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You make a fair point re. Phatt, but the bigfoots are just as interactive as any other character, with their own dialogue options etc, and there are at least two in the foreground. However, I can see that our guy seems a lot more like he should be part of a puzzle. He's really just there to get a few satirical bits and pieces in that otherwise wouldn't have had anywhere to go.

It comes down to your feelings about red herrings in adventure games at the end of the day. I think they're fine, as they discourage people trying to brute force their way through, and more (hopefully) funny and interesting characters is better than less, I feel.

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Brutal Legend :tup: :tup: :tup:

*lots of things about Brutal Legend

I thought the game was flawed in a lot of important ways, but I do agree that it's something else. I didn't like it as much as you did, but I'd much rather take a flawed labour of love over polished but sterile work any day.

It's been two years since I played Brutal Legend, but I'll list five things that stick to my mind till now...

5. The battle where Enslaved's "Frost" plays was incredible.

(The first battle in the snow.)

4. Emperor Doviculus is, hands-down, the creepiest, sexiest and most horrible antagonist I've seen in a video game.

The Tainted Coil are his children. And what he says to them as they run is: "Your motion pleases me."

It's too bad he gets so little screentime.

3. Chopping off heads and hands. It's just immensely satisfying to hit a demon and have his head spinning off.

2. The lore. I loved the backstory to Brutal Legend, with the titans and the fire beast.

1. Kabbage Boy (the "lame emo band", though I always took them for nu-rock).

Cheater point number 6: The soundtrack. Both

by Peter McConnell and the licensed stuff.

Best line:

"Lionwhyte, your troops are revolting - just like your clothes."

You make a fair point re. Phatt, but the bigfoots are just as interactive as any other character, with their own dialogue options etc, and there are at least two in the foreground.

I haven't played Hit the Road in some years, so you may be right. I'll have to re-play it to remember how I felt about it on first playthrough, I'm afraid. But you're probably right.

It comes down to your feelings about red herrings in adventure games at the end of the day. I think they're fine, as they discourage people trying to brute force their way through, and more (hopefully) funny and interesting characters is better than less, I feel.

To a large extent, I agree. :)

Edited by Kroms

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I'm really just glad someone else appreciated the weird ass RTS stuff in Brutal Legend. I wrote some long ass post in the game's thread that I won't go over again, but basically I imagine it's hard for everyone to appreciate it without getting over the steep learning curve and even that, there's no one to play online with.

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I thought the game was flawed in a lot of important ways, but I do agree that it's something else. I didn't like it as much as you did, but I'd much rather take a flawed labour of love over polished but sterile work any day.

Just out of curiosity, what were your qualms with it?

I pretty much agree with all of your points of approval. I'm probably tainted by all of the good I experienced in the game, but I just don't have much to say bad about it at all.

I'm really just glad someone else appreciated the weird ass RTS stuff in Brutal Legend. I wrote some long ass post in the game's thread that I won't go over again, but basically I imagine it's hard for everyone to appreciate it without getting over the steep learning curve and even that, there's no one to play online with.

I really didn't notice much of a curve. The first battle is basically hand-fed to you. I suppose if someone didn't pay attention and isn't familiar with RTS/Tower Defense mechanics, then It could prove a bit hard to pick up. Online play is freaking awesome too! I hadn't messed with it till after I'd finished. It is indeed hard to find a games though. Maybe some thumbs would be interested in some matches?

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I'm really just glad someone else appreciated the weird ass RTS stuff in Brutal Legend. I wrote some long ass post in the game's thread that I won't go over again, but basically I imagine it's hard for everyone to appreciate it without getting over the steep learning curve and even that, there's no one to play online with.

It was cool to see anybody still doing an action-RTS like that these days, but the reality is that there have been much, much better action RTS's in that vein. (As one example, the game that i believe was even cited as an influence for Brutal Legend, Sacrifice.)

I really had some fairly major problems with Brutal Legend. It was charming and fun, but i think it's the weakest game Doublefine has put out.

For the strategy battles, i remember thinking i never had enough fine control over my units, that there were some fairly significant failings of the interface. It's been a while since i played it, i'd have to go spend more time with it again to get any more specific, and i'm not going to do that.

One thing that i do remember clearly that had really bugged me is just how poorly paced it is, so much time is spent in that first region and then you're just hurried through other massive areas. The game introduces a ton of things in a short span about 3/5's of the way through the game and then just has you scream several huge locations in rapid succession. I mean, and I don't remember the exact number, but there's only a handful of real battles where you have full control over all the game mechanics, and some of the opposing factions only show up once! Entire factions with unique units and strategies, and you'll only battle them once. (When the faction you had been fighting for most of the game was a palette swap of the hero faction!)

With how bizarrely misused their distinct factions were, i got the impression they had hopes on it having more of a multiplayer following. (To its credit, it at least has AI skirmishes.)

Edited by Sno

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Just finished me some Bastion. Will be finishing it again fairly soon I believe. Good I think the latest patch even improved the PC directional controls, so well done on the PC version, Supergiant!

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It was cool to see anybody still doing an action-RTS like that these days, but the reality is that there have been much, much better action RTS's in that vein. (As one example, the game that i believe was even cited as an influence for Brutal Legend, Sacrifice.)

Well yeah, part of the problem is I have not played similar games (like even Dynasty Warriors which I hear is similar), but I still had a lot of fun with it.

For the strategy battles, i remember thinking i never had enough fine control over my units, that there were some fairly significant failings of the interface. It's been a while since i played it, i'd have to go spend more time with it again to get any more specific, and i'm not going to do that.

One thing that i do remember clearly that had really bugged me is just how poorly paced it is, so much time is spent in that first region and then you're just hurried through other massive areas. The game introduces a ton of things in a short span about 3/5's of the way through the game and then just has you scream several huge locations in rapid succession. I mean, and I don't remember the exact number, but there's only a handful of real battles where you have full control over all the game mechanics, and some of the opposing factions only show up once! Entire factions with unique units and strategies, and you'll only battle them once. (When the faction you had been fighting for most of the game was a palette swap of the hero faction!)

Yeah, that's my major gripe with the game. It all feels so cut and rushed. Various pieces of concept art and the map indicate a larger game was planned as well as the post mortem. It's a shame there wasn't much in the single player department and the game just rushed through itself.

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Well yeah, part of the problem is I have not played similar games (like even Dynasty Warriors which I hear is similar), but I still had a lot of fun with it.

Well Sacrifice is available on GoG, so there's that. So is Giants: Citizen Kabuto. There's also games like the almost totally forgotten Uprising and the 90's re-imagining of Battlezone. (Which is an incredible game.) There were really a whole bunch of games like that on the PC in a brief period late into the 90's, but the genre just kind of vanished afterwards.

I'm also just going to toss out a recommendation for Guilty Gear 2: Overture for the 360, a game i personally really like. Something to dig out of a bargain bin for ten bucks, maybe. A very strange third-person action game blended with RTS, almost dota-like, elements. A game that absolutely did not get a fair shake when it came out. (Not surprising, as a bizarre RTS/Action hybrid is really not a cool way to sequelize a beloved fighting game series.)

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I just finished Far Cry.

Its gameplay holds up pretty well today, but I cringed at the way they handled their "storytelling". The stereotyping is on-par with Duke Nukem, except this game takes that shit seriously. But also technically. Bad voice acting, abrupt cuts, etc...

I also think the game is too long. I recall 2 moments when I thought it was (finally!) over, but instead it went on after yet another plot twist.

I think it's the gameplay that kept me motivated enough to continue.

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I always thought it was bad-on-purpose, in a similar vein to Duke but parodying more the 90s straight-to-DVD wrestler-starring action pics with a lump of meat as the lead, fighting a load of dumb, angry henchmen. Maybe I'm giving them too much credit. Loved the opening CG movie though, and the mercenary random dialogue line "I am gonna shoot you in the FACE!"

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Borderlands :tup:

With all the Borderlands 2 news, I decided to finally complete the campaign of this game. I hadn't beaten it after all this time simply because I mostly just began new characters to play co-op with friends, leaving my "solo" "main" character about 80% of the way in and waiting to be picked up. The end of the game is a little more linear than I would have hoped, with fairly small environments in the main path and few sidequests. It's mostly odd because I spent so much of the early game on the open world diversions, which is what brings flavor and energy to a loot game like this. Also, the final boss is completely unexciting, which may have been the case because I was possibly overleveled from all the aforementioned sidquests. That said, I really love how the shooting felt in Borderlands as well as how different each gun felt due to recoil, fire rate, special attributes, and environmental effects. Can't wait for 2.

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Borderlands :tup:

With all the Borderlands 2 news, I decided to finally complete the campaign of this game. I hadn't beaten it after all this time simply because I mostly just began new characters to play co-op with friends, leaving my "solo" "main" character about 80% of the way in and waiting to be picked up. The end of the game is a little more linear than I would have hoped, with fairly small environments in the main path and few sidequests. It's mostly odd because I spent so much of the early game on the open world diversions, which is what brings flavor and energy to a loot game like this. Also, the final boss is completely unexciting, which may have been the case because I was possibly overleveled from all the aforementioned sidquests. That said, I really love how the shooting felt in Borderlands as well as how different each gun felt due to recoil, fire rate, special attributes, and environmental effects. Can't wait for 2.

I completed every single sidequest on that game, and yet my experience with that boss was hiding behind a pillar and only coming out to shoot when I knew it was safe, as it could demolish me in 3 hits.

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I completed every single sidequest on that game, and yet my experience with that boss was hiding behind a pillar and only coming out to shoot when I knew it was safe, as it could demolish me in 3 hits.

He actually didn't get a chance to hit me because he kept transforming (or adding more tentacles, whatever) and the animation prevented him from attacking. To get him to do that, I was able to stand right dead center in front of him, use my sniper (which has 15 shots per clip and 3x shock elemental damage, mind you) to continually hit him between the barely opened jaws which would cause a critical every single time. It took about all of my ammo, but he never hit me. I guess I kinda broke it.

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That huge bomber moth thingy you had to kill in a side quest was way more difficult than the endboss

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I'm also just going to toss out a recommendation for Guilty Gear 2: Overture for the 360, a game i personally really like. Something to dig out of a bargain bin for ten bucks, maybe. A very strange third-person action game blended with RTS, almost dota-like, elements. A game that absolutely did not get a fair shake when it came out. (Not surprising, as a bizarre RTS/Action hybrid is really not a cool way to sequelize a beloved fighting game series.)

Absolutely agree, Guilty Gear Overture was shunned by the fan base and everyone else thought it was 2-D fighter. It didn't help that the cover made it look like some Yaoi romance game, possibly about bikers.

I need to sit down and finish that game it just got balls-to-the-wall hard about halfway through.

I remember thinking when people were first praising League of Legends that it sounded just like Guilty Gear: O (I now realise Defence of the Ancients came first).

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That huge bomber moth thingy you had to kill in a side quest was way more difficult than the endboss

That was where I stopped playing the game. I got killed waaaaay too many times at that fucker. Up to that point, I'd actually quite liked it.

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That was where I stopped playing the game. I got killed waaaaay too many times at that fucker. Up to that point, I'd actually quite liked it.

You quit because of a sidequest? That's really strange.

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For a completionist player, "side" does not mean "optional".

Seems you have run foul of the Bonus Boss.

Oh, I totally understand, but even as a completionist I often resign to a difficult quest and implement the "I'll come back to this with a cool head" policy. This is part of a whole thing I'm try to do with games where I stop playing the parts I don't like despite wanting to complete everything.

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For a completionist player, "side" does not mean "optional".

Seems you have run foul of the Bonus Boss.

edit: Warning! Do not click on the links!

Interesting stuff. I especially found this interesting: Tropes Are Good. It's a good reminder that just because you've spotted a trope, doesn't mean that the thing you spotted it in is bad.

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Oh man, TV Tropes is a fun site, silly way to waste a few hours.

Absolutely agree, Guilty Gear Overture was shunned by the fan base and everyone else thought it was 2-D fighter. It didn't help that the cover made it look like some Yaoi romance game, possibly about bikers.

I need to sit down and finish that game it just got balls-to-the-wall hard about halfway through.

I remember thinking when people were first praising League of Legends that it sounded just like Guilty Gear: O (I now realise Defence of the Ancients came first).

Ever play GG2O online at all? A lot of fun.

So yeah, third-person Action/RTS games on the 360? I think GG2O is better than Brutal Legend.

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I just spent way too much time browsing TV Tropes. Jerk. Also, on the page for "Moon Logic" the main image is the cross-stitch of "Honey on the cat hair makes a moustache." Well done.

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Oh, I totally understand, but even as a completionist I often resign to a difficult quest and implement the "I'll come back to this with a cool head" policy. This is part of a whole thing I'm try to do with games where I stop playing the parts I don't like despite wanting to complete everything.

The thing about that giant moth side-quest is that it spawns in a central hub area and NEVER LEAVES until it's dead.

So if you're ill-prepared for it, you're pretty well boned. (You want to be probably about five levels above what it recommends.)

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The thing about that giant moth side-quest is that it spawns in a central hub area and NEVER LEAVES until it's dead.

So if you're ill-prepared for it, you're pretty well boned. (You want to be probably about five levels above what it recommends.)

I have no idea how on Earth I killed that thing, but I somehow got lucky.

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