What are you playing?

[shadowgoten]

So I'm tired of the only active thread on this forum being the fucking sonic generations thread. So I'm going to start one where I ask wtf you guys are playing and what your thoughts are on that game or whatever game people are talking about at the time.

To start off, I just beat Zelda Skyward Sword and I fucking LOVED it. It has definitely surpassed majora's mask and OoT as my all time favorite zelda. I thought the series has been stagnating after wind waker, twilight princess and those DS games were all pretty weak compared to the rest of the series.

I was glad to find out this game didn't continue that trend and turned out to be genuinely fun, full of new puzzles and challenges, and looked and sounded amazing. I can't wait to talk to you guys about it more, but I figure I'll wait till everyone actually has a chance to play it friday/sunday before i go into it more.

I'm also working my way through skyrim which is also a fantastic game.'

So what are you guys playing and what are your thoughts on those games?

[Apricity]

Binding of Isaac<3

[tentril]

I haven't had much time for games in a while, but the latest that I have been playing through is Epic Mickey lol. It's really snazzy looking and fun to play, but the difficulty is really inconsistent. Randomly I'll get to a puzzle that they word strangely, or it involves doing something while fighting off endlessly respawning enemies. Besides random stupid difficulty it's great.

[Rawr]

Been playing Spiral Knights after work usually, tempted to play some PSOBB again (I think I'm a level 28 Racaseal but its been a while). Some Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition when my bro and sis get home usually since I gotta be upstairs when they get in since thats usually when I let the dogs out as well. So essentially I just need to be around to 'dogsit'.

All of those games I find fantastic so that's what I've been playing I guess.

[shadowgoten]

PSO:BB, that's a classic I haven't heard of in a while. I may have to see what the private servers are like nowadays.

Epic mickey seemed like a pretty good game, I still haven't had the chance to play it yet.

[TailsSena]

Shining Force. Problem is that Smash Pack II does not support, nor is it willing to be stretched to, 1280x768. It runs at, what-- 640p? Pretty awful, and come to think of it, I use to run it in FULLscreen on my old computers, my laptop just shows it on the top left corner, and it's so tiny I can barely read it. I just have fond memories of all 6 games on the disc.

[Hypersonic645]

Why not just use an emulator?

I used to have the SEGA Smash Pack CDs. Both of them. And you know what, I did not enjoy them. Fucking framerate and screensize.

Playing Gimmick! for NES by Sunsoft. It's hard as balls because of it's physics engine, but I love. I played the game through. Twice.

[GSF]

Currently playing the new Kirby on BRO-OP. It's pretty damn good. I love using the absolutely crazy ubersword and uberfire powers.

I've also been doing a new game+ in Tales of the Abyss, also on BRO-OP.

[TailsSena]

Why not just use an emulator?

I used to have the SEGA Smash Pack CDs. Both of them. And you know what, I did not enjoy them. Fucking framerate and screensize.

Pretty sure Smash Pack is an emulator, and a very poor one at that... I'll see about going and finding Fusion again, then finding Shining Force.

Currently playing the new Kirby on BRO-OP. It's pretty damn good. I love using the absolutely crazy ubersword and uberfire powers.

I've also been doing a new game+ in Tales of the Abyss, also on BRO-OP.

Bro-op meaning co-op with your brother? (Metaphorical or not, pretty much means the same thing, just one is more annoying than the other.)

[GSF]

Bro-op meaning co-op with your brother? (Metaphorical or not, pretty much means the same thing, just one is more annoying than the other.)

Yeah, my brother and I on co-op mode. And no, it's not annoying, actually. He's competent and actually helps. It's a lot more fun too: when beating a tough as shit boss, or playing minigames, watching funny events...

We've been going through the whole Tales series on bro-op. Phantasia, Eternia, Symphonia, Abyss, Symphonia 2. And I hope to get a PS3 soon so we can continue with Graces F.

Multiplayer RPGs are very scarce, and damn it's way better than playing single-mode.

[TailsSena]

Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II need to be three player...

[thesuperinvader]

shit, id play that XD ive been playing nothing.... because i need to get christmas presents for girlfriend... friends.... family GODDAMIT why do i know so many people XD. yeah so i feel like a fool for buying generations instead of uncharted...or zelda....or skyrim XD

[luksamuk]

May sound dumb, but I've just finished my Ye Olde PC version of SADX. To tellyou the truth, I've never finished it without cheating with Big. But now I didn't cheat at any time.

Fucking idiotic fat cat and stupid frog :/

EDIT: Hey, it's not so hard when you get used to it. I only broke my fishing line once.

[TailsSena]

May sound dumb, but I've just finished my Ye Olde PC version of SADX. To tellyou the truth, I've never finished it without cheating with Big. But now I didn't cheat at any time.

Fucking idiotic fat cat and stupid frog :/

EDIT: Hey, it's not so hard when you get used to it. I only broke my fishing line once.

The only story left for me on the Wii (GCN) is Super Sonic. No cheats at all.

[GSF]

Hah, fishing as Big in SA is quite easy. But that doesn't make it good. It's probably the worst fishing component in a video game I've played.

The best fishing minigame I played was Breath of Fire III's. It's quite rewarding and fun, much better than playing a regular fishing simulator at least. It's challenging, but not broken.

I remember getting tons and tons of AP restoring fish... (no stores carry any AP restore items.)

BOF IV also has fishing... But I barely got into the game until my disc got damaged. I have to beat it someday.

But yeah, in short, screw that damn fat cat. Ugh... the horrible memories of hearing FWWWWOOOOOOGGGGYYYYYYYY all the time are coming back. :<

[DJ espeed]

Had all the stories completed on my GCN copy, but I was trying to get the emblems. Metal Sonic is awesome, apparently. Or so I read. I'd like to get another GCN copy cause of the Chao garden. Devil Chaos took a lot of time and effort in SA2B to make, even though it's just an AI pet. I put 'em in SADX and have been trying to do the Chao Races. I can't now because my copy is shit. Welp, I got the DC collection version off of Steam on my Windows part. on my MBP. I hate the framerate though. Wish it'd be faster than, say, 30-40fps.

Edit: I agree; Fishing with Big is easy and sucks.

[Serephim]

Final Fantasy 6.

Best. Fucking. RPG ive ever played in my life. It's either tied for FF7 or above it...but at this point, no other RPG i've touched can compare.

Seriously, I dont know how the fuck ive put this game off for so many years. It's the first retro Final Fantasy i've ever played before, but before touching this game i could never understand how people were so crazy about it over FF7. Now, i fully understand, because this game is a masterpiece on too many levels. Last year i replayed FF7, and realized just how terrible JRPGs are doing these days. Now that im almost done with FF6....well, i was anticipating Final Fantasy XIII-2, but now im almost afraid that i wont enjoy it after such a fulfilling experience playing 6. This game has a very limited set of animations, memory for text, blah blah, but it's literally the most expansive FF game i've ever touched before, second only to Final Fantasy XII. The progression of the battle system has constantly ended up surprising me, and still is 24 hours in, mind you.

Not to mention, the mid-game climax in this game literally left my jaw dropped for a good few minutes.

The only other Final Fantasy game i think feels close to this game in spirit is...well, probably Final Fantasy XII. I believe FF7 and FF10 were much better of course, but if Final Fantasy XII actually had a more solid storyline similar to FFX or FFVII, and had a progression system that allowed you to actually do more, then it would have definitely hit home harder than any of them.

Another game i recently started playing that i always meant to play is Breath of Fire IV. This is another masterpiece in terms of things the game puts you through -- there is literally like a gimmick or minigame to almost every dungeon situation in this game. The combo system is great and pretty deep, the characters are fun, the art is amazing, and the story is captivating. I currently put it on hold since im not at home (need a good TV and playing spot to enjoy an RPG on my PS3), but i honestly didn't expect Final Fantasy 6 to snatch me up like it did.

[shadowgoten]

Final Fantasy 6.

Best. Fucking. RPG ive ever played in my life. It's either tied for FF7 or above it...but at this point, no other RPG i've touched can compare.

Seriously, I dont know how the fuck ive put this game off for so many years. It's the first retro Final Fantasy i've ever played before, but before touching this game i could never understand how people were so crazy about it over FF7. Now, i fully understand, because this game is a masterpiece on too many levels. Last year i replayed FF7, and realized just how terrible JRPGs are doing these days. Now that im almost done with FF6....well, i was anticipating Final Fantasy XIII-2, but now im almost afraid that i wont enjoy it after such a fulfilling experience playing 6. This game has a very limited set of animations, memory for text, blah blah, but it's literally the most expansive FF game i've ever touched before, second only to Final Fantasy XII.

6 is fantastic, definitely square at it's best, though 7 still ranks slightly higher for me. I'm a huge sucker for the materia system and 7's memorable story and cast over 6 but 6 is definitely my 2nd favorite of the series.

If you're a fan of a good old rpg system might I suggest hopping into 5 after 6? 5 might not have the best story, but it's got such a solid soundtrack, and the job system is completely unique and one of my all time favorites in any rpg I've played.

I REALLY do need to get into the breath of fire series, I really haven't given it a solid play on any of the games and I feel terrible for doing that as I always hear about how great it is. Maybe after my skyrim playthrough I'll have to give one of the entries an earnest shot.

[Serephim]

Honestly, BOF3 was the first one i played (and probably my first RPG, or either FF7 was, i dont really remember), and i absolutely loved it. BOF4 felt much different since it didn't adopt the same battle system. In BOF3, you battle on the map. In BOF4 it switches to a different screen, much like Final Fantasy...or, well the older Breath of Fire games, since they share the same angle as in 4. But as a result, the animations in BOF4 are ridiculously good, since they only have to render them from one angle. BOF's battle system (3 and 4 are all i can comment on) was extremely captivating for the same reason FF6's / 7's is.

The customization wasn't as good as in a game like Final Fantasy, but like any good RPG, the character progression works very well. In BOF3 you're able to examine monsters during battle to learn their techniques, and once Ryu gains his ability to transform, you're actually given the ability to mix 3 different genes together to alter the dragon form you transform into (which actually is accompanied by not only a change in abilities but also the sprite, which was awesome.) IIRC there are at least 20 different genes to mix together.

BOF4 is great because of how much it feels like they put into not only making each enemy unique, but the battle engine in general. Instead of ONLY learning new magic abilities, depending on which order you use special attacks in with your party (the game lets you freely choose the attacking order, although agility still applies), you create different combo attacks, which can do anything from carry over effects of the last attack to creating a completely different spell altogether. This just makes experimenting with your characters really interesting, as one character learning a new ability can open up like 3 or 4 different things you can do as a party.

Not to mention, BOF4 lets you fight with your entire party at once. Similar to how Final Fantasy X finally allowed you access to your other members during battle, BOF4 lets you switch during battle, but you wont game over unless the entire party is KO'd (unlike FFX where if the first 3 are killed you lose.)

Breath of Fire has alot of fun gimmicky moments and puzzles to switch dungeons up, and the bosses and enemies have attributes to them that are able to be exploited depending on which abilities you use, something that i think most RPGs dont really take advantage of today. You know, like using a fire ability on a tree enemy actually sets it on fire and transforms it into a different enemy. Or enemies having shields / armor / weapons that can be broken through different conditions.

[shadowgoten]

Seems like BoF 4 might be my new goto psp game when I feel like switching it on.

I'm a fan of systems that try to do something different from the norm, but keeps it relatively close. A lot of games nowadays are trying to do everything different and it's getting a little out of hand.

Anyone a fan of strategy RPG's? Talking about my psp reminded me of tactics ogre which is an incredible game if you're a SRPG buff.

[Serephim]

I would have beaten BOF4 years ago if i didn't hate 3D emulators. I gotta enjoy 3D games like i did back when i owned them on PSX. I always feel like im missing out on something if it isn't emulating the original system perfectly -- no better, no worse.

I started both BOF4 and FF7 like, 3 or 4 times on emulator, and quit every single time. I even got FF7 on PSP and couldn't finish it. But when they came out on PSN and I could play on my PS3, i beat FF7 after like 3 or 4 consecutive days of playing, and the only reason I havent beaten BOF4 yet is because im not at home.

Something about my immersion is just off when im not on a TV.

[shadowgoten]

I think I actually share this sentiment actually, it's just not the same as playing it on that tv. Probably why I stop midway through so many of my ps1 games on the psp.

[Ristar]

Currently playing Mass Effect 2, Dead Space and Prof. Layton and the Last Specter

[TailsSena]

Oh yeah, Golden Sun 3. (Dark Dawn, but 3 is much faster to say/type.)

Best looking game on the DS ever, when something isn't 3D, it still looks like it, and unless you sit there and stare at it, you probably won't notice. Not to mention the HUGE world map that's all rendered at once and looks so beautiful. And to top it off, it's a modern JRPG with *gasp* a good story! (WHAT IS THIS I DON'T EVEN???)

But yeah...

@Serephim: FFXII? Love it! Stuck halfway through. Help?

[MalcomX]

Playing Call of Duty MW3. OH YEZ!!! Its actually better than I thought. Those graphics are effing awesome!