What are you currently playing? 4.0

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Most of the negativity is coming from /v/ and Reddit trolls who don't actually enjoy video games and think that ME 3 is written by the same people as Dragon Age 2 (protip: it's not). The rest is from butthurt fanboys at the BioWare Social Network crying because they read the endings and script before the game even came out and don't like what BioWare did to their precious love interests. It's pathetic, really. I'd be willing to bet that about 95% of the bad vibes surrounding this release are from people who either haven't played it or are so blinded by their own rage that there would be no possible way for them to enjoy it.

Really, the only legitimate complaints are that it has day 1 paid DLC (which isn't actually important to the story at all) and less dialogue options than before... though not much of value is lost when you consider how they were handled in the first two games. You don't get to click buttons on the talking wheel as often, but you no longer have three options that all railroad you to the same line of dialogue (as in 50% of ME 1 and 2). Choice was not removed... the illusion of it was.

[Spark Of Spirit]

So I'm playing Umbrella Chronicles since I figure it would be easier to get into first, and I have a few questions/comments:

1) the Quick Time events would be far better if there was more consistency to which buttons are pushed (A for action, B for shooting, shake for dodging) instead of me having to guess within a second.

2) I'm playing on easy and everything is a bullet sponge. I made it up to the second level of the Carlos/Jill story because I was getting annoyed with enemies taking like six headshots to kill.

3) Why is the first boss so disproportionately harder than any other boss? Seriously, its next to impossible to know what he's going to do because he has no real visual clues.

4) Where's Barry?

5) What story was changed/removed?

6) The game needs indicators like HOTD at what you need to keep an eye out for when it comes to dodging of shooting non-enemies. It's hard to tell them apart.

7) So this game covers Resident Evil 0/1/3? Why did they skip 2?

8) This is a pretty cool rail shooter, but I seem to have random loading problems on some levels for some reason. It's not the disc as there's no scratches or nicks on it, and they only seem to happen on certain levels (1-3 and once on 2-2, and just recently one mid level in 3-2) I wonder why that is.

What does Darkside Chronicles do to improve on this one?

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2) I'm playing on easy and everything is a bullet sponge. I made it up to the second level of the Carlos/Jill story because I was getting annoyed with enemies taking like six headshots to kill.

You have to level up your guns. Unlike most rail shooters, the pistol is basically worthless after the first episode. If enemies start completely raping you as you get farther along, your game might be glitched (as mine was).

3) Why is the first boss so disproportionately harder than any other boss? Seriously, its next to impossible to know what he's going to do because he has no real visual clues.

First boss is a pain until you learn his patterns; he's extremely easy after that. Problem is, his patterns are really hard to learn.

Anyway, just wait until you reach Dark Legacy 1's boss fight. Maximum rage guaranteed.

4) Where's Barry?

Capcom doesn't give a shit about him. It speaks volumes that fucking Richard has a playable portion while Barry isn't even mentioned.

5) What story was changed/removed?

Everything was changed. Everything was made worse. The adaptations of 0 and REmake are bad enough with their inclusion of Wesker's Wacky Adventures, the mockery of Lisa Trevor's character, and the addition of... ugh... Sergei, but Raccoon's Destruction (the adaptation of 3) is literally so different from the real game that it barely even resembles it. Jill and Carlos act completely differently. The level design is taken from Outbreak, with the only location actually from 3 being the RPD (which is the main setting of 2 and barely even part of the original game). It uses the horrid Nemesis from the live action movie instead of the awesome one from the PS1 game. The human antagonist isn't even referenced. I can go on.

7) So this game covers Resident Evil 0/1/3? Why did they skip 2?

0/1/3/5 and the new stuff in UC make up the Umbrella storyline. 2/CV/4/Revelations aren't really connected to it, which is why 2 and CV are covered in DarkSide Chronicles instead of Umbrella Chronicles.

8) This is a pretty cool rail shooter, but I seem to have random loading problems on some levels for some reason. It's not the disc as there's no scratches or nicks on it, and they only seem to happen on certain levels (1-3 and once on 2-2, and just recently one mid level in 3-2) I wonder why that is.

Never had this issue myself.

What does Darkside Chronicles do to improve on this one?

- Enemies aren't bullet sponges
- You can upgrade your pistol
- Better level design
- Better handling of the story and better adaptations in general
- Better original scenario
- Better boss fights
- Better (and less) QTEs
- Better graphics
- Better weapon switching

As for cons, the shaky-cam can be annoying (THAT FUCKING MR. X FIGHT OH MY GOD), but it's mostly a non-issue. And the removal of off-hand grenades is lame.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Yeah, it keeps randomly deciding to stop loading in different parts of 3-2. Looks like I might need to exchange my copy. Shame as I was enjoying myself despite the faults.

The only really story I know anything about is 1 (since I played through pretty much the entirety of 2-1 in the original game 100 times) and even that was completely jarring with the removal of Barry.

Weapons are a bit annoying to level up, as it seems most level 2 just increase the capacity which doesn't really help much due to some levels simply not giving you the ammo. Some like the MIRV pretty much destroys everything.

[talonmalon333]

Capcom doesn't give a shit about him. It speaks volumes that fucking Richard has a playable portion while Barry isn't even mentioned.

Actually, I don't think Richard is playable. On 2-player, the game just says it's two Rebeccas, if I remember correctly.

[Foggle]

And now I shall dine on a decent amount of crow.

Mass Effect 3: one of the greatest and most epic games of this console generation. Easily the most enjoyable part of the trilogy. Possibly one of the best sci-fi games of all time. I lost sleep from playing this because I got way too into it, and I loved every minute. And then the ending happened. For those who care, there aren't really any spoilers in this rant.

I, just... what the fuck, BioWare? The last 5-10 minutes of the game destroy the franchise. The build up to the ending is excellent; thrilling. One of the most exhilarating moments in any video game, followed by the series' most intense interactive conversation. And then three games' worth of excellent writing are completely thrown out the window. You have a choice between three endings, all of which are poorly written and handled, none of which are effected by any of the choices you made across any of the games.

The endings are all roughly the same with minor variations in color scheme and are basically stolen from Deus Ex. They weren't too great there, either, but at least Deus Ex's story is more about the ideas presented than the plot or characters.

Furthermore, all of the endings actually contradict a certain event from Mass Effect 2, Shepard's character motivation since Mass Effect 1, and even something that happened not 30 minutes earlier in the same damn game. The final scene before the credits makes absolutely no sense for a multitude of reasons, and the epilogue after the credits is just insulting.

There is no final boss. You never fight Harbinger (hell, he never even talks to you), even though the game mentions him coming to stop you and the entirety of Mass Effect 2 was clearly building up to a grand battle with him. There's just a cheesy and utterly stupid recurring motif that tells you to press a button and receive an ending.

It's rare that a video game has a legitimately good ending. But the ending of Mass Effect 3 is absolutely devastating because the rest of the game is very well written. The script is excellent. The story and atmosphere are immersive. The characters are likable. The ending feels like it wasn't even written by the same team. Imagine if Return Of The Jedi tried (and failed) to turn into End Of Evangelion in its final 10 minutes with no warning whatsoever. That's what the ending of ME 3 is like.

As much as I loved the game as a whole (10/10 easily until the end), the story is one of Mass Effect's strongest and most important points, and as such, I can't recommend it - or the series in general - to anyone after seeing that ending.

[gunswordfist]

Wel damn. That just makes me want to play the game more. At least I get a warning from someone who isn't a brain damaged Mass Effect shipper.

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Yeah, I didn't even do the romance shit. Really, the majority of the game is amazing, it's just the ending that's bad. But it's a serious buzz kill... I don't even feel like replaying the game now. The ending has almost nothing to do with Mass Effect and doesn't make much sense in general. Major letdown that makes all the time and money I spent on this series feel wasted.

[gunswordfist]

Beat Stardust Speedway yesterday. God, why can't moreSonic boss fights be like that.

[gunswordfist]

I beat Sonic CD for the Android today. Metallic Madness gave me all kinds of hell having to play it on a phone but I did it. It's a pretty decent game but again it being on a damn touch screen phone didn't let me fully enjoy it and I didn't bother trying to figure out how to get good or bad whatevers. My favorite themes (beat this last stage last week) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juZUamDMITA&feature=relatedhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3Gl0HobRVI

[Spark Of Spirit]

I finished up Kirby Return To Dreamland on hard and managed the full 200%. I got some spiffy new menu music for it, too!

All in all, I think it's now the best Kirby game. Great levels, great powers, great music, and great everything. Sure it doesn't have a Great Cave Offensive style game in there, but it has everything else Superstar does and then some including an Arena and True Arena as well as better minigames than Superstar. If you have a Wii and love Kirby then pick this up! It is the best Kirby game.

[talonmalon333]

I still like Super Star a tiny bit better.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I still like Super Star a tiny bit better.

I can see that. But IMO, they're both easily the very best Kirby games.

[talonmalon333]

I still like Super Star a tiny bit better.

I can see that. But IMO, they're both easily the very best Kirby games.

Definitely. And I'm glad they can still pull off awesome Kirby games without Sakurai (Kirby 64 was good, but not great).

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Sly 2 seems to suffer from the same disease as the first game... the second half (so far) features too many minigames/too much hub roaming and not enough platforming. I think that's why I've always preferred Ratchet and Jak; they're a lot more consistent. The former is all platforming all the time while the latter's non-platforming bits are actually fun. I really hope Thieves In Time keeps the minigames and hub world shit to a minimum so that it can focus more on what makes the series great.