What VIDEO GAME(s) have you been playing?

I remember really enjoying Divine Divinity back in the day, though I don't recall much about it. I also played Beyond Divinity and hated it, but again, I don't remember what the differences were that made it so bad. I should look into those again.

Markus, black flag opens up and when it does, you'll be in heaven. Havana was the roughest part for me since you have to get through it to move on to more open world stuff. Stick with it

On my side it's Magic Duels Origins all the time. I'm going to want to get back to shooters soon since I skipped Advanced Warfare so it's going to probably be Destiny, the upcoming Halo, or both

Legomancer wrote: I remember really enjoying Divine Divinity back in the day, though I don't recall much about it. I also played Beyond Divinity and hated it, but again, I don't remember what the differences were that made it so bad. I should look into those again.

Ha! Same here! Divine Divinity (what a stupid title) is almost Ultima VII for me. Huge world, cities... even the weird perspective! I still remember moving crates to get a key. I think the game bugged on me when I played it so I quit.

Found an awesome image...

www.galaraf.net/Divdiv/DivDivMaps_files/Aleroth-Rivertown.jpg

Got Witcher 3 from Gamefly...not sure why, but I wasn't all that excited about it even though I _LOVED_ Witcher 2.

So far it's pretty damn good...the character and scenario writing are actually quite excellent- very nuanced and sophisticated. Definitely a few flights up from the kind of moral decision nonsense in most games. I busted this down-at-heel dude with family issues for burning down a dwarf's smith and turned him over expecting a firm talking-to and maybe some other minor recrimination...and then the local authorites showed up to take the guy away and hang him. I was kind of like "uh...well...it's not really that big a deal..." but so it goes. Harsh consequences.

The main storyline is pretty interesting so far, and it definitely carries forward the kind of low fantasy, high intrigue stuff from the past game along with the unique Witcher concepts. So far, there's been two hunts- one was for this ghost of a murdered woman in a well (which was pretty neat) and the other was a griffin...that felt more tragic and sad than heroic.

It's really complicated...the kind of game where you read the loading screen tool tips and say "I'll be damned, I had no idea about that". Complex upgrade mechanics, upgrade systems, alchemy...everything but combat is detailed. The combat is sort of boring- typical Assassin's Creed stuff so far, but that may evolve over the course of the game.

Very pleased four or five hours in, but I am worried it's going to turn into the usual open world folderol- icons leading to stupid mini-quests and pointless activities.

And then MGSV drops tonight, so this'll go on the back burner regardless, I'm afraid.

I have been playing Tench shadow assassin on my PSP and Wii a lot lately. Brilliant game and havent been this invested since the Thief series was around in full swing.

This type of game just seems way more compelling than the usual FPS. You just cant run in, charge around, guns blazing expecting to win. You have to play smart.

Barnes,

I have not seen the combat improve much as I've gotten into the mid-teen level. It is essentially the same: dodge and strike against monsters, parry and strike against humans.

The best writing is reserved for the quests that branch from the main one. Family Matters is one that stands out in my mind. Other side quests are usually good for equipment plans and such. I have wasted a lot of time going from icon to icon to get experience and such. Also gwent.

So I spent the weekend playing the open beat for BLACK OPS III, Call of Duty's upcoming yearly installment. It was ok. I had fun and stuff but once again I'm going to take a pass thing year. I'm pretty sure I'm going to go for Halo V or Destiny as my shooter this year. In fact, since Destiny is only 15$ and I can get all expansions for free, I think that's the way to go. I'll pick it up tomorrow probably.

Also being picked up tomorrow is MGS V. Just like Barnes, I think it will immediately be placed on the back burner. When I want to grind a single-player experience, I'm going to want to 100% Magic Duels: Origins which I'm enjoying like nobody's business. Got 4 decks on the go and will build 2 more tonight. Love it. I know that MGS V will be a game I'll want to play eventually so I might as well get it. IGN hasn't given a 10/10 since Last of Us and they gave one to this one. I also have NEVER played a MGS game before. The last time I played a Metal Gear game was on NES and I was falling through floors all the time.

yay vidja games

No no, Witcher 3 is going on the backburner. MGSV all the way beginning at 12:01am.

Man, I don't know Barney...to say you've missed a lot between the first Metal Gear and this one is quite possibly the biggest UNDERstatemtent ever. It has got to be the most complex (and sometimes nonsensical) fiction ever applied to a video game. im sure the gameplay won't suffer, but you might want to do some studying beforehand.

my buddy is a huge MGS fan and he's found this five minute video which he says does a perfect job at getting you up to speed. I think IGN might have done it. Anyway it's my homework tonight to watch it while I enjoy some homemade chiken nuggats.

Really looking forward to your take on MGS V since that might get me to start playing it right away.

Got my Warlock to Level 20 in DESTINY, and that's when the old leveling system sucks. That's what is getting swapped out on Sept 15, Barnes. After that, I'll be able to continue to level without "light" in my armor or whatever the actual fuck. Still not getting all the different currencies. I have Stange Coins, Vanguard Marks, Crotan Sheqels, Liberty Dollars, Venusian Renminbi, and a few others I think. Still can't buy anything. Anyone need spinmetal? I have that up the ass. Going to put this aside until the 15th and then check back in. Feel like I accomplished something. Storywise I just made it Mars and shot up some of those fat guys.

Finished THE SWAPPER.

Started BORDERLANDS: THE THIRD ONE THAT'S IN THE MIDDLE. Playing on the Mac, no less. I was thinking I would go keyboard-mouse, but it sucked. Plugged in the dualshock and had a good time. My god, the loot is everywhere. Everywhere. Change of pace from DESTINY to be sure.

Rocking ROCKET LEAGUE with my son, splitscreen. We're just playing against Rookie AIs in the season mode (Go Buttsharx!), but it is so fun. He spent report card money on a dualshock controller to do stuff like this! Totally worth it.

Yeah, they're increasing it to level 40 before all of that silly shit begins...and even then, it's been retooled so it's not just waiting for a random drop or some arcane crafting thing to get what you need to go up.

It's a really, really, really good game...and I love how it seriously feels like a "next generation" game on every level- the format, the presentation, everything about its production seems like a big step up from the PS3/360 era. "Culturally", the game is so different than anything from that period. I'm hoping that the big revision is going to push it into greatness, ironing out some of the more iffy stuff like that asinine leveling thing.

I've seen one of those "MGS in five minutes" things...they do catch you up on the story, more or less...there's really just about 20 (!) Major Plot Points you need to know about, but if V is anything like 4, they will CONSTANTLY reference those 20 or so things. DARPA chiefs, Liquid Snake, Big Boss, The Boss, Paz, Miller, Psycho Mantis, Hal Emmerich, Grodzny Graj, etc. etc. etc.

The story is a MESS and although there are some absolutely stunning, resonant moments, it's really just all part of the Kojima vision. If you haven't even played the first MGS, you're in for a real ride unlike anything else in video games. It is as "directorial" as video games have ever gotten, and Kojima is like this mad DJ mixing in everything that he has ever thought about or has ever influenced him. So there's entire segments that are practically James Bond films mixed with Spaghetti Western villains, mechs, and Cronenbergian body horror. Then there's this whole 1980s Rambo chic thing going on, along with ultra-high tech nanomachines. Everything is METICULOUSLY planned, coordinated and thought out. He's not afraid to completely throw you a screwball- like giant bipedal drones that MOO like cows because (as it is explained in depth) that the lowing of cattle has been shown to calm humans down, so they genetically engineered these biological legs from cow DNA to put on these things. And then there are all of these contradictions and weird tonal shifts. Stern anti-war rhetoric mixes up with military fetishism. Dead serious themes and ruminations about real-world issues mixed in with extended discussions about movies and pop culture. Diarrhea jokes show up out of nowhere. The "fourth wall" is about as thick as tissue paper, and there is always something or someone around the corner that reminds you (in giant neon letters) YOU ARE PLAYING A VIDEO GAME. You'll go through 10 minute cinematics and QTEs coupled with video game mechanics that are literally exactly the same as the original NES game.

I honestly can't count the number of times playing these games where I've just had to kind of stop and shake my head at it...not out of frustration or disappointment, but because of some little twist, quirk or surprise that is just so utterly genius. I doubt it's a spoiler at this point, but the first time you fight Psycho Mantis is a great example. He's got you under mind control. You can't beat him. But you get a call from Otacon and he tells you that Psycho Mantis is reading your mind through the controller so you have to unplug it and put into the other port. Diegetically, it makes no sense. But in video game logic, it makes perfect sense.

There's a boss in 3 (which I think is the best of them, barring V) that you can beat by saving the game and not coming back for a week. He dies of old age.

Or there's a segment in 4 where you go back to areas from the first game...and OF COURSE they're presented in the original game's graphics engine with the old controls and even the same old "Game Over" screen.

So many transgressive touches...and the games are really sort of oddly complicated too, so it's NEVER just "watching" as people say...there's way too much game there to just watch. Like there's this whole food thing in 3 that demands more attention than you'd expect. And the games are very linear and contained, but you never have less than five or six ways to do something...three or four of which you will likely NEVER consider. There's entire chunks of content that you will likely never see unless you just play through the games over and over again- Codec conversations, items, special areas, easter eggs...

When I played the first one in 1998, I was just so completely blown away by it...but I didn't catch up with it again until about six years ago. And then I realized that I had missed out on some of the very best, most artful games ever made. Every one of them is a masterpiece, including Peace Walker and Revengeance.

HOLY SHIT it opens with Bowie...some new mix of "The Man Who Sold the World"...

I just finished the last level of the regular game of card hunter... there's still one sci-fi expansion of content left (bizarre old 1st edition D+D style). My clock says 39 hours. I'd be hard pressed to think of a better value for your money than dropping the 20 bucks on the beginner pack and playing through the main game content, perhaps purchasing the extra jungle dungeons. And that's pretty much all you need.

OK, first hour of MGSV...I...don't even really know where to start with it. Disorienting, terrifying, absurd, surreal, shocking, 100% unlike anything I expected....more truly cinematic than anything in 4, even. I don't even want to talk about it more because you shouldn't spoil anything about it.

Now it's installing some huge ass file...Afghanistan.

I'm watching a Quick Look of it. Pure open world where you can capture anything in the environment for your own use? Looks interesting, gameplay looks decent.

Not getting it this week or anything, but may try it sometime. It appears to have that Farcry 3 and 4 "Assault the Outpost" thing going on which I enjoyed.