So, what're you playing?

[Rendakor]

Have not gotten very far into Crimson Shroud, but I'm in love with the tiny text and inscrutable attributes on everything.  Also the lack of levels, that's neat.

I bought this and played it all of once before losing interest. The combat was pretty cool but the story wasn't very interesting to me (at least early on) and there was way too much of it.

[Cyrrex]

Ordered Ni No Kuni and it came in early. Very long and hand-holdy tutorial but cool so far.

I was just about to come here and ask about this game.  It looks fantastic.  What's the general consensus?

Scroll up a few posts.

Ah shoot, don't know how I missed that.  Would be cool if you could come back and post more thoughts when you get a bit further along in the game.  There is something about the visual style that turns me on to it, but I'm not certain the gameplay is for me.  How's the story?

[koro]

From what I've seen and been told (watched a friend play a good bit of it), Ni No Kuni is a thoroughly average game that could've been absolutely stellar if some more effort was put into it. Pretty much every facet of the game seems to have some major flaw to it. Combat is interesting, but the absolutely atrocious party AI nearly ruins it. The game world is interesting, but there's too much backtracking and you get a teleport spell right after you stop needing it. The story has some pretty cool hooks, but is marred by some occasionally-insipid writing (my tolerance for Japanese-style dramatic bullshit has gone way down over the years), a lot of repetition (you'll be collecting sets of 3 macguffins a lot), and the villains
Granted, this is all second-hand, but if you can stomach the terrible party AI and the times when the writing goes south, I imagine you'd probably like it.

[Paelos]

I started playing through Assassins Creed 1 on the PC. It took some time to get controls that didn't annoy the hell out of me. Now I'm leaving piles of guards everywhere.

[Fabricated]

Dear Ni No Kuni, please stop with the tutorial stuff- it has been like 5-6 hours and I know how the game works

just please

stop

[Maledict]

Outside of the lovely world design, its a totally standard JRPG that shows off why the genre has been dying over the past 5 years, and how far they have sunk in comparison to western RPgs.

1) a tutorial that lasts for hours because people are apparently stupid.

2) even worse, a tutorial that lasts for hours and restricts you to the most basic moves - all you literally do is press attack for hours!

3) respawning enemies around every corner - because if you can beat one monster, why not make the player fight them 5 times in a row for no purpose!

4) a poorly designed real time battle system

5) grind grind grind grind grind

It's depressing really because there are some truly lovely aspects to this game, and I'm going to persevere to see more of it. But the fact remains games of this design are needlessly stuck in the past and they drag down the whole genre. It's stupid that it took a minor release Wii game (Xenoblade) to show the genre actually could evolve and had life in it.

[murdoc]

Took a little break from Dark Souls to FINALLY play some Torchlight 2. It's so nice that after the careful combat and movement of Dark Souls, I can just run around like a maniac, gibbing EVERYTHING.

[Maledict]

Try Path of Exile. It's free and better. Really the best ARPG I've played since D2.

[murdoc]

Try Path of Exile. It's free and better. Really the best ARPG I've played since D2.

Tried it and went right back to Torchlight 2.

[Hawkbit]

It's interestingly polarizing.  For all the awesome talk of PoE, I just can't get into it.  It's technically competent, and I can see it's a good game.  But I just prefer the feel and aesthetics of Torchlight 2. 

[Lantyssa]

TL2 is smoother and faster paced.  TL2 is like D2 where PoE is D1 to me.  They both have things that are great about them, but there is a different feel to them.  I'd really like TL2 smoothness with PoE's mechanics.

At least they both got loot right.  How the hell does a Diablo game mess up loot?

[murdoc]

It's interestingly polarizing.  For all the awesome talk of PoE, I just can't get into it.  It's technically competent, and I can see it's a good game.  But I just prefer the feel and aesthetics of Torchlight 2. 

This is pretty much my thoughts exactly. I don't know why it took me so long to really start playing TL2 (yes I do, GW2), but I am loving it.

[Yegolev]

I think the polarizing is by how much of a ARPG neckbeard you are.  If you were playing D2LoD and wishing you could level your gems.. *puff* and dude, what if we could get magic and rare potion bottles.  Fuuuucck!

Anyway, I'm apparently someone that likes the complexity of PoE in favor of TL2's Cartoon Dungeon Show.

[koro]

What about those of us who like PoE, TL2, and  both Diablo games?

[Yegolev]

Well, I do actually like TL2 quite a bit, just not enough for it to be my #1 ARPG over PoE.

both Diablo games?

[Sky]

Divine Divinity was the best ARPG

[Job601]

I'm level 24 in PoE and I haven't got any uniques or set items yet, so clearly it is a terrible game with incompetent developers.

[Maledict]

I oddly don't miss set items in PoE. They've ended up being a mess in both WoW and D3 so I lack faith in designers being able to do them properly.

[Malakili]

i've installed PoE and I like the design.  The pacing is a bit slow at lower levels, but I like the underlying mechanics, so I will press on. 

[ezrast]

I oddly don't miss set items in PoE. They've ended up being a mess in both WoW and D3 so I lack faith in designers being able to do them properly.

Honestly I didn't like them in D2 either. They go against the whole idea of mixing and matching your own personal set of perfect loot, and low-level ones were essentially just uniques because you'd never complete a set before outleveling them anyway.

[Yegolev]

I never actually collected a full set of anything outside Titan Quest.  Also, I might be imagining that one.

[Ironwood]

Well, I do actually like TL2 quite a bit, just not enough for it to be my #1 ARPG over PoE.

both Diablo games?

I second this smiley.

[Malakili]

I oddly don't miss set items in PoE. They've ended up being a mess in both WoW and D3 so I lack faith in designers being able to do them properly.

Honestly I didn't like them in D2 either. They go against the whole idea of mixing and matching your own personal set of perfect loot, and low-level ones were essentially just uniques because you'd never complete a set before outleveling them anyway.

The biggest problem with sets is set bonuses.  They are often so good that you end up having to keep items that are inferior so that you keep the bonus.  On the other hand, I liked when you completed a set in Diablo 2 that it would change the look of your character dramatically.  I'd be happy to have more cosmetic changes linked to set bonuses rather than stat/power bonuses.

[koro]

In practice, sets in D2 weren't that bad. Few full sets were worth collecting, and most of those were low level sets like Sigon's or Isenhart's. Most of the common high-end sets were used piecemeal, and one of the only full sets I've seen in use was Immortal King, and you need a Barb built specifically for the set to make real use of it.

[Rasix]

Finally decided to beat Skyrim, so I think I'm done.  Did a lot of the major/guild story lines but still only ended up at lvl 49.  Blacksmithing was the only skill I ground out.  Still a lot left to do, but it's hard for me to keep playing a game once I've beaten it.

So, now what..  Maybe some PS3 games (Resonance of Fate, Valkyria Chronicles, Disgaea, Dark Souls), Sleeping Dogs, or go back and try to finish Saints Row 3.   And LoL league games, because I suck and can't stop playing at least 1 a day.

Could always go back to SWTOR or TSW as well.  Both games are fun, but TSW I've technically "beaten" in my mind (main quest).  I could try another faction, but I don't see how anyone can be more fun/funny than the Illuminati.

[Ingmar]

So, now what..

Skyrim DLC, duh.

[Rasix]

$20 dollars? No thanks.  Already did Dawnguard and my Hearthfire house CTDs me when I enter.  I've got tons of alchemy stuff and vanity items that I'll never see again.   DLC in these games never seems to be worth the price point, even on deep sale.

Oddly enough, the Witcher 3 announcement has me feeling dumb enough to try Witcher 2 again.

[Sjofn]

Man, don't do it, you know you'll just wind up with a sad.

[rk47]

It's decent enough game with no pandering to the romantic folks.

[Fabricated]

PoE and TL2 have me quite satisfied in ARPG land. TL2 for lighter, faster paced combat with more constant rewards, PoE for the more spergy in-depth build stuff.

I think Path of Exile is the best ARPG out there now in terms of making interesting loot, particularly the uniques which can be build defining. TL2 does a better job of making me motivated to slaughter everything and kill bosses however since you can almost always count on getting something decent for one of your characters on a boss kill. They both successfully scratch their related itches and don't really intrude on one another.

Meanwhile I haven't played Ni No Kuni for like 2-3 days since I got tired of the tutorial shit. I'll probably sit down with it this weekend and see if I can finally escape having my play interrupted by Drippy explaining shit every 5 minutes.

[HaemishM]

So my Football Manager career is apparently over after 50+ hours played as manager of Blackpool. I was sacked for not keeping the team above 10th in the league. /sadf

Trying to decide if I should go back to Skyrim, Crusader Kings or Saints Row 3 in addition to my continued failure to promote out of the bottom tier on LOL.

[Yegolev]

Living in a timewarp as I do, I'm playing Sleeping Dogs while the wife is awake, Dark Souls when she isn't, and Path of Exile at other odd times.

Sleeping Dogs isn't terrible, but I compare everything to San Andreas which isn't fair.  There seems to be a bug in the game where everyone drives on the wrong side of the road.  Also, playing it makes me want Just Cause 3 to be here.

Dark Souls, went down to Ash Lake for Twinkling Titanite.  Those fucking mushroom men.  Even with the Black Knight Sword they are a pain in the ass.

[Rendakor]

PoE when my friends are available, and Fire Emblem: Awakening when they aren't.

I gave up on my PoE Witch because she's too much of a glass cannon to progress through Cruel, and switched to a Templar.

Fire Emblem remains awesome, although I can't imagine playing a game with permadeath that you didn't have random battles to grind on.

[Brogarn]

Mostly playing GW2. Tried Tera, didn't like it. Downloaded and have tried to get into PoE, but haven't found my stride yet. I think because I don't really care for any of the characters. I also wish they had both genders of all the characters because I don't care for playing females but would like to try spell caster and maybe ranger. I like my immersion and I'm a guy, so I play guys. It's just how I roll. /shrug

Nothing else out there right now that I'm really interested in. Kind of in a lull for some reason.

[Lantyssa]

With the skill web you can still try those out with male characters.  It'll take you a few levels, but it's doable.