Not Jophiel, but I also play TSW (or I did before Skyrim got its hooks in me, and will again after I shake it). I really like it–it’s very atmospheric, and it has a lot of gameplay variety for an MMO. I particularly love investigative missions, which are (mostly) non-combat missions that require you to solve puzzles and actually investigate things–following trails of clues, interviewing people, and even doing research online. (TSW has an in-game browser for convenient googling for just this reason.)
The combat is about par for an MMO. I don’t like the lack of autofacing, but that seems to be typical of most MMOs (another thing City of Heroes got right years ago that the rest were too thick to copy). The build system, on the other hand, is very nice. It’s very flexible and potentially quite deep, thanks to the fact that passive abilities from one weapon arc often work with other weapon types.
I was playing Theatrythm: Final Fantasy and got inspired to play Final Fantasy XIII. I’m halfway through it right now. I plan on playing The Last Story for the Wii once I finish XIII.
It’s interesting but I’m not yet fully sold on it. The idea is good and the world is pretty immersive. I like the modern setting. Combat is fast-paced and a bit in the arcade style which I’m guessing is the style these days. At the same time, right now most of my fights can be summed up with “Backpedal furiously while blasting away with my shotgun”.
Character development is a plus. You get Ability Points as you level up and spend them on various abilities in a ring style system. You can concentrate on a single skill type to rapidly move into the outer ring skills or pick and choose. I’ve mainly spent points on Shotgun skills but found a Blood Magic focus and picked up a couple skills which have been helpful.
The experience itself is interesting. Many of your quests are given in cutscenes which means you’d better pay attention versus “Hit Return To Continue”. Also, your character is silent in all these scenes so it feels more like you’re being narrated at versus interacting with the story. The quests are interesting enough. Some require a bit of thinking, others are very leading (go to this highlighted point on your map and fight something).
The game is rather crash prone on my system which alone may mean I cut my subscription after the free month and wait a bit. So I’m getting my money’s worth now. I haven’t heard that it’s this way across the board so don’t take that as “Avoid this game” but, for me, it’s not very stable.
I bought it on sale for $25. I’d probably feel a lot less favorable had I spent the $50 MSRP on it. But I’m enjoying it so far. I could go into a lot more detail but I’ll spare you for now unless you have a specific question.
Uplink, a game where you play a hacker. On my second run since my first one got undone when I was hacking into a bank to steal funds from former clients and lingered too long. Now I’m at a point when the jobs exceed my programs, so I have to steal to make ends meet. I’m on edge, I got the feeling I’ll botch it this time like I did last time.
It’s pretty fun - I only play late at night, lights off, headphones on, so it’s rather slow going (I’ve heard the game is pretty scary, so why not maximize the potential for fright?)
So far my favorite weapon is the wrench. So satisfying, so meaty sounding when it hits… I’ve even taken out a few of those robot things that protect the little sisters with it.
Heh. I’m playing Baldur’s Gate 2. Unfortunately, I’m finding that I just don’t enjoy the Bioware style RPG. I didn’t like Dragon Age Origins, I didn’t like Planescape torment, and I’m not liking BG2. I know this is sacrilege for most gamers. I’ll pack up my stuff now.
Fucking loooove the 40k Universe. Space Marine was a bit of a mixed bag for me. I’m glad I got the CE, because the add-ons that came with it are just absolutely sweet, and the game had some GORGEOUS setpieces (Oh the Titan Works, I had a Moment), but there was just a lot wrong with it both from a gameplay standpoint (Space Marines stymied by a six inch step. Are you fucking KIDDING me?) and from a lore standpoint (Abandoning jump packs? The techmarines would have your HEAD. And out of respect for anyone who hasn’t finished the game, I won’t say anything more than Fuck Leandros and Fuck his Perfidy). I suppose one day I should really get a 40k RP/Fluff/Lore thread going on in here (not a fan of the TT, and the crunch is neither here nor there but I adore the setting and the lore).
Right now I’m playing Portal 2 (SP and Co-op at various points depending on when my housemate is able to play), TF2 (Loving the Mann v Machine update) and I’ve just picked up EQII again because my friend has GW2 going (bear with me here) and is making me jelly to play MMOs again, but I can’t afford a new game. So F2P EQII it is.
The number of characters is overwhelming, but it is more than made up for in the soundtrack. What game had such an AMAZAZAZAZING soundtrack as Chrono Cross???
Currently doing a sort of crazy round robin between:
A reply of X-com: UFO Defense (Which is reminding me why I haven’t played it for years. The game is so good and yet so bad.) - PC
Atelier Meruru (Definitely the best of the three “Arland” Atelier games. Enjoying it a lot) - PS3
Persona 4 Arena (Story mode involves LOTS OF READING) - Xbox 360
Spacechem (Good in small doses, but can’t see myself ever devoting a lot of time to it.) - PC
LotRO (Remembering how to play in preparation for the upcoming expansion) - PC
BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Extend (For my ‘competitive’ side/for the sense of getting better at something. Also fun.) - Xbox 360
And to the OP: Yes, Mana Khemia 2 was super disappointing compared to the first one. I think they should’ve dropped the “two different stories” idea and run with making one that was good.
Nope, not alone! I fell in love with TSW from the moment I saw it, got the lifetime subscription, and haven’t looked back. Looking forward to the new update this week.
BTW, if anybody else around here is at the stage where they’re ready to start doing Nightmare dungeons (or have been doing them for awhile and don’t mind being patient), please add me to your friends list (Winterhawk). I just beat the Gatekeeper and I’m 4/6 NM Polaris as DPS, but I want to start tanking. It’s very hard to get a NM group as a beginner. My gear and spec are good to go, I just need practice.
I’m enjoying it but I already feel like it’s kind of “one and done” for running characters through it. The main story is the same for everyone, I assume, so Kingsmouth today will be the same as Kingsmouth tomorrow. Sure, there’s side quests and all but the heavy plot won’t change. My current character is with Dragon and I made a Templar but I don’t feel like it’ll make any difference once I leave the introductory London bit.
Well, I really enjoyed Oblivion. Also liked Diablo 2, but that was long enough ago that I don’t remember just how much I liked it. I even enjoyed Arcanum more than the infinity engine games. I picked up BG2 and Torment recently after reading a lot of praise about them both(much of it on the SDMB) but somehow just didn’t find them compelling gaming experiences. In fact, I haven’t even finished either of them. I think much of this has to do with higher(or maybe just different) expectations that modern games have established. I found both the games, in particular the D&D ruleset, really daunting and never managed to quite immerse myself in the story.
