What are you playing? [SPOILER TAGS PLEASE]

[Hemingway]

Into that demonic void called January and February. The gaming industry is like the movie industry nothing hits after the new year. We'll get some things in March, but then it usually peters out around the summer months. Then fall comes and finally, finally it happens...

The game you wanted all year gets pushed back until next year. :\

A few good games are coming in February, but yeah. It's terrible.

I went out and got myself a PS3 to remedy it.

It was a more or less completely spontaneous decision. I could afford it right now, so that's great. I've also been wanting to play a few PS3 exclusives ( Uncharted and Heavy Rain mostly ). What really sold me was seeing the trailer for The Last of Us, though. If that turns out anything like what it looks like and what I hope, it'll be fantastic. Unfortunately, they didn't have the game I wanted, so I ended up getting Dark Souls. It is distinctly possible I will simply end up smashing my console to bits.

[Aoife]

Portal 2...

Although I wouldn't call it 'playing' so much as 'oh look, I fell again'.

That and Professor Layton (1st one).

[Oniya]

I finished the Castaway series (including the less-than-thrilling Tower Defense version) and went back to playing Arcuz.  What I really need to do is figure out what goals I have for my armor/weapons and focus on that instead of charging willy-nilly for the Centaurs that keep killing me.

[Hemingway]

What was I thinking?

Dark Souls is ... I mean, I knew what I was getting into, but ... still. It's something else entirely actually playing the game.

You know that feeling when you die on a particularly difficult boss, and just getting back there for a second try is hard enough? Yeah, that's Dark Souls for you. The entire game!

[Capone]

Yeah. I love Dark Souls and Demon's Souls, I really do, but I'd love a variant of them that is meant to actually be beaten.

As far as FPS games go, I can recommend Resistance 3 as being a lot of fun. If you'd like, I can PM the two blog entries I made on my website to you. I was really surprised, ESPECIALLY since the first two games were scrotum scrubbers. The third, though...the third is the scrotum being scrubbed into a nice clean sack o' manliness.

Really good stuff.

I was hoping to try and collect a bunch of items in Metroid Fusion before I beat it, but I forgot that the last mission locks you into, well, the last mission. Ah well. 73% isn't bad for not having played the game in years.

3DS started doing demos today, with Resident Evil: Revelations being the first item up. I'll be seeing tonight if it'll be worth $50 for a handheld RE game.

[Inkidu]

I feel like any amount of money paid for Dark Souls is too much, and I'm basically playing it for free. It's a fairly classic example of companies thinking challenge and depth equals butt-hurt hard. Not, they just hit hard, but opportunist, spamming, computer is a cheating bastard hard.

Why do I love it though. I love the combat, the idea that you have to keep your surroundings in mind because your sword will hit walls and stuff and cut short your attack, I like the weight and feel of the world.

The truly sad thing is it could all be remedied with a difficulty selector. No that's not causalifying it, that's giving consumers a choice. The game is so meaty but the difficulty is like so much salt. Plus the controls suck. They just do. Can't explain it, they just suck. Something about the button placement.

[Dotley]

I've picked up a re-play of FFXII that I abandoned a few months ago. Started an RP set in Ivalice so want a refresher of the world to convey the setting correctly :]

[Capone]

There is only one Ivalice, and that is the one from The Zodiac Brave Story Final Fantasy Tactics.

[/pretentious bastard]

[Dotley]

There is only one Ivalice, and that is the one from The Zodiac Brave Story Final Fantasy Tactics.

[/pretentious bastard]

Tactics! <3

I love that game too, but there is something about FFXII's characters that makes it more special to me.

[LunarSage]

The FF franchise died in my eyes after 7.   :-(

[Capone]

Good thing Final Fantasy Tactics is technically not part of that franchise then (though they certainly killed that series off early with Never Ending Story: The GBA Game).

[Inkidu]

The FF franchise died in my eyes after 7.   :-(

That's pessimistic. It really died at 12. :)

[Dotley]

It died with FFXIII for me. Just. Such much was wrong with it. I tried to like it, really, but it just was not possible.

[Inkidu]

Oh, they have a trailer for Resident Evil 6 out now. Leon's back and he shoots the zombie president. :D

[Dotley]

/Wide eyes

That sounds fantastic! I must go watch. I devoted an entire summer to playing RE4 and RE5.

[Capone]

I have mixed feelings of the new trailer. It looks like they're going for more traditional shooter controls, which means the game will somehow inevitably be even more linear than Resident Evil 5 with negative twenty-five percent puzzles.

But, the demo for Resident Evil: Revelations also appeared on the 3DS e-Shop, and it certainly has more of a creepy vibe. The enemies are strong, ammo is light and, well, I died. So it'll basically be the atmosphere of the original Resident Evil with the controls and difficulty of Resident Evil 4! Or so that's my analysis.

Also: Final Fantasy died with 8, as well as my inner child.

[LunarSage]

So it'll basically be the atmosphere of the original Resident Evil with the controls and difficulty of Resident Evil 4! Or so that's my analysis.

Oh my god.  I may just play the RE series again.  I loved the originals and hated 5.

I just hope there will be cheat codes available.  I much prefer the story to actual challenge/frustration.

[Capone]

Note that you need a Nintendo 3DS in order to play Revelations. I don't know if I mentioned that or not.

[Inkidu]

I have mixed feelings of the new trailer. It looks like they're going for more traditional shooter controls, which means the game will somehow inevitably be even more linear than Resident Evil 5 with negative twenty-five percent puzzles.

But, the demo for Resident Evil: Revelations also appeared on the 3DS e-Shop, and it certainly has more of a creepy vibe. The enemies are strong, ammo is light and, well, I died. So it'll basically be the atmosphere of the original Resident Evil with the controls and difficulty of Resident Evil 4! Or so that's my analysis.

Also: Final Fantasy died with 8, as well as my inner child.

I get my scares a lot different than most.

I played REmake and I was so pissed at how shitty the controls and interface were handled it was unplayable to me. It just gave me a bad taste in my mouth. All the atmosphere and creepiness was lost on frustration. After wasting nineteen bullets on a regular zombie because you can't aim for shit (and your some kind of SWAT knock off for crying out loud). The only time I was scared was from jump scares.

Then there's four. Hey you can shoot for shit, you can suplex, roundhouse kick, and otherwise be a Bruce Willis stand-in... and it don't mean jack! Now take a chainsaw to the face. I've never run around in a game more terrified than the first time I ran into a chainsaw ganados, and then they introduced hyper chainsaw ganados and I think I may have wet myself.

Five was really more of four with a partner, which was dumb any kind of horror psycho or jump scare is born of intimacy. Partners kill that. Having someone to rely on right their kills that. So yeah, RE5 was worse, but I'd play it before I played any of the ones with crap controls on the grounds that at least it's playable.

Psycho horror doesn't work on me in game, because that would mean I would have to be the character. Environment, imagery, and shock scares are the only thing that get to me. Usually because the first two soften for the latter-most one.

Dark Souls on the other hand: God it's a hamster! Oh, God! No! No! No! Run, run, run! It will kill your soul!

[Sabby]

I find it ironic that the writer attributes huge tits to The Bitch, and then goes ahead to add Morrigan, Silk Fox, and Jack, one of which had pancakes on her chest, and the other two were flat as a board.

[Khanken]

I still say we should give more credit to characters who run around saying only one word, "Enchantment!" For some people, they bring more to the story than all of the above.

[Sabby]

Boom :3

[Inkidu]

That's all of literature though. You can't fault Bioware for doing what everybody else does to some extent or another.

EDIT: Also, Dark Souls. How do you know the world hates you?

Fight through wave after wave of mook that could basically kill you at any given time to...

A. Have to fight a seven foot tall black knight who is not staggered by your attacks and is basically unkillable without gollike timing or...

B. Having to fight a twenty foot demon with a fifteen foot club on a decrepit rampart where you can't get around behind him or...

C. (and the most likely) have no idea where the fuck you're going only to run into some slightly better mooks who you have no chance of beating.

That's right, you're supposed to take out A and B.

[Brandon]

I find it ironic that the writer attributes huge tits to The Bitch, and then goes ahead to add Morrigan, Silk Fox, and Jack, one of which had pancakes on her chest, and the other two were flat as a board.

Charming male lead, ok I can see that.

Niave Minx, I dont think Mission really belongs. The only thing shes niave about is her brother and even then its more hopeful optimism at best or denial at worst.

The wise mentor, ok I can see that one for all those characters

The bitch...the only one I agree with is Jack and even that can be attributed to her having had a hard life as a genetic experiment and being on the run forever. Morrigan was just raised very differently and her philosophical and world views make sense for the character. She's not a bitch so much as a free spirit. Then theres Silk fox...why is she there? I mean yes shes a princess but I dont ever recall her acting like a bitch in any moment of the game.  Finally I dont think any of them have larger breasts at all. Silk fox is the largest but even those are only a handful

THe murderous sociopath. Yes I can see that for all the characters but I feel Candas and Wrex are more products of their culture. Black whirlwind fits the idea to a tee though

====================

Anyway, been playing more X-Com: Enemy unknown. I love the game so so so much. I can think of few ways to improve it besides a new engine and graphical overhaul. Rumor is theres a new strategy based X-Com game in the works and the FPS one got scrapped (thank god, although I would be much kinder to the game if it was a new IP rather then having the X-com title). Then theres Xenonaughts, which is in its alpha stage and Ive played the hell out of, problem is it crashes a lot

On the side, Ive also been playing some Tribes Ascend off and on. I love the fast paced action. Speeding across snow covered mountains at 250 mph to grab a flag and narrowly dodge incoming fire as I race it back to the base never looses its feel of awesomeness

[Capone]

The bitch...the only one I agree with is Jack and even that can be attributed to her having had a hard life as a genetic experiment and being on the run forever. Morrigan was just raised very differently and her philosophical and world views make sense for the character. She's not a bitch so much as a free spirit. Then theres Silk fox...why is she there? I mean yes shes a princess but I dont ever recall her acting like a bitch in any moment of the game.  Finally I dont think any of them have larger breasts at all. Silk fox is the largest but even those are only a handful

"Hey Mister, can you please save my puppy?"

"Fuck her puppy! If she can't save her own puppy, then she deserves to die! What? You're saving the puppy? You're a fucking idiot you fucking cock shit!"

"Here Mister, have 200 experience and 30 Gold!"

"You're a fucking cock rack you sucking fuck shit! Stupid!"

I'm sorry, but Morrigan is a bitch.