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[Mono]

Okamiden for the Nintendo DS?

Yeah, but I doubt it will live up to the grandiosity that was Okami and also it wasn't developed by Clover Studios. It's probably a good game but I still think it will be disappointing if thought about as a sequel.

Btw, I don't even own a DS.

[crowe]

[SirNiko]

Is Okamiden any good? Have you played it?

Getting near the end of Escape Goat. The bonus levels for the PC version are masocore levels of hard, with me averaging 20-30 deaths a level before I win.

The levels showcase good variety - each level tends to have some trick or gimmick that makes it stand out from the others, which is really good.

One element that is really clever and sadly not showcased as much as it could is the Magic Hat. When you have it, you can switch places with your mouse companion with a push of a key. This allows for some neat acrobatics by tossing your mouse companion, swapping while he is in midair, then using your double jump and dash to get some extra distance and/or height.

Many of the levels are full of moving parts, particularly the Insanity Engine levels. Blocks only move on visible tracks, and many of the blocks shift only one space, so they hide their tracks underneath. The result is a really beautiful effect of shifting, believable machinery without the suspension of belief that normally accompanies magically floating blocks. Every trap looks like it was always perfectly built to hide beneath the walls and floors.

The developer has a bad habit of packing levels with too many unrelated traps. One level, for example, begins with a short and difficult gauntlet where you have to run past switches perfectly to avoid fireballs that are chasing you. Then you must precisely throw your mouse companion to do a double-swap and break a saw to continue, then finally you must navigate a narrow channel of platforms lined with saws to reach the goal. Each of these is challenging and could make a difficult room on its own (none of the sections affects the others) but now you must complete all three in a row without dying, which makes the game much, much more difficult.

There are also a lot of levels that are very difficult to read. You'll see switches that don't have an obvious use, or traps that trigger mysteriously causing you to die without knowing what you did differently from the last time when you survived. Some levels even have IWBTG style traps, like floor plates that fall out suddenly at the end with no warning that they are a trap door.

There are also a few levels that you can "break" with some clever moves. For example, one stage is built with exploding boxes so the player must avoid triggering fireballs or risk death. But, you can smash the crates and eliminate one difficult section when it seems like you shouldn't be able to. Another level features a colossal number of switches in the background, forcing you to jump perfectly to avoid hitting one and collapsing all the platforms. Towards the end there is a difficult series of jumps you can avoid entirely by intentionally hitting a switch, doubling back to safety, then leaping up to the exit through the floor that has fallen out. This isn't so bad, though, because these opportunities are rare and most require some clever thought to realize you can solve the puzzle another way.

It's a really fun game if you're into Super Meat Boy style single-screen platforms with really high difficulty.

[Sakar]

The Witcher 2. Got it a while ago, but had only played a couple hours. Finally got around to playing and have about 6 or so hours in. Really good game

[John Sandoval]

Just beat Radiant Historia. Great game! But the combat was really easy.

EDIT: Also, it's somewhat unbalanced. Raynie is by far the most powerful member of the team, perhaps even more so than Stocke. There is no reason for the party to consist of anyone other than her (her G-Spells deal THE most damage in the game), Stocke (simply because he's the main character and MUST be in the party), and Marco (whose buffs/debuffs almost double Raynie's damage, and also because he has TransTurn, which lets an ally, almost always Raynie, to take his turn).

If that wasn't enough, Eruca and Rosche are unplayable for the entire latter half of the game (not that they were particularly good anyway), so there's no point in training them at all. Aht was worthless against bosses/enemies that couldn't be moved around (which was a good number of them), and Gafka was just plain worthless.

I did like the strategy that arose from the swapping system, though. For example, if you have 5 turns in a row, but no mana, you won't be able to cast spells (even after using mana potions) till those turns are over (as commands are issued all at once). But if you use the first turn to use a mana potion, then swap the second turn with an enemy, you can use spells as you please for the other 3 turns. Pretty fun.

You can do the same thing for debilitating status effects, etc. Avoiding death by poison is always fun.

But what really set the game apart was the time traveling mechanic. It was super interesting to see how my actions in one timeline could affect and shift the outcomes of another. Really cool stuff.

[crowe]

Drakensang -- The River of Time


It's akin to the old Baldur's Gate games, and if you liked those you need to check it out, definitely. Really goddamn good.

[Angelbait]

Got back into WoW a little   But my bro hooked me up with a Secret World beta pass so soon I get to play around with that one!

[Mono]

Is it worth starting on Dragon Quest 8? I'm not that much for super lengthy or hard games, that is probaly why I don't play many jrpgs even though I enjoy the story of a Persona game for example. Any recomendations?

[brettchalupa]

Dragon Quest VIII is a great game, but it is quite long. It's really a great 3d rendition of a Dragon Quest game. Definitely not as story focused as Persona, but still a very good game.

I'd honestly suggest Final Fantasy X or XII, since I enjoyed the stories and the combat in both.

If you're looking for something with an interesting story and very fast paced and fun combat, then the Kingdom Hearts games on PS2 are both very good.

Lastly, Rogue Galaxy is a fantastic and beautiful PS2 RPG with some super awesome real time combat.

[Mono]

Dragon Quest VIII is a great game, but it is quite long. It's really a great 3d rendition of a Dragon Quest game. Definitely not as story focused as Persona, but still a very good game.

I'd honestly suggest Final Fantasy X or XII, since I enjoyed the stories and the combat in both.

If you're looking for something with an interesting story and very fast paced and fun combat, then the Kingdom Hearts games on PS2 are both very good.

Lastly, Rogue Galaxy is a fantastic and beautiful PS2 RPG with some super awesome real time combat.

Dragon Quest is really neat so far and it holds well graphically. I might continue it depending on how dificult it gets. Final Fantasy stories I dont think is my cup of tea but maybe X is worth trying out. I have got the impression that its not that hard either. Kingdom Hearts I honestly dont know anything about but I will look up some stuff on it once I get home. Rogue Galaxy I have never heard of but it serms really nice judging from screens.
I guess my main concern is probably difficulty rather than length. I hate hitting a brickwall and havibg to grind. Also some gamedesign in jrpgs really puts me off like for example having few savepoints which I experienced in Persona.

Thanks!

[TeeGee]

Dragon Quest VIII is great. Took me right back to childhood and playing early jRPGs. You are going to hit a wall where you have to grind, though. In a way, the difficulty is one of the game's charms.

I never finished Rogue Galaxy but have some fond memories of it. I don't think it's a masterpiece, but it's a cool little action rpg.

[ithamore]

I've been playing the flash version of The Power, but I've been having trouble finishing it.

I've also been playing a lot of word games. Lexcavator, a Scrabble-like on my Android, and Words with Friends (only because an old friend of mine with whom I used to play board games challenged me).

[Tuba]

Quantum Conundrum, really enjoying it. It's like Portal but happier.

[sublinimal]

Just bought the Android version of Another World. Eager to check it out, I've got high expectations based on what I've heard.

[vinheim3]

Currently playing Pandora's Tower and I'm up to the last boss. Since this game wasn't hyped that much anywhere, I thought it lacked something that made it unplayable or boring.

The game is an action RPG that plays similarly to the Zelda series when it comes to exploration and puzzles, and Monster Hunter when it comes to the combat. There is a heavy focus on the dungeons of this game (called towers). There is a crafting system where you can make a variety of equipment, other useful items, or other ingredients, and you can upgrade your weapons using these ingredients.

With the combat, you have 2 types of weapons, a melee (of which you get 3) and a chain. With the melee, you can do a combo of strikes by mashing A, or holding it down and releasing to unleash a stronger combo. The chain can be used to bind enemies to keep them down at the expense that you're connected to it so limited moving. You can pull at the chain to drain a bit of life from the enemy and build up the chain gauge, and then shake the wiimote to pull the chain out and do even more damage based on the chain gauge.


From my initial impressions, I was a bit disappointed. Having read the manual which contained little backstory, the beginning cutscene was just a retelling of what I've already read. It was done quickly and didn't build up at all. After 2 minutes, it already takes you up to the towers where you explore and battle. The voice acting for Aeron, the main character you use was cringeworthy.

When it came to the combat, I felt it was slow, tedious and repetitive because I had been relying on pulling the chain to fill the chain gauge and releasing it to kill enemies. The towers were fun though, the exploration, the way rooms weave and interlock, the puzzles, most of which were action sequences, and how they unlocked new paths around the towers, is what kept me going. Zelda games could really use a lesson from these.


My impression of the game improved over time. I expected the story to be told over long cutscenes and dialogues, but it was one of those games where it throws you into the gameplay, and tells you the story through lore. I found this a more preferable system anyway, especially since I think gameplay > story, and that RPGs usually have very cliched stories, so it didn't throw me into story too much. The story was still good, the way lores revealed little of the world at a time, and how some connected with each other and the single cutscene after every tower, making more sense of the world.

With the combat slow and tedious, I decided to play better and start relying on the melee weapon as well. The game got more fun because I was killing faster, plus being attentive to monster's individual moves, dodging them, and unleashing built up melee combos. The exploration also actually managed to get even better. It's hard to explain why without revealing too much, but I can say that the game spikes up in enjoyment due to exploration, puzzles and combat in the last 2 towers.


One thing I didn't mention was the boss battles. If it weren't for the exploration part of the game, I'd say this would be the best part of it. Bosses feel like a combination of Zelda (wait for it to be vulnerable which is when it shows a glowing spot) and Monster Hunter (bosses don't follow a slow sequence of attacks like Zelda, they attack rapidly and can attack when you are targeting the glowing spot). Also you actually have to put in some effort to get these glowing spots to show, which is the hardest bit.


Overall, I'd give this game a 6/10 if I left it at the beginning 3 or so hours, but leave it at 9.6/10 through playing every bit after that. Would highly recommend