What Are You Currently Playing? 5.05: You Are (Not) A Gamer

[gunswordfist]

David Cage should do a 50 Shades Of Grey adaptation.

[Nel_Annette]

David Cage should do a 50 Shades Of Grey adaptation.

Boner quick-time events! 

[talonmalon333]

I can imagine some "Press X repeatedly" style games.

[Nel_Annette]

Mario And Luigi: Dream Team

And I've gotta say, I haven't enjoyed the M&L series this much since Superstar Saga. I love the island resort theme, how open all the areas are, the Luiginary devices are creative, each area takes just the right amount of time without overstaying its welcome by having a sort of 2-part thing with the real world version of the area followed by a proper dream version of the area. And there's so many character callbacks to the first three games, while new characters are awesome as well. And the battles can be absolutely brutal. The humor is spot on.

There are a few things I'm really not digging though. While the 3D environments are lovely, the character sprites themselves are kind of blurry, and look sort of half-assed as a result. All the dream sections are in 2D, which is better here than it was in BIS, but still. Bowser's place in the story is somehow both a breath of fresh air and aggravating at the same time, as it kind of gives Antasma less room to develop as a villain. And then the two most annoying things of all. Mandatory minigames have been plaguing this series from the start, and they're still just as obnoxious here. And finally, they brought back the freaking giant battles from BIS. Only instead of Bowser, this time you play as Luigi. They still take too long, the stylus still doesn't work half the time, and of course, I still suck at them.

But all in all, an enjoyable experience. The cons will probably keep me from ever replaying it though, just like the rest of the series.

[Spark Of Spirit]

How many hours does the final boss take to beat? You must inform us on that.

[Rynnec]

Played the Strider demo a few hours ago. Feels like a really well-made and fast-paced game, lackluster music aside.  Despite being a Metroidvania, there was an undeniable focus on combat in the sections available, not once did I have to look at the map to see where I was going, and the combat was very smooth once I got used to the controls. Definitely check this one out if you're interested in side-scrollers and hack'n slashes.

[Foggle]

Playing Splinter Cell: Blacklist with John. All I can say is WOW. This might just be the best stealth game of the entire previous gen, surpassing even the fantastic Hitman: Blood Money. While I'm one of the few who actually likes Double Agent and Conviction, I was pretty leery of this game based on the previews, but goddamn, did Ubisoft really give it their all this time. The core stealth mechanics are excellent, the levels are well-designed with multiple routes (including hidden ones), the co-op is implemented perfectly, and the gadgets are all fun to use. Ignore the trailers and such that make it look like a bland TPS, this is stealth gaming at its absolute finest. I think it's good enough at what it does to please both hardcore fans of the genre and newcomers alike. Highly recommended!

[gunswordfist]

Whoa, it did look bland and Tom didn't really help sell the game "Sam can be a dick ". I love me some stealth so I'll check it out.

[Foggle]

It's great fun, especially with a friend. I hear the Spies vs. Mercs mode is also very fun, though I haven't had a chance to try it yet.

[gunswordfist]

I'm glad they brought that back. I'll have to get this game.

[talonmalon333]

This May, Nintendo is shutting down online multiplayer for the Wii.

My friends and I still use it, and were expecting to still be able to use it by that point.

I currently hate Nintendo.

EDIT:

Also Foggle, I just remembered.

Are we going to make a new thread once this one hits 100 pages?

Probably.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Probably is not yes.

[talonmalon333]

Probably is not yes.

Probably means "most likely yes".

[Foggle]

I'll make it later tonight unless someone else wants to.

[Nel_Annette]

How many hours does the final boss take to beat? You must inform us on that.

I've heard horror stories about bullshit healing, but I'm not there yet. The final dungeon is dragging like crazy.

I got my Tales Of Symphonia Chronicles copy in the mail yesterday, so I popped that into the PS3. Nostalgia boner abound. And the first thing it did was see that I had Graces and Xillia data, and gave me costume sets from Abyss, Vesperia, Xillia, and Xillia 2 right off the bat. I'm going to have all the characters dressed up as characters from games that came out after Symphonia. Awesome! I also got the Collector's Edition, so much swag was had. Artbook, optional steelbook case, four mini-figurines, four-disc soundtrack, and a little 100+ page novel. Totally worth it. I only played enough to get those costumes though. I still want to finish Xillia before a give the Symphonia games another proper go.