So, what're you playing?

[Ironwood]

I'm not sure it applies to the Riddler trophies, I think he was going on about the achievements.  I know for sure I fucked up the 'catch' achievement and you only get a couple of shots at that.

Which is not so lame since, you know, FUCK achievements.

[Rendakor]

Picked up Persona 4 again and started a new playthrough. Man I missed this game, and REALLY want P5 like, now.

[Yegolev]

I know for sure I fucked up the 'catch' achievement and you only get a couple of shots at that.

I just Youtubed this and I was astonished.  I caught my own remote batarang and got the achievement.  Because I'm the God-damned Batman.

[Rasix]

Picked up Persona 4 again and started a new playthrough. Man I missed this game, and REALLY want P5 like, now.

I left it at the very last dungeon.  I really didn't do any guides or min/max at all, so I doubt I'll get the best ending.  I think poking around after I had stopped playing, showed that you needed to do a lot of stuff post end boss to ensure the "best" ending.  Not sure if it's even doable at the social levels I had.

I really should go back and finish it, but I don't think I'll remember enough to make it all worthwhile.   

Still mainly just playing SWTOR and LoL.  Had a very bad night playing LoL last night.  That sort of experience just..  makes me want to keep playing. 

[Ingmar]

SWTOR, SWTOR, SWTOR, and more SWTOR.

[Rendakor]

Picked up Persona 4 again and started a new playthrough. Man I missed this game, and REALLY want P5 like, now.

I left it at the very last dungeon.  I really didn't do any guides or min/max at all, so I doubt I'll get the best ending.  I think poking around after I had stopped playing, showed that you needed to do a lot of stuff post end boss to ensure the "best" ending.  Not sure if it's even doable at the social levels I had.

I really should go back and finish it, but I don't think I'll remember enough to make it all worthwhile.   

I never finished it either; my old playthrough I had stopped sometime in August (in game that is, shortly after getting Rise IIRC). I loaded it up and looked at my S Links, but too much of it was unfamiliar for me to continue so I just rerolled. I'm doing the opposite clubs now, and plan to romance different party members this time to at least make it feel fresh. Even that's not really necessary though, since it's been so long since I've played it.

[Chimpy]

SWTOR, SWTOR, SWTOR, and more SWTOR.

Has Sjofn lapped you in levels on character 2 (or 3) yet?

[Sjofn]

Not quite, I have two characters that are level 27-ish in addition to my 50 though. 

[JWIV]

Just finished off Orcs Must Die!  Really enjoyed the fuck out of that one.  Great for 20-30 minutes of gameplay, and completely satisfying.   Probably going to move on to Serious Sam 3 next.

[Azazel]

Battlefield 3, Saints Row 3, World of Warcraft. Not much else.

[Malakili]

Picked up DoW 2: Retribution on Steam sale, so finished that single player campaign.   Pretty decent.  I liked playing as Imperial Guard, also neat that you can play the campaign as any army, but the missions are mostly the same.  Also playing Tribes: Ascend more again, the game is getting better with every patch, but it still has some serious work to be done.

[koro]

Got the sudden itch and started playing X3: Terran Conflict again after watching this tutorial series. After a slower-than-expected start, I'm finally raking in the dough and doing some exploring and combat now that I'm free from the burdens of having to do all my own trading.

[jakonovski]

I randomly bought A New Beginning from the Gamersgate sale. I only played a few minutes, but it has all the ingredients to be totally awesome. Although nothing will ever beat that old French time travel adventure game for PC and Amiga, you know, the one with paint stained trousers as copy protection.

[Hawkbit]

Got the sudden itch and started playing X3: Terran Conflict again after watching this tutorial series. After a slower-than-expected start, I'm finally raking in the dough and doing some exploring and combat now that I'm free from the burdens of having to do all my own trading.

I really want to like X3, but I can't find the time required to play it.  That's a pretty decent video series to get a newb started, though.

[rk47]

Just digging holes in Terraria - tried a bit of King Arthur 2, it was fine, but I prefer to dig holes. Beat the Wall. Now onto Hardmode with a friend. Fun times.

[Tebonas]

One weekend The Old Republic and I am annoyed with it already. The story elements would are nice, but the immersion breaking MMO elements shine through in this game just like in all the others. I must be broken, because perfectly valid mechanics (like respawning crates you have to destroy and thus wait in turn if others are present as well) make me hate a game.

I think I will try to see most of the story in the three months that came with the game and then forget about it like all the other MMOs. It seems this is the next generation of MMOs where they removed even more stuff that made previous MMOs tedious, but Everquest ultimately destroyed me for the genre. I will have to accept that.

[Tarami]

...tried a bit of King Arthur 2, it was fine...

How does it compare to the first game? I liked the first one quite a bit, in a janky sort of way.

[Ingmar]

Ooh, I didn't realize that was out.

[rk47]

...tried a bit of King Arthur 2, it was fine...

How does it compare to the first game? I liked the first one quite a bit, in a janky sort of way.

I want to state first that I am a terrible reviewer. I don't know how to balance the good and the bad, and sometimes I over-exaggerate the issues I face. But please, do tell me where I'm wrong. I really want to know why my heart isn't burning with desire to play this game.
 
Perhaps it's because I am no longer King Arthur?

 
This is basically the gist of the opening slides: King Arthur successfully reunited the southern Britain. Romans in the north is getting beat down by barbarian hordes. You are Septimus, you lost a battle, the horde now broke through Hadrian's Wall. Now win it back.
 
Why am I not King Arthur? This is something that disconnected me from the whole game premise. No more Sir Kay, no more Sir Gareth. It's all Septimus. And other latin names I have to re-learn. Oboroohgawdiamgonnacum.
 
Am I willing to forgive the game for that? I don't think so. It's a stupid reason, but I can't overcome that barrier. Now, on to the good. (or bad)
 
Heroes abilities are revamped.

 
Skill picks are slightly toned down this time. Heroes no longer have bonus skill pools that they can pick. Probably to balance the game slightly better, cause I remember unique heroes like Sir Balin, the Champion with Dragon's Breath is imbalanced. I have no complaints. Except for the UI not being clear enough how to confirm or deselect my choices. Also, the text font is kinda small for such a crucial pick. This is a permanent choice that may affect how the game is played - why is it so hard to read?
 
Do you know why some prints are made fine in contracts?
I think it's to make it difficult to read, trapping the signer with conditions and clauses he isn't aware of at the time of signing.
Why would you want to do that to skill descriptions?
 
Moving on, nothing changes with the unit skills and advancement. Stamina is replaced with...Will to Fight.

 
Research trees

 
The research mechanics are changed. You need to increase Lore to unlock new research options. Lores aren't spent. It simply is a minimum level you must reach before the option is available. Once it's available. You spend gold and wait for it to complete.
 
To be honest, I did not delve enough to see if techs actually made a noticeable difference, but yes, unit improvement options are tied to research level.
 
If you look at the bottom of the screen-cap above, there's Blackcarts - Trader. This is a 'location.' In King Arthur 2, you control locations - and they give upgrade options. The trader sells artifacts - upgrade his shop and he might expand his selection or reset his artifacts more often. Other locations include your own castle - as well as village of spearmen, village of archers, village of cavalry, and village of .. you get the idea.
 
Is everything incline or decline so far? I am not sure. I am cold. But here's what makes me warm inside. Slightly. It tingles.
 
The Quest

 
A wide array of choices are available to the player when they undertake quests. Battle - Adventure etc. Pay attention to the I , II and III tabs. I don't know why the devs did not name it better. But tab I gives another set of choices that relates to Good morality. Tab II (what the above screencap shows) gives Tyrant options. Tab III is mostly alternate means with no morality attached or other political gains/loss you can get out of the quest. (Shown below)
 

 
Battle
 
The addition of flying creatures adds a new dimension of threat to warfare. Just like cliffracers of Morrowind. These guys are annoying as hell and has no terrain penalty. Capping points and homing in on archers with quick effeciency.
 

 
Other than new skill sets and spell resist & penetration mechanics. Not much has changed. Spells are no longer 100% guaranteed to work. Armies have a level of magic shield that must be whittled down before spells can affect them. Reduction or increase of magic shield can be gained either from captured special locations in the battlefield or sacrificing your unit lives.
 
Is this game still pretty good looking? Well, yes.
 

 
But do you play the game with that sort of perspective? No. This is what you'll see most of the time:
 

 
And I have a niggling annoyance in this game - I can't tell units apart from a glance.
 

 
The banners are just too small. I have the option of selecting it from the army bar at the bottom. But really, it shouldn't be the case. It ends up being a RTwP battle cause I had to constantly double check what is the army being attacked at the moment or the location of the archer I just selected. That, or zoom in or mouseover. Those alternatives aren't as pleasing (to me, at least) compared to just having a bigger banner with icon over the unit.
 
Conclusion: I'm stupid. A very stupid man who likes to dig tunnels to hell and mine stuff.
 
This game has improved upon the original.
Tweaked the balance, letting the army do the work instead of heroes being Kal-El.
Has amazing soundtrack that I listen to while writing this review.
And great production values and art.
 
I shouldn't be too harsh.

[Ingmar]

I had the impression from somewhere that you go back to being King Arthur after the Sulla prologue thing, but I'm not really sure where.

[Sheepherder]

Playing a lot of Shogun 2.  Pretty fun when the AI doesn't completely "Whelp" itself.  Though when it does (like running two generals headlong into a huge mass of Yari I kept on my flanks) it's hilarious to watch the ensuing rout.

[Chimpy]

Sort of hopping between FFIII on my iPhone and Bloons Tower Defense 4 on the interwebz.

I don't have the stomach for a full on game these days, I think it is the working 60 hours a week at 2.2 jobs thing.

[Sky]

Someone missed the Biif exit on the internets superhighways.

[Tarami]

<review stuff>

Thanks, did you write that for f13 or RPGWatch, since I just found your post over there?

To respond, I wasn't super enamoured with KA1 either, it was just fresh enough to be entertaining. It was a bit undercooked, there were a LOT of systems in KA1 (Lords of the Realm + Heroes of MM + Total War trying to get along), many of which weren't that significant to success. It had lots of problems in fact but the ambition and soul poured into the game made up for it somehow. Besides, the mix of religion, low fantasy and the supernatural was pretty damn cool.

A simplification isn't a bad thing in this case, I'll check it out once work calms down.

[Minvaren]

Woo, Hall and Oates DLC for Rock Band 3.   

[Ingmar]

I can't go for that.

[proudft]

No-o-ooo?

[rk47]

<review stuff>

Thanks, did you write that for f13 or RPGWatch, since I just found your post over there?

No, actually I wrote it for RPGCodex, the den of scum and villainy.

[Chimpy]

I can't go for that.

You're out of touch.

[WayAbvPar]

You fuckers think you are soooo clever. Made me try to think of another H&O song and now I have fucking MANEATER stuck in my head. Someone will pay for this.

[Chimpy]

You fuckers think you are soooo clever. Made me try to think of another H&O song and now I have fucking MANEATER stuck in my head. Someone will pay for this.

 

[Ingmar]

You fuckers think you are soooo clever. Made me try to think of another H&O song and now I have fucking MANEATER stuck in my head. Someone will pay for this.

So basically you're saying private eyes are watching us?

[tgr]

Nelly's maneater?

All I can ask is, how did you manage that?

[Ingmar]

Nelly's maneater?

All I can ask is, how did you manage that?

Seriously?

[Chimpy]

You fuckers think you are soooo clever. Made me try to think of another H&O song and now I have fucking MANEATER stuck in my head. Someone will pay for this.

So basically you're saying private eyes are watching us?

Some things are better left unsaid.