Diogo Ribeiro

The Machinist Big Fish

Edited for clarity.

I'm a dumbass. http://www.gamefaqs.com/computer/doswin/game/914819.html It's the second FAQ/Walktrough.

By comparison, Brujah are one walking can of whoop ass. The reason why Gangrels tend to be on the sucky side is that Animalism and Protean are pretty worthless in most cases, with Fortitude being the best discipline they have. Animalism is only worth it for Level 4 (Bloodsuckers' Communion) and Protean is only worth it in Levels 4 and 5 (Hunter of Night and War Form respectively). Then again, a Gangrel with High Fortitude and War Form can shred most things thrown at it, moreso with the adequate boosts in Brawl and Strength. The best way is to invest in Fortitude and combat skills. Hard but definetely not impossible to succeed. True, but whatever ending path you choose there will quite a bit of combat regardless. Melee works great (especially with Disciplines that allow you to hit hard and fast) but there were some ocasions where I found it wasn't enough.

This doesn't mean the game isn't built for Gangrels. It just means some character builds can go trough certain things better than others, or get different rewards and results. You could have an entirely feral Gangrel or a smooth talking Gangrel - but you will be able to play trough as either. Even without Persuasion, stealth, intimidation, bribing and brute forcing your way into things are quite possible. If you want to see how a Gangrel can be developed into a well rounded character (even with Persuasion) I suggest reading this guide, unfortunately with some spoilers: http://db.gamefaqs.com/computer/doswin/file/vampire_tmb.txt Unfortunately, no.

Not sure I agree. Some randomized elements can sometimes help a game gain a certain level of replayability and leave players without knowing what to expect when they replay. While I agree that random, critical game events (such as puzzles) are a bad idea; things like randomized dungeons, quests and non critical game situations can enhance a game, especially a CRPG. EDIT: I think this concept of randomized situations derived from your conversation about adventure games, though I thought I should support randomization itself in other fields

It's as much of an action/adventure/RPG hybrid as Deus Ex or System Shock 2. San Andreas tracks down statistics for the main character like physical skills (muscle improvement will influence how much melee damage CJ can cause, while stamina improvement will determine how long he will be able to run without getting tired), as well as vehicule control (the more you use a vehicule, the better the character will handle it) and weapon statistics (again, the more CJ uses a weapon the better he will be at it and can influence speed reloading and the ability to use it while moving). It's basically an 'improve by use' system like that of Morrowind.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

^I'd be inclined to buy it if it went below

I still remember when gamers scoffed at this concept when it came 'round. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on where one stands) these things aren't a novelty and they will likely grow within the next few years. With the amount of publicity and money these stars generate, it's only fair to assume they'll keep croping up in videogames which are only meant to be vehicules for self-advertising. Which wouldn't be bad, but for the most part they don't offer any substantial gameplay or any element that makes them stand out.

How is the chess game graphically represented, out of curiosity?

To add to the previous titles, I'm also playing: For the SNES: Lufia 2 - Rise of the Sinistrals (started several times but quit; trying to finish it) Yoshi's Island For the Gameboy Advance: Rebelstar (hot damn, X-Com gameplay! not as scary though) Gunstar Super Heroes (bit disapointing, claimed to be a sequel but it's just a rehash of the original)

I don't think weapon limits make players think a whole lot more. Wheter I have twenty or two weapons at my disposal at one given time, the same problems will still exist and will still require the same solutions. Look at some Zelda games, where you have two possible items to use at a time and need to open the menu and exchange them for others. In pretty much all cases I've come across in those games the item limit had no bearing whatsoever when it came to me figuring out how to solve a situation. All it did was make it longer to solve it since I had to manage the menu every once in a while to switch items, use a given combination for a particular task, then return to what I was using before.

Those pirates should go legit and get employment in the gaming industry. That way, the pirating would be widely accepted.

Oops. Fixing it now...

There are four possible havens. The first one is the one LaCroix will give you, the one above the Pawnshop in Santa Monica. The second one is also given to you by LaCroix, and it's located in the Skyline Apartments Downtown. You receive it after the "Calling Dr. Grout" quest. Reportedly, you also can get it right after the "Elizabeth Rendezvous" quest if you are generally nice to him. If you are a generally insulting git to LaCroix or don't fare too well in his missions, you will likely not get it. The third haven is optional and is given to you by Gary after the "Come Into My Parlor" quest. It's located in the Downtown Sewers, and you will only obtain it if you are a Nosferatu. The fourth and final haven, also optional, is given to you by Strauss, the Tremere primogen. It's in his own house, in the upper room. You can get this when playing as a Tremere instead of LaCroix's apartment. IIRC, they were humans who had been experimented on, or fledeling vampires. Not too sure which.

Mafia was the spetznaz. Or was that the shiznit? Whatever, it rocked.

Depends on the quality of the game. If someone asked me if I would spend that kind of money for such a short game I don't think I could give a negative answer. A game can be a good game regardless of length. When I think back to some of the console games I bought in the past, they were finishable in less than 5 to 6 hours, yet I wouldn't hesitate to buy them again because they were worth every cent. It's all on a game by game basis: some are worth it, some are not.

I'm not sure people don't want to admit games like Fallout and Torment had a lot of combat. I think most people who played the game try to make the disctinction between the games having a lot of combat but conversely most of it was not necessary to go trough (especially true with Fallout, not so much with Fallout 2).

I can't say I ever chanced upon that many bugs in the game, though it had its share. Personally I found titles like Neverwinter Nights and Temple of Elemental Evil to be far buggier - even with their corresponding patches. I agree. But then, it seems most developers working with PnP licenses always turn their licensed games into some combat-fest one way or another. I can't remember many PnP licensed games which didn't had that much of a focus on combat... Shadowrun for the Sega Genesis and Planescape: Torment come to mind as titles which still managed to give players more ways to go about the game other than strictly combat, though.

You know, the teenage suicide rates increased that year because gamers couldn't jump off the game's stairs. Snatcher reference

A Torment thread. Whoa, the novelty. A game's combat can hardly be defined in its difficulty levels based on a handful of events. Considering all of a game's particular ingame mechanics and different possible player strategies one can apply, you're bound to stumble on people who will swear a game was insanely hard, or a walk in the park. Personally I can't remember any meaningful situation where Torment's combat caused me troubles, except when I was going against the designer's plans (such as trying to rub out Many-As-One or Lothar). For instance, the Fiend in the Box one encounters in Curst was easilly dispatched with Annah, Dak'kon and Fall-from-Grace in the party. I talked to Dak'kon and unloaded all my spells on the demon; then I had Grace and Dak'kon cast all they had as well while I 'entertained' the demon as a Fighter. When they were all out of spells, I simply talked to Annah and switched over to Thief, then proceeded to rain down backstabbing death on the fiend. It actually went down pretty quick. Barring that, I have slayed it as a soloing Fighter and Thief. Since the main character can't die and is resurrected nearby, its more of a game of patience than skill (though of course high level and good gear count). Nordom's maze was also easy depending on your style of play. Barring the possibility of setting the maze's difficulty to "Easy", you didn't need to fight every monster in every room... All you had to do - if you wanted to do so - was just to find Nordom and whack the Evil Wizard. Trial and error pretty much give away in which rooms they were. As for the criticism regarding Torment's combat system, it's been brought up time and again but the main issues were that it featured a much simpler version of the combat seen in other IE games in regards to challenge, diversity of opponents (both in style and tactics; a clear focus on behalf of enemies in melee combat is undeniable) and the problem with party members not living up to their classes' namesake (ie, characters in the party, aside the Nameless One, only used their specialized weapons rather than any class-specific weapon, which limited tactics; anyone trying to go for something like, say, ranged support could only rely on spellcasting). The game's combat often feels like something to distract gamers with, an afterthought, and it clearly doesn't have the same level of focus in combat as there was in games like Baldur's Gate 2. BG2 presented many more options regarding combat styles, enemies and tactics; it was much more combat-oriented and it shows. This doesn't necessarily make the combat in Torment bad; but it can't hope to compare with what the other IE games had.

Not if it had enough cleavage and eye candy to please gamers.

How is the game? Last titles I played were the PS1 and GBA ones; afterwards, I've lost track of recent titles in the series.