Icewind Dale is a pretty solid game. Less focused on story and more on heavy combat, but you get to custom build your entire party, which is nice, and I found the difficulty level to be just right on Core Rules setting while playing Ironman style. Icewind Dale 2 is fucking sweet, and plays with the 3rd Edition Ruleset, stripped down a bit to facilitate the gameplay. The story is much better and much more fluid, and there are some really great dynamic situations that requite a touch of strategy and bring some life to the game, something which lacks in other Infinity Engine titles. Neverwinter Nights is a game with a ton of potential, but the campaigns are kind of weak, save for Hordes of the Underdark which is pretty neat. If you can find community made modules to play then you'll be set, but they're few and far between. If you pick up the game give me a shout and I'll dig up my old library and give you a list of solid ones. 3rd Edition for this one too, and done quite well given the style of gameplay. Something to try is The Temple of Elemental Evil, which is a fully turn-based 3rd Edition Ruleset game based on a very old D&D module. It's a buggy, disaster of a game on it's own, but patched up with the Circle of Eight mods, easily found with Google, it's a great experience, and a fun throwback if you've ever played the module it's based on. It's certainly not perfect, but it's the best D&D adaptation I've ever played in terms of how close it is to tabletop. Last but not least, Planescape: Torment, one of the greatest stories ever told. Plays more like a book than a game, but with an incredible soundtrack, and an atmosphere that smashes others to pieces. It's got 2nd Edition Ruleset, but combat is more of a side dish than anything. One of my favorite games of all time. I don't say that lightly.
I'm going to be picking up an XBox One at midnight tonight. I'll be happy to answer any questions you might have on Saturday after I've had some time with it. I'll be getting Dead Rising 3 for sure. I'm waiting on Madden 25 from Amazon. I'm vacillating between Forza and Need for Speed.
I forgot about The Temple of Elemental Evil, i actually went out and bought it, I dont think I actually played it that much, I really dont remember anyting about it. I know the name Planescape: Torment, I have no idea why i never tried it out. I actually miss playing tabletop games, i got into it during University as a cheap form of entertainment. I actually went out and bought 4th edition but man does it look like shit to play, fuckers trying to copy WoW. I wish I could find people to play weekly, i really do miss it.
I think Need for Speed would be more fun as they usually incorporate more activities besides just racing. I always enjoyed running from the police or actually being the police in high speed persuits. Now if only they would revamp the Burnout series and make it what it used to be with ridiculous physics and Michael Bay style destruction.
It's my understanding that Criterion barely exists as a company anymore. When EA bought them, they moved a bunch of people to a new studio that made NFS. So at least the pedigree is there.
I've had an Xbox One and PS4 for a few days now. My opinion on both systems is an overwhelming "meh." All the release games are either mediocre sequels (CoD, BF4, Assassins' Creed 26: Pirates of the Caribbean) or complete trash (Ryse, Knack). The menus on XboxOne aren't bad and I like that I can watch regular TV through it. I haven't used my PS4 for anything except movies and BF4 (which I was bored of after three hours).
Use the 30 days of free PS+ and download Resogun, holy shit is it addictive and awesome. I'm normally not a sports game guy, aside from the occasional game of Madden. But after seeing a few Twitch streams of NBA 2k14, i was sold. Holy shit is this game beautiful. Fun to play, I started the MyCareer option and it's like Mass Effect and the NBA had a baby with the conversation and attitude options. I"m now wearing a Rudolph nose to every press conference and carrying Al Horford's luggage to improve my teammate rating, while trying to earn a spot in the starting rotation while making my Twitter haters shut up by fulfilling challenges in the games I play in. Had a breakout game and was invited to go out and celebrate. Increased my teammate rating, but got chewed out by my GM when I woke up after getting blackout drunk and waking up on my coffee table late for practice and all over social media with my drunken antics. Don't confuse it with EA's basketball game, I hear that game is an unpolished turd.
If anyone is looking for a handheld RPG to pass the time I can't recommend Radiant Historia enough. It's an Atlus game through and through. The plot is pretty engaging and there are a couple of wtf moments, especially when it comes to the sidequests and branching paths. It has a time travel motif that is handled quite well, plus it means that you really can't miss anything so you can play it without a walk through with no fear of missing something crucial. Give it a whirl.
I know I'm probably the only one here that owns a Wii U, but I have to say I am having an unreasonable amount of fun with Super Mario 3D World. Single or multiplayer, it is just a fun game, that gets very challenging towards the end. Yes, it's a Mario game, so you should know exactly what you're getting, but they do crank out some impressive platformers. Now, once I finish it, it becomes time for my Wii U to collect dust until their next good first party title (Zelda? Smash Bros? Mario Kart?) comes out, or until I feel like doing some vintage gaming. Their Virtual console is still excellent, and the ability to play all these games on the gamepad while my wife or kid occupy the TV makes it very convenient, but that is the biggest thing that keeps me playing it.
I posted this in the drunk thread, but this is fucking hilarious. <a class="postlink" href="http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/12/19/anal-probes-caused-south-park-the-stick-of-truths-pain-down-under" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/12/19/ ... down-under</a>
Just bought Diablo 2 and the expansion pack for a grand total of 12 bucks on amazon. I miss the shit out of this game.
Anyone know of a good space fighter sim game? Like Wing Commander or Strike Suit Zero style. I have a PC and PS3 for platforms.
Not so much of an answer for your search today, but take a look at what Chris Roberts, Mr Wing Commander himself, has going now. The full game is a good ways off, but I have high hopes. It is ambitious. <a class="postlink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Citizen" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Citizen</a> Happy holidays.
Mentioning Wing Commander made me go all nostalgic on old PC games. I used to love the point and click PC games of the 80's/early 90's. Space Quest and Kings Quest come to mind. You can buy the box sets online, but I'm afraid aside from the nostalgic factor, there's little replay ability.
Hit up gog.com for Freespace 2, you'll see what a "space combat sim" is supposed to look like. It is perfection, and it's a real shame Interplay had to go under and never get around to Freespace 3. Although they DID just reacquire the IP at auction, so who knows?
Just got a PS4 today as a Christmas Gift that came a day late. So far, with what little time I've had, I just got the system set up, and set up Netflix and Amazon Prime. I also set to download DC Universe Online (I played bit a bit on PS3, so I wanted to see how it performed on the PS4). I plan to bust out Assassin's Creed 4 tonight, but never mind that I didn't finish AC3. I'll miss the online, but I am not investing in PS Plus just yet. It'll happen eventually, but I'm just not sure when. Also to happen sooner than later is buying a PS Vita. The ability to remotely play all those games remotely is one of the biggest features I am looking forward too (and the same reason I get a lot of play time out of my WiiU).
PS 4 day one impressions: --The interface is vastly improved over the PS3 XMB. It is just much more intuitive, as evidenced by how fast my non-gamer wife picked it up and found Netflix and got it going. --The speed may not seem noticeable at first, but it really is amazingly fast. Load times are very, very minimal, and playing AC IV didn't involve some long bullshit installation, I was able to dive right into the game. All the streaming I've done with it has been very fast, and even Blu Rays load faster for movies. Haven't tried DCU online yet because that big-ass file was still downloading, which brings me too: --Standby mode and the ability for it to continue downloads and charge the PS4 controller is definitely an upgrade over the PS3. --The controller just feels good, and it's an upgrade on the PS 3 Dualshock. That said, I kept trying to hit the "option" button and kept hitting the damn track pad instead. It may take some getting used too, but that option button is kind of tucked in there and easy to miss. Overall a good first impression. I'll be using a gift card to get a PS+ membership tomorrow, so I can play some AC IV online tomorrow night. I love the AC multiplayer, so I am really looking forward to that. Things I haven't tried yet: streaming my game, any online play , or watching any streams. I saw a bunch, Including streams like "We twerk on request," which was apparently a group of people who were streaming themselves via their PS camera. Seems like that could get... Interesting?
Has anyone else played State Of Decay? it's pretty new and was released on Steam last month - it's on special at the moment for like $14. It's a slightly indie-looking, zombie-killing, start-a-community, gather-stuff game but quite fun to play. It's set in an open sandbox style and decisions you make influence how the game progresses. The only minus I have found so far is that the weapons break far too frequently. There is no shortage of zombies but there could be more ways of killing them, like traps and such, but maybe it's just early into my game and I haven't found them yet? There is also a DLC pack out for the game that costs around $6. Quite fun.