game!), and man was I terrible at it back then. I still loved it unconditionally though, just like TMNT on the NES. Thank the Lord for Restore Points on VC games. The first four levels are not tricky by any means, but damn is that Minotaur hard in the first dungeon. Finally made it to level 2-1 last night! First time ever! Only took me ~25 years!

Also picked up SteamWorld Dig for 50% off. I have been wanting this game for a loooong time, just waiting for a sale. Haven't played it yet, but I am really looking forward to it.

angloconvoy · Post by **angloconvoy** » Fri Mar 14, 2014 3:36 pm

Pixeljunk Monsters. Really good, quite challenging castle defense.

HeavyArms · Post by **HeavyArms** » Sat Mar 15, 2014 7:30 am

Downloaded the Awakening DLC for Dead Space 3.

ganon578 · Post by **ganon578** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 5:18 pm

Most of my gaming has been dominated by SteamWorld Dig on the 3DS. Holy cow is this game addicting. I love all the exploration, upgrading, and mining. Pure fun.

Notabot · Post by **Notabot** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 6:52 pm

I almost picked that one up based on your recommendation and the sale. But then I remembered that I haven't had a chance to play anything at all on the 3DS because my boys use it very frequently. That and I have a huge backlog of unplayed games already. But if it goes on sale again, I'd probably bite. It looks cool.

One review I read said it was something like Metroid meets Dig Dug meets an RPG. Is that accurate-ish?

electro girl · Post by **electro girl** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 8:55 pm

I finally dragged myself into last decade and got a second hand Xbox 360 and South Park The Stick Of Truth. Its fun to play and as you would expect it is also funny and packed with references to seasons past. My one complaint is that the descriptions/tutorials for executing attacks are not always clear.

angloconvoy · Post by **angloconvoy** » Tue Mar 18, 2014 1:16 am

I'm currently trying Dark Souls again. After watching the review on Zero Punctuation which pointed out that if you read a bit of intsruction on the wiki to help you get started then it's really good, I dived in. And once you get over that massive hump at the beginning, he's not wrong. It takes time and effort, but it' a fantastic game all around. Hard, but fair, is what I keep hearing. And that's about right. A big part of the challenge is figuring out which route best suits your skill set, as the game gives nothing away and will allow you to wander pretty much anywhere right off the bat, with no hand holding. Getting so much as competant, not even good, takes pratice. Also, you can get involved in the story, or just murder your way through the world, as you please.
If you haven't played it yet then you really need to.

Cyberstrike nTo · Post by **Cyberstrike nTo** » Tue Mar 18, 2014 3:39 pm

I'm finished playing Saint's Row: The Third on the PS3 and I'm currently playing Saint's Row IV on Xbox 360.

ganon578 · Post by **ganon578** » Thu Mar 20, 2014 9:18 pm

Notabot wrote:I almost picked that one up based on your recommendation and the sale. But then I remembered that I haven't had a chance to play anything at all on the 3DS because my boys use it very frequently. That and I have a huge backlog of unplayed games already. But if it goes on sale again, I'd probably bite. It looks cool.

One review I read said it was something like Metroid meets Dig Dug meets an RPG. Is that accurate-ish?

That description is somewhat accurate. I certainly found the title screen music to be quite Metroid-ish. As for gameplay, you explore and re-explore when you acquire new upgrades (Metroid). You find caves while mining (Dig Dug style) which can hold upgrade spots for Rusty (the main protagonist) that give him new weapons/mining tools or abilities (like double jumping). There are upgrades for your upgrades which you can purchase in town when you level up (by cashing in various ores).

The mining can be tricky, especially in deeper levels, because you can't just hack away all the ground. You still have to leave yourself ways to get back to the surface - it adds a little strategy to your digging.

And the levels are randomly generated - when you finish the game and start a new one, the mining sections will be different.

For $4.50, it's a fantastic 6-8 hours of playing that will be different the next time you start a fresh game. I highly recommend it when it goes on sale again.

HeavyArms · Post by **HeavyArms** » Sat Mar 22, 2014 7:48 am

I'm still playing Dragon Age: Origins, but I'm playing the Awakening expansion pack and I'm halfway through it.

Knightdramon · Post by **Knightdramon** » Sat Mar 22, 2014 11:17 am

Still playing pokemon X since October, though much less right now.

I'm at about 615 of 740 or so pokemon caught. Very close to completing the pokedex.

Had a lengthy detour when breeding for teams and all that [mixed results, but they really work] and I'll get back to it once I'm fully done with the dex.

Game was still surprisingly short.

Notabot · Post by **Notabot** » Sat Mar 22, 2014 6:57 pm

My son is looking to get Pokemon for the 3DS soon. Is there a big difference between X and Y? I'm a Poke-idiot, so I've got no idea of anything other than Pikachu and Charazard. Is it just a matter of personal preference, or do they have significant differences?

Knightdramon · Post by **Knightdramon** » Sat Mar 22, 2014 7:43 pm

Unlike Black/White and Black2/White2 earlier on, there aren't any differences in the scenery/story/characters appearing.

There's exclusive pokemon in one version that aren't around in the other, and vice versa. Each version features the pokemon on the front cover.

There are some minor differences regarding mega stones [in-game items], which, like above, one version has one set as an exclusive and the other, another.

So other than "artistic" differences, not much lost. And considering how easy it is to get online and trade, doesn't make any difference at all.