Saturday!
Years ago, I read an essay explaining that anti-social behavior was the true test of any given RPG (or even game with RPG elements). When, in an army game, your Sergeant gives you a handgun, you aim it at him and fire… does it go off and give you a non-standard game over? Or do you not get to pull the trigger until you get outside of the base? If you’re playing a sword/sorcery RPG, can you attack the blacksmith or are your interactions limited to commerce?
Well, in a Vampire game, can you eat whomever you want?
As it turns out… well, you can’t. That’s okay, though. It’s smart enough to understand that the truly anti-social acts in any given story involve picking a side. The freedom to do whatever you want is meaningless if you don’t have the options of seeing the Big Bad as having a point. Or the “Meet The New Boss” Somewhat Different Big Bad. Or the “This Won’t End Well At All” anarchist Big Bads. Or the Third Player In The Shadows Big Bad. Or just saying “Heck With It” and moving on.
Well, that’s one of the kabillion things that made Masquerade so freakin’ perfect. On top of that, there was the whole “you can play as one of seven different clans” thing. On top of that, more or less each little quest you got had more than one possible solution. Sure, there was brute force. But there were also more subtle options. If there is a criticism to be made of the game, it’s that there were several areas in which you couldn’t avoid violence… and there was a definite difference between playing the game as someone good at violence and someone who wasn’t.
Ah, but that’s what cheats are for. Give yourself 255 experience points and load up on guns, melee, and fists, and go from there.
Man, I’m going to start a new character. I love that game.
So… what are you playing?
(Photo is “The Game” taken by Mo Riza, used under a creative commons license.)
experienced iv first nick sees nc
weight loss tips 6 Must Have Products To Prevent Ingrown Hairs
snooki weight lossNew Era of hobbies for children and teenagers
I’m stalled in Act II. It’s real life that gets in the way. I’ll make time for the first Act of a RPG, and then have to set it aside to catch up on real life. And then I’ve forgotten story, or controls, or what I’m doing. Same problem I have with jade empire.
Fun game though. I’m Tremere, so I mostly boil people’s blood from a distance.Report
My first playthrough was Tremere. My second was Malkavian. I would recommend that everyone makes a Malkavian playthrough, because it is a completely different experience.Report
Still playing Civ: Beyond Earth, still enjoying it.Report
When you have friends with very small children, you inadvertently learn a lot about things that very small children like but only vague details. I know this is this thing called Yo Gabba Gabba and very small children love it. I also know that Yo Gabba Gabba is doing live shows in NYC this weekend. However, I have no idea what Yo Gabba Gabba actually is so I imagine that my friends are taking their kids to see a Ramones Tribute band.
To more seriously answer your question, I have spent sometime playing FFIV to relive my youth as I do from time to time. I am at the end and constantly dying despite being high-leveled and this has caused me to stop playing for the last few days. This is how videogames are for me. I want a game to be hard but not too hard but most games seem to veer into too hard for me. I am playing the Nintendo DS version which is supposed to be much harder than the original SNES version.Report
The Final Fantasy boss fights are bullcrap. You can get along with 99% of the story just by progressing normally, but to beat the final boss, you need to do every side quest and find every dinky little thing that will let you summon the ultimate summon, wield the ultimate weapon, and cast the ultimate healing spell.
Which is too bad because up until that point the game is masterfully made.Report
@jaybird
My issue now is that I am in the final dungeon and collecting the final equipment. In the DS version, the monsters and bosses of the final dungeon have been made significantly harder. They hit more frequently and for more damage and the evasion rate for your hits has gone up. This results in a slow crawl through the dungeon.
In the end I am a casual gamer, I dislike that most modern RPGs tend to be side quest central.Report
Have you explored the Zeldas for the DS? The Phantom Hourglass, for example?Report
I’m not exactly spoiled for choice. Wasteland 2 is still out there and seems to have a genuine stench of the original. Civ Beyond Earth is released and while it seems that they didn’t make a replacement for SMAC, they didn’t actually aim that high, so they can be excused. The Jagged Alliance reboot is released, and I contributed to their kickstarter at the $125 level.
So, naturally, I’m getting my top three WoW toons ready for the 11/13 expansion and playing a new game of Jagged Alliance 2 when I can’t be bothered…Report
Back when I used to play computer games, one of my favorites was an ice hockey game where, if the ref wasn’t looking, you could use your stick to club an opponent.Report
So it was a very realistic game.Report
still trying to get the new thief game working 🙁Report
I thought that this was the comment that James was responding to, for what it’s worth.Report
Anything’s easier than Dromed.Report
I did not have much time for video games this weekend, but my son and I played some Yu-Gi-Oh on Saturday. I also did a solo playthrough of the new Mars Attacks board game to learn the rules. I think it will be an enjoyable game, but it will benefit from having other players.Report