Heh, it's been yanked from Amazon.

In Reply To #271

I'll admit that I had loads of fun reading up on new developments as my workday progressed. I'm waiting on Angry Joe to review Sim City. It'll be nothing short of hilarious, like just about all his videos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGX2WE4QUw8&list=UUsgv2QHkT2ljEixyulzOnUQ&index=6

Just saw this Kickstarter today and am very tempted to throw in some funds.

In Reply To #273

I just backed Torment: Tides of Numenera Kickstarter. Basically all the dudes from Planescape: Torment creating a "thematic successor". I'm also tempted to back Dreamfall Chapters (in it's last day), the third game in the trilogy of The Longest Journey and Dreamfall: The Longest Journey. Really good adventure games. What's funny is that Dreamfall came out 8 years after The Longest Journey, and Dreamfall Chapters will be 8-9 years after Dreamfall. Interesting development cycle...

Decided not to back Dreamfall Chapters. I've spread my money too thin lately, I'll buy it when it comes out since they did get funded.

While I fully support the playing (and endless replaying) of Mass Effect games, I think you should give Bioshock a try. I'm not a fan of shooters either but I loved Bioshock. It's not a shooter shooter, if that makes sense. It's not run and gun. It's more story, story, story, gun. It also makes great use of two handed fighting which I first remember seeing in Undying, in the way back. It's at least 50% RPG and 50% shooter.

Tomb Raider. Everyone must play the reboot. Period, no exceptions. I'll come right out and say it - this game has just set a new benchmark for single player games; action, cinematography, storytelling. The voice acting is also exceptional.

Lara Croft puts all action heroes to shame. S-H-A-M-E.

I preferred the game over Uncharted 3, but I don't think the character writing was particularly strong. Enjoyable plot and location though, and they nailed the gameplay.

Finished Mass Effect 3 last night. It reminded me why I love playing games. So powerful.

In Reply To #278

New endings or the original ones?

In Reply To #279

New ones, though I've seen videos of the old ones and I don't think they're that bad. Don't get me wrong, the new ones are an improvement.

In other news, next I will be attempting to play Baldur's Gate. Again. Attempt #3 I think. I really want to experience the story, but I find the gameplay so damn infuriating.

In Reply To #280

Did you get to play Leviathan, Omega and the Citadel DLC with it? I hear that improves the first experience a lot.

I loved ME3. The constant minor requests for people on the Citadel were weird. The ending was really, really bad without the extended ending and DLC. The way it contradicts some of the major themes of the game for the sake of deus ex machina was infuriating.

In Reply To #281

Actually, Baldur's Gate is on hold for the moment while I finish playing Citadel. It's freaking hysterical. It's pretty much a James Bond movie in the Mass Effect world. Haven't played Leviathan or Omega. Have to save my pennies for those.

Ok, while I have severe philosophical objections to DLC, the Citadel DLC was worth every penny. It is, in one word: hilarious. I think my stomach hurts from laughing.

I played it through with Leviathan DLC and the new endings (which I enjoyed), and then went to look at what everyone had been crying about with the original endings.

[spoilers from here on out]

I'm still not sure I really grasp the actual objection people had to the original ending(s); they're kinda what the game was pointing you towards all along - the Reapers actually are an (almost) unstoppable force, and trying to fight them head on doesn't work.

I think the widespread player disappointment points to a bit of a disconnect between what characters expect of Shepard and what the Universe expects - with rather too many players believing Shepard's hype.

I appreciate that you spend most of the game (the trilogy, even) building an army to fight the Reapers, but it was always going to be a losing battle unless you find a way to stop the cycle. The game telegraphs it constantly; with the Protheans, the Geth / Quarian conflict, EDI, etc.

(it's not exactly the world's most original plot, it's nabbed directly from Battlestar: Galactica, after all)

It might have been nice if the decision-making part of out-thinking the cycle was more organic than just dialogue and some button-pressing, but then this was a Mass Effect game, so it's not exactly a massive departure...

Obviously I read a lot of it second-hand, but I can't shake the idea that the root cause of most of the criticisms is that too many players wanted to 'win', without any trade-offs, in a Space Opera scenario that had been pretty clearly set-up as 'no-win' from the start.

That's sci-fi code for "you can win, but only if there's some martyrdom first"

Huh, so much for playing Baldur's Gate, my ancient ass copy won't get past the first 4 zones. I realize I could get the GOG version or the fancy new version, but that would be spending money which is what I am trying to avoid.

I'm guessing I'll have similar problems with BGII and Planescape. Which leaves me....no games to play. Huh. I guess it's time to replay some. Until I can save a few dollars.