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-UE
If you use an @yahoo.com email or any related Yahoo services, they have blocked us also due to "user complaints"
-UE
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Another option for the more outdoors areas would be to have the fast-travel screen dim to black while it loads a small patch of ground, then open up with you looking down while rolling up your bedroll or something. Then by the time you look up, everything's in place around you.
Revelations just feels so tedious and dull. It's the same formula as the previous two games, but it just feels like they've given up trying and gone "Yeah, you know how this goes so we're not going to bother". I've had it for ages and could have beaten it months ago if I wanted (and I have Assassin's Creed III ready and waiting to play), but it's just failed to absorb me the same way II and (to a lesser extent) Brotherhood did.
I wouldn't mind so much if the plot didn't just feel like "I want answers, so I'll go and get them, and I'll kill more Templars along the way because that's what I do". I feel that this is a wasted opportunity to, say (and this is a pretty poor example), have an older, very wise Ezio look back on his life, decide he's lived a good one and say to himself that he'll put aside the hidden blade and allow himself to live and die in peace once he's gotten his answers - and if it's actually like that, that's beside the point, because it doesn't feel like that to me. It just feels like he's doing more of the same, except now for a fairly weak-feeling reason of "answers" rather than "revenge" or "justice".
Well that's what happens at the end after some vague and confusing answers delivered to Ezio for Desmond. Because yeah, that's what we want, Adam Sandler lookalike to bleed influence into the fun historical shit.
So upon completing the Lineages & Legacies arc for Tales of Graces F (basically an eight-hour epilogue to round off the hanging threads left by the main section of the game), it's pretty interesting how much the game is so much the essential JRPG. Like, everything good about JRPGs is out in full force, and the same could be said of their negative elements.
Or, basically, when the game hits its stride, it's pretty incredible. When it wallows in JRPG indulgence, it's pretty forgettable. If you haven't played a Tales game before, you'll be unaware of the "skits", which are short cutscene-style thingamajigs that are usually humorous asides presented in a kind of visual novel style. These skits are usually where the characterisation is at its strongest, because we get to witness what the characters are like when the circumstances don't warrant a complete cutscene. As a result, we get to find out little things about them that really help bring out their humanity, like what kind of food they like, how they feel about their life circumstances and the disparity between who they are and how they present themselves. In contrast, the actual cutscenes only have the shallowest characterisation, tend to suffer from anime indulgences and are usually pretty boring by comparison.
The gameplay itself is really pleasing when you get to actually play it. Unfortunately, Tales of Graces spends a lot of time shuttling you between plot points as mundanely as possible. All the best content is weighted towards the end game, including the puzzles that are actually puzzling and dungeons that are challenging to get through. During the main part of play, only the bosses are particularly challenging, but even they can be overcome. For instance, the final final final final boss of the game is supposed to be overcome at level 90+; I did it with my main character at level 79 by way of strategic item use.
What the game desperately needs is for a structure that allows it to capitalise on its excellent gameplay, and the easy way out here would be a greater emphasis on dungeons rather than world traversal. As it is, though, the game has a lot of drip-feeding, where the best gameplay experiences are had during the challenging boss battles that test your combat efficiency. It's during these battles that you actually have to use all the different systems within the game, with most regular encounters requiring nothing more than tactical button mashing.
I guess Tales of Graces is kind of like two products cock-blocking one another. One is a well-designed game and the other is an anime of inconsistent quality. When it gets good, it's really something else and shows exactly what JRPGs are still capable of, both in gameplay and narrative terms. But there's quite a slog to actually get there. So I really have no idea what numerical score I'd give this game. It's frustrating to see such good gameplay systems get buried under the amount of narrative trivialities this game contains, but then again, there's also remarkably effective instances of characterisation, and the skits by far outnumber the cutscenes. I suppose the net result is positive -- it's overall more a good experience than a bad one. But it's still a really confusing game from a structural point of view. It was worth my time to play, but I'm not sure I recommend it.
I bought Dungeon Defenders on the PS3 today!
Does anyone else have the game on the PS3?
Made it to the last sector in FTL.
The last sector is not easy.
Europa Universalis IV: Development Diary 23: Tell me sweet little lies...
what about it
Just wanted to post about the development of EU4
This is a really, really good retrospective on the RPG genre that has a whole bunch of information you probably don't know. Certainly a lot I didn't know. It covers the main players, such as Gygax and his influence on video game RPGs (by definition), but also some very, very early video game RPGs that closely resemble their modern iterations in many respects. Fantastic video.
You should've gotten it on pc! Hell, you can still get it for 7 dollars + all dlc + Swords and Sworcery + a bunch of other cool games in the current humble indie bundle.
I don't have enough in my Steam wallet to buy it, though. I do have enough on PSN.
So this is a thing that's happening now.
Brave New World, the next expantion for Civ5, has been announced!
Here is the threads on CFC for it.
I really should try out Civ5 and I'm hesitant on Saints Row IV. It could just be that Deep Silvers marketing department sucks but right now I am not too excited for SRIV.
I am hoping Brave New World reintroduces Mali and the Zulus.
Anyway: I am guessing there will be a "Poland can into space" acheivement for a Polish space victory!
Europa Universalis 3 did it first. :P (Not for a space victory, I admit.)
New Civ 5 expansion? Sweet, I can get another week's worth of enjoyment out of the game.
Worth noting: I still have an extra copy of Dungeon Defenders lying around in my Steam inventory if you want it (though it's only the base game, no dlc).
And I have a spare Steam key for the full game.
Well, thanks for that, UE! (I actually already knew that, GMH told me before I went to bed earlier today. :V )
But thanks for gifting it to me!
Now, to go play it a little and then ask people to play with me. :c
Fun fact I discovered: at least some of the Dungeon Defenders DLCs are seasonally free. Check them out when you're on Steam; you might find one or two that are free.
In other news, I just found that this guy: http://johnkorsrud.com/
...wrote the music for Mario's Time Machine (for the NES). Well, that explains why it isn't sucky. You have fun tracks like this, this, and this.
So, on the plus side, good on them for admitting they lied (after the fifth or sixth time someone proved it).
On the other hand...I think they just admitted to fraud. That isn't good.
Just making excuses honestly.
They won't learn anything from this, because they're a triple-A company and are making money, and will continue to do so.
Unfortunately.
http://www.destructoid.com/ea-censors-its-own-support-number-on-its-forums-248865.phtml
So, if you attempt to post EA's support number on its forums, it censors it, because god forbid they be able to hear people's problems.
Holy shit, PlayStation Magazine's art is 9 times out of 10 really fucking ugly. Particularly Adam Warren's.
And the magazine's heroine and gamer girl fanboying often times reeks of teh virginz. No wonder it closed down.
first video from the Yume Nikki image album was released yesterday (or at least, it was uploaded to youtube yesterday)
I may be wrong, but I believe this is the first official depiction of Madotsuki outside the game itself.
/crosspost
They should have made what this guy did and make Mado sing.