Now what are you playing now 2: Limited Collectors Edition

[Mallardz]

Poker, President and Blackjack are flat favourites.

[tattuchu]

Another thing I don't like about FFXIII-2 is that it seems a little lazy in its execution compared to the last two games. The set designs aren't as impressive. And maybe it's the same in the other games, I dunno, but I notice it in this one a lot: there are only a small handful of character designs. No matter what village you go to, no matter what world, you always end up talking to the same people. Well, they're different people. But they look exactly the same as the last group of people. I mean exactly the same.

And what's with the characters jumping like Mexican jumping beans up obstacles? The fuck is up with that? Although, at least for small obstacles, there's an actual "jump" button you can press to make your character jump. Thank Christ for that. Having grown up (figuratively) on action platformers, I'm used to controlling my character's movements- jump, punch, kick, crouch, roll, etc. It is extraordinarily frustrating for me when a character in an RPG game can't do a simple thing like jump over a minor obstacle.

But back to the villagers. They have an annoying habit of babbling all sorts of bollocks. Like, out of the blue, for no reason at all. "Fuck off!" I keep shouting at them. "I don't care! Did I fucking ask you? Suck my dick!" But they don't seem to get the message and keep on with their shite. It's one thing if you go up and engage someone in conversation, but these twats start talking to me for no reason at all. "I'm not your friend!" I yell at them. And it's not even like they make any attempt at, you know, an introduction, or even a salutation. They just launch into a little mini bio of themselves, like I give a flying fuck.
They could at least lead into their bio by saying something like, "Hi, you're new here. You wanna be my friend? I like you. Okay, so now that we're friends, I'm gonna tell you a little about myself, even though you didn't ask, because I find that, generally, new friends appreciate this sort of thing. Although I can't seem to keep any friends. They never stick around. They always leave me right after I've made friends with them. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because I'm boring, or maybe it's because I tell them little snippets of my life story even though they never asked. I dunno. Anyway, here's that little mini bio of myself I mentioned..."
No, they just launch right into it. "I'm from a family of miners," a person might say, even though I didn't ask. "We don't do any actual mining, nothing like that. I'm much too delicate and I don't like to get my hands dirty," he'll continue even though I don't fucking care. "No, we breed choco-canaries to go down in the mines. Only business isn't so good lately because the veins of raritanium are seriously depleted. And also, since same sex marriage became legal here in Suhprize Buttsecks, all the choco-canaries have paired up in same-sex couples and refuse to breed."
I DON'T CARE!

Anyway, despite these quibbles, I do nevertheless find the game addictive. And thank Christ you can roam around a bit and aren't confined to narrow corridors. Although there's still not a fuck of a lot to do. It's all just find-this-or-that that some clumsy twat has lost. Nothing really interesting or engaging.

[Animavore]

Just loaned Dark Souls predecessor Demon's Souls from the library.

[Audley Strange]

Since it went free I D/L'd and am playing DC universe online, which is much more fun than I expected. I like the combination of twitch fighting combos like a beat-em-up and the cautious use of power rotations and role rotations, I like knocking fuck out of most of the stars of that I.P. and PvP is much much more fun than on any other MMO I've played. Don't know how long it'll hold my attention, but for nothing it's damn good value for money.

[tattuchu]

Squidward, how far along are you on FFXIII-2? I'm stuck Not on a boss battle. The one I did (the last two, actually) turned out to be ridiculously easy. Now I just don't know where to go or what to do to progress in the game. Don't want to explain too much just yet in case you're not as far in as I am.

[The Curious Squid]

Squidward, how far along are you on FFXIII-2? I'm stuck Not on a boss battle. The one I did (the last two, actually) turned out to be ridiculously easy. Now I just don't know where to go or what to do to progress in the game. Don't want to explain too much just yet in case you're not as far in as I am.

I've not encountered any miners so it's safe to assume you#re further through than I am. I'm in Acadamia Chasing Caius around.

Are you telling me you actually preferred XIII? I found all the characters except Lightning and Fang annoying as fuck, the battles were entirely automated and the game couldn't have been more linear if it tried.

[Animavore]

A lot of Demon's Souls fans have insisted that it is harder and better than Dark Souls. They've talked about heart-pumping bosses and scraping through levels by the skin of their teeth.

Well these are the exact feelings I had with Dark Souls initially, until I got used to it.

Going back and playing the first is the opposite experience for me. Contrary to the advice of take it slow, don't rush in headlong - I've been charging straight in, sword in both hands (without shield) and bringing the pain like Method Man. Including those bitch-ass bosses. And despite what Demon's fan bois think the enemies are not harder. They have less varied moves making them more predictable. Getting behind them for a devastating blow is far easier. Felled bosses call me 'the lumberjack'

The game is also far smaller, more linear and co-op more restricted.

[The Curious Squid]

I played a lot of Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker HD yesterday for the first time, you can really tell it's a port from a handheld console, some little annoyances that really fuck me up sometimes because I'm used to the main franchise games.

Also played MGS3: Snake Eater in HD, I love these games, so cinematic and the gameplay is tough (especially in MGS3) with no Soliton Radar.

[tattuchu]

Squidward, how far along are you on FFXIII-2? I'm stuck Not on a boss battle. The one I did (the last two, actually) turned out to be ridiculously easy. Now I just don't know where to go or what to do to progress in the game. Don't want to explain too much just yet in case you're not as far in as I am.

I've not encountered any miners so it's safe to assume you#re further through than I am. I'm in Acadamia Chasing Caius around.

Are you telling me you actually preferred XIII? I found all the characters except Lightning and Fang annoying as fuck, the battles were entirely automated and the game couldn't have been more linear if it tried.

The miners bit I just made up as an example of someone telling me their life story I wasn't interested in

I'm in Acadamia too. In fact I had completely overlooked the fact that this world had opened up, somehow Actually I just finished with this world last night. I'm not sure if I'm leveled up too much, more than I should be, or more than the game figures I ought to be. But the boss battles are ridiculously easy That dragon in the field who was blocked off by a dino? That's what I was gonna mention before but wasn't sure you'd reached it yet. Well, I took him down very very quickly. I was expecting some vicious attacks, by the look of him. But...nothing. He was a pussy And the boss in Acadamia as well. It was a pushover. Like, not even a challenge at all.
Acadamia annoyed me. I couldn't even stop for half a second to get my bearing before being attacked again! It was just attack attack attack attack. What the fuck? Oh well. At least it was a good place to level up.

Um...so if you're at Aceadamia like I am, or was, lemme ask you this: are there still worlds back toward the beginning that you haven't been able to get to yet? There re in my game. And I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong, overlooking something, or if it's just that I won't have access to them until later in the game

To answer your question, I like only certain aspects of the last game better. Yes, the linearness of it was heinous. But I liked the characters better. I really miss Hope (the real Hope, not the boring Hope in this game) and Vanille. Hell, I even miss the darkie I used Lightning and Fang in my party a lot when I played because they were strong. But I didn't find them to be very interesting characters. In this game, there are no interesting characters at all. They're all bland.
Gameplay in this game is much better in general. But funny that you like the battle system here better. For me it's the opposite. The last game I found very challenging. I was constantly switching paradigms in battle. Far from being static and automated, I was always doing something in battle, always strategizing. In this new game, I've used the same paradigm throughout the entire game, Relentless Assault. That's it. I've never had a need to change. If I get low on health, I just pop a potion, something I rarely did in the last game. In the last game, I found potions to be entirely useless. Why bother with them when you can just heal by magic? In this game, I don't want to lose a main character by making them a medic. I need them to attack. And the monsters, the healer monsters, don't heal as efficiently as I need them to. So fuck it, I just use potions. They're cheap and plentiful enough so that I have an endless supply. So, yeah, for me, except for the varied attacks and such, battle is actually less interesting in the new game. Because it's just the same thing over and over again.

[tattuchu]

Yeah, maybe I'm leveled up too much or something. I just did the boss battle at the top of the tower last night and beat the thing so easily that I wondered when the real boss battle was gonna happen

The only monsters I haven't been able to beat yet are the big turtle dino in the field and, in the same field during stormy weather, the dual magic casters with the orb shields (I could never beat them in the last game either) and some HUGE cocksucker with big fist and stomping attacks near one of the portals. Oh, and also that little fucking shithead the Tonberry. But the Tonberry was a while back. I might be able to beat it now, though haven't run into him lately in my travels.

[tattuchu]

I beat that huge cocksucker in the field near the portal (the portal I can't figure out how to activate). It took me twenty minutes. I thought for sure I was going to die, but finally manages to kill him. Got a zero rating because it took me so long Thought I'd get some kind of reward for beating him, though. Was hoping perhaps beating him might be what I needed to do to gain access to the portal. But no. Nothing.
Also beat the Tonberry. He wasn't so hard now.
I do think I'm leveled up too much. Which is odd, because I have little patience and don't think I've spent an inordinate amount of time leveling up. And yet I'm beating bosses much too easily. They're not a challenge at all.

There doesn't appear to be any way to upgrade weapons or accessories

When the fuck am I going to be able to fight someone at the Coliseum? I unlocked it ages ago but can't do anything there

Squid, how do you have you battle team set up? What monsters do you use? Right now I have both Serah and Noel as Ravagers, and a fully leveled up golden Chocobo as Commando. I could have Noel as a Commando as well, but I made him a Ravager recently to be able to stagger quickly. During really tough battles with the occasional strong enemy, I'll switch to Noel as a Sentinal, Serah as a Medic, and my monster is a Synergist in order to heal and buff up. Serah is a shitty Medic, though. She doesn't heal quickly or effectively enough, particularly if she's not the party leader. Using potions is actually faster for healing than waiting for her pokey ass.

Anyhow, despite my frustrations, I do like the game and am liking it more as I go along. Later worlds are pretty cool, and there are some surprises in the story. Serah and Noel still seem bland to me but I'm kinda warming up to them a little, maybe through familiarity or just repeated exposure, I dunno.

[tattuchu]

I have gates that I can go through but no artefacts to activate them Where can I find more artefacts Squid where are you

[Azathoth]

Hopelessly addicted to Star Trek Online at the moment. The ground stuff is nothing to write home about but the space battles are amazing. Especially the big co-op ones against things like the borg and the crystalline entity. It is also probably the best free to play model going. Everything that a cash player can get is attainable by grinding daily quests for dilithium which you can exchange for cash credits on the marketplace

[The Curious Squid]

I have gates that I can go through but no artefacts to activate them Where can I find more artefacts Squid where are you

Sorry Tat, I can't help you here, I haven't played it since the first week I got it. Been spending all my time on Disgaea 4 and the Metal Gear HD collection.

[Audley Strange]

This Mass Effect 3 CGI movie has lots of groovy interactive extras if they went a bit further it would have made a great fucking game.

:RAGE!!!!: