This confuses me 'cause I wasn't seeking argument, only sharing thoughts through discussion. Sorry about my posts not being clear (or something). I don't think you're wrong, and I even agreed with you when I said that the easier to unlock ships are a compromise for how unfair FTL was.

I think what I'm trying to say is that, for me, even though the chances of finding ship unlock quests was random and therefore "unfair", I found that it increased FTL's longevity because it gave me a reason to keep "trying my luck" (maybe a little like gambling?). Perhaps part of the reason I could do that over a long time without getting bored is because FTL is one of the rare sort of games I can play while doing other things (like watching TV/waiting for dinner to cook), so I appreciated the extra "challenge".

I'll also elaborate what I meant when I talked about "skill" earlier: If one learns FTL's tactics so that they win fights and progress further, and head to race/faction-specific homeworld sectors when they appear on the map, it doesn't make finding the quests any less random or unfair, but it does increase their chances of finding them.

But at the same time I can perfectly understand why that didn't appeal to others, your opinion isn't wrong, and as I said in my last post: If the change makes the game more fun for people, than that's fine. When I said "I'm wondering if that makes things a little too easy" earlier, it was more of a thought, and not a complaint. (And besides that, I've already unlocked everything, so it doesn't make a difference to me. People can play games how they like, in whatever way they find fun.)

Sorry, I was probably tired.

You went on about how the old system made you feel more justified about the rewards you got. I think I just took fault with the idea of being proud of repeating something until you get lucky. But, as you say, different playstyles for different people - my mindset bars me out of enjoying pretty much every MMO ever created.

That, and calling good design a "compromise". I don't believe there's any balance to strike between fairness and unfairness. Games can and should be hard and fair. I stand by my point that the new system encourages experimentation, too.

So recently, and thanks to the almighty Twitch Plays Pokemon stream, I got back into Pokemon. Hard. Played through virtually all the main generations up to and including Fire Red and have been having a hell of a time. Even dipped my toes in a few romhacks. It seems so much deeper and enjoyable than it did when I was a child I'm seeing so many new strategies and combinations that were in the dark for me when I was just a dumb kid.

But the one thing I definitely noticed was that the games were, well, a bit too easy. Sure, it's fun, but the light layer of challenge (if there ever was one) wears off pretty damn quickly. So, I decided to take on the legendary "Nuzlocke Challenge". I'm sure a lot of you know about this challenge but if you don't, check this out.

and my god, is it fun. AND challenging at the same time. Having limited Pokemon to use, and needing to be EXTRA strategic in order to keep your bros alive really brings out the depth of the Pokemon battle and typing systems. I swear, it's been one of the most engaging experiences I've had with a video game. Emotional, too. The heartbreak I felt when I lost my Pidgeotto to a goddamn Farfetch'd, the trauma received when Snorlax got Submissioned into... well, submission, and the strain on my mind when my Beedrill Ned got body slammed way down and hung on with 1 HP (like a boss)... it's always so terrifying, yet exhilarating.

I'm right before the Elite Four now, not sure if I'm ready though. My main team is all level 50-52, and I've given them all the buffing hold items they could possibly have, plus lots of protein, etc, and great movesets. But I'm still not sure if I'm ready... might go for a practice run type thing but that might be a bit cheaterish. I dunno.

Well, regardless I'm really stoked to Nuzlocke a few more Pokemon games. I get why this challenge is so popular now. Never thought Pokemon could be this satisfying.

oh, and if anyone knows any sweet Pokemon romhacks that are worth playing, let me know. I've only gone through Liquid Crystal so far, really dug that one though.

Started playing Crash 3 for my channel



I'm also playing though Dragon Quest 9 on the DS and just finished InFamous: Second Son. A essential game if you own a PS4.

I finished dicking around with Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons the other day. It's an interesting game Kind of sad. Kind of fun. It's not very deep, or long, and it obviously takes a lot of its ideas from Ico, but it doesn't do it in a way that feels like theft. More like inspiration.

I also just started playing Child of Light, and that game is fucking amazing. I'm terrified that it's going to end up being kind of short, because I just don't want it to end. I've already decided that the next time I play it, I'm just going to grind experience for a while so that I don't have to get any closer to ending the game. It's beautiful, the battle system is just complicated enough to make you think about what you're doing, and simple enough to make that thinking seem effortless. I really just love everything about it so far. Except maybe the crafting of gems to put on equipment, which is really fine. I've just never liked crafting in any game, and I don't really have an explanation of why. I just find that tedious.

Anyway, get Child of Light. You really, really should.

After that sale on GOG for Ubisoft, I'm going to finally play farcry. I also got Beyond Good & Evil. Had That game as a kid, and remember it being great.

I'm told that the controls are kinda broken on PC, even if you're using a controller. Be warned. :)

If they are, I'll plug in my ps3 controller, thanks for the warning though.

Even if you're using a controller......

I'm playing Wasteland I right now, need some more of that game in my life. Hated it first and thought I'd never play it again but gave it a 2nd chance and fell in love. Just gotta use your imagination a bit and take it for what it is.

That's why he'll plug his PS3 controller in, silly. He's just told you that.

Wasteland is a fucking great game. I haven't completed it yet, though.

So I played a little bit for Far Cry, game has a lot I don't like about it. Overall it's alright I guess. I stopped when the game give you a hang-glider to use, and if you take it, a helicopter spots you in less than 5 seconds after beginning the flight. It seems like the game punishes you for wanting to actually have fun.

Beyond Good & Evil is even better than I remembered it. When I first launched it, there were graphical glitches everywhere, but after turning off every compatibility option, it runs fine. I don't understand why people would say the controls are bad, I never had to get the controller because the game plays so well without. The only control that is bad is occasionally the camera (which is controlled with the mouse) will bug out and just start spinning fast. Usually can be fixed by running or boosting forward. Other than that, the platforming is great, the camera is WAY easier to use with mouse aim instead of analog stick, and combat is still very ornate.

Oh, and the story is great, that doesn't change in the transfer to PC.

The single best thing in that game is when your photos turn up in radical news bulletins. Nothing feels more badass than kickstarting a revolution through agressive nonviolence.

I never beat this game as a kid, I always stopped as soon as there were stealth elements. Little did I realize that was half the premise of the game. I don't mind now, I can actually do it.

I thought it was really cool seeing my photos actually show up in the news later, considering when this came out.

just finished up BioShock Infinite a few minutes ago

need to collect some thoughts

will report back


best game I've ever played maybe?

dang

Follow up on Child of Light: I'm towards the end of the game now, and I still really like it, but there are a few problems. Nothing too major, but a couple things that kind of take you out of the moment. One, all the characters speak in rhyme, which can get a little tedious. It's difficult to establish any kind of connection to the characters since they all speak this way, and most of it isn't exactly... well... inspired. The writing isn't bad, but it also isn't good enough to warrant writing the entire game this way. The second problem is the bigger one. Leveling up is awful. The actual act of leveling up is fine. There are multiple skill paths to choose from, and you get one skill point to assign every time you level up. The problem is that by the time you're half way through the game at least two or three of your characters are going to level up EVERY SINGLE TIME YOU FIGHT. This is not an exaggeration. I've even tried grinding. It doesn't matter. You're going to spend so much time looking at that skill tree that any enjoyment you may have gotten from leveling up will be completely erased. I now sigh every time I level up instead of being happy about it. They could have made it take twice as much experience to gain a level and you would still be doing it too often. It's still a really great game. It just has a few problems.

People who like FTL or haven't played it in a while should consider trying the Captain's Edition mod. It's still being actively worked on and recently incorporated Advanced Edition's features. It adds a whole new level of diversity to the game (new weapons, enemies, sectors, events, crew skins, other features such as trading, better augments).

The optional Infinite sub-mod adds more sectors that the player can choose to traverse through for as long as they want before progressing (the rebel fleet still chases you, but you get a 5 jump head-start at each sector, and many events can double or triple their advancement), with the trade-off that systems take a lot more scrap to upgrade and buy from stores. The Endless Loot sub-mod gives the game even more diversity by offering weapons with random stats.

I also built a working monorail in Space Engineers. It got noticed (850+ subscribers, 2000+ views) 'cause the game's half-baked mechanics are really restrictive, and I'm one of the few people who was bored enough to somehow manage to make something like this work. Yay. How geeky.

Fucking Victoria II

I am absolutely obsessed with this game at the moment. Managed to clock up about 58 hours of play time thus far, I'm just utterly entranced with the concept of romping your way across the world taking swathes of the globe for your own Empire.

By far the most successful game I've played was with China who start the game with a piddling economy but the largest standing army possible, any way I took them from their 1836 boundaries (which is modern China + Mongolia) and ended up with this:

http://i1005.photobucket.com/albums/..._1885526_1.png

Whoa, that's a lot of black in Africa

You generally do find a lot of black in Africa.

I could have made a better(?) more offensive joke. I just chose not to.

Why?

Because I'm black.

And a spic.

A black spic. The worst kind.

Wow, Joe. Wow.

Trigger warning: so much white privilege.

#outrage

http://www.explosm.net/db/files/Comi.../offensive.png




Ontopic:
I've completed Dark Souls. The game isn't really that hard, unfortunately. Gonna play Demon's Souls soon.

At risk of sounding like one of those smug Dark Souls cunts; it's challenging, not hard. If you just rush in like an idiot, swords swinging, you will die. The game encourages patience which is often disregarded in AAA modern games.

That's nothing like how I play at all.

Right?

...How could we know?

Demon's Souls is the hardest out of the trilogy so far. I'm having real trouble with one of the bosses... so I picked up Dark Souls 2, but in saying that if you like DS then you'll love DeS despite the changes. Boy, are those changes gonna get you killed at some point.

Speaking of which (like I need an excuse,) really loving the PvP in DS2, despite the negativity towards it on most community sites slating it to be cheap and honorless, and I do see their point whenever I get ganked by area enemies and invading magic/miracle/hex spammers but, hey, it's part of the game. And besides, there's no greater feels whenever you come out on top in a 2/3v1 scenario.

Now, is there anyone who plays DS2 on the PC, for that matter who would be up for a duel? Later on, of course. But sure add me on Steam anyways if you're interested and we'll get her setup, I'm SL 81 by the by.

Dark Souls is hard. Demon Souls is unfair.

Dark Souls is the better more refined game. It's also more fun to play if you're not a masochist. I can't speak for Dark Souls 2.

I'm currently playing around with some ideas for a Maximo: Armies of Zin single-segment speedrun. Props to anyone who's ever heard of that game!

It's the second game in a series that is considered one of the hardest on the PS2. Possibly harder than Jak 2. The first game is universally accepted as being harder, and I've never even finished it. Kind of on theme with what Joe was saying though, Armies of Zin is only an easier game because it's actually fair.

The platforming is all fairly straightforward, albeit frustratingly dated at times. There are a few sections with stupid narrow platforms that I can't see anyone ever thinking would be fun. The combat is really engaging and keeps you thinking, even though most of it will be skipped. Once I get the level layouts and basic jumping a bit more under my belt then I can really start refining the fighting, and figuring out how to take down each section fastest. To my knowledge the game has never been run before, so I'd like to make a few videos showing some sections off and send them to people who speedrun PS2 games on Twitch to try and hype it up a bit before I actually take a good shot at it.

I'm also mapping out the entirety of Ratchet and Clank, including how many bolts you get from each group of crates, to eventually plan an optimal speedrun route for that.

I'm suffering with fatigue stuff again :/

Jak 2.......wasn't that hard......

Maybe challenging is a better word then. I still find the game fairly demanding to play, and I've spent a lot of time playing all of the games in the series. Part of it comes down to when you're forced to interchange platforming with the weird auto-aim gunplay. Part of it comes down to ridiculous sections, like when you ahve to escape the palace.

As far as PS2 games that I've played go it's definitely one of the hardest, and I've played most of what I'd consider "mainstream" PS2 games.

e: Plus I hear it referred to as a really hard game all the time so I threw it out there as a point of reference. Stylistically it's a bad comparison to make.

I wrapped up Sleeping Dogs last night. Ultimately it was OK, and I really loved some of the ideas on display, but it wound up suffering from the same problems most open world games do.

The combat system is really, really swell, and goes a long way to making the game stand out from GTA et al. There’s hardly any guns until the final leg of the story, and beating triads to bloody pulp with dirty martial arts really goddamn satisfying. I also really enjoyed the ambience of the Hong Kong setting – there’s something calming about barreling a motorbike in the pouring rain down a city street lit up with neon and the wet roads reflecting everything.

Unfortunately, the story just doesn’t go as far as it needed to. Playing as an undercover cop is a nice twist on the genre, and I liked how the writers really wanted to push how stressful that double life can be, but it just kind of flatlines after the first act, and nothing much of interest happens until the big climax.

It’s a fun game to play, but I can’t help but be a little disappointed that it wasn’t more. It felt like it should have been.

Really? I found it to be tough as nails.

It's mostly because it's really unforgiving and the checkpoints are few and far between.
Also. Fuck Onin's mini game.

I finished Transistor just a few minutes ago. I wish it didn't have so many bugs, the game had small freezes pretty often and my save file got corrupted when I was about 3 hours into the game and I had to replay all that and then they released some hotfix that resurrected my original save but screwed over my new save so I, again, lost around 1,5 hours of progress. Annoying.

But despite all that, it was a very good game, visuals, gameplay, voice-acting, music - all top notch. Story was a bit... confusing I guess, but it was decent. The combat system is very cool, but it lost a bit of its uniqueness and charm because they just start throwing enemies at you very frequently and it gets a bit tedious. I wish they would have made the levels a bit more open and/or explorable, most places are super linear, not a fan of that.

I'd probable give the game like an 8/10 rating despite the technical issues I had. I should play Bastion again to see how it compares to this.

Picked up Dark Souls to see what all the hubbub was about.

Oh my. It's so... good. So very, very good. Won't bore you with details you already know but it's easily one of my favourite games from the last generation (feels weird to say that). This one's gonna be lastin' me a lonnnnng time, I can tell.