What games are you playing currently

[eMTe]

Bestowers was later rerelased as Blackwell-something afair.

[Zyx]

I believe we played Bestowers of Eternity at some point in here. That is part of that series I believe.

Well, yes and no. The first game is pretty much that one plus more, if I've understood correctly.

[eMTe]

It will sound as truism, but returning from the swamp camp through the forest full of wolves REALLY IS the experience.

The so-called "cinematiqueness" is still the most important factor in success of computer games, Id say. Quality of graphics, sound and interaction with other players are secondary to the overall feeling that you're in another world.

[Pager]

I just finished playing RAGE a few days ago.
I'd have to say, I think it was unfairly reviewed. All except the review I read saying that it was over just when it was getting good...and I agree with that...there really was nothing in the second half of the game, it almost felt like it was thrown on, or that there should have been more but they ran out of time in development...

Now, as for the game, here is the kunundrum, the game is by id and Bethesda...and it is a post-apocalyptic wasteland game, touting that there was unlimited customization and whatnot. The unfortunate thing for RAGE is that most people were probably expecting something along the lines of Fallout 3 (also by Bethesda)...but unfortunately, that was not the case, the map wasn't really open world in the sense of you could go anywhere, and the customization was really limited to buying add-ons for your weapons.

On the other hand, if your compare the game to Doom 3, it was fantastic! The fact that you could travel wherever you wanted to go on the wasteland, and mix some mad max style racing into the mix was fantastic! So that being said, if you expect Fallout that will be your downfall, but if you expect a follow-up to Doom, you'll probably get more enjoyment out of it.

That being said, I am now playing Dead Island. I'll let you know hoe I feel about that one once I am done.

[Chroelle]

Let me know how Dead Island plays...no wait...dont tell me...I.... I gotta know...Is it scary? Like as scary as I expect of the forwards/backwards trailer? TEll me... Nah dont tell me... I cant stand the excitement of how much the trailer had my skin crawling... Let me know..Or not.

[Scythe]

I tried to start replaying Persona 4 on the PS2... and I went and ordered the official art book and am getting deep into the game! There are so many reasons why the game shouldn't work, but it just does. For me at least.

[Scythe]

Ok, since I've been feeling your blank stares at the back of my neck all day, I'd better tell you a lot about this game.

Persona 4 is a Japanese modern day RPG. The plot features a male high school student who has to spend a year with his uncle and young cousin out in the Japanese countryside. Just as he's beginning to make friends, a series of bizarre murders take place. Shortly after this he discovers that he has the ability to enter another world that exists behind TV screens. It doesn't take long to figure out that the murders are tied into this strange TV world. Along with a growing group of friends he decides to prevent any further murders from happening and of course find the culprit.

Gamewise, this is rather different. You go through most of a calendar year, planning out actions each day. You could spend the day with one of the inhabitants of the town, you could go study, read a book, go to a restaurant, get a part time job, or whatever. Sometimes though, you have to go dungeon crawling inside the TV world, and here the game changes to a rather simplistic exploration map with lots of battles. To help you in your battles, you can summon "Personas", which are mythical creatures that fight for you. Each character comes with his/her own Persona, but you yourself have access to any Persona you can find. This leads to a "gotta catch 'em all" game, where you can find some Personas, but have to fuse others by combining existing ones. Filling out your roster and leveling your critters is good fun. Tying this all together, each Persona belongs to a one of the major arcana of the Tarot, and are all represented by the people/groups that you socialize with in the daily planning! So everything ties together neatly, as you strengthen your Personas for dungeon crawling by interacting with your friends/neighbours.

After you've added all the little quirks, you've ended up with a "dating" type game combined with a simplistic dungeon crawler and a pokémon-esque collection game. Like I said, there's a lot of reasons this shouldn't work, but it does. Mostly through good characters, a layered plot and somewhat addictive combat.

While this is Persona 4, no prior knowledge is necessary. Persona 3 is semi-related to this, and had almost identical game mechanics, but a very different story. Many people swear to P3, but I prefer the improvements they made in P4.

[Chroelle]

Actually I was starting to think it sounded very interesting, and then I looked up some images and they turned me totally off. It is visually so wrong for me. I am just not that much into the whole asian cartoonstyle. I think I got turned off on that when everything was suddenly Pokemon and Dragonball Z all over the place.

[Scythe]

I've never been that much of a fan of the general animé style either. I don't find it very intrusive in this game though, since it's mostly stills during conversations, where I'm reading text. Character design during combat and such is much more generalized. But hey, do you have a PS2 to play this anyway?

[Chroelle]

Nope! And probably never will.
I am not even sure what console I would buy if I was to buy a new one. Currently I am down to a Wii after selling off my PS1

[Scythe]

Of course I liked the artwork enough to order the artbook... though that might simply be due to emotional investment in the characters that you end up with after playing. Of course, I also had a secret agenda for getting the artbook. It'll never come to fruition, but at least I got another book to add to my shelf.

[Chroelle]

Something about learning to draw? Or ...

[eMTe]

I am playing James Pond 2 for Lemon Amiga competition. Fortunately, second round ends today, so I may be more active in the upcoming week.

[Pater Alf]

But hey, do you have a PS2 to play this anyway?

I own one and I think I'm going to buy the game. What you wrote sounds very interesting and the anime graphics at least don't turn me off.

I'm still playing "Half-Life" and I finally reached the end-boss. Most of the game was fun to play even if I don't think there was the often-claimed great story (but maybe we just have different expectations today). But the last few levels on the alien planet were really dull and bored me a lot.

[eMTe]

My thought exactly! Last levels are dull (we talk about HL1, right?), Earth levels are captivating.

[Pater Alf]

Yes, "Half-Life 1". Last levels seem like they ran of ideas and/or time.

[Chroelle]

Or that they had some more ideas but didn't know how to implement them..

I love the HL-series, and I think it gets really interesting really fast. But when you hit HL2 and start on the episodes you will be hit from left and right with awesomeness!

[Zyx]

I'm still playing "Half-Life" and I finally reached the end-boss. Most of the game was fun to play even if I don't think there was the often-claimed great story (but maybe we just have different expectations today).

Well, that there even was a story in a shooter and it was driven by scripted actions within in the game was something entirely new at the time.

[Scythe]

Something about learning to draw? Or ...

Wouldn't be a secret if I told you, would it? I got my artbook today, and it's so neat! And it had exactly what I was looking for.

I own one and I think I'm going to buy the game. What you wrote sounds very interesting and the anime graphics at least don't turn me off.

Definitely worth a shot. Should be fairly cheap now a days, I imagine. Unless rabid fans have picked up all copies. (Don't look at me, I only own three different versions of Persona 3.)

[eMTe]

I don't believe HL was the first game ever featuring scripted sequences.