Last game you finished and your thoughts

So there's no reason to play the Origins levels, then? Good to hear! And Steamworld is one of these things that's been on my radar, but which I have yet to acquire.

Ace Attorney: Miles Edgeworth: Investigations

I still love the Phoenix Wright school of wrighting (ha!). That will not change. But playing this after Apollo Justice has made me realise just how much I miss Edgeworth, the frilly grumpy cad. He's great. Nice for Franziska to get some more development, too, and I enjoyed the new characters of Lang and Faraday (Junior), and very much enjoyed bringing the second-in-command of the Big Bad Thing to justice, deeply obnoxious as they were.

As for the gameplay, it's much the same with more emphasis on the investigation, which is good; but there's a jarring disconnect between overworld sprites and dialogue sprites, and it loses some of its structure from not being in a courtroom. But overall, it's another unsurprisingly great entry to the franchise, and I'm sad that the sequel never got an English translation.  

Castlevania: Subtiltles of subtile: Thing of Thing

I love running around doing the Metroidvania thing. However I would say the combat's a bit clunky compared with e.g. [i]Darksiders{/i] (which I'm forgiving). Also, as it's a bridge between two other games that I won't play, the plot made no sense, and I played the last third of the game with the sound down during the cutscenes.

8/10

Or, Duke Lombardi gives this 15 out of 18 hats.

andy wrote:

I do need to get Steamworld but I always forget about the eShop

I tend to forget about my 3ds a lot never mind the e shop.

PSychonauts.

Last level is broken. Otherwise, well worth the pound I spent on it when it was on a Steam sale.

beemoh wrote:

PSychonauts.

Last level is broken. Otherwise, well worth the pound I spent on it when it was on a Steam sale.

Pound? I spent £40 on it about 6 years ago! That's a bloody bargain!

Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams.

I remember starting a thread over at The Old Place (TM) about games you had to get out of your life, for those games that were either so addictive you had to get rid of them or, more ominously, games so rubbish you had to complete them and move them on as soon as possible. *cough*

I did not find GS:TD fun (even the initials sound wrong). I don't want it to steal more of my life by typing up in full why I did not get on with it, so here's a quick summary.

1) It's ugly. The videos I saw before buying it made me think it looked great; on my TV, the sprites are uniformly awful and the backgrounds so detailed you can't tell what's platform and what's not.
2) The controls do not seem to have been properly thought through. If you're one version of Giana, pressing the special move button of the other Giana turns you into her, meaning any platforms/lifts you were relying on let you down. It took too long to get used to that. Design a game where you have one button for both special moves.
3) The levels are mostly terribly long and empty of proper action. The enemies mostly seem there because The Big Book Of Platform Game Design said that there should be enemies.
4) The last boss is more pointlessly hard than an unemployed porn star.

ZeroJones wrote:

The last boss is more pointlessly hard than an unemployed porn star.

I'm proud to know you.

I did not enjoy what I played of Twisted Dreams. So superficial.

~

I toppled both Gunman Clive and Bike Rider DX this afternoon when I really should have been doing an essay. These must be two of the best games on the eShop - quality gaming for £1.99 each.

GHOST TRICK: Phantom Detective


Oh, man, what a game! Absolutely ace. My mancrush on Shu Takumi is stronger than ever. Can't believe I put it off for so long.

Spoiler:

BEST. DS. GAME. EVER!

It is indeed pretty damn amazing. I presume you've played all the Phoenix Wright games? And if not, why not!?

Me? Nope, but I am going to buy the first two next payday.

Good good. Also addressed to Buskalilly, mark you.

Yeah, of course. Loved them to bits. Don't know why I never got round to Ghost Trick when it came out.
The only DS games left that I want to get/ play now are TWEWY and Last Window (and Hotel Dusk, which I've played but I want to replay it with last window).

Pokémon X

Rubbish generation, great game. Very few new Pokémon, even fewer actual good designs (and names - Talonflame? For crying out loud), and most of the mega-evolutions look like something out of an eight-year-old's Tumblr account (and mean that some deserving Pokémon may never get a proper evolution. Poor Absol). The fairymons and their bringing down of the dragons is the only good thing to arise from the whole affair.

But the game extends beyond that. It's much more dynamic - both the prettiness and the new movement options (the roller-skates in particular) help with this. The music's a jump up from the last two generations, there are lots of Pokémon if you're not bothered about the new ones, there are some good environments to explore...

There are several problems, with existing ones (the returning tutorials, Cut still being rubbish) joined by new ones (the Exp. Share makes the game too easy, the pacing's off, your "friends" are no replacement at all for Blue or Silver or even Pearl), but they're outshone by just how pretty the world is. The story is pretty splendid as well, with a more human villainous team, and a backstory behind that better than any in other game in the series.

Of course, it's still Pokémon. If you didn't like the formula in the first place, then this won't change your mind; and unlike Black/White, this is unlikely to revive a flagging interest in the series unless you really like the graphics. But the rest of us will love it. Just don't expect a revolution: under the hood, things have changed much less than they did in BW.

Beyond: Two Souls

Amazing story and brilliant characters. I like the change from "quickly push random buttons" to a more naturally feeling QTE system. Chatting with people after the game, I saw that I did a ton of stuff which I never even realised were choices.

The wolf among us: episode 1: "Faith"

Telltale have done it again, taken a comic book franchise and provided a engaging point & click adventure & to be honest this game suits that style way more than the walking dead did & it's nice to see that your choices seem like they can actually change certain outcomes too making multiple replays a bit more interesting.

For example this might be a small thing to others but after a certain intense scene I wanted to act all cool & pay for my drink but I couldn't as I had given all my money to a character prior to this scene.

Episode score: 8/10

Cube wrote:

Beyond: Two Souls

Amazing story and brilliant characters. I like the change from "quickly push random buttons" to a more naturally feeling QTE system. Chatting with people after the game, I saw that I did a ton of stuff which I never even realised were choices.

I've been hearing that these so-called choices don't really affect the story in a major way and are in fact quite superficial. Is that assessment right?

The_Jaster wrote:

The wolf among us: episode 1: "Faith"

Definitely looking to get this. Does it play like The Walking Dead does?

The Christ wrote:

Soul Calibur II

I don't normally get along with fighting games- turn the other cheek, and all that- but that Ivy had a stonking rack. She could whip me all day, know what I'm saying? Lust is a sin but I'd go up on that cross all over again just for one taste, and the crucifix wouldn't be the biggest wood on the hill!

 

Winner.

The Christ wrote:

Soul Calibur II

I don't normally get along with fighting games- turn the other cheek, and all that- but that Ivy had a stonking rack. She could whip me all day, know what I'm saying? Lust is a sin but I'd go up on that cross all over again just for one taste, and the crucifix wouldn't be the biggest wood on the hill!

Well, I think I've seen it all.Internet is over, lets go home.

Half Minute Hero: Super Mega Neo Climax Ultimate Boy (PC): Stupid name aside, this was a surprisingly fun little action-RPG-puzzler. The premise of only having thirty seconds to beat a level and thus having to constantly reset time at statue points was an interesting one, but it grew a little tired towards the game's end. The puzzles tended to be a bit samey too, falling back on fetch quests all too often. Great writing though - reminded me of Kid Icarus Uprising in the way your supposedly benevolent goddess protector is a bit snarky towards you.

Metroid Prime Pinball (DS): Horrendously frustrating - but perhaps the same could be said of all pinball games. Short, and not a lot of meat to it with only five small and poorly designed tables. The Metroid Prime influences were a neat touch, and fighting some bosses from the game on your way to bashing in Metroid Prime's skull with your Morph Pinball was enjoyable, but it only served to remind me that I should really be playing the actual bloody game instead of fannying around with a pinball game. Pokemon Pinball is still your Ninty pinball port of call.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (PS1): Pretty shocking. Graphically, it's aged like milk you left in some dark corner of your fridge and didn't find until a few months later, and the voice-acting's horrendous. Ron sounds like the Artful Dodger in that awful rendition of Oliver you probably saw at your local college one time. My flatmate and I did play a nice game of "is that actually...?" during the game's opening, until we realised no actor with a shred of dignity would voice-act in this. The platforming is awkward at best and the boss battles are either laughably easy, inanely repetitive or just downright frustrating. The Gringotts mine-cart section controls like a fucking shopping trolley and is like crawling through rusty tacks whilst being screamed at by Gordon Ramsay. Oh, and Voldemort looks like the Grinch's pasty uncle in this.

In short, it's not great.

JayMoyles wrote:

. Ron sounds like the Artful Dodger in that awful rendition of Oliver you probably saw at your local college one time.

Me and my family went to a rendition of Oliver and left in the intermission.

JayMoyles wrote:

Ron sounds like the Artful Dodger in that awful rendition of Oliver you probably saw at your local college one time.

Having Craig David going on in the background all the time didn't help matters.

beemoh wrote:

Having Craig David going on in the background all the time didn't help matters.

Wow, that's an actual thing? What were you watching?