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[Maikel_Ortega]

Darksiders.

Never played it before because I thought it was some hack'n slash in the vein of GoW, Devil May Cry and stuff. And its a Zelda. Damn, it's way a better zelda that most new-gen Zeldas!

I'm having a great time playing it, is lots of fun and I totally recommend it.

[SirNiko]

The thing I loved most about Darksiders was the unusual combination of Zelda-like mechanics and urban environments. The second dungeon was what really drew me in.

I just finished Ben There, Dan That and Time Gentlemen, Please!. The humor was excellent with different running gags in each game, and there were several rather clever puzzles around the time travel device in Time Gentlemen, Please!.

Ben There, Dan That was relatively straightforward, with limited areas to explore and puzzles that had clear connecting threads via topics in conversation or purposes of objects (key goes in lock, sponge works on water, etc). It took me about an hour to complete without a walkthrough, and I had a few hang-ups involving puzzles I couldn't solve because I didn't realize I could interact with a thing.

Time Gentlemen, Please! is a lot longer with a few hours of gameplay, and less linearity. It has plenty of good humor, mostly in reference in 90s era Adventure games including a clever running joke that references the FISTS / WITS / TEAM branches in Indiana Jones: Fate of Atlantis that is just as amusing if you don't recognize the parody. The game generously provides a map with quick-warps to every sub map, greatly reducing dull wandering, and conversation is littered with clues to the puzzles, so if you get stuck the game naturally tries to give you hints (although some are so subtle they're easy to miss).

Perhaps the only negative I had was that in a few places I reached a point where I didn't have a clear goal on what to do next. You can talk to your partner for a hint, but he kept telling me to save a person's life, when what I really needed to do was go talk to an NPC, pick a conversation branch I'd already explored (and grayed out) then pick a different branch to join a rebellion. It's a major point of frustration in an adventure game when you encounter a puzzle you think you need to solve next, but it's unsolvable because you need to solve a different puzzle to get some item you'd never expect as a reward.

All in all, though, both games did a great job capturing the spirit of 90s era adventure games while maintaining modern gaming standards for hinting at puzzles and minimizing time-wasting backtracking.

Although I suppose it also is worth mentioning that Time Gentlemen, Please! takes toilet humor to a whole new level. You'll be keeping some horrific things in your inventory. Even though the game is light on description (whether in text or graphics) and heavy on euphemism, it's still pretty sickening if you're weak of stomach.

[forwardresent]

Mark of the ninja

I played maybe an hour of that the other day, it gets pretty intense. I came in expecting Shank with some tacked on stealth, was pleasantly surprised at how well the stealth works.


I have also played and loved the Ben There Dan That / Time Gentlemen Please games. They kind of got me back into adventure games.

[Dragonmaw]

NOPE.  NOPE.

Of course I couldn't get out of this without buying something that was absolute garbage.  Picked up Hitman: Absolution and holy shit, I don't even know what to say about it.

What don't you like about it?

[Trystin]

Mark of the ninja

I played maybe an hour of that the other day, it gets pretty intense. I came in expecting Shank with some tacked on stealth, was pleasantly surprised at how well the stealth works.

I half expected shank as well to be honest, but was pleasantly surprised to see it wasn't all about the kill. And the stealth is quite beautiful, its quite a well executed game.

[Tuba]

Started playing Bayonetta... it's like Devil May Cry on crack! With tits! 

[crowe]

I started playing Hotline Miami. Twenty minutes later, I uninstalled it. What a terrible goddamn videogame.

[Nillo]

Joe Diamond entered a gate to R'lyeh and was captured by a torturing monster who reduced his Sanity and Stamina to 1 and also permanently reduced his maximum Sanity and Stamina. Two turns later, he returned to Arkham and sealed the gate using an Elder Sign, which also costs one Sanity and Stamina. Joe was immediately devoured and the Ancient One was defeated due to the presence of six Elder Signs on the board.

A fitting end to a Lovecraftian tale, and my first solo victory in this brutal board game.

[ink.inc]

I started playing Hotline Miami. Twenty minutes later, I uninstalled it. What a terrible goddamn videogame.

noooooooiooo

[Tuba]

I started playing Hotline Miami. Twenty minutes later, I uninstalled it. What a terrible goddamn videogame.

[AshfordPride]

NOPE.  NOPE.

Of course I couldn't get out of this without buying something that was absolute garbage.  Picked up Hitman: Absolution and holy shit, I don't even know what to say about it.

What don't you like about it?

Well man.

Let me put on my Number One Hitman Superfan Hat and tell you.  See, I've been with Hitman ever since it went to consoles.  Fun fact, it's the first M-Rated video game I remember purchasing, and I had a pleasure of purchasing each followup installment and seeing the games just get better and better.  I've always seen Hitman as a steady march from a fantastic concept to a refined execution.  I've been along for a decade long ride that up until this point has been getting a star tacked on to each game in the series, which would give Blood Money six stars out of five by my count.

But Hitman: Absolution is a game about ruining things.  It's a game that punishes you for playing it like a previous Hitman game and shamelessly throws out everything that the Hitman series had built up and refined over four games to create a shambling zombie game of what I thought was a dead and done franchise.

The game opens up with 47 killing Dianna, which is awful.  Why is there any bad blood between them?  Last I remembered Dianna was the only reason that 47 is still alive, carefully calculating a way for him to eliminate the Franchise and reestablishing the agency and allowing 47 to slip back into obscurity.  I'm so confused why this is happening and the game doesn't offer me any real explanation.  It seems like the game wants to quickly detach any 'dead weight' it had from the previous entries so we can move onto new Hitman.  Hey remember how we never saw Dianna?  How she was dignified and calculating?  NOW YOU GET TO SHOOT HER IN THE SHOWER!  Am I supposed to find this sexual or something?  I dunno, it creeps me out.  I imagine that 47 is smooth as a Ken doll down there, and seeing Dianna naked is just...  Why?  What is going on?  This scene is so weird...  47 kills Dianna and then he immediately regrets it, and all of a sudden we have this new clone lady maybe?  I thought cloning was over after the last game.  Is the movie canon?  Who is this bird guy?  Why am I doing anything?  What is happening?  Why are there so many cutscenes where nothing happens in it? 

I had no idea how much importance cover would be in this game.  I was aware it was included, but color me pretty fucking surprised that nearly ALL of the stealth that 47 does will be crouched behind a stack of crates.  The fun of moving between an open level is gone, and this is just ONE of the nails in that coffin.  Every guard is an agonizing obstacle.  You sit and you wait for him to say his line, yadda yadda yadda, the guy turns around, trods over, and then you go behind him.  Or you can snap to the aggravating cover and press swap cover, which will always allow you to switch between cover with no trouble.  Who finds this fun?  It's so tedious and aggravating and has caused me more restarts than I'd care to count.  It's always so obvious how you're supposed to go, you wait here, swap there, go over there, open the door.

Disguises are ruined.  Everything is about mashing this one button whenever you hear radio static.  And then running out.  And then restarting the mini-level poppertyzer. 

What is this new mechanic?  Why is it here?  I always feel terrible for having to use it.  Thanks for that video games, thanks for giving me a mechanic that makes me feel worried every time I have to use it.

Scoring system blows.  There's no reason to try your first time, as it's IMPOSSIBLE to get the highest score your first time through.  So you just feel so enticed to do anything.

Whatever, more to come, I'm only three hours in.

[s0]

I started playing Hotline Miami. Twenty minutes later, I uninstalled it. What a terrible goddamn videogame.

dum

[deathtotheweird]

I didn't like Hotline Miami either. the presentation and graphics/music were nice, but the gameplay was completely unremarkable.

right now I'm about 16 hours into The Witcher 2, and it's probably one of the best action RPGs I've ever played. it's also one of the few games out there that doesn't treat me like a child (this applies to the gameplay as well as the story).

[AshfordPride]

You know, I can't even tell you how many times I've tried to get into the Witcher.  I've picked up both of them as they tended to get really cheap during sales, but I never played much of them.  I tried about an hour of the first one, but it just didn't feel like my sort of game.  Would it be okay to just play the second one?

[s0]

witcher 1 has the better story, 2 has the better combat. what i didnt like about 2 was how railroaded it is even tho the story branches and what not. its basically mass effect for "hardcore" gamers (and w/o the shooter mechanics ofc) which i suppose is ok but it isnt my thing.

but the gameplay was completely unremarkable.

no

[crowe]

I'm so glad that the final boss of Hotline Miami has instant kill moves you can't be aware of until you replay it and yet the prior enemies and cutscenes are unskippable. That's real quality.

[Alec S.]

Man, you got far in 20 minutes.

[baconman]

So what's been on my plate lately?

VVVVVV
Terraria (still eager for Console version)
La Mulana
Labyrinth Legends (pretty doggone fun, actually - raw design, too!)
Spelunky
Marvel Cap Origins (mostly MSH - I think I'm the only one that prefers it over MvC, actually...)
Mark of the Ninja

[deathtotheweird]

You know, I can't even tell you how many times I've tried to get into the Witcher.  I've picked up both of them as they tended to get really cheap during sales, but I never played much of them.  I tried about an hour of the first one, but it just didn't feel like my sort of game.  Would it be okay to just play the second one?

the first one has atrocious combat. it's almost worth playing for the story but I don't think it's a requirement to enjoy the second.

I never finished the first one, so there's a few parts where I'm wondering who the fuck someone is or what the fuck some random character is referencing. but generally speaking I haven't had too much trouble following the story. nothing a quick read of the witcher wiki couldn't fix.

not really sure what Sinclair means by railroaded. the game is fairly linear and straightforward but not oppressively so.

also got invited to the beta for Warframe (free2play coop third person shooter), so I tried that a bit tonight. it's surprisingly competent, coming from Digital Extremes I expected it to be super dull. slick graphics, cool gameplay, and nice execution of the cyberpunk aesthetic. at first glance it doesn't appear the free2play aspect detracts from it, though it's a coop game so you don't have to worry about anyone out-gearing you. needs a bit of work but I could see myself playing this a lot more.

[ClayB]

[PASSIONATE FANBOY RAGE I AGREE WITH]

Whatever, more to come, I'm only three hours in.

It gets worse. It's all downhill from that Chinatown mission...