What are you playing?

[yuyu!]

Phoenix Wright: Dual Destinies

!!! Dammit, why have I not acquired that game yet??

Did anyone give Arkham Origins a try, yet? I've heard it doesn't quite compare to the first two Arkham games, but I love the series too much to pass it. :p Because more batman action. Duh.

[Sophist]

I want to, but I heard some really strong reviews against it. People say it doesn't capture the Batman universe like Rocksteady did, but it has a good story. I'll pick it up once it's cheaper, but I feel like that's a break for buying a full price game.

[yuyu!]

Same here. :p I might wait for the holidays, at least. Or request it for xmas. I'm kinda low on money now, anyways. D: I'm going to try not to compare it to the last two games. I'm under the impression that a lot of games are killed by being compared like that, rather than just scored as their own thing (if that makes sense). D: And uhhh...it's gonna be pretty difficult to top Arkham City. Asylum was amazing, but City was...wow.

Anyways! Currently playing (somewhat):
Kingdom Hearts II (finally)
Skyrim again (on and off, because it's an addiction)
And occasionally watching my sister play Assassin's Creed IV. I don't think that counts for my list, but in case anyone was wondering: so far, it DOES look better than the third. The graphics are beautiful, the main character seems pretty interesting, and the gameplay looks kinda neat. I can't say for sure, because I'm not playing it myself, nor am I watching every bit of it, but it looks like a solid game.

[haloOfTheSun]

I haven't heard anything largely negative about it, just lukewarm to "it's pretty good". Seems to definitely be the worst of the 3 so far, which means it could still be pretty cool. I have heard though that the PS3 and 360 versions have freezing and frame rate issues, while the Wii U version runs much more smoothly but lacks multiplayer (but who cares about that). Seems like a wait-until-it's-about-$20-or-less kind of game, though.

I have the other one on 3DS but haven't played it yet, but it doesn't seem like it will be anything more than mediocre and only fun for a little bit.

Also Asylum > City

[Sophist]

That sounds about right. I want to play it for the story, I heard that they did a good job with making Batman feel like he was earlier in his career, instead of world's greatest detective status, but those seem to be the redeeming qualities.

[Sophist]

I mean, is it so hard to make a Batman game set in an open city with PEOPLE in it? Random crimes going on across the city, etc? People are saying this is just big, not ruined Arkham City landscape. Same snow, same flying/mobility, still nothing to do on the ground but beat people up and take missions.

[Moss.]

I beat Bastion, and I'm playing through it again. The game is fun, but up until a certain point it just seems like a game. Up until this song plays, and then things take a shocking emotional turn and the game changes into something much, much more than just a fun game. Really amazing and challenging game (that you need to play), and I'm also really excited for Transistor.

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[Strak]

Bastion is the greatest game ever made.

It has an aura of customizability, with the variety of weapons and upgrades, as well as creating the Bastion itself. There are challenges that can be completed for a little extra fun, an amazing soundtrack, a unique narration system, a heart-wrenching story, and memorable characters. It has an entire world filled with unique cultures, races, creatures, religions, conflicts, and an in-depth history that makes you wish you could visit that world before the calamity. Oh yeah, and then there's the villain.
[spoiler=SPOILER ALERT]The same people you're trying to help. Rucks, creator of the Bastion, and Zia's father, creator of the Calamity.[/spoiler]

[Arrow]

Pokemon.

Are you surprised?

You shouldn't be surprised.

Before that though, I just beat Tales of Xillia. Working on the "secret dungeon" now, but not really with any sort of urgency. I get sick of these "we turned old places you already visited a different color" dungeons.

Actually, Tales Of is getting really lazy with their stories, it feels like. I have fought the same enemies for three games now, and the three act structure is getting a little stale. You beat an important military figure/royal family member boss! But now here's the REALLY important demi-god boss! The day is saved, BUT OH WAIT NO IT ISN'T, BECAUSE HERE'S THE COSMIC SCALE BOSS! Tales of Xillia was a lot of fun, I liked the characters (despite some glaring weirdness that made it hard to get immersed sometimes) and the battle system was fun. A lot of the maps felt really... phoned in, though.

Here's a big flat space with a bunch of enemies in it! That works a little better when you're playing say, FFXII, because it's in real time and you don't have the stagger of battle transitions. Also, there was a lot more variation in FF12 with those areas. You walked along cliffs, you hopped across plateaus, etc. The DUNGEONS in Xillia were alright, and there were certainly some pretty areas in the deepwood and the gorge, but the transitional areas... were just empty. So, so empty. And invariable, three "rooms" long, it felt like. Very flat. Very stark. Nothing especially memorable about them. Disappointing. I was really excited to see this game didn't use the whole "World Map" thing, because that's so friggin' tired... but it wasn't quite done well.

The music, too. Very high whiny strings. And not a lot of it! There were good themes in the game, but I couldn't really name of them out of context, and a lot of the songs were re-used to the point of feeling almost like they were placeholders. It was also very... cheesy Japanese in places, but that's a personal gripe. Pentatonic plunking never really did it for me.

There are tons of subquests in this game. Like 80. But they're not really all that great. "I need a poison stinger. Thank you for poison stinger. Here is a shiba dog tail to staple to your butt." (That said, I REALLY like the attachment system, but it's bullshit that you have to purchase all but about three of the character costumes.) There's no real incentive to complete the fetch quests other than "Maybe THIS prize will be something I'll actually want." Rare monsters are scarce, extra bosses are... well there are about ten, but they're really nothing special, and they're just sort of hanging around the large vast spaces between levels. Wanna fight it? Touch it. Cool. You get a prize. Move on. Would have been neat if...hell, just a little cutscene before and after?

One thing this game did well. Namco always has "annoying animal friend" stuck somewhere into the new tales of games. Teepo managed to be a lot better than Mieu or Noishe or some of the others that have popped up in recent days.

I really don't REGRET my purchase, and they made a lot of interesting changes in this game, but damn if it didn't flat when the shiny wore off. :/

[EvilM00s]

Once I get done with Fable III I thought about looking into some of those anime-style JRPGs I keep seeing in GameStop. They look fairly cool.

On the other hand I may just fire up the SNES emmy and play this super hard F Zero game I found. Not the original, thats for sure, and I never heard of this one.

[Sophist]

I got into the Infinite Crisis beta.

[PhoenixFire]

... in GameStop

Relevant: I work there now..

[EvilM00s]

Last time I was there I bought AC III, which I have just restarted. Originally I had the subtitles set to Portuguese so I could learn something, but then
[spoiler]the natives started speaking their native language in the village. I'm not THAT good with Portuguese and I really want to know what they're saying when the village burns down.[/spoiler]So I restarted because I didn't see the option to reset the subtitle options once your game is happening.

[tSwitch]

I got into the Infinite Crisis beta.

Let me know how it is.

[Moss.]

Finally 100%'d Bastion. I'm so pumped for Transistor. I may need to get some of the posters, regardless of whether or not I end up liking the game, everything this studio does is just so beautiful.

http://store.supergiantgames.com/collections/frontpage/products/transistor-art-print
http://store.supergiantgames.com/collections/frontpage/products/transistor-poster

[EvilM00s]

I may have to Steam that. It DOES look nice.

[Moss.]

Trailer:
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Very long and slightly awkward demonstration video:
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I love that moment when they push the button to activate Turn, and that music filter comes on. That's so awesome.

[spoiler][/spoiler]

[Kokowam]

oooo transistor looks pretty cool. I still need to get around to playing and finishing Bastion, though. As well as so many other Steam games >_>

All I have time/patience for nowadays is just a couple games of Hearthstone or League >_>

[EvilM00s]

Okay, word of mouth advertising wins. Im DLing Bastion now.

EDIT: Wow. I'm so glad I did!

[Moss.]

[Sophist]

Been enjoying FFXIV a lot so far.

[Long Duck Dong]

I haven't left my room in about two weeks. Monster Hunter Tri is that addicting.

[Kokowam]

I wish they didn't shut down the servers for it. Then I could download it and play it on my Wii >_>

[SirJackRex]

CSGO. I was never really into CS:S so it's been quite a pleasant surprise all around. I was installing wood flooring all day long, but during all my breaks I was doing nothing but Arms Warms. Suuuper addictive.

I've been trying to play more Fallout New Vegas, but the game crashes so often now I'm not even sure it's worth it. I don't even know what I did--I haven't installed any mods since I played it last and it played fine then, with only a crash every three or four hours.

[Arrow]

I've been playing Super Mario 3D World, and it's a lot of fun. I only play it when my buddy's over though, so it's taking a while.