So, what're you playing?

[Ironwood]

Speaking of Batman, the new one's out;  did I miss a thread ?  Is it any cop ?

[cironian]

It would be easier to list the things I don't suck.

 

[Miasma]

Speaking of Batman, the new one's out;  did I miss a thread ?  Is it any cop ?

I'm also waiting on reviews for that.  It's made by a different developer than the last two and as of last week its steam page just had one cinematic and six static images of Batman in cool poses with the UI stripped off, not a trace of what the actual game looked like.  Makes me nervous.  It's pretty damn easy to make an awesome cinematic for a character like Batman, to make a game as good as the last two is something else all together.

[Stormwaltz]

It's like LoL, right?  Only with Batman?

Yeah, Infinite Crisis is a MOBA.

I've been effectively powerleveling a tactical officer in Star Trek Onlinefor the last couple of weeks. I cooled on that this weekend, and ended up playing four hours of Space Pirates and Zombies on Sunday.

[Ingmar]

SWTOR (finished the adventures of Fat Sith, next up will be finishing off a consular or Imperial agent), Rune Factory 4 (I honestly could not tell you why I keep playing this game) and the new Phoenix Wright. The voiced cutscenes don't really add anything of value but that's more about execution than the idea; they're just kind of boring and the English VA is pretty bad. They need to go back and look at the similar sequences in Professor Layton - which are generally pretty great, mostly due to over the top spectacle - and if they can't equal those just cut them out. Other than that little objection, the game is pretty great as usual.

[Rasix]

Tried Costume Quest on my iphone.  Pretty terrible.  The QTE shit impossible on the small screen as well.

More GW2 for the time being.

[Yegolev]

Speaking of Batman, the new one's out;  did I miss a thread ?  Is it any cop ?

Reserved for my winter solstice gift, or I'd let you know.  It's that time of year where I can't buy anything new.

Observe, now playing:
GTAV (can't figure out how to allow that custom content shit and so I get nagged a lot)
Borderlands 2 (DLC overload)
Path of Exile (now a real game)
Gran Turismo 5 (determined I am an awful driver again)

[Ironwood]

to make a game as good as the last two is something else all together.

This is my fear.  The first two were utter class.

Buying it anyway;  wee gurl saw a trailer, so I'm stuffed.  I'll let you know when I can.

[Rasix]

Some of the early reviews are pretty scathing.  A synopsis might be "unimaginative cash grab".  But, I'm not a big fan, as I still have City sitting unplayed in my Steam category.  AA wasn't really my favorite game.

[Jeff Kelly]

Yeah reviews are pretty bad. I can't help but laugh at reviews by Destructoid and IGN that claim that the new Batman is generic, derivative and a cash grab. They give out glowing reviews of every new Call Of Duty release.

I saw a screen today of Destructoid's Review plus score (3.2) right next to Call of Duty Modern warfare 2 (9.2)

The irony is pretty strong there. I wonder what happened that even those wonders of journailistic neutrality and integrity gave the game a purely negative review score.

[rk47]

Batman doesn't come with Dorito and Mountain Dew.

[Khaldun]

Somebody forgot to payola.

[Fabricated]

It's because games journalism isn't real journalism?

[Jeff Kelly]

I don't even mind the claim. If you get to a certain point in a game or movie franchise you tend to repeat or rehash things that people liked before and many fans expect that they get a familiar experience when they buy the next installment.

It's just that many game review outlets - most of which aren't exactly known for their criticism of triple A titles' lack of imagination - are falling over themselves to give Arkham Origins unfavorable reviews for things most big game franchises do to some extend. It comes of as hypocritical. Especially when it sits right next to a glowing review of the 9th installment in the Call of Duty franchise.

[Ironwood]

From what I read on 'other sites' it's actually a good game and the attacks on it aren't justified.  I guess I'll find out after the halloween furore.

[Goreschach]

That review is by Jim Sterling. He's not afraid to piss on stuff.

[Ironwood]

But, I'm not a big fan, as I still have City sitting unplayed in my Steam category. 

Urg.  On the fence on this one :  One one hand, you've said it's not really for you.  Other hand, it's a fucking great game that may indeed shore up what you disliked about Asylum.

Gripping Hand;  it's a fucking great story well told.

[Signe]

How old is wee girl now?  Because she's either not so wee anymore or has become very clever and extremely precocious.  I'd be terrified.

[Ironwood]

Wee Gurl is Seven.  And you are correct in your assumptions.  And She LOVES the Batman games and, worse, understands entirely the storylines up to and including the subtlety.

SHE pointed out to me without any prompting that Batman Carrying Joker was the same as the picture at the start.  That was some scary shit.

I also had to explain Cain and Abel at that point.  Strangely, that's a bible story they haven't yet done in school...

[Miasma]

After slogging through reviews running the gambit from "they probably don't want to piss studios off so they are being generous" to "this angry dude is obviously trying way too hard to come off as a badass independent by shitting all over everything" I've come to the belief that the game isn't nearly as good as the first two but probably still entertaining.  I think it is a cash grab but that they reused enough of the ideas and systems I enjoyed from the last two games to make it enjoyable.  The whole "prequel" angle makes no sense whatsoever but I can get over it.

I also think I might preorder a PS4 and get the next assassin's creed for it.  I'm not a huge fan of the series but it sounds like this one isn't taking itself so seriously and they are focused more on fun.  I also like the Pirate theme and colorful island backdrop.

[Jeff Kelly]

City essentially takes the gameplay from Asylum and gives it a grander scope. I like it very much because the way you play Batman in those games needs a 'open world' type large area to shine.

City feels like I imagine it to be Batman. You move through the city by gliding through the night sky or by moving over rooftops. You eavesdrop on conversations from high above or while hanging upside down from a ledge, you drop right into the action from above beat the shit out of the goons and retreat to the shadows before anyone is the wiser. City captures that brilliantly and also manages to create a real flow where all of those actions - including the hand to hand combat and all of Batman's gadgets - can be executed with a certain panache and rhythm. You can't help but feel that you are indeed Batman.

If you don't like the basic gameplay of Asylum though, the hand to hand combat with combos, the gliding, the way Batman travels then you'll probably won't like City because it adds to that and gives you as Batman just so much more area to play with and in.

It's at times so immersive that it makes all of the standard components of modern games - collectibles, achievements, 100% completion etc. - stand out like a sore thumb. You can't really throw a stone without hitting a Riddler puzzle in that game for example.

[Paelos]

Strangely, that's a bible story they haven't yet done in school...

They usually skip that one and Job until middle school. Oddly enough they told us about Samson, but they skipped the part about his eyes after he lost his power.

[Ironwood]

 

[Korachia]

Having stumbled into the old old soundtrack of Diablo I, all of the sudden an urge has arisen inside me to return to the horrors beneath Tristan. Once again Diablo shall meet the steely end of my sword.

All because of a wonderful atmospheric soundtrack... I wish newer games had the same compelling appeal on me.

[rk47]

Beware rose-tinted glasses man.
I tried coming back there with a friend on battle.net
The horrible gameplay turned us off.
By the time we reached butcher we told ourselves 'fuck it, this isn't fun.'

[Malakili]

I couldn't get it to run on Windows 7 last year when I tried.  It's probably possible but when push came to shove I wasn't willing to put the time in to try when Diablo 2 was just as easy a re-install away and a better game.

[Threash]

Time to get shot in the face by teenagers for a week or two because once again the purrrty graphics made me get the new Battlefield game.  It does look gorgeous though.

[Paelos]

We were sheltered growing up.

[Tebonas]

Finally finished the playthrough for Witcher 2 I want to use as basis for Witcher 3. Seems that world is fucked, no matter what you choose.

Now onwards to Avadon 2, which saldy doesn't seem to care what the player decided in Avadon 1.

[Velorath]

I don't even mind the claim. If you get to a certain point in a game or movie franchise you tend to repeat or rehash things that people liked before and many fans expect that they get a familiar experience when they buy the next installment.

It's just that many game review outlets - most of which aren't exactly known for their criticism of triple A titles' lack of imagination - are falling over themselves to give Arkham Origins unfavorable reviews for things most big game franchises do to some extend. It comes of as hypocritical. Especially when it sits right next to a glowing review of the 9th installment in the Call of Duty franchise.

To be fair, I think people tend to be more forgiving of rehashes when it comes to games that are largely multiplayer focused for various reasons. Personally I thought AA was great but Arkham City became a bit of a slog for me to finish to the point where I don't really have any desire to play through Origins.

[Merusk]

Strangely, that's a bible story they haven't yet done in school...

They usually skip that one and Job until middle school. Oddly enough they told us about Samson, but they skipped the part about his eyes after he lost his power.

Funny. I got all of that PLUS the slaying of every single man woman and child in Jherico and got to reenact the slaughter of the city of Ai when I was in 4th grade Sunday School.  Middle school was when they introduced the woman who said she was on her period to smuggle things out of the city, David's lust for other guy's wives and him slaughtering that general while the guy was taking a piss.

[Yegolev]

You guys just remember that shit when you're complaining that your TV is too small.

Demon's Souls, man.  Those fucking Maneaters.  I took down the first one from safety so I only had to fight the second one rather than both at once, but due to being stupid I died and now have to load up on arrows again.  I tried to get to the white bow that I heard was in 4-2 but a black samurai skeleton demonstrated that he can smash through my shield pretty reliably.

Path of Exile, new ranger in the Domination league.  Things are fine so far even though I'm just putting points into damage and attack speed.  Things might suck on Cruel.
If there were more than two of us in the F13 guild, I'd donate the points for a guild stash, but it seems silly to have a guild stash when there are only two of us.

[murdoc]

I can't seem to stop play GW2 right now.

[Ironwood]

Swords and Potions 2 has swallowed my life.

My Fucking Shop is AMAZING.

[Shannow]

I tried Swords and Potions, but then while on Kongregate found New Star Soccer....oh dear fucking god...then I found the Ipad version of it....aiiieeeee

(it's basically a soccer career simulator with some small mini games involved, just try it)