Member Announcements Thread

[Copper]

Re: Member Announcements Thread

I can't say it's an instance of raping my childhood with Astroboy but I did see the books that they're putting out for it and the first thing out of my mouth was "No. No no no no NO!" You do not take THE ANIME. THE ANIME! The thing that brought anime to the United States! And turn it into CGI!

Granted, I'm probably being melodramatic about this, but it's true. Astroboy is an icon. A forerunner. A frontrunner. A piece of history. I've said it before and I'll say it again:

Dear Hollywood,

WOULD YOU QUIT RAPING OUR CHILDHOOD ALREADY AND MAKE SOMETHING INNOVATIVE? For the love of God and all that we hold holy, knock it the fuck off!

 

[Alias]

Re: Member Announcements Thread

So... how many people think I deserve to be shot for never having heard of Astroboy?

In other news, I'd like to announce that Braid is an incredible game and has restored my faith in the game development market as a whole. It has proved to me that there are developers out there that think like I do, that don't care about sales, but instead about the quality of the game itself. It is a platformer with pretty complex puzzles (I had to look up two or three of them), and ironically has one of the deepest storylines of any game I've played.

If you haven't already, please play it. Even those not into platformers will have to appreciate this gem. All the more amazing for the fact that it was made by one man.

 

[Sinfulwolf]

Re: Member Announcements Thread

Braid never fully interested me. I'm not into full on platforming games. I tried Mirror's Edge which was pretty good for the most part... but again, an entire game based on free style running didn't do it for me.

Now Fallout 3, I keep coming back. Wet, great presentation great fun. Rise of the Argonauts, well developed combat with a lot of story through a Mass Effectish dialogue system. Though they fucked around with Greek mythology a lot, it was neat to see. I rather enjoyed it, save the fairly corny ending.

 

[Mamono Assault Force]

Re: Member Announcements Thread

I've always loved puzzle games, and Braid's story interested me to the point where I was seeking out the meaning behind the story presented in the game.

This spoiler contains bits of Braid's story, which in my opinion, was one of the best stories I've read in a while.

Spoiler

I was really perplexed by the story behind the princess. At first, it appeared that the princess was a lover, and someone he was trying find, or save. When, in reality, he was chasing her. He'd go to great measures to manipulate everything he could, in order to get closer to her. Hence the time manipulation shown in the game. The enemies, the challenges, they weren't just put there for no reason greater than to provide Tim a challenge, they were trying to stop him. Trying to stop him from making a horrible mistake.

Near the end of the game, when Tim finally finds the princess, she is trying desperately to escape from an aggressive knight. A purging wall of flame chases Tim and the princess, all the way up to the point where Tim is found lurking outside her bedroom window. At this point everything reverses; Tim is now chasing her, not following. She is trying to trap and block Tim from ever reaching her, not aid his progression. Instead of trying to escape the hands of an aggressive knight, he is now the one figure that takes her away from Tim’s ‘ridiculous need’, his obsession with control.

And when Tim finally reaches the Princess, after all his obsession, and tiresome work pays off, what happens?

She explodes

At that point, you realize, that the very thing you've been chasing the whole time, was not a princess... But a bomb. And when you find it, you set it's destructive power off into the world.

Someone near him said: “It worked.”

Someone else said: “Now we are all sons of bitches.”

~ Kenneth Tompkins Bainbridge

I enjoyed Braid's platformer aspect, but it was the story of it all, that truly made my playing it worth the time spent.

 

[Alias]

Re: Member Announcements Thread

You should read the plot analysis on Gamefaqs. While I can't say I agree that the game is about one thing and one thing only, there's a lot of really great symbolism that I missed (mostly because it was late at night and I wanted to finish it).

@Sinful: No offense, but if you liked Mirror's Edge, you should love Braid because it's better in almost every aspect. I found ME to be incredibly boring, stagnant, and one-dimensional, with a storyline that tried to be deep but failed miserably. Granted, I think they did a good job with what they had, which was essentially to make a game about running. Also, I've never been into platformers, and I wouldn't really classify Braid as a platformer. The only reason I do is because you run and jump in a 2d scrolling scenario, sort of like if you had Zelda without the combat it would still be considered 3rd person adventure. The meat of the game is puzzles. Some of which are incredibly complex to wrap your head around due to the various time mechanisms. And each time mechanism from the different worlds actually symbolize something more. The story is the kind of deep that I had to have someone explain it to me (via gamefaqs) for me to understand it.

Fallout I could never get into for some reason, even though everybody seems to love it. I want to play Wet, it looks really interesting, but there's no PC port, so... =\ I'll try RotA, I've heard it's good.

 

[Mamono Assault Force]

Re: Member Announcements Thread

I've rented WET from blockbuster, and I think it's safe to say, that after you've played half an hour, not even 25% of the whole game, you've already seen what it has to offer. There are only three types of enemies in the whole game, ones with guns, ones with melee weapons, and ones with chain guns. The boss fights are boring sequences of watching a cinematic, while pressing buttons at the right time, and don't have the epic feeling a boss fight should.

Other than the game play being very uninteresting, and simple, it's visually satisfying. And I think that's what the developers aimed for. Just a game that was nice to look at. And they were successful. However, WET has little to no replay value, and the story is mostly average. Nothing exciting there.

 

[Sinfulwolf]

Re: Member Announcements Thread

To each their own I suppose. I'm loving the hell out of Wet. Probably just the character. I love her, and I love the violence.

And Alias. I wasn't that big a fan of Mirror's Edge. I never got past level 3 cause I got bored with just... running.

However, I am eagerly awaiting Dragon Age: Origins.

 

[Alias]

Re: Member Announcements Thread

*chuckles* yeah I can't blame you. Honestly I was hoping for something a little more creative - it would be awesome if they'd incorporated some kind of momentum combat system, where you had to take out the armed thugs without stopping your run, which would really have been in the spirit of the game. You know, keep moving, always keep moving. Instead it's just.... running.

Anyway I thought you were saying you enjoyed ME despite its mediocrity. But really, Braid is nothing like it - the platforming is more like the vehicle to get you to where you're going than the actual destination. Of course if you're not into thinking-puzzles then there's not much in it for you; I just think everybody should experience the sheer amount of creativity that went into it. It was like playing an even more in-depth version of Portal/Narbacular Drop. I've never seen a game whose puzzles revolved so completely around time.

Do you know if they're going to release a PC port for Wet anytime in the nearish future? I've been itching for a decent combat system lately, something along the lines of Prince of Persia 2 or 3. Arkham Asylum's combat was just... okay. Now I want a really good system, but I don't want to play PoP or God of War again (because let's face it there's only so many times you can replay a game before it gets old... and I've completed the prince of persia franchise three or four times).

Also, yes. Pretty much anything Bioware is guaranteed to be worth playing, if not fantasmic.

 

[Sinfulwolf]

Re: Member Announcements Thread

Yes, BioWare made the only true ME (Mass Effect).
And Dragon Age (to the best of my knowledge) is coming out for PC, as its the spiritual successor to the old school Baldur's Gate games (not the action rpg lites that came out for consoles later on).

But I'm not much into puzzle games either... I'm pretty two track in my games. RPG, and action. Shame possibly. Yeah I'm missing out, but I've seen the gameplay of Baird and it doesn't really appeal to me.

As for Wet going to PC... I dunno. How is the newest Prince of Persia by the way? After Two Thrones I haven't played in the series (even though they only put out one), and I quite enjoyed the games. Um... I'm told the game "The Witcher" has a pretty good combat system, and its an RPG as well. I always meant to really look into that one. I loved the original books.

 

[Alias]

Re: Member Announcements Thread

The newest prince of persia? There's... a fourth?

Duuuude. You just completely blew my mind.

As for the Witcher, YES, YES, and YES. I wouldn't say the combat system is all that great, but the characters, story, and detail they put into the monsters, as well as the whole idea of witchers is just completely awesome. I haven't read the books, though I'd like to someday. I didn't think they'd been translated into English. Definitely DEFINITELY pick it up. Just make sure you get the uncensored version. The fact that you play a womanizer and can even get softcore porn for your efforts seals the deal with me.

 

[Sinfulwolf]

Re: Member Announcements Thread

Yes, the fourth Prince of Persia is called... Prince of Persia. No sub title or anything.

Hmmm... well then I'll have to pick up the Witcher at some point. And whether or not I can find the uncensored version on shelves, I'm sure there is a patch for it. And yeah, I got "The Last Wish" translated to English, and the second book is out now... can't remember what its called, something about Elves.

 

[Alias]

Re: Member Announcements Thread

Censor vs uncensor is more an issue if you're not purchasing it. If I recall correctly (and I may not be) they only censored it for the US release. Not sure what they did with the Canada patch.

 

[Newbie]

Re: Member Announcements Thread

YHow is the newest Prince of Persia by the way? After Two Thrones I haven't played in the series (even though they only put out one), and I quite enjoyed the games.

Prince of Persia carries the distinction of being the only game I have ever returned after purchasing it myself. It's not a bad game, in fact many might successfully argue it's a good game. There just was one massive, glaring bit that bugged me to no end: You can't not win. Literally, there is no failure condition for this game. Instead of a magic dagger you get a magic princess who catches you when you fall and is required for various bits of platforming and combat. But she will always catch you, and save you if you lose a fight. Getting beat in a fight means that the bad guy regains some health and you get to start over. At no point did I feel any challenge or urgency or even purpose, I was driven mainly by curiosity. The characters are fairly interesting, the bosses all have some manner of back story should you care, and the platforming is about as solid as it's ever been. The combat is rather repetitive, to the point where you will fight the bosses twice, maybe three times each. You collect glowy bits to upgrade your partner and gain access to new platforming abilities and areas, much like you gained abilities for your dagger prior. But every gamer has their own peeves, and this just rubbed me wrong.

 

[Host]

Re: Member Announcements Thread

To be concise, I agree with Newbie about Prince of Persia in that the sands, while innovative and fun in some aspects, just made the rest of the game less fun, in some not-quite 'directly tangible' way.

 

[Sinfulwolf]

Re: Member Announcements Thread

I don't there are sands in the new one Host... you get the partner instead.

Also, that situation sounds like Prey, which was an okay shooter where you couldn't die really... and the only true innovation was the gravity weirdness, which just disoriented me and made me not want to play.

 

[Wonderboy]

Re: Member Announcements Thread

Well, I'm off to London tomorrow. Won't be back until Sunday late evening, so unless there's wireless at the hotel or something I won't see you guys again 'til then.

 

[Sinfulwolf]

Re: Member Announcements Thread

Which London?

 

[Wonderboy]

Re: Member Announcements Thread

The one with all the monocles

 

[Sinfulwolf]

Re: Member Announcements Thread

I take it you mean England... not the southern Ontario one, in the case of monocles. Just cause... I know some of them folks down in London, monocles would sound like something those weirdo's would do.

 

[Wonderboy]

Re: Member Announcements Thread

I know some of them folks down in London, monocles would sound like something those weirdo's would do.

Dear Lord! They do monocles? How is that even physically possible?
Preposterous!

Yes, the London in England... It's about time, as I've been to heathrow like 10 times, and never set foot in London...