So, what're you playing?

[WayAbvPar]

So I'm still playing Daggerfall. I got myself infected with boar lycanthropy, robbed every shop in the land until I could afford to buy my way into the quest for the ring that removes all the drawbacks, and have been running up the ranks of the Dark Brotherhood. This series really did peak with this game.

It really is sad that a lot of this is not nostalgia- games really were better years ago, for the most part. Or maybe we just remember the good ones (Pool of Radiance?) and the TERRIBLE ones (Pool of Radiance Redux), and all the mediocre crap is washed away into the far corners of our memories. I would pay retail for graphic and UI upgrades, and maybe a SPOT of polish for any number of old games...Daggerfall, The Gold Box series, Ultima IV, Wizard's Crown, Six-gun Shootout (how someone hasn't redone that, I have no idea), X-Com... tons more.

As for what I am playing, just started up with Rifts a couple of nights ago. I knew reading the threads here and on SA would doom me to a purchase. Still a lowbie, but it is really damned interesting so far.

[Rasix]

"Game were better years ago" is pretty much 100% nostalgia talking.  Sure, there are a decent amount of games that stand the test of time, and there are plenty that won't.  The last couple of years being rather generic and mediocre probably helps this sentiment, however.

Write down your personal top 20, I bet most of your come between the ages of 10-22  and taper off up until your first child was born. Then, I'd wager, it just stops.  

Mostly just playing Rifts, but I might pick up the Beyond Good and Evil HD retread.  I've heard the camera controls don't hold up the test of time.  

[jakonovski]

Been playing the Retribution campaign on and off, I think I'm nearing the end now. I'd like to try multiplayer as well, but the game keeps throwing up errors whenever I try to host or join. The best I've been able to do is comp stomping with a friend. First impressions are that IG is a bit underpowered and absolutely defense oriented. After T1 you simply can't attack with anything except Ogryns and T3 units.

[Yoru]

I've been playing Fate of the World, a grand strategy game based around managing the global economy and climate change over the next 200 years. Or, more likely, mismanaging the global economy to the point of wholesale collapse and then torching the globe on your way down.

All I have to say is, fuck you, methane clathrates. Fuck you very much.

[Tebonas]

I am on a Retro Binge right now. After Two Worlds I play Arcanum again (thanks GoG), for the first time with a Magic Character. And the people were right, this really is Easy Mode compared to a Gadgeteer.

[Jeff Kelly]

I started another Mass Effect 1/2 playthrough on Hardcore with a FemShep. ME2 still is FUUUUUU for me on certain Missions (Horizon, I'm looking at you)

I also seriously hate the fact that you can miss upgrades that you then never get at all. I skipped one at Horizon because I walked too far and had my way blocked by a wall that just wasn't there a moment ago. WTF.

If only my squadmates were as smart as the Collectors on HC...

After that, God of War 1 through 3

[Mrbloodworth]

Resubed to Plantside for a month, and playing Minecraft.

[Sky]

Will F:NV ever end? 

As I said in the vegas thread, not really a complaint. I play slowly and love long games. But I wanted to get in another game or two this season!

[Khaldun]

Just got to Chapter III in The Witcher. There is some irritating as fuck quest design in this game. I gimped myself some by doing something perfectly sensible, plus going back and forth to the swamp about fifty thousand fucking times left me lightly homicidal. But I like the setting.

[Ingmar]

Just got to Chapter III in The Witcher. There is some irritating as fuck quest design in this game. I gimped myself some by doing something perfectly sensible, plus going back and forth to the swamp about fifty thousand fucking times left me lightly homicidal. But I like the setting.

That part really does suck yeah. The setting is really the only thing that rescued it from the didn't-finish pile for me.

[ghost]

Witcher could have been spectacular with just a few changes.  I still haven't finished it.  The swamp is just god fucking awful as far as setting goes, the rest is pretty cool.  The combat doesn't even bother me that badly, it's just how easily you can fuck yourself by making a bad choice here or there.

I think I'm just not built for MMOs any more.  I'm already finding RIFT about as bland as paste. 

[Ingmar]

As far as I remember the only real consequences from choices are story consequences - you can't gimp your character or anything. I'm not sure what you mean by fucking yourself over with the choices, in other words.

[Azazel]

The only thing I've played in about 3 weeks seems to be Bad Company 2 on PC, as I've gotten a couple of friends hooked into it. My XBL sub runs out in a couple of weeks, so I feel like I should use it a bit before it expires.
Got the Warcraft excitement out of my system by the middle of Feb, just as I'd expected. Didn't even get as far as activating Cataclysm, since I wanted to finish off Northrend quests before they went green for exp and cash.

[MournelitheCalix]

"Game were better years ago" is pretty much 100% nostalgia talking.  Sure, there are a decent amount of games that stand the test of time, and there are plenty that won't.  The last couple of years being rather generic and mediocre probably helps this sentiment, however.

Write down your personal top 20, I bet most of your come between the ages of 10-22  and taper off up until your first child was born. Then, I'd wager, it just stops.  

Mostly just playing Rifts, but I might pick up the Beyond Good and Evil HD retread.  I've heard the camera controls don't hold up the test of time.  

I respectfully disagree.  In the world of RPGs (with the exception of The Witcher) the offerings now a days pales in comparison to what we had in the glory days of PS:T and BG: SoA.  The characters were deeper then, the enemies were more interactive and the "shades of Grey" were less superficial.  In RPG's there is little room for doubt, the past was the glory days.  

As to what I am playing now, SIM City 4 Steam Edition.  I am reminded about how fun it is until you figure out the winning formula and all the air goes out of making a city.

[Rasix]

I respectfully disagree.  In the world of RPGs (with the exception of The Witcher) the offerings now a days pales in comparison to what we had in the glory days of PS:T and BG: SoA.  The characters were deeper then, the enemies were more interactive and the "shades of Grey" were less superficial.  In RPG's there is little room for doubt, the past was the glory days. 

As to what I am playing now, SIM City 4 Steam Edition.  I am reminded about how fun it is until you figure out the winning formula and all the air goes out of making a city.

Depends on your tastes.  No one's really making the Infinity Engine style of game anymore, besides Bioware's attempt with Dragon Age, which is pretty good in its own right.  Oddly enough, I've sunk more time in to Dragon Age than I ever did with PS:T or BG2.  Not saying it's better, but it's a quality gaming experience.  Mass Effect series is excellent as well, as is the Witcher you mentioned.  Bioware and those filthy Euros are doing their best to keep the genre alive.  Obsidian, if they ever learn how to fucking program, could produce something on par with PS:T given the right opportunity.   I think I really need to try some of these other Eurowank rpgs, I'd probably like them.

The jRPG sub-genre isn't doing quite as well at least on the major consoles.  Resonance of Fate, however, is a must play for any jRPG fan.  Gah, I need to finish that.  Probably the most interesting jRPG combat system to date.

[Ingmar]

I go back and play Torment and BG2 every couple years and they are wonderful games, but the idea that the characters are deeper is pretty ludicrous.

[Murgos]

I go back and play Torment and BG2 every couple years and they are wonderful games, but the idea that the characters are deeper is pretty ludicrous.

I never played Torment but BG and BG2 NPC's were barely more than paper dolls with (occasionally) throwaway one liners.  The PC was certainly no deeper than any of the better RPGs today, from what I recall CMD Shepard has more nuance and detail and that isn't saying much.

[Rasix]

Torment has pretty deep characters.  But saying something isn't as good as Tormnet isn't saying a whole lot.  Most people that have played it hear probably hold it in very, very high esteem. 

Games are going to have trouble measuring up to the very best a genre has to offer at any point in time.

[Goreschach]

The party NPC's were never incredibly deep, which makes since as you control them and therefore their actions are rather limited. In modern games, however, the real npc's, especially the antagonists, don't hold a candle to those from earlier rpgs. Evil Turian, the Reaper, Harbinger, and Megadeth Album Cover aren't anywhere near as compex or intriguing as the likes of Jon Irenicus or Ravel Puzzlewell.

[Ingmar]

I never found Irenicus to be terribly complex personally. He's a fine villain but BG2's strength isn't really found in the stuff involving him directly. I would certainly put, say, Loghain or Kreia at least on his level if not higher. I'll even stand by my Torment comment. While as a whole I don't think the writing has been surpassed it is certainly fair to say that the party characters in the newer games are at least as deep or deeper than those in Torment, maybe with the exception of Dak'kon, who is really the showcase character for the writing in Torment, IMO. When you get down to it there's really not all that much to Ignus or Fall-from-Grace or even Annah and Morte, and that's who I was thinking of when I made the comment.

[cironian]

there's really not all that much to [...] Morte

Picking on the corporeally disadvantaged? Shame on you!

[Khaldun]

As far as I remember the only real consequences from choices are story consequences - you can't gimp your character or anything. I'm not sure what you mean by fucking yourself over with the choices, in other words.

[K9]

I haven't been playing much of anything due to a lack of time and other things going on. I cancelled my WoW sub and I'm not really missing it much. I have been plodding through Mass Effect for the second time, since I rushed through the first time, and thought I should give it a better look. Am I missing something here, or is this game really just rather dull? The story is decent and some of the settings like the Citadel and the Normandy are nice, but everything else about the game feels so bland. The quests are dull, the models are dull, the scenery is dull, the skills and abilities are dull, the hacking minigame is dull.

I play for about 30mins then just switch off, which in a way is good for me, but it's a shame in other ways.

Also still working my way through Magicka; given that you cannot save mid-mission I have to have a clear hour or so to play it which I do not have so much right now. When I do, I have a lot of fun though.

[tgr]

I bought mafia 2 because it was €12 or so with all the DLC, and I'm not convinced. I fired up Mafia 1 as well just to compare, and from what I can see the only thing that's been improved has been that we've now got proper eyes and higher resolution models, both for the humans and the cars. The world as such doesn't seem to be that improved graphically, and features like the subways/trams are missing in their entirety (or I haven't seen them yet). The story in M2 is adequate, but nothing to write home about so far. I just got out of prison in M2, and the story seems to be picking up somewhat now, but M2 seems to pale a bit in the shadow of its predecessor.

[Sheepherder]

I'll even stand by my Torment comment. While as a whole I don't think the writing has been surpassed it is certainly fair to say that the party characters in the newer games are at least as deep or deeper than those in Torment, maybe with the exception of Dak'kon, who is really the showcase character for the writing in Torment, IMO. When you get down to it there's really not all that much to Ignus or Fall-from-Grace or even Annah and Morte, and that's who I was thinking of when I made the comment.

You're wrong, now to convince you to play it again:

[Jeff Kelly]

Am I missing something here, or is this game really just rather dull? The story is decent and some of the settings like the Citadel and the Normandy are nice, but everything else about the game feels so bland. The quests are dull, the models are dull, the scenery is dull, the skills and abilities are dull, the hacking minigame is dull.

I feel you, my explanation is two-fold.

1. Bioware are good at crafting characters less so at crafting stories.
2 SciFi is the poster chilöd for 'open-world' design yet it also shows you all of the tricks and stunts that need to be pulled with 3d-engine games to make it look as if it's open though it's not really.

Also the need to include only spoken dialogue severly limits their ability to expand the game world, something they even admit in behind the scenes footage. (It's always: 'we couldn't do this or that because the VO-actor wasn't available or too expensive).

Mass Effect is like the kind of Hollywood movie where the microphone boom is in the picture occasionally in that it is simultaneously showing you what could have been and destroying your suspension of disbelief by making you realize how much you are led along rails.

I like the character design of Mass Effect, there is not a single character I don't like in the sense of him/her being unique and believable and the VO-Actors are cast exceptionally well. They also tend to write good dialogue if they refrain from love stories. “We impose order on the chaos of organic evolution. You exist because we allow it, and you will end because we demand it.” sends a shiver down my spine every time.

They also occassionaly show utter brilliance with certain missions (Feros and Noveria in ME 1 for example or Tail's recruitment mission, Kazomi's loyalty mission and Lair of the Shadow broker in ME2).

They are however in my opinion not the best studio when it comes to doing good overarching stories and they avoid nearly all of the pitfalls of open world design by means of pretending that the world os open, while railroading you along a single path.

If Black Isle hadn't split into Obsidian and Bioware and both teams would cooperate on a single game then it would most likely be brilliant. Obsidian is great at designing open worlds with compelling story lines (as they've shown with Oblivion and Fallout) while Bioware is great at the technological aspects (nearly no bugs) and does great character design).

I have replayed both ME1 and two 3 times now but not because of the great overarching story but because I wanted to experience as much of the characters as possible (So I'll probably replay them a fourth time just for the renegade path).

I enjoyed ME once I realized that it's not actually an open world roleplaying game but rather a 3rd person space opera kind of action game.

[Ingmar]

I won't be lectured by someone who hasn't even bothered to unlock Nordom. 

[Sheepherder]

I'm busy not firing rocket launchers, holding them at 90* angles to my face, and then giving up and punching tanks in Crysis.

[cironian]

punching tanks in Crysis.

Will that turn the tank into a little cube of metal?

Started up Saints Row 2 for another attempt of getting past the car physics after all the gushing in the SR3 thread.

[Lantyssa]

They also occassionaly show utter brilliance with certain missions (Feros and Noveria in ME 1 for example or Tail's recruitment mission, Kazomi's loyalty mission and Lair of the Shadow broker in ME2).

They are however in my opinion not the best studio when it comes to doing good overarching stories and they avoid nearly all of the pitfalls of open world design by means of pretending that the world os open, while railroading you along a single path.

There's a reason why the Perfect Game / Hellish Game Made By strip has Bioware doing the writing for both Heaven and Hell.

[jakonovski]

Retribution has taken over my number one mp RTS spot, dethroning Starcraft 2 for the time being. There's even one decent caster around! http://www.youtube.com/user/HarlequinCasts

[Sky]

Started up Saints Row 2 for another attempt of getting past the car physics after all the gushing in the SR3 thread.

Ditto. Trying to get past the car physics and the camera. Seems like a fun game, but for me the driving is one of my favorite parts of that kind of thing. Mafia 1/2 and GTA are much better in that aspect.

[Minvaren]

As a funny sideline, on my first playthrough of ME1 and just finished Feros.  Definitely less chatty once you get off of Citadel in the beginning.

I agree with a lot of what Jeff posted above about the game and the Bioware way, but I can't say I'm likely to replay this game once done.  It feels a bit too bland, as K9 mentioned.

[Sjofn]

I blasted through DA2 and now I have a "slept about four hours the past three days" headache. 

[kildorn]

I blasted through DA2 and now I have a "slept about four hours the past three days" headache. 

That is the perfect headache to fuel your "I'm going to be a raging dick to everyone" playthrough!

I can just see hawke holding his head while someone explains their son is missing, and asking "and WHY is this my fucking problem? What, do I look like the only helpful fucking person in Kirkwall?"