Purkake

Being a bad game and being a fun game are not mutually exclusive. I'm sure everyone here has enjoyed some not so great games(not trying to bash any game here). I think that a lot of people here believe that it could have been better, not that it's the worst game ever. It has it's flaws and certain things turn some people off more than others. I enjoyed Oblivion for a while, then I got bored. I don't think it's a horrible game, the open world do-your-own-thing just doesn't appeal to me these days.

I actually like it. It looks like a spy game and isn't all plastered with explosions and chicks. Just you against the world.

Big difference between legitimate criticism and rinse-repeat Bio-bashing (or Bethesda-bashing)... on a game that nobody here save one has even played. In the past I have offered my own opinions, good and not-so-good, about games I've played, and explained why. When asked, I've explained why I'm not interested in a particular game. But I sure as heck don't follow every single thread about those games/developers inserting post after post of unbridled insult while gleefully chortling that I have never played said games and never would play said games because I just "know" that they are going to be (fill in the blank with list of rambling complaints). Big difference between discussion of a games pros and cons, or potential pros and cons, and a simple bashfest meant to be neither constructive nor conducive to anything beyond insulting not only the games/developers, but also heaped with a healthy dose of condescention aimed at those who might actually, you know, enjoy playing games by said developers. If "criticism spurs the conversation", that must be why there is so much yakking going on in this forum, because nearly every thread ends up being one long whine. Someone dropping in here for the first time would wonder what the hell most of us are doing on a video game board when there doesn't seem to be a game on the planet that anyone here likes! Are we all so danged intellectually extraordinary that the talentless hacks at development studios can't possibly satisfy or challenge our vast gaming superiority? Because that's what some of these threads sound like, a mental masturbation session where a positive word is sneered at as weakness and haughty conceit is considered the epitomy of awesome. Hmm. I guess I had one more rant left after all! Sorry about that. Maybe we're just a bunch of jaded "old school" gamers, who can't get past the glory days of late 90's with Infinity Engine games and whatnot. Or maybe that's just me? I prefer to approach games with cautious pessimism these days, I'd rather be pleasantly surprised than disappointed because of expecting too much. That said, I think that the discussion here is generally balanced and Alanschu & Co are doing a pretty good job. EDIT: Also, this IS still the internet...

This thread would be pretty boring if everyone was just praising the game... Criticism spurs the conversation.

The tower thing isn't really all that intuitive, it took me a while as well. The the model guy is always a hoot, it was fun to see him play Alan Wake at the E3. You get to play as Mona as well, she has some different moves.

But, but, how then are we supposed to enslave nations with necromancy? If you collect all the 76 garden gnomes in the game AND pre-ordered the game from Gamestop you get a secret special option: 4. *Enslave nation with necromancy*

I'm sure the evil option will boil down to saving the world, but being a jerk about it, or if we're lucky doing a 180 just before the last battle and joining the bad guy. "Go stop the Horde, before the world ends, Gray Warden!" 1. It is my sacred duty to defend the world, the twelve gods will guide my blade. 2. Sure, I'm not really doing anything this afternoon anyway. 3. I hate you and your stupid order, I hope you all burn in the Nine Hells. Ok, I'll do it, but I won't enjoy it.

You could forget you were a child of Bhaal in BG? If you could do that, then you can forget that you're a human lord or a city elf in Dragon Age. If you

I was actually talking more the mechanical side. The backstory has never really been that important, it was pretty much left up to your imagination. I got to define my character by my actions, it didn't matter whether my dwarf was a nobleman(dwarf) or an outcast. It's especially lame when all the origins still lead you to become the Gray Warden. Oh please. Becoming grey warden is simply one of the points that connects the story. Every rpg ever made has those. I can see that. I my problem is with the fact that it used to be YOUR character, now you get to choose from six of their characters.

I was actually talking more the mechanical side. The backstory has never really been that important, it was pretty much left up to your imagination. I got to define my character by my actions, it didn't matter whether my dwarf was a nobleman(dwarf) or an outcast. It's especially lame when all the origins still lead you to become the Gray Warden.

The whole Origins thing reminds me of old JRPGs where you choose between figher, monk, black mage, white mage at the start. I like to customize stuff

What's up with all you people? It's like four hours long and it's also awesome. If you can't get past something watch that part on youtube. Hey now, I've played & finished the Myst & Schizm games without looking at game guides. Some of those puzzles take days to figure out. I simply forgot about it. How can you forget about all the cute little turrets? "I don't blame you"

I always used the shift key... How awesome was it to crash the tower on the helicopter?

What's up with all you people? It's like four hours long and it's also awesome. If you can't get past something watch that part on youtube.

Sure, but these features define these races. Yes, we could make a game, where the elves are humble, short, fat humanoids with poor eyesight and a short lifespan, but there would be no reason to call such a race elves at all. I don't see the point of artificially changing these tropes and in fact welcome being able to recognize an elf for an elf across games. Being different for the sake of being different is not good game design, IMO. My point was that I want new stuff, I don't want elves or dwarves, because I pretty much know all about them, I want the developers to use some creativity instead of using the most common fantasy stuff. I'm speaking more generally about all fantasy settings, I know that Dragon Age is going to be what it's going to be. Umm...jamaican trolls with guns? Shadowrun trolls?

It's not about renaming elves and dwarves into something different, it's about them always having the same basic features. Elves are always the wild, lean, keen-sighted people who live a long time and suffer from a superiority complex while dwarves are the short, grumpy bearded people who live underground. It's about taking the genre forward, moving away from generic "fantasy" stuff and building a world that is not a "medieval Europe with magic". The possibilities are endless, but still everyone must lean on the Tolkin and DnD crutch. The further away you get from the usual cliches and tropes the more unique and memorable the setting(and the game) will be. How about a race of invisible people? Think how different their cities, society etc. must be because of that. A race of immovable people? They haven't even run the "hivemind race thing" into the ground yet, you could do some cool stuff with that. Even when people try something new, it's like everything mus have a "Proud Warrior race" and a "Wise long living race" and so on. It's like creativity is all but dead. The amnesia thing is way overused and lame, it was okay in PS:T, because the rest was so great.

Generic: Elves, Dwarves, Great Evil coming to destroy world, hero being a lame farmboy, your village burning down, your mentor dieing. You can still do it right, but it makes the game less interesting at a glance.

If you didn't do the commentary mode, DO IT NOW!!

And I like running and shooting, at the same time. Throw a story on top of that and you got a deal!

At least one of them is (kinda) English... Also, says the dude who plays Resident "can't-walk-and-shoot" Evil. I haven't played the earlier Tactics Ogre games because they are on weird consoles and not on the DS...

"Wow, I can't believe there are people who enjoy this weird stuff." Also Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis is the defining SRPG.

The latest Idle Thumbs podcast said some nice things about the PC interface and something about a presentation having two monitors with with totally different parties playing the same portion of the game and having totally different dialog options etc. Maybe there is hope after all?

Sims 3 review is up. He's really on a roll here with cocaine and girl jokes in addition to mind-blowing revelations. Good stuff. Curse your fastness, Oner! At least mine is funnier...

You just can't kill those bastards fast enough to get to the juicy loot. Hope D3 will keep the "/players 8" command.

I didn't actually read the long item descriptions in BG... I think it really comes down to the combat system. I cared for every +1 attack and damage in BG, because it actually helped a lot and a wonky special ability could save your life. It really doesn't matter how much damage your weapon does in ME, I could have probably never switched it out and it wouldn't have been much harder.