So, what're you playing?

[Sky]

Level 70 in EQ2. Amazing how fast a wizard can level with experience enabled. No wonder so many folks rush through and bitch about lack of content. I definitely enjoy my slower, xp-locked characters much more. The wizard is barely getting to know a zone when it's time to move on.

[Signe]

I Princess Maker 2!!!

[schild]

Level 70 in EQ2. Amazing how fast a wizard can level with experience enabled. No wonder so many folks rush through and bitch about lack of content. I definitely enjoy my slower, xp-locked characters much more. The wizard is barely getting to know a zone when it's time to move on.

Experience enabled?

[Nebu]

Experience enabled?

People often turn xp off to cap AA's.

[Sky]

Or to enjoy the content for a given tier without out-leveling it. I usually lock xp around level 20, my SK is in his mid-40s and has been combat xp-locked since 20, you didn't used to be able to lock quest xp, that changed in my absence last year. I like having the control over when I level up, so if I'm working on legend & lore or trying for certain drops I don't out-level the mobs.

Shame most people race to the level cap, there's a lot of content to miss. After four years, I might actually have a character at the level cap, assuming the goalposts don't get moved (again) in the next month.

People often turn xp off to cap AA's.

You get AAs from grey quests now, but not from grey nameds.

[apocrypha]

I Princess Maker 2!!!

Me too, my GF and I spent about 2 hours lastnight playing it together. Looks like our little princess, Zebedee Boing is gonna turn out to be a lunatic though...

Also playing Valkyria Chronicles (I weakened and bought it). Awesome game!

[Moaner]

I'm still playing Crawl Stone Soup with some SF4 and Burnout Paradise (patched to 1.7) thrown in.  Restarting events easily turns Paradise into the best Burnout released.

I'm also patiently waiting for Demon's Souls to arrive from Hong Kong.  I can't wait to die over and over again.

[schild]

I'm also patiently waiting for Demon's Souls to arrive from Hong Kong.  I can't wait to die over and over again.

Ah, you fucker! You ordered it. PLEASE DO TELL ONCE YOU GET IT. DO WANT.

[AcidCat]

Picked up Killzone 2 and two hours later I regret it. I really just don't want to play FPS games with a controller anymore and the gameplay so far is generic. The shooting mechanics are decent if I could get used to these sticks for aiming. People have raved about the graphics but I just don't see it ... maybe Far Cry 2 has spoiled me but yet another grey industrial warzone is just meh.

I guess I knew most of this stuff going in, so I can't blame anyone but myself.

[MisterNoisy]

Picked up Killzone 2 and two hours later I regret it. I really just don't want to play FPS games with a controller anymore and the gameplay so far is generic. The shooting mechanics are decent if I could get used to these sticks for aiming. People have raved about the graphics but I just don't see it ... maybe Far Cry 2 has spoiled me but yet another grey industrial warzone is just meh.

I guess I knew most of this stuff going in, so I can't blame anyone but myself.

I've mostly enjoyed what I've played so far but I can't say I'd recommend that anyone rush out and buy it.  Aside from the visuals (which are technically impressive, especially given that the game doesn't require an enormous install before you start playing), it's certainly a very competent by-the-numbers shooter, but little more.

There's a number of annoyances - the fact that Alt 2 isn't the default control scheme (though why most console developers insist on not allowing you to remap controls is a mystery to me), the gimmicky 'boss' fights, anything involving the SIXAXIS controls and the game's habit of pausing/hitching for anywhere from a half-second to 3 seconds when you hit a checkpoint or load a new area. 

All of those little things detract to varying degrees from the overall experience, and the fairly shitty story doesn't help either.  That said, shitty stories in shooters are pretty much par for the course, so penalizing KZ2 for just playing along with the rest of the genre doesn't seem fair.  Also, the total lack of co-op is disappointing, especially given the game's huge budget and development cycle.

Were I writing a BiiF, it's totally a rental.

[Moaner]

Ah, you fucker! You ordered it. PLEASE DO TELL ONCE YOU GET IT. DO WANT.

I'll do a BiiF post or something once it gets here.  I can't fucking wait. 

Also, I'm bewildered as to why it isn't getting a world wide release.

Were I writing a BiiF, it's totally a rental.

I thought one of it's major selling points was it's competitive MP.  Have you guys tried it at all yet?  How does it compare to Resistance/Resistance 2 or CoD4?

[schild]

Sony thinks it's already out everywhere.

I'm not kidding.

[Jain Zar]

Currently Castlevania Ecclesia and New Track and Field on the DS, Heroes of Might and Magic 5 on the Mac, and AT 43 on the tabletop.

Track and Field wants to eat styluses but is fun on Easy at least.  Ecclesia has the usual Metroidvania Castlevania DO THINGS FOR TRUE ENDING OR GET SUCKY GAME OVER 2/3rds OF YOUR WAY THROUGH, and HOMM5 is fun but I am halfway through the 2nd storyline campaign and its becoming tedious.  Its showing me nothing new really.  Outside of going to squares and being slow polygons, I see hardly any change from HOMM3 Complete.

Ive picked up a bunch of games cheap the last few weeks so I may switch to one of those soon.

[Draegan]

http://www.foddy.net/Athletics.html

I can't run. 

[Tale]

http://www.foddy.net/Athletics.html

I can't run. 

neither can we

[Tige]

Demon Souls came in last week for PS3.    

Demon Souls has removed any desire to finish Valkyria Chronicles.  I was on the very last mission too but it became evident I'd have to grind a few skirmishes before I could take down Max.  All my CP went to taking out the towers, could hardly touch him. 

[Arinon]

Just finished Valkyria Chronicles today.  Fantastic game.  Hunting around for a new-ish actiony game that isn't an FPS.  Do they even make action games that last more then 10 hours anymore?  Maybe I'll go back and replay something I didn't give a fair shake the first time.

[schild]

Demon Souls came in last week for PS3.    

Demon Souls has removed any desire to finish Valkyria Chronicles.  I was on the very last mission too but it became evident I'd have to grind a few skirmishes before I could take down Max.  All my CP went to taking out the towers, could hardly touch him. 

Talk about Demon's Souls!

[Tige]

Talk about Demon's Souls!

I've started and restarted several times but have now settled on the Thief type class to continue on.  Not because of any particular skill set but rather because I like that death animation best.  I just cleared the no0b zone which you must complete before you can roam about freely throughout the rest of the game.  I don't want to say too much for fear of treading into spoiler territory but will answer any questions I can while you await your copy to arrive.  If any of you haven't ordered yet all I can tell you is you really, really should. 

I ordered it from YesAsia after seeing this thread over at neogaf some time ago.  It is pretty good at keeping the spoilers blacked out and you can catch some live streams from time to time.  There is a wiki taking shape here as well.

edit:  Make sure you get the Asian, not Japanese, version of the game.  Unless of course you understand Japanese.  The Asian version full English, both voice and text.

[schild]

Yea, I've followed the neogaf thread, spoilers didn't bother me. I just want to know if it's as awesome as they say, mostly because they think everything is awesome.

[Tige]

If you are looking for Ye Olde dungeon crawl you will not be disappointed.  I'm not sure, but it maybe a bit more linear than what has been represented in the neogaf thread.  I can't say for sure yet because everything in game just kicks my ass no matter where I go.

The only thing I've found so far that could be considered a knock in game mechanics would be kiting/arrows appears to be a little too easy.

[Tannhauser]

Playing Halo Wars and LOTRO still.  HW seems pretty cool so far, only at 5th mission though. 

[Cheddar]

Shit, UO.  Why?

[Jain Zar]

Bouncing between Sonic's Genesis Collection (arcade Shinobi!  Phantasy Star 1!  Alien Syndrome!  Shining Force 2!!),  and Red Star, which would be more fun if it wasn't a mixture of hard and long (hurr) levels where you basically just hit the same dudes over and over again till they die.  If it was faster with quicker to kill baddies it would be rad as fuck.

[Moaner]

Fucking shit!  I'm still waiting for Demon's Souls!  Errghhh!

In the meantime I'm still playing DC:Stone Soup, SF4, and arcade Shinobi!  Fucking Shinobi, on my TV!!  Wheee!  It's only taken 15+ years but god damnit I'm playing an acrade port of Shinobi!

EDIT: Also, Schild, I don't know how you feel about browsing the SA forums but there is a huge thread there and it's chocked full of impressions and gameplay videos.  It's how I discovered the game.

ANOTHER EDIT: I got my copy of Demon's Souls!  Hurray!

[HaemishM]

Motherfucking Empire: Total War and LoTRO at lunch during the week. When I'm needing a break from either of those, I'll play FIFA 09 or GT4 on the PS2, or BF2/2142 or TF2 on Medieval 2 on the PC. When I can get the wife to play, we've dicked around with Wii Music.

[Draegan]

Space Game kinda like Tower Defense but different

Fun game to waste 10 minutes on.  Mondays are slow.

[AcidCat]

Traded in Killzone 2 and finally picked up Fallout 3 on Friday. I've since decided that this is pretty much the only game I'm gonna need for the forseeable future, can't believe I originally took a pass.

[voodoolily]

Finally decided to pick Folklore back up to cross it off the list of games I have played to the final boss, then stopped. I am at the final boss (I think?).

[FatuousTwat]

MedianXL and M&B mods. When I get tired of them, various HL2 mods.

[Sky]

Gained half of level 72 last night in EQ2, maybe three hours because the jam I was going to was cancelled (goddamned Robert Cray). Barely enough time to smell the roses!

Got vacation next week, thinking of picking up Drakensang or GTA4. Kind of tired of fantasy, EQ2 gives me that fix, but wary of GTA4.

[Hindenburg]

You should pick Saint's Row 2.

[Sky]

That was door #3, but I'm worried at reports of it being very buggy and a completely abysmal port. Disappearing cars when you turned around in Vice City was bad enough, but I've read that some just disappear in SR2 when you're looking at them? And the collision detection is awful?

[Hindenburg]

I was under the impression that GTA4 PC was just as buggy, so you might as well go with the one that's actually fun.
Never saw cars disappearing in front of me, or issues with collision, but I played the xb2 version, which tended to lock up after 4 hours of play.

[Sky]

I was discussing it with my fiancee, who loves the music in GTA games, thought the thug stuff in SA was funny. Explained where we were with both GTA4 and SR2, and she said "You love GTA, why are you even thinking about this?" S'true, I've loved the game since I first played GTA3 on the PS2 (gasp). So I bought GTA4. I'll get SR2 and Drakensang from the bin