Thursday Next

Ahhh, dial up. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgqEIp2YmtE

While I take that point, there are characters that are pivotal in some books, (like Granny Weatherwax) that have walk on parts in other books (like Thief of Time). If you read the DEATH books first then the events of Lords and Ladies are much less tense. I like reading them in order of release. It helps prevent me getting burnt out on Sam Vimes, DEATH or Granny books and gives characters that don't necessarily have whole books to themselves, like Vetinari, a consistent feel. I think this is one of those matters of opinion like watching Star Wars movies in release order (to maintain Vader is Luke's father suspense) or chronological order (to get the worst one out of the way first), same goes for Hobbit and LotR trilogies, though I imagine most would be happy with Hobbit --> LotR.

Yeah man, when will us white guys ever catch a break?

I'm up to book 17 (of 41) of Pratchett's Discworld novels. They continue to delight.

@Mal, thanks for saving my life! please don't shoot me in the junk.

Jasper Fforde, Shades of Grey (no not that one). http://www.amazon.co.uk/Shades-Grey-Jasper-Fforde/dp/0340963050 Comes in Kindle, Physical, and Audio. Technically it's part one, but there is no part two yet, and it stands well on its own.

@Kenshi - While it wasn't intentional, I suppose that is how I rate games. Does it objectively work? If it works is it subjectively good?

can tax the hell out of everyone who uses it like you do with alcohol and tobacco. Seriously, you could turn an expensive "war on drugs" into a MASSIVE revenue generator.

^Why I dislike most of Tarantino's output.^

I think MGS2 euro extreme game overed when you were spotted but it didn't nuke your save.

Gotca! I will allow this system.

I assure you the "objective" bit was entirely facetious.

My out of ten scale is: 1 Game is so broken it cannot actually be played. Nobody should ever play. 2 Game has a number of bugs that can easily prevent completion. Nobody should ever play. 3 Game is barely functional. Bugs cause serious gameplay issues. Nobody should ever play. 4 Game is functional but nothing is executed well. Hardcore fans of the subject matter (looking at StarWars fans) may start to jump on here and not hate it. 5 Passing grade. There is nothing actually wrong with the game, but there is nothing appealing. Something to pass the time when all other avenues for entertainment are gone. Bargain bin £5 purchase (for full priced console release). 6 Game does some stuff right, but is overall not great. Casual fans of the subject matter and/or genre will enjoy it, most people will find it tolerable but wouldn't choose to play it over something else in their collection. 7 Good example of its genre, most people would enjoy it unless they particularly dislike the genre. 8 Very good game all round. People who don't usually like the genre will find something to enjoy. Everyone else will really like it. High level of polish. 9 Best in class. Definitive for its genre, will turn haters into likers etc etc etc. 10 Definitive for the world of games, sets a new benchmark, hails a new genre coming to prominence. Gamers and non-gamers alike should experience it. Based on the above, The Order looks like a 6/7. Which is how it is rating. Which means that my scale is objectively correct.

What like an ink ribbon thing? Because I don't like the sound of that.

I assumed it was something along those lines. Clearly you aren't going to name names on a public site. Not sure how much clout DeanB has at the average uni though... :/

Why post an angry rant in the angry dome? It was fairly angry, including the words "fuck" and "academically murder" (presumably involving beating someone to death with a textbook). The whole point of this thread is to vent into the void, not to encourage considered debate on a topic.

It's not the length that bothers me though. I loved Journey, that was about half an hour long tops. I'm just worried that the gameplay looks a bit uninspiring (the story writing was a bit lame too - I spotted at least one "We're not so different you and I..." and one "I always knew..." in the approximately 5 minutes of footage I ended up watching.

P4G £14.99 / €19.99 on PSN from today until 4th March.

In order of difficulty it's Castle>Forest>Maya (go up)>Darkness (go down). Miner is off to the right hand side of the skill tree, you have to unlock other bits first.

It's because of the way these fights are designed. It's a QTE fight. So you (from a superficial glance at the video) do the same QTE sequence for the final boss as you do for an earlier mob and they just change the arena. Every person who plays will experience both these moments exactly as they appear above. It's not down to the player putting in any effort setting it up so that it looks the same. Obviously there is an argument to be made for all games being repetitive in so much as you point and shoot or drive a car or what have you. But this feels... lazy somehow.

I had that for a while. I would unlock Miner and Spelunker classes. They will increase your gold collection rate and when upgraded show you where the chests are in the castle. If you keep unlocking fairy chests you'll net some runes (eventually ones that further increase your gold collecting - albeit at the expense of movement runes). If you've levelled up a fair bit you should be ok venturing into scarier areas like the forest which nets more cash. Also, look out for useful traits (especially PAD - which makes you immune to spikes) which will make getting fairy chests a breeze, or using Assassin if there is a no-damage chest you can invisible to. Have you taken down any of the bosses yet?

Yeah, I was pretty much on board with the "short game" bit, but cut and pasting parts of the game is pretty bad. Very much on the fence on this one.

Hmmmm, I'm in two minds about it. On the one hand, if it is a good 5 hours of gaming, then perhaps I would be fine with it. Better that than a poor/dull 15 hours. On the other hand. This looks a bit... bland. Will wait till respected first hand opinions come in. (Looking at some of you suckas to take a bullet for me!)

Including cutscenes. And a *lot* of QTE's. smh.

The whole (all 5 hours of it) game as an LP on YouTube. I think this is going to kill the game dead. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wPf_9kmmQs&list=PLlBoxwve3-ZEy3pPYBI4xlQ6dCcXmWwfX&index=1