Diogo Ribeiro

So we can safely disregard your stance on a game you don't like if we just tell you that many people found it to be fun? Regardless if we have any knowledge of just how many people is "many people"?

You can randomly explore areas in just about any CRPG. Now, if we're talking about exploring randomly-generated areas, Baldur's Gate didn't had any. Torment was the only Infinity Engine game that randomly generated areas and it was used for Modron maze. To the best of my memory, random encounters in Baldur's Gate always used the same area map and the same creature positioning, and only changed the creature types. Ditto for Baldur's Gate 2. Fallout 2 didn't had any particularly better way of handling random area generation than Fallout either. One of the best random map generators I've seen recently was in Fate.

Anachronox Knights of the Old Republic The Bard's Tale oh and there's this Nintendo DS Lite by my side with Castlevania Double Pack (Harmony of Dissonance and Aria of Sorrow) and Zelda: The Minish Cap.

Cuevas... Any connection to the developer that worked in that Fallout console title?

With all that Lucas editing and whatnot what recent Star Wars movie remastered edition doesn't tamper too much (or nothing at all) with the original trilogy?

Too much reading wasn't really the issue. You're likely to read the same or as much in console RPGs and the quality of the writing in those ranges from passable to abysmal; yet, people still read them. The problem is that, like CrashGirl pointed out, editing was necessary. I'm not sure removing 'fluff' would have been beneficial (since much of the filler just gave a distinctive nature to the dialogue) but the flow of dialogue was often too much to handle. At given points we'd have tons of dialogue with some character that would last on for ages. Looking back at Ravel, she was one of the best NPCs I have ever encountered in a CRPG so the lenghtly exposition was welcomed and even necessary. The problem starts when you have such lenghtly convos with secondary or irrelevant NPCs which just drag the game's pace.

Not surprisning. Have you checked out Atari's attempt at making every possible combination of D&D titles under their wing in special editions? It's a bit worse than what Lucasarts did here. Forgotten Realms Deluxe Contains: Neverwinter Nights, Shadows of the Undrentide, Hordes of the Underdark, Baldur's Gate 1, Tales of the Sword Coast, Baldur's Gate 2, Throne of Bhaal, Icewind Dale 1, Heart of Winter, and Icewind Dale 2. Totally Roleplaying Games Contains: Neverwinter Nights, and Temple of Elemental Evil. Neverwinter Nights Deluxe Which is basically NWN, the expansions and some premium modules. World of Neverwinter Nights Which is NWN, the expansions, and NWN2. Looking at those one could ask what was the criteria for selection since there's all kinds of weirdness, ie, why wouldn't World of Neverwinter include the premium modules from NWN Deluxe, or why isn't NWN2 integrated into the Forgotten Realms Deluxe package. I'd question the inclusion of KoTOR on that Best Of because even if it has good points, it's quite a departure from the kind of visceral thrill of the Jedi Knight games and gameplay - and JK gameplay is the closest to emulate Jedi combat. But hey, Bioware + game design that bludgeons any advances made in the genre in the last decades to the ground + Game of the Year for game sites whose knowledge of gaming amounts to a rotten vegetable = win.

Can't and won't really argue with that since I agree.

I was pretty interested on the setting they first mentioned, an abandoned complex used by Nazis during World War II. While the setting isn't new to shooters or shooteresque games, the thought of all the Nazi horrors being given new life had me more on edge than sci-fi or even System Shock 3.

The alien setting was virtually unknown to most CRPG players, so it was a given that trying to market it to people who were familiar with more generic fantasy worlds was a risk that might not work out for the best. That took its toll as well. As for inconsequential stuff... The Baldur's Gate series and Knights of the Old Republic are grounded on pretty inconsequential elements, too. Players walk from A to B and are drowned out in repetitive combat that most often is irrelevant to their quest. I think Gromnir pointed out that with KoTOR, Bioware remade PS:T with a more recognizable setting, while replacing the reading with combat. I don't think he's too far off from that.

Why should it be easy to veer towards a negative side? Different systems have different scenarios for alignment. Torment made it woefully easy to go from Neutral to Good to Evil in one single playthrough without me even trying hard. Fallout simply made it so it wasn't as easy to become evil but when you did, it was hard getting out of that role. And joining Slavers, going on Slaver runs, killing the Slags for Modoc or becoming a Childkiller were especially effective in awarding bad karma amounts.

Don't diss on those wireframe graphics, man.

While I haven't seen the movie, the game is turning out to be pretty fun.

Gothic 3 was released in a poor state and there's undoubtedly some aspects that need tweaking. But much as the review is right on the money in some cases, some complaints seem too iffy. An excess of reliance in the LMB has been the bread and butter of action roleplaying games, such as Oblivion. The reviewer also goes into how the NPCs will "completely forget you attacked them even if approached only 10 seconds later", but doesn't seem to have a clue that Gothic 3's reputation system, like the past titles, makes it so NPCs will oppose the PC less the more powerful he is.

Logic is DEAD to Volourn.

Horrible game. Run away. NOW.

Failure is only as difficult as a developer wants it to be. In the same way, a 'completely different set of events' only carries a negative interpretation to a developer when he has to do double the work to provide for alternate consequences and a divergent path to a quest's outcome. Unless we're discussing main storyline branches, simple success or failure checks and outcome for sidequests are pretty trivial to implement, especially when one factors in the designer's experience and the knowledge of the engine tools to implement them. Even if we're talking of major changes to a game's storyline based on PC choices, what are the odds that a developer can't do a logical set of outcomes that, while not pandering to every possible gamer's expectations, manages to give a good idea of consequence? Besides, failure can mean several things. In Throne of Bhaal there was a quest to help Marlowe defeat a Lich who had his daughter's soul. When you learn Marlowe gave his daughter's soul in exchange for 20 years of fortune you have the chance to either help Marlowe or help the Lich, and if you defeat the Lich you also have the chance to either give the soul back or take it for yourself. 'Failing' to give the soul back just means a different kind of reward and a self-contained consequence that only impacts the PC and the ancillary characters from the quest. Taking this example do you really need to create a consequence to a major plot point that affects everything in a gameworld? Not really, but that is what developers usually want you to believe. There should be repercussions for failing or succeeding a major quest but no one is asking them to change the world, though they most certainly react that way. All you really need are a set of consequences that give an idea of your action or choice.

Bethesda's in the right track with Oblivion.

Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance arrived today. Christ, I don't have time for all of this.

Let's just call it a morbid, voyeuristic fascination of looking at both naysayers and apologists going medieval on each other.

It's not hard to understand, really, though it may be hard to empathize with. The ones that do get excited probably either enjoy Bethesda's takes on CRPGs or find elements in their games that they would like to see applied to Fallout's framework. It's the same reason why some were excited at the prospect of Troika or Obsidian getting their hands on the license, and the same reason others didn't find that as appealing. I know I don't particularly care for Bethesda's game design post-Daggerfall so I can't really say I'm looking forward to Fallout 3 though I can guess why others would be. My interest in the game at this point is only based on the voyeuristic pleasure of watching some circles eat themselves.

God of War Resident Evil 4 Anachronox Eternal Darkness Wizardry 8 Viewtiful Joe Wind Waker Psychonauts Chronicles of Riddick Thief: Deadly Shadows Oh my.

I wouldn't buy Carbon just because it's the new one. I've been checking some things, and it seems most of Carbon's new gameplay tweaks aren't that good when compared to Most Wanted.