Video Games...Discuss Them

[Dukefrukem]

They had Condemned 2 on-sale for $12, so I grabbed that one, too. I liked the first one pretty well.

I'm a big advocate of this series. I hope they make a third.

[KK2.0]

Apparently, the more you die ... the harder it gets. Lovely.

it's the other way around actually.

i've just beaten Demon Souls today btw, hyperbole aside, it's one of my favorite games ever and among the best games on the PS3 if you enjoy action adventures. It demands your attention, but it's difficulty relies on learning and respecting the game's rules. It can get very addiciting btw.

[megladon8]

Did anyone else find a lot of the incredibly cheesy J-Pop littered throughout "The World Ends With You" to be totally addictive and catchy?

I have had a couple of those songs stuck in my head for like 2 days now.

[Dukefrukem]

[bac0n]

So that's Kratos vs. Hades in those screen shots? Bad-aaaaaass!

[D_Davis]

That game looks awesome.

[KK2.0]

Have you people watched the new GOW screens, taken from a recent demo?
http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3177643

You begin in what looks like a mountain side


Camera starts to move away revealing the stage


It's Gaia! Take a look closely, Kratos is a tiny spec in the bottom.


Suddenly a huge water/horse/spider creature shows up


a battle follows


Gaia shakes her arm trying to get rid of it, Kratos tryes not to fall


the rest of the demo had him finishing off the creature with a trademark button sequence, but no screens from that scene.

websites were literally drooling over the footage, but i don't want to see much more, i have seen scans of Poseidon as one of the bosses, the sheer epicness of this game is going to be ridiculous.

[bac0n]

This might very well be my next game purchase. Only thing is, I'll need to buy a PS3 along with it.

[D_Davis]

2011 = me + PS3

[Spun Lepton]

Demon's Souls is a big ol' barrel of fun. It is, however, ridiculously difficult. I got stuck on an early part of the second world, and had to keep playing it over and over and over ... and I finally gave up about three hours later.

As difficult as it is, it doesn't feel unfair. At all. You have to really pay attention to what you're doing, and you HAVE to be patient. The moment you take something for granted, you're dead meat. It can be pretty daunting when you're 3/4th of the way through a level and you die ... and you have to do the entire level all the way over again AND you've lost all the XP you collected.

The multiplayer aspect is ingenous. Finding messages left by other players -- some helpful, some harmful -- and seeing the ghosts of other characters phase in and out of your own reality is really cool. Being able to watch how other players died is also a really novel aspect.

Haven't yet popped in Condemned 2, maybe tonight.

[Sycophant]

If you have a 360 or a PS3, you should be playing Bayonetta. I cleared the game on normal yesterday, and then spent 4 hours replaying some favorite segments and poking around looking for things I missed. I've never played an action game that just felt so good to play.

[megladon8]

If you have a 360 or a PS3, you should be playing Bayonetta. I cleared the game on normal yesterday, and then spent 4 hours replaying some favorite segments and poking around looking for things I missed. I've never played an action game that just felt so good to play.

Is it more "God of War" or more "Ninja Gaiden"?

If it's the latter, that worries me, because the "Ninja Gaiden" games were some of the most frustrating gaming experiences I've ever had.

[Sycophant]

Demon's Souls is a big ol' barrel of fun. It is, however, ridiculously difficult. I got stuck on an early part of the second world, and had to keep playing it over and over and over ... and I finally gave up about three hours later.

As difficult as it is, it doesn't feel unfair. At all. You have to really pay attention to what you're doing, and you HAVE to be patient. The moment you take something for granted, you're dead meat. It can be pretty daunting when you're 3/4th of the way through a level and you die ... and you have to do the entire level all the way over again AND you've lost all the XP you collected.

I'm glad you're enjoying it! It's pretty fantastic. It is nice that you can go collect all the XP you collected, though, by touching your bloodstain... if you can get that far twice in a row.

I've never once died in Demon's Souls and felt like it wasn't my fault. To play this game, you need to be good. I've only cleared 2 levels (1-1 and 2-1; the Tower Knight demon in 1-2 is still giving me trouble), and I've played something obscene like 16+ hours. It keeps kicking my ass, but it's because I'm not good at it. Good thing it's all fun. Yes. Keeping your guard up is fun.

Also, the multiplayer component is really genius. It deserves to be significantly influential.

[Ezee E]

Playing Mass Effect with a different character, and really liking it now.

[D_Davis]

Is it more "God of War" or more "Ninja Gaiden"?

If it's the latter, that worries me, because the "Ninja Gaiden" games were some of the most frustrating gaming experiences I've ever had.

It sounds more like a strange PC game to me, in that it is requires great skill to play, but it never feels cheap. It's not as button-mashy as GOW, nor is it as mind-numbingly frustrating and unfair as NG.

That's just the impression that I get.

[Sycophant]

It sounds more like a strange PC game to me, in that it is requires great skill to play, but it never feels cheap. It's not as button-mashy as GOW, nor is it as mind-numbingly frustrating and unfair as NG.

That's just the impression that I get.

Honestly, I'm not terribly familiar with either God of War (I've got a copy of God of War that all the hype for GOW3 has me apathetic about playing) or NG (I've played a little bit of Sigma). But what Davis says there rings true from my impressions of both games.

It's directed by Hideki Kamiya, the guy who did Viewtiful Joe and Devil May Cry and it feels it. And I'm pretty confident it's his best game yet.

EDIT: And it's not ungenerous with items and continues as such. Even a not-great player should be able to beat it on Normal, if they can stand being graded harshly.

[Sycophant]

Awesome Bayonetta semi-spoiler: There is a [

Show Spoiler

MOTHERFUCKING SPACE HARRIER

] level in the game! Complete with music remixes from the game! Actually, the Sega and Clover and general video game references are gleefully out of control.

[Stay Puft]

Yeah, Bayonetta is the next Devil May Cry, basically. Evolution of the concept or whatever.

I always get the impression people didn't know how to block in Ninja Gaiden. I don't understand why those games have the reputation of being extremely difficult.

[megladon8]

The "Ninja Gaiden" games are stupidly difficult.

"Oh shit, something off screen just attacked my back and killed me in one hit while I was busy fighting these three other dudes"

"Oh shit, I accidentally hit DOWN DOWN UP DOWN LEFT RIGHT DOWN START SELECT UP A RT START, when I should have hit DOWN DOWN UP DOWN LEFT RIGHT DOWN START SELECT UP A RT SELECT!!!"

[Acapelli]

Yeah, Bayonetta is the next Devil May Cry, basically. Evolution of the concept or whatever.

I always get the impression people didn't know how to block in Ninja Gaiden. I don't understand why those games have the reputation of being extremely difficult.

one of the things i like about bayonetta is that there isn't a block button

[Stay Puft]

"Oh shit, something off screen just attacked my back and killed me in one hit while I was busy fighting these three other dudes"

You don't just get killed in one hit. You get plenty of health potions.

Enemies are obviously going to be aggressive and take advantages of openings, but that's part of the combat. It's called situational awareness, audio cues, etc. Things don't appear off screen. The game isn't cheap, just aggressive. It's about controlling your environment as much as anything, and you get an assortment of spells that make you invincible and allow for easy crowd control.

I understand the game is of a different design school than the stylish punching bag action of other action games, but I don't think it's difficult if you understand the system. And block.

"Oh shit, I accidentally hit DOWN DOWN UP DOWN LEFT RIGHT DOWN START SELECT UP A RT START, when I should have hit DOWN DOWN UP DOWN LEFT RIGHT DOWN START SELECT UP A RT SELECT!!!"

Ninja Gaiden is about precision, an economy of movement and action. It is not about dialing combos. You're not even describing a game I know anymore.

[megladon8]

Could you really not tell I was exaggerating to make a point?

"Ninja Gaiden" games are stupidly hard. You're acting like I'm the first person to make this point, when every single reviews I have seen for any of the games has stated how punishingly, frustratingly difficult they are.

[Stay Puft]

I know, and I get that they are difficult and aggressive games, but I think their difficulty is often overstated. Too many times I have seen people fail at the game because they do not understand it, or because they think it should play like action game X or Y, or whatever. If you do not like that kind of game, that's fine, too. I do not want to be condescending. But for example, I also do not think reviews are a good indication of the actual content and quality of a game, because they tend to be written by people who substitute criticism with corporate PR, and actual opinions with industry memes. They are written by "enthusiasts," which is employed as a derogatory term. They often do not understand the games they play, for a variety of reasons, ranging from play conditions to advertising influence. Many of them will say Ninja Gaiden is hard simply because it is known as "that hard game." 1UP had an embarrasing review of God of War 2 that compared it favorably against Ninja Gaiden, a comparison made with no actual understanding of the games in question and how they are different (as one example). The writer of that review was simply a Sony/God of War fanboy (a fact known well beforehand). Those are the people who write reviews. The same people you see posting on places like NeoGAF.

I think Ninja Gaiden is a fair game. When I think stupid difficult or unfair, I think of archaic stuff like instant death pits and Medusa heads in Castlevania (or similar boring trial and error stuff), hidden passages in Metroid, or game ending choices in old Sierra adventure games (now that is sadistic punishment).

[Morris Schæffer]

Playing Mass Effect with a different character, and really liking it now.

I'm probably gonna pop this one in next so what about the new character made you come around about this game that wasn't in the old character? At least that's the impression I get.

Awesome Bayonetta semi-spoiler: There is a
[

Show Spoiler

MOTHERFUCKING SPACE HARRIER

]


level in the game! Complete with music remixes from the game! Actually, the Sega and Clover and general video game references are gleefully out of control.

That sounds fantastic. Now all we need is Planet Harriers for XBLA.

[Morris Schæffer]

http://www.gamersyde.com/stream_14123_lq_en.html

BHAHAHAHAHA

Just Cause 2 looks like the greatest sandbox game ever made.