Tale

Persona 3 FES This includes the original game (with bonuses) as well as a new 30 hour epilogue. Giving the original (with bonuses) a 2nd runthrough for all the neat new stuff. Also been playing Metal Gear Online's "premier beta." I hear that the EU and JPN region betas have gotten a new game mode featuring Snake. Hopefully NA gets it soon, too.

I beat Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem. Now trying a no alert run through of Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence. The new camera angle is a godsend. I can actually SEE enemies, which is important without the old radar. Getting the better hang of CQC now than my last two playthroughs. I'll regularly run up to enemies and slam them to the ground instead of wasting Mk22 ammo to knock them out. It's actually kind of fun to do that while under fire. Having Snake run up to a guy who is shooting at him, grab the soldier, and faceplant him into the dirt is exciting. I'm on a no alert run, so being suicidal like that when I get caught is a-okay. The fight against the Ocelot Unit was pretty tough to do this time around with no alerts, so I got lots of opportunities to practice. I actually was able to faceplant 6 of them before getting taken down by the 7th.

Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem This is one of those games I put down earlier and am coming back to finally beat. I don't know where I put it down before, though. Not particularly scary, particularly easy, but plenty fun.

I only played Fallout once, but I don't recall any far reaching consequences for entering a house uninvited. But that might be because I didn't particularly like that game so I didn't pay close attention.

I thought BG1 had incredible choice and consequences. Walk into a particular wrong house, you get attacked by the residents. It took me forever to figure out why all the guards hated me. I thought it was just because I had Viconia. But apparently it was because of casual home invasion and murder. Then the whole Xzar-Jaheira event. Nothing says choice and consequence like choosing to have a party with people who can't stand each other and it erupting into violence.

I stand by what I said, well enough, whether it be "personality" or "consequences." Though, I should add that I now recall NWN2 tried implementing actual consequences to previous choices. Though they only really came through at the finding allies stage for the siege.

I'm not sure what you're saying here. Diablo, Elder Scrolls, and Final Fantasy all get by without "option to show our different personality." Only game I can recall playing where that expression mattered where the Baldur's Gate titles. Act like an **** too much and there can be consequences from companions. I would nay anticipate such a thing occuring in another game. Planescape: Torment probably had it too, but I'm guessing.

Only things I care about are fun gameplay and a good story. The rest is just flair. I don't particularly care for complex dialogue trees, either. I can't say I've seen any I would consider complex. Token differences for alignment purposes with generally only trivial immediate effects I'd be wary of considering complex. And I'd be afraid of overcomplexity from any that tried.

Finished Condemned 2 yesterday. With my computer still wonky, I've gone back to playing Rogue Galaxy a little instead of what I should really be playing, Kane's Wrath.

1) Final Fantasy Tactics - I want to label it somewhere around 2 or 3, but I've probably spent enough time playing it to put up higher. 2) Xenogears - Disc 2 sucked, but the story presented by it was quite incredible and dramatic. 3&4) Metal Gear Solid 2&3 - I'm including both here because I don't know which is 3 and which is 4. They both have significant faults that make it hard for me to figure out which I like more. 5) Suikoden II - Probably the most emotionally compelling take on a war story I've ever experienced. And the ultra bad ending was one of the first games to make me cry. 6) Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations - Fudge yeah! 7) Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - The original fudge yeah! Final Fantasy VII - Screw you guys. Probably should be higher on my list, but it's been so long since I've played that I'm knocking it down a few points. 9) Xenosaga: Episode III - When I played it, I thought for a time that I was going to like it more than Xenogears. However, the hasty conclusion suffered similar faults as gears and was ultimately less dramatic and interesting. 10) FEAR - My favorite FPS for SHOOTAN. It's possible this will be surpassed with Resistance, but I need to give Resistance some more play before I make that decision. Honorable mentions to Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete, Legend of Dragoon, Counter-Strike, Team Fortress 2, Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer, Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, and Baldur's Gate II. All of which have been favorite games at previous points and are not included somewhere on this list simply because of whim.

My Metal Gear Solid Essentials Collection finally arrived, so I'm starting up Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance. Sucks that my Sons of Liberty saves don't work with it, all those dog tags lost. Also got my HDMI-DVI cable, so I'm playing a bit of Condemned 2 on the side. Don't like moving my monitor between my computer and my PS3, so it's strictly an on the side project.

I'm rather enjoying it and finding it to be scary. If you like the first, you'll likely like the second, it's mostly more of the same. The changes from the first are near trivial except it seems to be going for even more supernatural and violent.

I'll take his gun!

Dial back the elitism. Just because a player doesn't want to wander around staring at corners and opening every single door looking for some thing that may or may not even exist doesn't mean you're better than they are. The simple fact of the matter is that if a developer is trying to present something, if he actually wants something to be seen or experienced, hiding the keys to progress or understanding somewhere the target audience likely won't reach defeats the purpose. If it's a matter of a little extra rewarding for extra effort or skill, it's an entirely different matter and not what Levine is talking about. I don't even know what to say to the rest of your comment. The little side paths in games are traditionally the absolutely most boring parts of them. Hell, if developer can't make an interesting main path, how the heck are they making interesting side paths?

Why put a lot of effort into something only 5% of the players can see, when you can instead put that exact same effort into extra things for everyone to see?

There's waaaaaaaaaaay too many optional missions available on Crisis Core. I've spent countless hours doing them and am only 42% done.

At the end of Crisis Core. BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

No, he wasn't. It was meant to imply so, but the character was too interesting to have such a little part in the overall and you never get confirmation.

Can't play Kane's Wrath. The problem I had with TF2 is not exclusive to it. BAWWWWWW

I didn't know there were any RTS Civ games.

Man, seeing Zack and Aerith running around on a date is kind of depressing. Because it's kind of cute, but you know how it ends.

I have a friend who outright refuses to even look sideways at a Civ game because of that. He threatens to burn my Civ4 discs whenever he sees them.

I wish my original title were kept. "Problems" isn't sufficient. I want your rage inducing moments! Or maybe simply your WTF?s

I'm absolutely loving Crisis Core. It's more action game than you might expect of a Final Fantasy title. And the action's not remotely as deep as you'd find in Devil May Cry or even God of War, but it's several steps above Diablo. And the levelling system is absolutely nonsensical. It's entirely dependent upon a slot machine. But I find myself enjoying the combat a bit. And rooting for that slot machine to go all 7s so I can get a level. It's like a gambling addiction. And I'm really really enjoying the characters. Abhored Genesis at first. With his prose and his hair color that looks like a bad brown dye job. But he's kind of growing on me. I hope it continues. Definitely liking Angeal, Zak, and Sephiroth (a happier Sephy). One thing that kind of irks me is the absolute lack of pronouns when referring to characters. Just use one guys, I know who you're talking about already.