toxicitizen

Played through Bioshock Infinite: Burial at Sea - Episode 1 tonight. It's... more Bioshock. There really isn't much else to say about it. Same old subpar shooting with a cool story. Without all the hype I had going into the main game, I found myself to be a bit less forgiving of the shooting but I still liked it a lot. Looking forward to Episode 2.

Well, I just played the two Castlevania: Lords of Shadow DLC chapters. Jesus christ, what the fucking hell... I knew going in that MercurySteam has gone on the record saying it had been a mistake to make the DLC. It was a last minute decision forced on them by Konami higher ups after the game was a surprise hit. They admitted they had to rush it to market, so my expectations weren't exactly high. Right off the bat, the cutscenes were done in the same kind of shitty abstract animation as the DmC DLC. Not off to a great start but hey, looks like I might've been spot on about the DmC one feeling rushed. The first one was kind of alright. A little light on the combat and heavy on puzzles and platforming but I didn't have a problem with that. Overall, not really worth the 10$ it would've cost on its own for the console version but still worth playing. The second one, though. My god, that was the worst fucking piece of shit. I mean, it has some cool moments but it's mostly centered around a boss fight and the actual fight is so fucking terrible. Imagine if the worst designer ever tried to create a Dark Souls-type boss battle and you're halfway there. The boss' attacks do not account for the clunky controls at all. You're also forced to jump to attack it most of the time but there's no way to air-dodge and aerial combos are kinda lacking. You also hit him for what's basically chip damage so not only is it infuriating, it takes fucking forever. This might very well be the worst boss fight I've ever played in my entire life. I'm all for a challenge but this was just downright unpleasant. After 40 mins, I was getting furious and dropped the difficulty all the way down because I just wanted to get it the fuck over with already. And even then it was a gigantic pain in the ass. It still took forever and the only reason I managed to beat it at all was because his damage had been significantly reduced and my health bar was getting refilled every single time I died, even after reaching a new checkpoint. Talk about needlessly ending the game on a sour note. Then, the last cutscene was done in the same shitty animation, as if to spit in the wound one final time. Ugh. At least they filled in the blanks I mentioned in my last post, I guess...

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. It was alright. Not exactly a stellar game but definitely a decent one. It's not without issues, though. The gameplay is quite derivative with combat that feels like a cheap version of God of War. The movement controls are kinda bad, too. The way the main character moves and jumps has kind of a weird weight to it and, combined with the fixed camera, you get something that, while otherwise perfectly functional, can make for some very frustrating platforming sections. And considering the amount of platforming this game has, it feels like a rather serious offense to have such terrible controls. I don't really have any major complaints beyond that, though. The story is pretty good, the soundtrack is fantastic and most of the levels have a really epic look to them. It's kinda long for this kind of game (Steam says I took 18 hours to play through it and I spent like 2 hours tops revisiting early levels for collectibles) but it maintains a consistent level of quality throughout so I never felt it overstayed its welcome. I still have the two DLC chapters to play. Hopefully they'll fill in some of the blanks because there's kind of a gigantic gap between the ending and the post-credit scene. I had a detail from the ending accidentally spoiled so, since the event itself was ruined, I was mostly looking forward to seeing how it happened. Then the credits rolled and... it never happened. Only in the post-credits scene is it addressed and there's no explanation for it whatsoever. So that seemed kinda weird. I mean, I can kind of infer the gist of it but it still feels like big details are missing. But yeah, I liked it enough that I'll definitely consider getting the sequel for full price at launch. In the meantime, I hope they bring the HD port of Mirror of Fate to PC soon.

Holy shit, the base defense in Enemy Within is fucking brutal! I played on normal because I figured I'd be rusty and that it would be frustrating to play on classic and keep failing before getting to try the new content. And I still got my ass handed to me. Main problem is you start with an incomplete squad and don't get to choose or equip them. So considering I only had a single set of laser weapons that I kept passing around to whoever was going on any given mission, most of them were rookies and only had basic armor and guns. That simply won't cut it against 3 cyberdiscs and 2 chryssalids. So yeah, lesson here: anticipate the base defense and prepare for it!

I've wanted to get it for over a month but I was hoping to get a good deal on it. That doesn't look like it's going to happen anytime soon so I just used a 20% voucher on GMG. Brought it down to 16$. But honestly, considering how ridiculously overpriced Burial at Sea part 1 is, this is a great deal by comparison...

XCOM: Enemy Within. I'm still early on in the campaign (have to capture the Outsider next) but so far holy shit did the game need this! It isn't too drastically changed but it is improved in a few key ways. Gene mods are cool and really useful but holy shit are the MECs a ton of fun! There's just something so satisfying in the way they loudly stomp around. The first time I used a MEC to destroy cover to clear a shot for my sniper, I was giggling like an idiot. It's also kind of awesome having a sniper that can run around and effortlessly jump up on any ledges or rooftops. Or an assault that recovers a little bit of HP each turn. I'm actually kinda worried that having a fully augmented and modded squad might be overpowered in the late game. It feels kinda weird that you can just start researching them almost right at the beginning but honestly, who cares when it's this much fun. There's also medals you can award to soldiers now. It gives them little bonuses. Nothing too crazy but a nice touch. Then there's the new maps. I think the replayability of XCOM mostly lies in its maps, so the limited pool in Enemy Unknown made it feel really repetitive after a few runs. Adding new maps was great but the way the old ones have been tweaked really makes the game feel fresh again. A few times I thought I was on a new map only to realize it was an old one, just with a different starting location. Then there's the urban UFO crashes. I only did one so far but it was great. The close-quarter nature of the map gave it a completely different vibe from the usually open forest maps. Those got old real fast and were my biggest issue with vanilla XCOM. Also, I didn't expect this but the council missions are actually handled a lot better. In vanilla, if you owned the Slingshot DLC, the first council mission was always the first Slingshot mission. And if you ignored it then the story arc never came up again in that campaign. If you chose to do it, the next few council missions would be that story. Here, you can activate it by checking a box when you start a new campaign. I got the first mission very early on but the next one I got was something completely different so their integration into the campaign is much more seamless. I was also really happy to find out that the other DLC story pack (the one that was scrapped after people complained about Slingshot) appears to have been incorporated in the expansion. I thought Slingshot was kind of alright. So, even though what I really wanted was an expansion, I was kinda bummed out that I wouldn't get to play those missions. This one is also activated at the beginning, like Slingshot. So, yeah, if you liked Enemy Unknown then this is definitely worth the 30 bucks. Really glad I picked it up. This will probably get me to sink another 100+ hours into the game.

It's better designed, plain and simple. Origins' map just feels kind of... thrown together, if that makes any sense. And I'm pretty sure that small area in the middle of future Arkham City, that little pointless park, is WAY smaller than the whole barricaded section around Wonder Tower was. So, I think it actually is physically smaller. Basically, that entire half of the map felt off for me the entire time.

Then your regular people might have a better base knowledge than my regular people. Shit, I doubt my cousins who play almost nothing but CoD even realize there's two studios working on the series. And I'm sure bringing it up would prompt something along the lines of "What's a Treyarch?".

They probably don't recognize its absence because it doesn't mean anything to them. It's just another logo. Microsoft. Bungie. Unreal. PhysX. Havok. I can easily see how most of that could seem like little more than random crap to a lot of people. Just logos that show up when you boot up games. Out of those five, Microsoft is probably the only one that would be universally recognizable.

Ah, yeah okay. If we count what you can grapnel onto as being a part of "gliding", then yeah it was fucking terrible in Origins. Also, while we're on the subject, one thing that kinda bugged me but I never thought to mention because it's purely cosmetic: holy shit does the cape get torn to shreds in Origins! Seriously, like halfway through I actually started to wonder how the hell he wasn't just diving to his death. I mean, it took some battle damage in previous games but I feel like they kinda went overboard in this one. It just looks like it's going to fall apart any second.

I've been tempted to grab Monsters for a while now but, now that Shooter is also out on Steam, I simply couldn't resist the discounted bundle. I already own them both on PSN but they're among the long list of games I wish I'd played more of. Don't think I've beaten either. And at this point, it really takes a significant exclusive to get me to even turn on my PS3. So, unplayed PSN games are essentially off the backlog. Having those two on Steam makes it far more likely I'll be playing them. Pretty much as soon as I started playing Gunpoint, I immediately regretted not going for one of the fancier editions. And back when I bought it, DLC upgrades weren't available. Once they showed up, it was just a matter of waiting for a sale.

No, you were quite clear. I simply disagree with the bolded part. As for the gliding, I can't really say I noticed a difference personally. But, considering everything else about the game, I'm willing to take you and Hot Heart's word for it. How does it feel better, though? I guess maybe they sped it up in Origins? It's kinda surprising, though. I pretty much breezed through even the most advanced AR challenges in Origins but that last one in City is always such a goddamned pain in the ass for me. You know, the one where you need to glide through that damn tunnel.

God, Ethan! We all moved on, I suggest you do the same!

Broke down and got the WB Humble Bundle. I was on the fence as to whether I should get it for Scribblenauts Unlimited alone but now it's looking like they'll very likely be adding the MK Arcade Kollection to it. Playing the new MK has made me nostalgic and I was thinking of getting that so I figured what the hell. Oh and also the current Groupees bundle. Those usually never have anything I'm interested in but this one had Electronic Super Joy, which looks really cool, and King's Bounty: Warriors of the North Valhalla Edition which has never been this dirt cheap.

Oh, definitely. It wasn't a bad trade-off by any means.

Yeah, it's pretty much 3D Metroidvania. Not sure how you missed that the first time around. I agree that it was kind of lost in subsequent games, though. It's still a little bit there but, like I said in the other thread, the open-worlds feel more like hubs to me. It doesn't really feel like you're exploring as much. You're just following waypoints.

Here it is. Only two more weeks!

Yeah, I went in knowing it was a long game. It's also hard to ignore that after 9 hours I'm only on Chapter V of XIV. If it gets better like you say, then I don't expect to have a problem with the length. So far, the gameplay is merely serviceable but I'm really liking the atmosphere and the story seems like it might do some interesting things. The soundtrack is also pretty great, reminds me of LOTR. If anything, I feel like length might add to how epic it all feels. One thing that sucks is I got a detail of the ending spoiled but it's kind of hard to avoid if you haven't played it but have been following marketing for the sequel...

Heard really good things about it and I haven't played a good western since RDR so I figured 50% off was cheap enough to give it a shot. Also grabbed the Super Meat Boy soundtrack cause it was like a dollar.

Started playing Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. So far, it's pretty good. I wasn't a fan of the fixed camera at first but I got used to it pretty quickly. I'm not sure what, if anything, it actually has to do with Castlevania, though. Because so far it's more like God of Shadow of the Colossus. I'm okay with that. Also, it's narrated by Captain Picard, so that's another bonus. Oh and, for the first time in a while, I actually swallowed my pride and turned down the difficulty. I've been playing most games on hard rather than normal lately. So I went with Knight, which is what I assumed was hard. Paladin was higher but it's locked. Anyway, on the second chapter I realized this was going to be a very frustrating experience. This game does not hold your hand. "Barely made it through that fight? Okay, here's a checkpoint. And another fight. Oh you don't have any health left? Well, you can try again from that checkpoint but we're not refilling your health bar!" It's actually kind of refreshing, to be honest. I think they want you to just replay the levels once you're fully upgraded. When you unlock Paladin you don't actually start a new game, you just level select.

Yeah, Nightwing plays incredibly well. He felt a bit weird at first but once you get a handle on his moveset he's probably the most powerful character in the game. It's a shame they didn't bother getting a voice actor for him. I mean, I can see why considering he's only in the challenge rooms but still, would've been nice to have at least a few lines.

Reminds me, I grabbed Lego Batman a little while back. I should probably fire it up soon. I mean, I doubt it could be worse than Arkham origins...

Mortal Kombat. Beat the story mode just now. Holy shit, that was a ton of fun. I was super into MK as a kid and, while I hadn't touched the series in years, this one retreads the story from those days so it was quite the nostalgic experience. I had always been kind of fascinated by the lore but it always felt like I wasn't getting the whole picture. MK1 was straightforward enough but 2 got all dark and creepy and Shang Tsung was young for some reason. Then 3 came and suddenly you had robots and Earth was all post-apocalyptic and shit. It was intriguing as hell but I couldn't really understand english back then so what the fuck was actually going on was a mystery. So, yeah, it was really cool to have all of that lore fit into one cohesive story. I love when fighting games have a proper story mode. I mean, Street Fighter IV is great but there's only so many times I can replay through arcade before getting kinda bored with it. Here the story mode kept me busy for 10-12 hours and I'm just getting started with the game. That being said, a few things could be improved in a sequel. Cutscenes: allow me to pause them and skip them. Seriously, how the fuck does such a cutscene-heavy game mode not get such basic features in, what was it, 2011? It's annoying enough if you need to go take a piss or whatever but then if you get stuck and quit from a fight that had a long-ass cutscene before it (basically, almost every time there's a chapter change), then you're forced to rewatch it the next time you play. Some kind of chapter select would've nice too but that's not really a big deal. Oh and fuck Shao Kahn. Fuck that guy right in his fucking eye. He is broken and he cheats and he needs to eat shit. The first couple times, he's not too bad since you're fighting him as Liu Kang and you can play cheap if you want. But the final fight against him was so fucking infuriating! No more Liu Kang and I swear they increased both his damage and defense. And you can't fucking stagger that asshole, so very often your timing will be great but he'll just keep swinging that fucking hammer of his right through your attack. Wasted almost an hour on him last night and ended up having to stop because I had to go to bed. Only took me like 20 mins to finally beat him today but it sucks so much when it's late and you know you're at the end and you wanna finish the game before turning it off but it just won't fucking happen. Kind of anticlimactic to jump back in just for the final fight, it just kinda kills all the tension and build up. But anyway, these complaints about the story mode aside, the gameplay is pretty great. I'll definitely keep playing this one for a while. The Challenge Tower should be me busy for a few more hours. I'll probably give online a shot, too. I fully expect to get my ass handed to me and never touch it again but whatever.

My favorite part of this is the people saying it's a nod, an homage to their own game. Instead of, you know, the lazy corner-cutting it actually is. I mean, re-texturing a building for a multiplayer map, I can understand. But this is blatantly lazy and laughable.