EmmanuelVR

Why do some of the men show upper body skin (look at that look V cut, how insensible) yet none of the women do? That's incredibly sexist. I feel insulted, Obsidian. Please change accordingly. Also monks are badass.

Dragon Age Origins Silent Hill 2 To The Moon The Walking Dead Terranigma Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions Borderlands 2 Batman Arkham City As to what made me love these games... reasons vary wildly, but overall I think they are all at the very least above average in every one of their aspects (considering the time of release for production aspects like graphics). While there might be a flaw in the combat of it, the combat itself is not a flaw or a detriment to the enjoyability (unlike Alpha Protocol, PST), and while there might be a flaw in the storyline, the storyline itself isn't a flaw (Prototype, a blast to play, horrible story; FF8, usually FF games other than FFT don't have remarkable stories, but they are well done in what the want to be, personally loving 6 and 9 the most, but FF8's just got worse every disc.). Same goes for presentation and music, etc. Basically, they are consistently good (great). In terms of gameplay, I enjoy about everything, which reflects on my list I think. In cases like To The Moon and The Walking Dead, I specially liked the fact that they maintained the gameplay to the minimum, since it was obvious their focus was on the storyline and interactivity, and they didn't want to nor did lower the enjoyment by putting a lot of half-assed gameplay in the middle, but rather focused on the needed amount of gameplay at the right times. As for plot-wise, a plot is needed for it to become my favorite, but it doesn't mean I can't enjoy something plot-less. Because damn if I haven't played my hundred hours of of Super Mario World, Tetris, and Killing Floor. Other than that, the storyline can be about pretty much anything, as long as it's well done in what it wants to be. Take for example Lunar 2, it's a very straightforward, classic adventure story that doesn't try to make itself into high art nor tackle social or human issues, yet it's very well paced, has a great cast, some really neat twists, and is just a very lovable story. On the other hand I can just as much love storylines like Silent Hill 2's that delve into humanity and are subtly developed. Or like To The Moon, that while not as narratively intricate, and more straightforward, it has just as much exploration of it's characters, emotions and human issues, and is more emotionally engaging, and even emotionally draining. I can keep going for each of my examples but that would be boring. You guys will probably notice the lack of Infinity engine games, but being honest, while I enjoyed BG series a lot, and IWD too (And... fighting through PST while enjoying the plot), they simply did not get in here due to the other entries. Still, regardless, I love me cRPGs, otherwise I wouldn't be here. KotoR, Arcanum, The Witcher, Elder Scrolls, Fallout, NWN, etc. I know that feeling my man. ME was easily on my list, amazing cast in an entertaining storyline, with very good gameplay and fantastic presentation, and well damn near the top for most of ME3, flaws and all, but then that damn ending ruined the whole franchise for me. And unlike DAO, I can't take ME as three different stand-alone games.

I just read 10 pages of the argument and I had to contribute my perspective. I'm currently playing PS:T and I have to agree that, while the narrative has somewhat picked my interest, the combat gameplay has been completely un-fun, and it has even forced me to fight with no alternatives at points (Not like alternatives would make it better, alternatives are alternatives, the combat should still be good if it's going to be there.) And it's not like the combat is bad because themes (at least so far), it's just bad because it is badly designed and implemented, and that demerits the work as a art too. Picture this, you have a book. It's a good story, maybe not the best you've ever experienced, but it's solid and thought provoking. Now, it's written badly. It uses elements you only see in cheap fanfiction. "Made an *_* face"; "Like *she* said" and just bad orthography in general (And please don't take this literally and bring up PS:T's writing, it's figurative, and not to mention I already have problems with the terrible overuse of asterisk to emphasize, rather than proper narrative). Are you really gonna say that the use of such elements and poor orthography doesn't demerit the work? I have a hard time believing that. That said the game is still somewhat enjoyable if you stay far away from combat as much as possible, but it definitely needs polish in other areas. Exploration is a pain in the butt, animations are ugly and dated, to the point games from years prior, and even from the snes and PS1 look better and haven't aged as much simply by design choice and style. The dialogue system seems to be the same as other good text oriented RPGs like BG2/DAO/TW/AP/etc, just has a LOT of it, which is commendable, but I didn't find it mind blowing, specially when it still forces me to fight awful battles every now and then. Still though, I'm sure there's a good story here, and it's why I'm suffering the bad parts for the good parts. It simply seems irrational to say the experience (and art relies on the experience) wouldn't have been better in another format. ...And by format I don't mean another medium necessarily. Being an adventure game with such a dialog and system would've helped tons without losing much, if any, artistic merit and improved the experience. Up there I read something about PST not restricting itself to it's setting (Which is silly, they should've used an original setting then). Well, it certainly restricted and forced itself to a genre they didn't put effort in for no net gain was ultimately simply not beneficial to it in any facet. But still, I'm gonna finish this damn thing. I finished Alpha Protocol, and damn if I didn't suffer that game's gameplay and minigames and finish it!