Games I've Played Recently

[Josiah]

I'm right near the end of Assassin's Creed 2 (a few more hours, at most). Instead of starting something new after I finish it, I think I'll focus on finishing up some other games I've been playing here and there (Fate/Extra, Project Diva 2nd, Blazblue, etc) since Final Fantasy XIII-2 is only a couple weeks away and I don't want to be in the middle of a different game when it comes out. I also finally started on Umineko. Just finished the first the first episode the other day.

[Silver]

I also finally started on Umineko

Remember that Higurashi theories thread? I am reopening it now and I expect you to use it.

[Doodleshark]

Currently working my way through a bunch of old PC shooters. Far Cry is fuuuuun.

[the_final_task82]

At the moment, I'm playing Xenogears, Earthbound, and Dragon Quest 8.

Also messing around with Ogre Battle 64 periodically, since it's a major influence on my current D&D campaign's storytelling.

[Doodleshark]

Got stuck on Far Cry, so now I'm on to Diablo II.

[Josiah]

My main game right now is FF XIII-2 though I've had less time to play than I'd like and, as a result, still have a long way to go. I'm also managing to get in a little bit of Umineko each week and playing a song or two in Project Diva 2nd every day or two (I left that unfinished for way too long). I haven't finished Fate/Extra or Mario Kart 7 yet, which is annoying, but I should have some time for that on my trip to GDC in a couple of weeks.

[Silver]

Finally gonna get back to FF XIII soon! Bought it a while ago as one of the games any PS3 owner should have, but found a major flaw in trying to play it... I was attempting to do so on a Standard Definition Magnavox of about 20". As a result... all the text was completely unreadable! Navigating menus quickly is really difficult when you have to struggle for two or three minutes to figure out what everything says, and forget about messing with your sphere grid... I mean Crystarium. Or whatever it was called. I couldn't really read the name.

BUT! I have an HD TV now! Still need to get an HDMI cable to actually be able to take advantage of that, but soon... soon I'll be able to read again...

Of course Tales of Graces comes out in about a week and that's going to take priority over XIII anyway.

[PoikSpirit]

I've got Borderlands now! Other than that, I've been wasting a lot of time on TF2, and less recently Terraria.

[Saber Knight]

I WAS playing some Fire Emblem.... and then busy March Insanity hit.

[Josiah]

Tales games are great...but I'd take a good Final Fantasy game (like XIII) any day.

I spent a good portion of my trip to CA playing Fate/Extra (just a few days left in my first play through and then I can speed through the game with other servants) and then, after my PSP's battery died, working on mario Kart 7. That was all going well till I got to the 150cc cups and remembered just how much the computer in Mario Kart games likes to cheat.

[PoikSpirit]

Dad and I played Soul Caliber 2 for a bit, until he got frustrated at me winning so much.

Oh, I got to play Double Dash for the first time in a while, forgot to mention that. Baby Park is still the best course ever.

[SuzuTitor]

Tales games are great...but I'd take a good Final Fantasy game (like XIII) any day.

If you said about any other Final Fantasy, I wouldn't even argue about this. However, calling XIII a good Final Fantasy is something I'd really need to disagree with.

XIII lost almost everything Final Fantasy once had gameplay wise and stripped it down to a really long movie. The dungeons are all just a straight line with branched paths for treasures here and there. The battles require little thought compared to the others. Customization of stats were even brought back to linearity.


You see, the reason why I'm hyped for Graces isn't because it's just a Tales game. It's the first Tales game the US received created by Team Destiny. I freaking loved Tales of Destiny PS2. The way they make their battle systems feel much smoother than Team Symphonia's.

Would post more, but at class.

[Josiah]

XIII isn't my favorite FF (that's X), but it's still an amazing game. I'll grant that the crystarium isn't as customizable as the systems used in some FF games, and weapon upgrading is rather underwhelming, but both systems work well. And I did miss the large work map and mini-games. That said, XIII has a lot going for it. The battle system is excellent. It's fast and frantic and, despite the heavy reliance on AI, requires a lot of strategy. The dungeons are extremely linear but, as a result, have the best pacing I've ever seen in an RPG, ensuring you never go too long without a story scene, battle, or boss. And the story is excellent. The main plot may not be the best in the series but it's quite good and has a very interesting Gillian (though he lacks the chrisma of Spephiroth or Kafka. But the best thing about the story is the main characters. They're all very deep and believable and show significant personal growth and development over the course of the game. And that's not even mentioning the graphics and music...

[Silver]

>The battle system is excellent

You lost me.

I... really don't like the battle system in XIII. I mean, I would probably like it a bit better if they just got rid of the "Auto battle" option, which is really the most disappointing part of it. The Optima Change thing is interesting and all but, I don't know, what was wrong with out of battle class changes? Being able to change class at any given moment seems like easy mode. And add in the Summons (Eidolons? Whatever they're called) which are disappointingly cheap (and also involve lots and lots of cutscene), and it just feels like baby stuff compared to the other games.

Can't say anything about the story yet because we're not far enough in to really judge it. Story's been the main selling point of a lot of the recent FF games, so I don't expect it to be disappointing in that regard, but I also don't have a whole lot of faith in Nomura after what he's done to Kingdom Hearts... Also I now have to play through this whole game knowing that Serah leaves Snow for that Noel guy and that's pretty depressing. But I will agree that the characters in this game are great. After XII where the lone redemption of the cast was Balthier, this is like a breath of fresh air. I still want to punch Hope in the face, but I've heard that he gets better later...

And I'll have to disagree about the pacing. Battles are short, cutscenes are long and frequent. FFXIII really pushes the limit of "game" and crosses over into "movie"... It's also practically impossible to explore, grind, or do anything else to add to the actual gameplay time. I have to give Tales this one, for sure - I much prefer short, optional Skits to forced, drawn-out cutscenes every two minutes.

Which brings me to the most important point, and that is that Tales of Graces seems to be the best Tales game we've gotten in a while. So when pitting Graces, which is everything we've ever wanted in a Tales game, has great gameplay and multiplayer, against FFXIII, which is a single player movie... it should be obvious that we'd pick Graces. I mean, I don't think FFXIII is a bad game at all and I have been looking forward to actually advancing in the plot... but Graces is just seems... better.

[Josiah]

I... really don't like the battle system in XIII. I mean, I would probably like it a bit better if they just got rid of the "Auto battle" option, which is really the most disappointing part of it. The Optima Change thing is interesting and all but, I don't know, what was wrong with out of battle class changes? Being able to change class at any given moment seems like easy mode. And add in the Summons (Eidolons? Whatever they're called) which are disappointingly cheap (and also involve lots and lots of cutscene), and it just feels like baby stuff compared to the other games.

How far have you gotten in the game? I didn't use auto battle at first but then started using it heavily after a couple hours since the battles go so fast that manually entering commands when you don't need something special slows you down too much. However, after you get a few hours into the game, battles start to get really hard and you need to carefully set up your paradigms and switch them around frequently during battle if you want to survive. Not taking optional bosses into account, I'd say it's the hardest main series FF game since IV but not in a cheap way, you just need a good strategy and execution. As for the eidolons, they're really powerful when you first get them...but that doesn't last for long. By mid game, the damage they do is so-so at best, though they have other uses.

Can't say anything about the story yet because we're not far enough in to really judge it. Story's been the main selling point of a lot of the recent FF games, so I don't expect it to be disappointing in that regard, but I also don't have a whole lot of faith in Nomura after what he's done to Kingdom Hearts... Also I now have to play through this whole game knowing that Serah leaves Snow for that Noel guy and that's pretty depressing. But I will agree that the characters in this game are great. After XII where the lone redemption of the cast was Balthier, this is like a breath of fresh air. I still want to punch Hope in the face, but I've heard that he gets better later...

Characters in XIII all change and grow a lot during the course of the game, Hope included. Yeah, he's a whiny brat early on, but he's completely different by the end. And you're misreading Serah's relationship with Noel. I haven't finished XIII-2 yet but I'm pretty far in and there is nothing romantic between the two of them. Serah is still engaged to Snow but, for various reasons I won't get into to avoid spoilers, they're off doing seperate things in XIII-2.

I won't argue about XII, it was sorely lacking in character development and backstory, but what's wrong with the story in KH?

And I'll have to disagree about the pacing. Battles are short, cutscenes are long and frequent. FFXIII really pushes the limit of "game" and crosses over into "movie"... It's also practically impossible to explore, grind, or do anything else to add to the actual gameplay time. I have to give Tales this one, for sure - I much prefer short, optional Skits to forced, drawn-out cutscenes every two minutes.

You really haven't gotten very far into XIII have you? There are more cut-scenes early on but it even out before long.

Which brings me to the most important point, and that is that Tales of Graces seems to be the best Tales game we've gotten in a while. So when pitting Graces, which is everything we've ever wanted in a Tales game, has great gameplay and multiplayer, against FFXIII, which is a single player movie... it should be obvious that we'd pick Graces. I mean, I don't think FFXIII is a bad game at all and I have been looking forward to actually advancing in the plot... but Graces is just seems... better.

I haven't played Graces yet and it will probably be a while till I get a chance to so I can't compare the two directly but I think you really need to put some more time into XIII before you judge it.