ShadowPaladin V1.0

This game is just sick.... One of the scenarios is to break barrels (yay) only this time some have oil in them and the idea is to cover your foes in this oil then set them alight. The whole crowd roaring in the background makes the whole thing quite disturbing on so many levels..

Actually its not. It's common knowledge that PST borrowed various elements common to JRPGs. JRPGs are almost invaribly about some destiny or doom which the hero carries which they unravel over the course of the game. Either by recovering their memory (it was done before PST btw) or by finding out about their family or the like. But it's still a story about a character that isnt your own. Thats the potential failing of all games with pre gen characters. You must have heard people say "I wont touch FFX because Tidus looks like a boyband reject" ? With a character that you allow the player to create that is never an issue because they dont have to play a character they dont like. KOTOR is quite clever in how it combines the two. I meant I never want to see another game that uses such a cheesey plot device again. :D Really could anyone care less what happened to such a hole ? Ok the story being somewhat more personal in nature it's not quite as important but whats worse going into the bloodwars or living in that crapheap...

Save it I really dont need it.

Seems fine from the UK. Seems to be busier here today must be KOTOR II release day or something.

PST is a meta gamers dream. As for PST not forcefeeding you story, it does, constantly. There are not many places you can go where PST does not forcefeed you, or spoonfeed you story. PST also spoonfeeds you the character as well. What they missed was that people dont want to play pregenerated characters they want to play their own characters. PST was an experiment in a JRPG/BG hybrid one that failed. While I love both JRPGs (for the story and interactions) and the BG create your own character and see how it reacts to the world. I dont like the forced PST method of giving you what is essentially a complete character then wiping the memory so you can play it as your own. Thats without going into the effects this had on the gameplay overall. It's not something I ever want to see again either. While you could argue that KOTOR did the same thing. KOTOR was subtle about it. Although I have to confess had I read the rule book (rental didnt come with one) I would have seen through the plot a lot sooner. I also felt the whole thing was overdone and tried way too hard to be downbeat and depressing.

Baldurs Gate had a fairly easy ride because it was a bit like finding an oasis as you were about to die of thirst. A lot of people hated it for going real time but it worked anyway. KOTOR II should arrive in tommorows first post so I am looking forward to it now. I'm pretty much immune to the waiting till a day or two before then it starts to hurt Then I have about 10 hours to get it out of my system before going up to the Isle if Skye for the week.

Got me confused with someone else I think :D

Greatness is judged on a whole different scale these days.

Science adapts as new theories are proven. Religion sticks it's fingers in it's ears and goes la la la. I see religion like a racial parent figure. When your little and all alone in the dark you call on your parents for comfort. But when you grow up you have to take responsibility for yourself. Otherwise your potential will be stifled. I think Marx had a point too when he called religion the opiate of the masses. If it was proven that your existence ended with death people would be a lot more inclined to make the most of it. Rather than believing that "you will get your reward in heaven" stuff. Besides if you study the religions over time (right back to the neolithic and bronze age) you can see how they have evolved as the race has evolved.

Envy is a terrible thing. Odd though for something that is selling so well no one seems to know much about it.

Having put Phantom Brave on hold for a while (and not being able to drag the wife of it) I delved into Shadows of Rome. Loosely based on the events surrounding the death of Julius Caeser. The game tells the story of two childhood friends. Agrippa and Octinavius. Agrippa is a Centurian in the Roman army and is out on the frontire when Caeser is killed. Although the tutorial will give you a little glimpse into the future.. Divided between two very different types of gameplay Agrippa is focused on weapons and chopping people into pieces, where as Octinavius is a trainee spy/detective who uses stealth and brains. Very early on the events that link the characters will become apparent and each will then go their own path to solve the mystery. Combat is a big part of the game but luckily it's also very well done, almost sickeningly well done in places.. Agrippa can use a wide range of weapons, from dagger to huge mauls and 2 handed swords. He can also equip off hand weapons for extra attacks. The attack performed will vary depending on a number of factors. Which weapon you are using, which attack you use, whether you are moving at the time, and how long you hold down the attack button before release. You can block (and dodge but it's not easy) and the handy targetting feature will keep you focused on a particular foe. Unfortunately, or fuortunately, the weapons are quite brittle so you have a snowballs chance of any one weapon lasting you an entire battle , blocking will also wreck the weapon very quickly and you cant block barehanded (nor can you block power strikes so sitting back holding block wont work like in some other games). There is more to the battles than simply being last one standing. In many cases you will have to perform a scenario for the crowds entertainment. One of my favourites involves a catapult and a lot of dodging while collecting rocks. Rocks can also be thrown to ruin someones day , and skull. Combo's or salvo's are the core of the fighting game. Fight well and execute quick and continuous combo attacks and the crowds will go wild with exitement. Capitalise on this by acknoledging the crowd and they will toss all sorts of goodies into the arena. This can be both good and bad depending on how quick you are to spot where it lands. Nothing ruins your day like someone picking up your intended weapon and chopping you in half with it.. Viscreal describes the actual combat. Again depending on the weapon you have , you can inflict a variety of grusome injuries on your oppenents. Meat Sculpture for example will take off both arms and then finish off with a decapitation. Red Volcano involves chopping someone in half at the waist and blood spewing like lava. Other neat tricks involve things like dragging a prone foe to their feet circling from behind and cutting their throats. Or using a suplex to throw them into a nearby whirling blade of death.. Foes without limbs will roll around on the floor screaming in agony before gamely getting to their feet and attacking you with their own arms.. But nothing says revenge like taking off both of someones arms and beating them to death with them. You can also use someones head like a bowling ball. Octinavius is a much gentler soul and his levels give a respite from the bloodletting. His levels are a mixture of stealth , talking to people (choosing the right options) and finding or aquiring disguises to allow him access to places he shouldnt be. He has a few tricks up his sleeve for getting past stubborn guards and the like. Hitting them with a pot will knock them out but is noisy and will cause nearby guards to investigate. Strangulation (not to death) is a more silent method but involves some rapid button pushing (nothing to awful though). The funniets one of all is the banana peel , drop and whistle and watch the guards go falling flat on their arses and into walls. While disguised you have to play the part. Running, sneaking or other out of character behaviour will alert others to your fake identity. Carrying around a rope or a vase will also get you caught. Luckily you can hide anything you carry behind your back in which case it will escape notice. Like most stealth games a lot of trial and error is involved but the individual areas are not too long so you never really go back that far if you happen to fail. You can also collect coins (some easy some not) which you can then spend in the market place to do up your room. Other elements like Chariot Racing give some more variety to the gameplay. Plus you can refight or redo any of the action sequences from the menu. Overall a top game with an intriuging story and solid characters. Look out for Claudia , they didnt draw any underwear on her..

Anyone played it and is it any good ?

7th Sea I've played 100's of the things too. Thats why it's rare to come across one I've never played.

Games have indeed become more complex. The production values have also gone through the roof on the big titles to match those of some movies. It's all a far cry from sitting in your room making spectrum games in a week. Overall games have undoubtably gotten better. Stick someone who has never played Jet Set Willy or Mario 64 in front of each game and Mario would win hands down. When it comes to RPGs this isnt always a good thing. If the graphics need to be top notch and the people want "realistic" physics ala HLII, then the story will suffer it. Either by being shorter or by being more focused. Where as in something like HL II (and you know how long that took) the engine is the core of the game. In an RPG you then have to put in rules, plots, characters and a multitude of other things. While not difficult per se, they are time consuming.

A disadavantage that is not a disadvantage is not worth any points. If someone buys handicap no legs -25 points. And then buys extra limbs legs +5 points they dont get any points for the disadvantage... Darque has actually played a system that I havnt My favourites. Pendragon and MERP (played with the Rolemaster system).

Only 3 more days to go.

Ocarina of Time is my best game ever.

Evolution There is no purpose to life beyond what you give it. You could claim the purpose of life is to follow ones bilogical imperatives but humans have evolved to a point where they can ignore them. However we choose Decompose and continue the cycle. Observation of the natural process of life and death. Christians are people who need to sugar coat reality with a pretence of a higher purpose to justify their existence. Ditto for most other religions. Nothing short of a alien student popping down and telling us we were his school science project :D

Die for me ( I refuse to call it project rub) is kind of like a less hectic single player version player of Wario Ware. According to an interview from it's creator it's supposed to be about the extremes some people will go to for love (hence the title). The games themselves are rather innovative making full use of the various DS input methods. Heres another one of those non combat RPGs as well. http://shop.game.net/ViewProduct.aspx?cat=11224&mid=325627 Looks like they took advance wars DS off the release list.

Four more days till WOW is released in the UK. Same day as KOTOR II as it happens.

I remember doing the Deputy Tagil quest 100 or so times in EQ before they fixed the XP bug and wondering just how he managed to run up his tab so fast while appearing to not move. Not likely that MMPORGs will find a solution to this unless some big leaps in technology happen. I think M59 was the only game where I saw a lot of roleplaying, mainly because it was very easy to max out a character so everyone had more time to just hang out.

The SSI era although I wasnt that old at the time and not many of my friends understood the games. I'm not really a big fan of nostalgia. The original Pirates was also very good. But the new version just dosnt do it. Just goes to prove the old adage you can never go back :D

Got to love marketing havnt you... In Japan this was called Die for me. In the US feel the magic and now Project Rub Project Rub's hero has a sunny beauty on his mind, and he's doing everything he can to score a date with her. He enlists the help of the Rub Rabbits

Sounds more fun than ending up the bloodwars. I got the Oblivion ending which worked for me. Playing the game to the "end" was then a bit pointless.

Add a 0 and you have the budget for his next movie.