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Teleglitch

BAHAHAHA! I'VE FINALLY DONE IT. I HAVE WON.

I absolutely loved playing this roguelike-like and will probably continue to do the occasional run every once in a while on account of how awesome a game it is.

:tup: :tup: :tup:

Holy shit HOW!? I haven't even gotten far enough that I can spawn deeper. The moment dudes with guns show up I just melt.

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I have just finished an epic, two-and-a-half year co-op playthrough of Tales of Vesperia (we played e few hours every month). My friend and I were bullshitting all the while through the game, making fun of its insane dialogue and often generic locales and characters. But boy, did we have fun. After all that time, closing the chapter is even a little... sniff... touching.

 

Well, there's always Xillia to go to.

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Holy shit HOW!? I haven't even gotten far enough that I can spawn deeper. The moment dudes with guns show up I just melt.

When ranged enemies show up, you just have to kite them around. Lure them around corners so you can shotgun them at point blank, or hit them with carefully aimed shots at just beyond their maximum range. (When you move beyond their maximum range, they put away their gun, reposition themselves, and try to take fire again. Also, when sniping, keep in mind that your gun is actually slightly off center from the indicated trajectory.)

 As soon as possible, build a detector and upgrade it to an EM detector. Being able to track enemy movement outside of of your line-of-sight is the biggest advantage any of the unique gear gives you. (Turn off the camera zoom in the options too.)

 

Getting some armor should be one of your biggest priorities early in the game, that's the difference between dying in two hits or having some real survivability. After those two levels where you've been fighting enemies that knock off only 2 hp, there's this jarring step up to the rest of the game where everything will just obliterate you without notice. (Try to use your knife as much as possible in those first two levels so you have ammo for later levels.)

Also, the little grenade launcher thing. Its usefulness dies off pretty steadily because it's overall pretty weak, but for whatever reason it's almost always a one-hit-kill against infantry enemies, even annoying late-game ones with heavy body armor that can eat up a ton of more precious ammo. (Perhaps it has a high AP value, but low overall damage.) So it's good for swarms AND those guys and little else, it's a good way to save all your bullets for more important tasks.

Always look for secrets, some of them are obvious, some of them not so. (They tend to keep showing up in the same spots in the same rooms, even as the rooms are randomly arranged.)

Those should be good early game tips, i think. There's a lot more i could say, the game gets magnitudes more complex and difficult in the later levels. (It's good to figure out early on that there's a pretty clear hierarchy of weapons, and that weapons with good armor piercing qualities are your best bets for beating the game. The heavy rifle, HV rifle, and the battery-powered energy weapons will undoubtedly be the backbone of your fights against the toughest enemies, so save ammo for those as much as you can.)

 

Edit: Additionally, the first five slots of your inventory are keyed to 1-5 on your keyboard. Put important things in those slots. (A powerful weapon you can trust on resolving a sudden and panicked situation, stimulants for easy access at the start of a fight, etc.)

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I have just finished an epic, two-and-a-half year co-op playthrough of Tales of Vesperia (we played e few hours every month). My friend and I were bullshitting all the while through the game, making fun of its insane dialogue and often generic locales and characters. But boy, did we have fun. After all that time, closing the chapter is even a little... sniff... touching.

 

Well, there's always Xillia to go to.

 

I've played a few Tales games, and i'd say Vesperia probably had my favorite characters in the series. (Though maybe the worst story.)

I've heard very good things about Xillia, i've heard some people say it's one of the best Tales games ever, though a lot of people were very unhappy about how the localization turned out.

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Speaking of games made in Game Maker, I just finished Stealth Bastard Deluxe. That game is a bastard! I really liked it though.

 

Complaints:

1) The controls are kind of annoying, at least once I downloaded the DLC and started using the teleporters (which are mandatory in the DLC). Too many buttons at once, and the default layout (on the gamepad) can make it difficult to use certain combinations. I tried changing the buttons, but by that point I was so used to the original controls that I couldn't handled that either. I switched back!

2) The powers you unlock are essentially meaningless. You can't use them when attempting an S-Rank, because the game won't accpet it. S-Rank attempts will only be stored with the default power (which is - no power at all). It's a real shame, because some of the powers are pretty neat. (Most notably the teleporters, for speed runs.) Then again, some of the powers are just straight up overpowered, like the timed cloaking that recharges super fast.

3) Lack of in-game volume controls! Game was loud, and I had to adjust the volume EVERY TIME using the Windows individual volume sliders. Oh well.

 

But those specific complaints probably wouldn't exist if I didn't like the game so much. It's very much a game about precision and timing and that's the kind of 2D platformer I like. Hurray! Now onto the Mark of the Ninja DLC that just came out recently.

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I beat Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri yesterday. Tremendous game - that's going in my top 50 or 100 or 20 or something. A great mix of action, strategy, and a horribly acted, cheesy-enough-to-be-bad-but-not-cheesy-enough-to-be-hilariously-bad story. It has a random skirmish generator so I'll keep it installed and revisit it from time to time.

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I beat Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri yesterday. Tremendous game - that's going in my top 50 or 100 or 20 or something. A great mix of action, strategy, and a horribly acted, cheesy-enough-to-be-bad-but-not-cheesy-enough-to-be-hilariously-bad story. It has a random skirmish generator so I'll keep it installed and revisit it from time to time.

 

Oh man, i haven't seen anybody mention that game in years.

Definitely one of the unsung heroes of the Looking Glass gameography.

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Finished Rayman Legends. It's splendid - I think the WiiU version probably made people overlook it, but it's a gorgeous game with a lot of charm.

 

It is an Ubisoft game, so it naturally has stealth levels, but they put it and basically all the other common video game tropes in one world so it's bonkers, and left the rest to be things like a Day of the Dead world where you cut through gigantic cakes.

 

Anyway, that stealth world has playable spy princesses so it's automatically the best.

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I just beat the original Darksiders.  I thought the game was overall a solid first attempt at mimicing Zelda's dungeon design and God of War like combat, but it ended up falling short.  They did a great job of mixing up the game play towards the beginning but ran out of ideas toward the end.  The combat had a lot of options, but the enemies could all be beaten by simply focusing on the one strong guy whilst beating back the pawns that spawn along with him.  The boss fights left a lot to be desired, basically just a tech demo of the latest gadget you obtained.  Don't get me started on the "Temple" puzzles....always incredibly obvious what to do, more of a frustrating road block than a puzzle.

Anyone know if Darksiders II fixes some of these issues?  Thought provoking puzzles? Enemies that require you to approach with more of a strategy than mash attack, block, repeat?  The story was interesting enough to get me through, but I don't know if I could do it again.  That and I wish the game were about six hours shorter...but that's mainly because of the issue I mentioned.

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I didn't play it, but I thought Darksiders 2 was supposed to actually be quite dramatically different from the first game? They added a loot grind while also putting significantly less emphasis on puzzles?  (With the prevailing sentiment seeming to be that the game was a bit shit.)

 

I just beat the original Darksiders.  I thought the game was overall a solid first attempt at mimicing Zelda's dungeon design and God of War like combat, but it ended up falling short.  They did a great job of mixing up the game play towards the beginning but ran out of ideas toward the end.  The combat had a lot of options, but the enemies could all be beaten by simply focusing on the one strong guy whilst beating back the pawns that spawn along with him.  The boss fights left a lot to be desired, basically just a tech demo of the latest gadget you obtained.  Don't get me started on the "Temple" puzzles....always incredibly obvious what to do, more of a frustrating road block than a puzzle.
 

 

I feel like i need an extra piece of context for this opinion, have you kept up with the Zelda series?

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I feel like i need an extra piece of context for this opinion, have you kept up with the Zelda series?

Kept up in the sense that I know of each game and it's basic mechanics. Played them... not so much. I tried to play Skyward Sword, but got sick of the motion control pretty quickly. Never really gave the DS games a chance. The last one I actually completed was Twilight Princess. So I should probably avoid trying to compare the two, I merely brought it up as that is always the game people try to relate. I can remember Ocarina of Time having puzzles that actually made you think, with a few that were just road blocks. The bosses were focused on the newest gadget, but they had a bit more challenge to them. Darksiders bosses might as well have been the gadget tutorial.... If that clears anything up.

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Hey I finished Electronic Super Joy!

 

Dang that game is hard. I did it all though. I DID IT ALL. Super pumpin' soundtrack with sweet sick art and hard as balls platformin'? Yes, please.

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Finished Mario & Luigi: Dream Team yesterday. It's really good. I put 42 hours into that game and never once felt like it was repeating itself or being boring. Especially after Paper Mario Sticker Star being fine but a bit meh, this is a great game for anyone looking for something rad on their 3DS. Bowser's Inside Story is still probably the best of the series, but this is pretty great.

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I finally played Ratchet: Gladiator / Deadlocked, the only Ratchet & Clank game I never played before and wasn't a part of the trilogy collection for some reason. 

 

If the name didn't give it away, it's about Ratchet getting captured and forced into fighting for his freedom, the weapons are simple variations on weapons from other series and instead of Mr. Zurkon you get two robot companions who fight by your side at all times... but aren't Mr. Zurkon, they barely say a thing, so you'll miss Mr. Zurkon. :(

 

The game seems to be the first to have weapon mods, you can give any weapon ice, electric, or similar powers, so instead of the "morph gun", you know have a "morph mod" so you can turn your enemies into barnyard animals with any weapon you like.

 

Comedy wise, there isn't much dialogue in game or in cutscenes compared to the other games, but the game is oh-so much fun. Another big downside is that once again they ditch the RYNO for a very limited airstrike gun.

 

The game feels a little lacking compared to the other Ratchet games, but I'd still recommend it, and certainly don't understand why it wasn't added in the R&C collection, it's far from "Jak X" if you know what I mean.

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I liked the R&C Future games quite a bit. I completely forgot to get the HD versions of the PS2 games, but now I see that in 2 months a new R&C game will come out for the PS3: Ratchet & Clank: Nexus

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Yeah, the early PS3 ones are some of my favorite and I'm glad to hear we are finally getting a "normal" R&C game, although it's weird to see that the title lacks an innuendo pun.

 

Speaking of which the HD-ness of this one was OK-ish, since I didn't play the original version, I don't know if the graphical issues I encountered from from the port or new.

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Kept up in the sense that I know of each game and it's basic mechanics. Played them... not so much. I tried to play Skyward Sword, but got sick of the motion control pretty quickly. Never really gave the DS games a chance. The last one I actually completed was Twilight Princess. So I should probably avoid trying to compare the two, I merely brought it up as that is always the game people try to relate. I can remember Ocarina of Time having puzzles that actually made you think, with a few that were just road blocks. The bosses were focused on the newest gadget, but they had a bit more challenge to them. Darksiders bosses might as well have been the gadget tutorial.... If that clears anything up.

 

Okay, okay. Now i understand why you have your opinion, and i'm not dismissing that opinion but... it's like... The newest Zelda games have become so absolutely terrified of a player becoming lost or stuck, they are egregiously aggressive about hand-holding the player through the proceedings.

 

Darksiders isn't a demanding action game or filled with challenging and puzzling conundrums, but it also doesn't treat you like a child. So playing it as somebody who has kept up with the Zelda series, i did really like it.

Anyways, so here's a funny recommendation: You should play Dark Souls, because beneath all the RPG character-building in there, there's world design and combat that actually feels very Zelda-influenced. (Certainly, there are also puzzles, and unlike Zelda, Dark Souls doesn't give a fuck if you can't figure them out.) So yeah, i'm saying Dark Souls is secretly the hardcore Zelda game everybody always seems to have wanted.

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I don't have much to add to the conversation, but I do want to say that I completely agree with Sno on the Zelda vs. Darksiders thing. I quite like Darksiders. And I do still like Zelda despite its baby-game-baby-oh-baby tendencies, but yeah. Yeah.

 

I'd kill for a Zelda game that acknowledges that not all of its players are five years old. Dark Souls, while it might be a lot of what I want in a Zelda game, is thematically the OPPOSITE of what I want in a Zelda game. It's so.. dark. Darksiders was dark (ha-ha), but in a very dumb comic-booky kinda way. And now to sorta contradict myself (on liking Darksiders)... To be perfectly honest, I'm sick of grimdarkdarkgrim. It has its place, certainly, but it's such a tiresome tone that really brings me down. Zelda is very much like a fairy tale. It has some weird shit but is overall pretty happy in tone. I like happy. ):

 

What were we talking about?

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Also, i recently went back to Armored Core V to finish up single-player content in that so i could import my save into the just-released Verdict Day. (I was actually quite surprised to realize that ACV had over 90 single-player missions, that's significantly more than i had thought. I had believed i was near the end, but new missions just kept coming.)

ACV was an incredibly promising, but deeply, deeply flawed game. Verdict Day, on the other hand, has been doing everything right.

The matchmaking for the factional territory conquest metagame actually works now, and you can even fill out empty team slots with AI units. (You can program combat routines into these AI units, the whole system is one of the most intimidating things i've ever seen in a game.)

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ACV had massive, massive problems. It was a game i very much wanted to be awesome, with its promise of coordinated team tactics and commander role oversight, but much of its potential as a multiplayer game was wasted through a senseless matchmaking infrastructure and Namco never implementing on the international versions many of the fixes From implemented on the japanese version.

So i went into Verdict Day pretty apprehensive, but i'm tentatively very happy with it. It seems like its the game ACV should have been, it seems very good.

However, like its predecessor, and like Chromehounds from which they both borrow heavily, you really need a squad to play with. (I'm playing on the 360.)

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Oh man, I just picked up ACV, and then they release Verdict Day... I am so behind.

 

I just finished Castlevania: SotN for the first time. That game is pretty damn amazing and has stood the test of time, mostly. I was really impressed. It is also another game that Dark Souls has clearly taken a lot of cues from. So very good.

 

As soon as it ended I had this weird empty feeling, so I just booted up Castlevania: Harmony of Despair. Don't know what everyone was talking about as the game is actually really great. Have attempted the second level twice and am really liking the potential for multiplayer that I am probably never going to see as no one plays this game anymore.

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Oh man, I just picked up ACV, and then they release Verdict Day... I am so behind.

 

ACV is kind of a lost cause for multiplayer, but there's still a lot of good solo content in there. Go through that stuff and then you can import your save into Verdict Day, you retain everything you design/build/acquire. (Even though you'll likely never participate in the metagame and just do single-player content, still make a squad, that is if the game even lets you do anything without first making a squad. Anyways, the point is that shop unlocks are based off of your squad's level.)

Verdict Day might be a ticking clock though, because while the last week has been a really terrific experience, the game is still very new. There's no telling how long the game will sustain a community, AC has a relatively tiny western fanbase. (The japanese servers are still segregated from the rest of the world, so that's the main player base off in their own little isolated cocoon. Every other region was thankfully unified for the international version of Verdict Day though, splitting Euorpe off from North America was just one of several really, really dumb things ACV did.)

 

I just finished Castlevania: SotN for the first time. That game is pretty damn amazing and has stood the test of time, mostly. I was really impressed. It is also another game that Dark Souls has clearly taken a lot of cues from. So very good.

 

As soon as it ended I had this weird empty feeling, so I just booted up Castlevania: Harmony of Despair. Don't know what everyone was talking about as the game is actually really great. Have attempted the second level twice and am really liking the potential for multiplayer that I am probably never going to see as no one plays this game anymore.

 

Harmony of Despair is tremendous fun with if you can go through it fresh with friends, that is really what it's built for.

Had a lot of fun with it, but the way they tried to nickle & dime on its DLC kind of left a sour taste though.

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Okay, okay. Now i understand why you have your opinion, and i'm not dismissing that opinion but... it's like... The newest Zelda games have become so absolutely terrified of a player becoming lost or stuck, they are egregiously aggressive about hand-holding the player through the proceedings.

 

Darksiders isn't a demanding action game or filled with challenging and puzzling conundrums, but it also doesn't treat you like a child. So playing it as somebody who has kept up with the Zelda series, i did really like it.

Anyways, so here's a funny recommendation: You should play Dark Souls, because beneath all the RPG character-building in there, there's world design and combat that actually feels very Zelda-influenced. (Certainly, there are also puzzles, and unlike Zelda, Dark Souls doesn't give a fuck if you can't figure them out.) So yeah, i'm saying Dark Souls is secretly the hardcore Zelda game everybody always seems to have wanted.

 

Yeeees! Play Dark Souls. The last Zelda game I tried to play was Twilight Princess, and I got bored after doing the same exact quest, against the same exact monster with the same exact "equipment" for the third time in a row, and I quit. The entire thing was a remake of Ocarina of Time without the charm and dragged out to be several times longer than necessary.

 

Dark Souls on the other hand is AAAAWESOME. Clever closed in exploration and dungeon design around every corner. It's not exactly a return to Majora's Mask/Ocarina of Time, to be clear, but it takes a lot of what used to be what Zelda was good at and expounds on it wonderfully.

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