toxicitizen

And I honestly can't say I see how better graphics will make the game inherently better. I mean, the game works as it is. Asking for better presentation at this point just seems kind of superficial to me. Can't we just appreciate it for the classic that it is? Honestly, replaying Final Fantasy VII nowadays, it being such a retro experience would actually be a big part of the appeal for me. Let's not forget we're talking about a company that is already struggling to release the games that it is actually working on. Do we really want them to spend their time and energy on a remake? I'm certainly not trying to be unfair, I simply think there's little validity to the notion that being graphically dated robs a game of its value. I mean, cinematography has come a long way since the 1940s. Does Citizen Kane suffer so much from technological advances in the field that it needs to be remade? Not that I'm trying to compare FFVII to it but I think you get my point. Do you mean the mobile releases? I haven't followed them all that closely but weren't they more like remasters? I know FFVI had terrible new sprite work but I don't think any of them were straight up remakes. Arguably, what's happening with FFVII and FFVIII (at least on PC) right now is the very same treatment. Likewise FFX HD for PS3 and Vita. I don't think there's been a proper remake since the handheld versions of FFIII and FFIV. So, I don't think an actual remake is a given, honestly.

Yeah, early 3D graphics have admittedly aged horribly. But who cares? Games aren't all about graphics. I have a hard time taking seriously the opinion of someone who can't play a game because of dated graphics. Dated gameplay is one thing, but graphics? I mean, come on. We're not talking about pre-NES pixel graphics here. It might not be pretty but it's hardly getting in the way of enjoying the game.

Damn right it won't. And you know what? I don't fucking want it to happen. I'd rather they make new games than waste resources remaking FFVII with AAA production values. It's not like the game is mechanically dated, it's still perfectly playable in its current form. It would literally just be remaking all the art assets with higher fidelity. Waste of fucking time, imho. If people can't deal with dated graphics, that's their problem and they should get over it.

Yeah, and not only that but when they inevitably start lagging behind they just throw a bunch of money around to try and fix things. Which is my main issue with them. Like, I don't have a problem with a first-party hiring/cooperating with a third-party to make an exclusive for them, as long as they get involved early on and it's very much their project or IP. Sony are doing it with Bloodborne, for example. Sunset Overdrive was a similar situation, I believe. They funded it, it's theirs. Likewise with Scalebound. I hate that Platinum Games are making yet another exclusive for a system I don't own or want but Microsoft aren't doing anything wrong there. But buying exclusivity late in development on something that would never have been exclusive otherwise (like Rise of the Tomb Raider) is a fucking load of shit. It's not adding value to their platform, it's removing value from other platforms. It's one thing to do it on DLC but an entire game? It doesn't benefit anyone but them and, imho, it just hurts the industry overall. This shitty business practice is the main reason why I have no desire to buy an Xbox.

I already own (and played) both Bastion and Shovel Knight on Steam and even I can't help but be excited about them coming to Vita/PS4. Lots of great announcements at the PSX Keynote. I can't help but wonder what the fuck Microsoft are thinking/doing. PlayStation (and even Nintendo) are getting tons of hype while they had basically zero presence at The Game Awards. It's like once they outsold the PS4 for a single month they just jammed their thumbs up their asses and figured that was good enough.

Not sure where the info is coming from but the Steam thread on NeoGAF says it starts on either the 18th or 19th. Based on past years, that sounds about right. And they wouldn't be that specific unless they had some credible info. Not too surprising, really. Steam sales dates have been leaking a lot the past couple years. Guess that's what happens when you let a bunch of amateurs dump their garbage all over your store front. Some of them are bound to not give a fuck.

Escape Goat. It's really short, took me a little under 3 hours to beat, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. And considering it was like a dollar, I definitely feel like I got my money's worth. I was a bit disappointed by how easy it was, though. Very few of the rooms posed any real challenge. And once I cleared them all I unlocked level select and went achievement hunting. Most of the achievements are stuff like "complete level x without doing y". I figured the restrictions would increase the difficulty but I ended up completing like 90% of them in about 20mins. The only achievement I have left is for speed running the game. I'll definitely be getting the sequel at some point. It's 10 bucks though, so I really hope it'll be a bit longer and more challenging.

I feel like you should never buy Telltale's games until there's at least 3 episodes out. By then you can usually grab them for 15 bucks or so. Plus, their games seem to always inevitably be plagued by all kinds of issues at launch. So, it gives them time to deal with that.

Yeah, not to get massively off-topic here but that's pretty much hitting the nail on the head, I think. I don't expect this kind of analysis out of the gaming press because I'd argue most of them aren't critics in the real sense, they're reviewers. They evaluate a product for consumers, which definitely has its value but is ultimately fucking boring. I find that real critics take a deeper approach to interpreting every aspect of games (story, mechanics, systems, design, how they all mesh together, etc) and that's infinitely more interesting to me than "game is hella fun, no bugs, 10/10". It's been a while but I don't really recall anyone I consider a real critic covering or praising FC3 all that much.

The writer argued that he was being all subversive and shit and that people just didn't get it. http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-12-18-far-cry-3s-writer-argues-critics-largely-missed-the-point-of-the-game I'd argue that if basically everyone misses the point of your story, that's kind of a massive failing on your end.

A couple of last minute purchases I made before the sale ended. I absolutely loved To The Moon, so A Bird Story was kind of a no-brainer. As for Escape Goat, I've had my eye on it for quite a while. I love puzzle games and retro-styled games so it seemed like it would be right up my alley. Oh and I also grabbed that Humble Sega Bundle or whatever it's called. I mainly got it for the Dreamcast Collection but I keep hearing that Sonic All-Stars Racing is great so I'll have to check it out as well.

Oh man, I can't believe I forgot about The Wolf Among Us. That game had such a great atmosphere and the music contributed a lot to it. Good pick. Yes, you really do. Might be a good idea to put it at the top of your wishlist for the secret santa.

Yay, it's this thread again! Much like Bastion, Transistor's entire soundtrack was amazing but the main theme is just so, so good. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aej731dmNMk The Souls series hasn't really had a lot of memorable music since Demon's Souls chilling main theme but the Majula theme really stuck with me for some reason. It lets you know you're in a safe place but at the same time it's really eerie and haunting. If you grew up playing the NES like I did, Shovel Knight was such a goddamn nostalgia trip and the music contributed a lot to that feeling. It takes you back to the days when games had to have really catchy tunes because they couldn't yet bore you with generic orchestral soundtracks. And, as it turns out, I haven't played a whole lot of new releases this year because that's pretty much it. So, I'm going to cheat and say the PC version came out this year. On its own, the Revengeance soundtrack isn't that incredible. It's cheesy power metal nonsense and is all kinds of silly. But as a game soundtrack? Holy shit, it's as close to perfection as you can possibly get. It complements the insanity happening on-screen in the best imaginable way. There's just something incredibly satisfying about hearing someone scream "RULES OF NATURE!!" as you block the attack of a gigantic robot with your tiny little sword, only to follow that up by running up its arm and slashing it to fucking pieces.

Man, this one's price just kind of plummeted. 6 bucks on GMG and it came out like, what, 6 months ago tops? Original Sin looks great but is still a bit too pricy for me to bite, so I went for this instead. I'm also really tempted to get Dragon Commander, that game looks fucking batshit insane in the best possible way.

Dark Souls II: Crown of the Sunken King. I was holding off until I could get a good deal on the season pass but then a couple weeks ago I was cleaning up my Humble Bundle account and ended up giving my friend a bunch of my spare Steam keys. He felt the need to get me something in return and this is what he chose. Anyway, people weren't kidding when they said it was much better than anything in the base game. Not to shit on Dark Souls II or anything, but the level design here was much more interesting. It felt more like the original, a bit more open and with lots of branching paths that loop around on themselves and end up reconnecting with the main path and creating shortcuts and what not. It just makes exploration so much more satisfying and fun. Also, maybe being on NG+++ had something to do with it but my SL 238 character got his ass handed to him so fucking much. That penultimate boss was particularly challenging. It was kind of funny at first, I was clearly rusty and kept dying over and over again. I probably lost somewhere around 200K souls in total. So yeah, it's a really fun way to spend a few more hours in the game once you've done everything else. Gonna have to grab the other two soon.

My Steam wishlist is an absolute mess right now so I'll have to reorganize it a bit. Whoever got me, just ignore it for now. edit: Alright, I moved some cheaper titles closer to the top and pushed all the pricier or unreleased clutter further down. Should be better now. Steam ID: FLD, Wishlist, Canada General criteria: I use my wishlist as kind of a massive shopping list to keep track of all the games I'm interested in, so most of the work is already done for you. I normally try to keep it organized but lately it's become a complete mess so I'll have to clean it up a bit. I'll update this post once that's done and it'll be sorted in order of preference. Just look at it from the top and disregard anything outside your price range. What are your favorite genres? A little bit of everything, really. I definitely favor single-player over mp, though. And if I had to pick my absolute favorite genres, they would probably be: Stealth: Pure stealth is the best (think classic Thief) but stealth/action (like recent Splinter Cell) is fine, too! Turn-based strategy: I tend to prefer the smaller, more unit-based stuff like XCOM, Frozen Synapse, etc. but 4X games like Civilization are cool too! Survival Horror: Stuff like classic Resident Evil is great but I also enjoy the more modern, action-oriented stuff like RE4-5, Dead Space, etc., Open-world survival is a little less interesting to me, though. Actually, not too big on open-worlds in general. When I do like an open-world game, I tend to enjoy them despite their open-worldness. Character action: Terrible "genre" label but whatever. This is your Devil May Cry, Bayonetta, Metal Gear Rising, Platinum Games, etc.. kind of action games. Think action games with elaborate combo systems which rank you after every single encounter. Metroidvania: Can't believe I almost forgot this! Metroid+Castlevania, what's not to love? What are your favorite games? All time favorites would be the Deus Ex series, Thief series, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, almost anything by Platinum Games. I'm also a long-time fan of the Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil and Final Fantasy series. Are you looking for any non-Steam gifts? Not really but if for some reason Steam is a problem then some PSN credit would do just fine. Will you take games not on your wishlist? Sure, if you think I'll enjoy something and it's not there then go for it. But keep in mind, if something's not on it then there might be a reason for that. Plus, you run the risk of getting me something I already played or own on another system.

Dark Souls II isn't a bad game by any means, it's still better than most of what's out there imho. It's just disappointing because of the way it feels like they just tried to emulate the first game without really putting much thought into why Dark Souls did things the way it did. It definitely improves on some elements but, overall, Dark Souls 1 had a lot of subtle but very deliberate design decisions that added up to create a very satisfying experience. Dark Souls II really feels like it lacked that strong, cohesive vision driving its design.

Been hearing really good things about it on NeoGAF. People are saying it's a better stealth game than the recent Thief, which I actually enjoyed, so it sounds right up my alley. I passed on it when it was one of the dailies on Steam but it's in the VIP section over on GMG today (better discounts but no vouchers can be applied) and I was able to use what little credit I had left to bring it down just low enough where I couldn't say no. It's a prequel to Of Orcs and Men, though, which I haven't played. Hopefully I won't miss out on much by playing this one first.

1) Then you're going to absolutely fucking despise Dark Souls II. Not only is there somewhat of a repeat of the Gargoyles fight (only worse), one of the main complaints leveled at the game is how it takes an overly simplistic approach to creating challenge by simply increasing the number of enemies you're fighting at once. And, naturally, that design philosophy extends to boss fights. 2) The game is getting GFWL patched out in favor of Steamworks in the very near future. So, if that matters to you at all, you might want to hold off on playing for a little bit. They said there's going to be a way to transfer saves and achievements, though.

Ethan was supposed to send everyone their targets yesterday but he hasn't done it yet so you're probably good.

Yeah, that's always a risk with Early Access. Games I'm willing to take a chance on are definitely in the minority. In this case, considering Hinterland is made up of established industry vets as opposed to unknown/unproven devs, it seemed like a safer bet. That and the combination of overwhelmingly positive feedback, having quite a bit of extra cash to spend and being really intrigued by the premise made it hard to resist. Their goal is to be in Early Access for no more than 2-3 months so I think the core mechanics are pretty far along.

Purchases from the Steam sale so far. BattleBlock Theater was more of a "eh, why the hell not" since it was like a dollar but I've had my eye on Circuits for a couple weeks now. It's a neat little music-themed puzzle game. As for The Long Dark, I've been intrigued by it ever since the initial kickstarter. Haven't had a lot of time to try it yet but so far it seems pretty cool. It's still in Early Access so only the sandbox mode is available right now but I'm really looking forward to seeing how the story mode will play out. I tend to be very careful which Early Access games I support and this one seemed like a safe bet. It's getting regular updates and the devs seem to know what they're doing. I was hoping for a better deal on Isaac but my PS+ sub is ending like today or tomorrow and I'm not sure if I'll re-sub right away so I went for it.

What? Was anyone actually expecting the christmas sale this early. This was obviously going to be a much shorter, smaller sale.

Not sure I follow you on that one. Dark Souls II had a pretty damn good PC port.