What Are You Currently Playing? 6.65: Neighbor of the Beast

[Nel_Annette]

And so the credits roll on Etrian Mystery Dungeon. I like playing Mystery Dungeon games in my downtime between other games, and this one was... okay. A lot of the HUD and other things from the mainline Etrian Odyssey titles made it over, so it really felt like just an EO game from a different perspective with a few gimmicks. Same composer, same character art, same abilities, same tiered dungeon floors/branches, same enemies. But overall the whole thing was underwhelming. I just prefer the usual way the games play instead of this MD setup.

Plot's never been a big deal in the EO series, but the EO1 remake from last year went out of its way to start world-building with its story mode and there are a few things in this game that mention the events of EO 1-4, cementing this into the canon. But then something happens at the end of the game after the final boss that brings a "that only raises further questions" moment. Eh.

Of course, in true EO tradition, just because the credits roll, doesn't mean it's over. The 8th and 9th dungeons opened up, bringing in a new plot twist and meaning there's a bit more to do before I return the game to my shelf.

Then I have no clue what I'll play. I've been splurging on a myriad of PS3 titles but I do have my eyes on Bravely Default. Still haven't taken it out of the box, and I got it four months ago. Etrian Odyssey 2's story-focused remake comes out in August; I'm looking forward to that.

[gunswordfist]

Yesterday, I played a current gen system for the first time in Xbox One with GTA V and was smiling like an idiot. That is all.

[Foggle]

Finally beat Resistance 2, and not a moment too soon. Good riddance.

Resistance 3 is fantastic so far. The guns are a LOT more fun to use than in the previous games, and so far they've brought back some of the best ones, along with including the amazing deployable gun turret alt fire from R1. There's a weapon upgrade system that works exactly like Ratchet & Clank (and the weapon wheel is now called the quick select, heh), the new control scheme is much better, the enemies are neither bullet sponges nor tissue paper, the shoot-through-walls guys are no longer cheap (plus their gun is easier to use), you don't die nearly as fast, and the change from regenerating health to medkits has greatly increased the speed and fun of the combat. Also, the first five minutes alone are more engaging than the entirety of the previous installments' story.

So yeah, brilliant game. Too bad R2 and that Vita trash killed the series.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Would you say that R2 is as bad as a sequel like DMC2 or NG3? Just curious.

[Foggle]

Hmm... Well, I enjoyed it about as much as DMC2 and what I've played of NG3 (as in, not at all), and it does miss the point of the series as much as those games do, but DMC1 and NG 1 & 2 are some of the best games of all time, whereas R1 is only decent, so maybe not.

[gunswordfist]

Hmm... Well, I enjoyed it about as much as DMC2 and what I've played of NG3 (as in, not at all),

[Foggle]

I beat Resistance 3! It was really good overall. It's one of those rare games that legitimately gets better the farther into it you go. Excellent pacing reminiscent of Half-Life, fantastic combat scenarios, satisfying gunplay, good level design, interesting storyline. Some of the later levels actually manage to recapture the intense feeling present in the best moments of Resistance 1, the shoot-through-walls gun is FINALLY fun to use (and it's amazing, at that), the level of difficulty & checkpoint placement are a lot more fair, and one of the trophies is called Up Your Arsenal. It's probably my second favorite console-only FPS after The Darkness. Fans of Half-Life 2 and Ratchet & Clank should definitely play this one!

[Spark Of Spirit]

Wow. Now that's a turnaround from Resistance 2.

Shame the series died when they finally figured it out.

[Foggle]

It didn't sell particularly well, which is understandable since it wasn't advertised much and the second one was so bad. Considering how good Sunset Overdrive looks (and Overstrike looked), I think this is the point where the Resistance team really "got" it. I mean, I like Deadlocked and R1 enough, but this is the first non-platformer they made that truly felt on par with Ratchet & Clank and Spyro to me. Then again, Sunset Overdrive is also a platformer, isn't it...

[gunswordfist]

Makes me want to play The Darkness again. I thought it was alright but not one of my favorites. A lot of people seem to like it more than I do.

[Foggle]

The problem with The Darkness is that it's ridiculously difficult for no reason. The Easy mode is somewhere between Normal and Hard difficulty for most games. I just love the inventive gameplay and amazing writing. The Darkness 2 is way more fun, though.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

My favorite console-exclusive FPS is still probably TimeSplitters 2, which is still nearly unmatched in terms of the large variety of single-player content that it has on offer (for an arcade-style FPS, that is).

[gunswordfist]

I don't remember it being too hard but then again I'm used to just retrying a million times in any hard game.

I think it's TimeSplitters 2 for me as well. I like Perfect Dark's multiplayer mode more but I pretty much hate its single player.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Future Perfect is so underrated.

Shame Crytek bought and killed Free Radical like they did. A new Timesplitters would have been killer.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I like both games, myself. I just spent more time playing 2, for whatever reason.