A.J.
Mohammad AlHuraiz
bigdaddygamebot
beige
bowlisimo
ckim
cptcarnage
feenwager
friedturnips
George
iscariot83
Jeff Grubb
LiK
mjpilon
Pete Davison
rampantbicycle
RedSwirl
scribl
Shingro
Mike Minotti
unmanneddrone
zegolf
Squad Santa 2012
Here’s where you should go for Squad Santa knowledge.
Happy shopping!
Updates from RocGaude Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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RocGaude
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RocGaude
Bravo to @angryjedi for throwing up the Squad community over at Google+. That site is finally useful! *ducks Pete’s tomato toss*
Come by and join in:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/103037990631817130414
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RocGaude
@feenwager I like making broad statements. It gets people goin’!
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RocGaude
@sinfony I was just thinking the exact same thing today while listening to this week’s Bombcast. I mean, those guys were just going apeshit over story beats in Mass Effect 3 and I just thought “Really? This story gets you that riled up?”
Aside from some exceptions including visual novels (Walking Dead) and RPGs (which are largely just interactive stories) that I play mostly for the character interactions, I find myself only wanting gameplay in my games. If I’m not enjoying playing through something, there’s no reason for me to continue no matter how many of my respected friends claim the game’s superiority. Game plots in general are fucking juvenile and it embarrasses me to play anything requiring me to “save the world”. I’d rather just save one person (Walking Dead) as I can relate to something at that scale.
The biggest problem with this medium’s ability to make stories important is economics. Making a mass market game damn near requires a story built by committee. If a dev tries something focused, they risk funding for the next one. Only the rare exception (Irrational) has this clout to pull this off.
Stories are best told from the perspective of a single story-teller. Only books, comics, and (for the most part) movies have this luxury. Also, each of those mediums can tell an amazingly well-crafted story for less then $10 a pop which is a difficult thing for game makers, especially in the AAA realm.
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RocGaude
@cptcarnage When you post, be sure it’s an “update”. Your post was set as a “quote”.
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RocGaude
@feenwager Canadians can’t be trusted with the internet. FACT.
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RocGaude
@asatiir @angryjedi Thanks, gentlemen. I’d be more then happy to give Corpse Party a spin as the Vita seems to be the perfect “experimental” platform. Velocity is already in the queue. Hot Shots Golf will be more of a stretch, though. One sports game I am keen on trying is MLB ’13 The Show. Had a quick fling with Vagrant Story in the past and found that I liked the idea and world more than the execution.
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RocGaude
Sweet news, y’all…I’m getting a Vita this Christmas. I’m open to suggestions for “Sqaud worthy” games on this thing. Already in the queue:
- Sound Shapes
- Final Fantasy Tactics
- Tactics Ogre
- Wipeout 2048
- Motorstorm: RC
- LBP Vita
- Persona 4 Golden
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RocGaude
@angryjedi Well done sir Glad to see this…
@angryjedi Well done, sir. Glad to see this in motion. I’ve had both depression and anxiety in various levels ever since I was a teenager. It sucks and addressing that it’s a real thing, not imaginary, helped me a lot.
@feenwager I wonder about that, too. For me, gaming was where I went to deal during the darkest of days. Gaming also tends to be a preferred hobby to lots of creative types which also happen to be a big target of the dreaded “Black Dog”.
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RocGaude
@bowlisimo Listen to @feenwager on PS+. It’s hawt shit D-luxe.
I have Uncharted 3 on my holiday playlist. Would fancy a discussion on that one should you get to it.
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RocGaude
Later. Enjoying my Sony hardware these days. Got my sights on a Vita.
@bowlisimo Watchu playin’ these days on your PS3?
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RocGaude
@cgrajko *hand held high* Not enough guns.
*queue @angryjedi rage post*
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RocGaude
@cgrajko I know that exact shop in Japantown. I’ve been there many times and it’s one of the places I miss the most in the bay area. I grabbed a copy of the Japanese Persona 4 art book for less then Amazon sells it.
Oh yeah…games. Played about 1 1/2 hours of Sleeping Dogs last night. Pretty much agree with @bluesforbuddha.
So, my son is playing through Borderlands 2 right now (more like devouring it) and I’m not paying it any mind. Last night he tells me of an incredibly awesome sniper rifle that you can earn that has a major downside: it has the voice of a teenaged girl and makes you feel guilty about each person you kill. “They had a family, you know?” and “maybe they were just having a bad day.” I am now very interested in this game.
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RocGaude
Samson vs. Slightly Smaller Samson
I guarantee you all that EA made a play for Zynga, they said no in a manner that hurt EA’s ego, and this is them getting back at them.
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RocGaude
I’d just like to drop by and say that @angryjedi‘s experiment with the site is definitely hot shit. Carry on…and listen to Too Old For This… if you’re not already.
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RocGaude
@mjpilon @bowlisimo @angryjedi I just noticed that Dungeon Defenders is now on Mac. As long as it supports cross-platform play, I’m in for some Squad antics this weekend. Just text me or somethin’.
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RocGaude
@angryjedi Oh, I’m getting a mic. Time to get all official and shit.
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RocGaude
@angryjedi Ha! That’s the same thing I was thinking.
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RocGaude
The new SquadCast is just @feenwager, @angryjedi, and @bluesforbuddha for this go. I had to stay behind due to microphone inadequacies that I’ll remedy for the next one. Don’t worry @shingro, they’ve all got quite the JRPG background. I’m sure it’ll be a great listen.
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RocGaude
Mass Effect 3: “The Eloquent Shepard”
A Spoiler-filled Squad Discussion
Let’s just play it and talk about it, Squad-style. We’re going to anyway. Let’s keep it tidy.
WARNING: Read this if you plan on using your 360 cloud save!!
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bowlisimo
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RedSwirl
Honestly, even though I just finished a double marathon of ME2, I’m thinking of starting a third, mostly-Renegade Ashely run through all three games.
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A.J.
For those of you doing the PC version, we may as well all be Origin friends if we aren’t already. As you may guess, I’m Ajguy on there.
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bowlisimo
Origin = Bowlisimo
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CMWhittington
Here’s the breakdown of the Shepard I’ll be going into ME3 with:
Roc Shepard
Male Paragon Sentinel
(default appearance)Relationships:
Ashley (ME1)
Fling w/ Kelly (ME2)
Miranda (ME2 – Broken off)
Tali (ME2 – Current)Deceased team members:
KaidenDLC Completed:
ME1 – None
ME2 – All except for “Arrival”Major Events:
ME1 – Saved Council, Wrex, and Rachni. Sacrificed Kaiden.
ME2 – Earned loyalty of all members. Finished Suicide Mission with 0 casualties. Spared Collector’s Base. -
RedSwirl
Arrival’s annoying but it’s also kind of important because it explains Shepard’s situation at the beginning of ME3. Don’t know why they charged money for it.
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Pete Davison
Because EA, that’s why. But let’s not start all that again. 🙂
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JeffGrubb
That cloud save issue just gave me a mild panic attack because I don’t specifically know where my save is…I need to check.
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beige
All I can say is that replaying the DLC (in the order it was released: Stolen Memories -> Overlord -> Shadow Broker -> Arrival) has 100% done the job of re-stoking my slavering enthusiasm for this series. Took a few missions to warm back up into the groove but I had to force myself to stop playing at a quarter to one in the morning last night I was enjoying myself so much. Took maybe an evening to shoot through 75% of the DLC and I aim to finish up the rest tonight.
Also I have good odds on Gamerama selling me a collector’s edition under the table tonight before release date so we’ll see how that goes after a little recon.
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beige
As soon as we can sort out this obesity epidemic in NA I’m onside with skintight body armor and envirosuits making a sci-fi comeback as a fashion statement. It’s like nobody on the Normandy’s even seen a cheeseburger before.
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beige
Also, those of you contemplating switching platforms or NOT importing an old save (say, because of the above glitch…) may want to read the following list of “Shit EA/Bioware done make a decision for you about if you don’t have previous game data in Mass Effect 3”
Basically, if it’s possible for them to screw you over and kill people/ make you fail missions / make you have NOT done missions / give you the most poop result they possibly can, they’ve done it. Seems like kind of a dick move, even for EA.
++++ Mass Effect 1 choices ++++
- Garrus was recruited
- Wrex was recruited
- The feros colony was not saved
- Shiala, the asari, was killed by the Thorian
- The Rachni Queen died
- Shepard killed Wrex on Virmire
- Shepard had no romance (oh noes!)
- The destiny ascension, along with the council, was destroyed.
- Udina was named counsellor
- All side missions and DLC content are considered as if you did not do them
++++ Mass Effect 2 choices ++++
- It is assumed Shepard did not do any loyalty missions
- Shepard did not help Mordin, as such no chance was made to save or destroy the genophage cure data.
- Tali was exiled by her people
- Shepard had no romance
- Zaeed and Kasumi were never recruited
- Mordin is alive
- Garrus is alive
- Miranda is alive
- Jacob is alive
- Grunt was never woken up from the tank and as such is never mentioned
- Jack died during the suicide mission
- Thane died during the suicide mission
- Tali was recruited and is alive
- Tali never romanced
- Samara was never recruited, but she fought her way off of ilium and was then murdered by Morinth.
- Legion was never reactivated and never gained a name
- Shepard destroyed the collector base
- The only normandy crew members that survived the suicide mission were Joker and Chakwas. Yeoman chambers and all other mass effect 2 non-squad members died.
- Shepard did not complete optional N7 missions and assignments (such as citadel missions)
- Shepard did not complete Arrival, Overlord or the shadow broker DLC. But the events of Arrival and Overlord happened off screen, the batarian system still exploded, and Liara is still the shadow broker.
http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/995452-mass-effect-3/62132637
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CMWhittington
Wow, that’s some lubeless violating par excellance. Good thing I’ve still got my savior of the universe queued up. While it would really, REALLY suck if my actions don’t affect the events of ME3, I’m prepared for that to be the case. Still got lots of love for the ride.
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bowlisimo
Oof. That’s god awful. If that’s the default, it makes me wonder how well the alternatives are fleshed out. I swear to god if I get a Rachni email…
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bowlisimo
Who the hell kills Wrex, anyway?
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Shingro
Ick, well, how better to ensure that new fans of Mass Effect will go back and buy the old games? I wonder if they’re going to have a “Fallout-style” ending recap that rubs your face in the fact that all these people are dead and gone too?
On the flip side maybe the doctors just wanted to write a tragedy… only you intrepid explorers can find out.
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RedSwirl
Isn’t the game gonna have a sort of “Mass Effect 3 Genesis” thing though? On ME2 if you want you can go through a visual novel version of the first game and make the major decisions. It’s even been released as DLC for the 360 and PC. You’d think they’d let you do the same thing with ME2 once you started 3.
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CMWhittington
I guess we’ll know tomorrow.
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beige
Yeah, and appropos of nothing there is *HUGE RAGE* on gameFAQs right now about the ending of Mass Effect 3.
Now, I don’t know who has
a) Already got the game
b) Managed to finish it by now
c) An opinion I should care aboutI’m not sweating it yet. I can imagine (total speculation here) Bioware making you choose another “more expendible than you” character sequence *cough GARRAS or LIARA cough* who would pull player heartstrings by dying heroically as a loyal ‘the universe needs you alive’ second in place of Shepard with nothing the player could do to prevent it. As a writer, I’d be fine with this. As a raging NeoGAFer and entitled gameplayer I could imagine someone getting angry at not being able to bring ’em all back alive (especially since they DID give you the opportinuty for a happy ending in ME2) . Basically, just saying that there is a huge amount of rage out there at the moment but that I don’t consider Joey NeoGAF to be the best judge of what makes a good narrative PER SE. They could blow up the earth but do it in style and I’d be OK with that.
Still, an ending that pisses MOST people off would be pretty surprising from the folks at BW and not bode well. I mean, we were all cool with Red Dead even though it had a downer ending, right? No rage there? We’re not THAT dumb, collectively.
Also, let’s not forget “Galactic Readyness”. If you finish the game before it even officially launches, can you really claim to be as ready as humanly possible?
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CMWhittington
I completly agree. The end of the Shepard arc damn near requires a major sacrifice(s) for it to retain levity. Hell, Alastair’s “good death” in DA:O left me quite satisfied despite him being one of my “go to” road dogs fir the entire game.
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bowlisimo
Rejoice! There is now a “Helmets off during conversations” option. You can actually wear something other than the visor now.
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RedSwirl
Okay, 45-Minute Report: Because it is ass-o-clock Eastern Standard Time and I need to go lay down.
Con: Imported characters will look very different, especially if they originated in ME1. BioWare tweaked the art assets so much that almost every customized character will look significantly different, and not for the better in my case. If you did bring a character all the way from ME1, you also gotta go through this long-ass process just to get their face in the damn game.
Pro: Graphics are way better than ME2. So far probably not ranking in the top Unreal Engine 3 games (like Gears 3, Mirror’s Edge, etc.), but definitely a visible upgrade from ME2. Love the motion blur, and my PC still cranks this shit out 60+ frames per second.
Pro: Music is a clear upgrade. I didn’t even have to get out of the character customization screen to realize that. It even reminded me of ME1 more than 2. It sort of sounds like a big, epic version of ME1’s soundtrack.
General: I already know I’m gonna want to keep playing this shit firs thing tomorrow. I only tend to get that feeling from GOTY contenders.
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RedSwirl
Lastly, in case you guys don’t know yet, your level, skill points, and all Shepard’s powers will carry over from ME2. So if you finished with a level 30 character, you will have a level 30 Shepard right from the get-go, and some 20-odd points to spend on each squad member.
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Jeff Grubb
Here’s my article regarding the face-code error. Did any of you face this?
Gamers who customized Shepard in Mass Effect 1 may have trouble importing into ME3 (update)
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bowlisimo
Nope. Thankfully Mark Vanderloo still looks like Mark Vanderloo.
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feenwager
Mass Effect 3 (non-spoiler) thoughts, 9 hours in:
- It’s great. You can ignore all the other stuff below if that’s all you were wondering.
- I can honestly say this is the first BioWare game that looks as good as it plays and feels. Great use of the Unreal Engine.
- The shooting is tuned really well, and if you just wanted to play this as a 3rd person shooter you could certainly do much worse. The enemies use some tactics, and it has felt fair, not frustrating most of the time.
- Tough to tell what I feel about the story so far, but it feels great to be back in this universe. Perhaps because i played through ME2 twice, everything feels very familiar, and it’s great to see old friends.
- Not sure if I love the whole “War Effort” stuff. It feels kind of disconnected from the main game, and while the planet scanning is certainly less tedious than before, it still isn’t very exciting.
- I’m also not sure if I totally love the way you pick up side quests. For the most part, you get them by overhearing conversations and than vague quests kind of just show up in your quest log. There is no way to have an “active” quest, and the whole thing is making me feel like I’m always missing something.
- That said, there is a very cool, old-school feel to the game in certain ways. You can get a message on your terminal that says, “Shepard, meet me at the Purgatory Bar” and that’s it. No quest shows up, no bread crumbs. You have to remember to stop in at the Purgatory Bar next time you’re there to see what it’s all about.
- Shepard has become a much better dancer in the last 5 years.
Two serious issues I have with the game:
- The constant disc swapping on the Xbox, even with both discs installed, is lame. Lame. Lame. Lame.
- Can nobody at BioWare design a UI? I know they promised a return to a more detailed inventory system compared to ME2, but did that mean they couldn’t come up with a good way to manage load outs, check your inventory (which you really barely have), and manage your squad? The load-out screens are especially obtuse, and on what planet does the B button confirm anything? Bleh. Double bleh.
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CMWhittington
Had @angryjedi decided to play the game, I imagine that he’d quit the moment the boy bites it from a Reaper blast.
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feenwager
#spoiler
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CMWhittington
Hence, the subtitle of the main post.
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CMWhittington
So, the relationship between Joker and EDI was a surprise. Looking forward to exploring that one with the squad once I see where it ends.
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impynickers
I am really feeling the subtle improvements to the movement and combat. Very nice stuff.
Also the loadout options, and the new skill upgrade options seem to be designed much much better.
The interface has come a long way from the original game, which had a terrible interface for just about everything.Like with every other game in the series, the beginning is quite linear and drawn out. It will be the part I wish I could skip with all my various future playthrough’s. It does however set the tone for what I believe will be a quite emotional journey. Stuff has already happened in my playthrough that is starting to test my Shephard’s traditional confident attitude. Also, my council are jerks. Fuck those guys.
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CMWhittington
At first, I was bummed that I wasn’t able to add all of my past squadmates back into my roster. Then I realized that it wasn’t the combat that I wanted them for but the conversations, which BioWare still provided me with.
Does anyone else find themselves thinking, “who is this Hackett guy and why is he all up in my business?”
The scene where Cortez greaves for his fallen husband was more honest and classy then I expected it to be. Well done, BioWare.
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Pete Davison
Hardly a spoiler, given that that particular event was plastered all over the trailers and demo footage.
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impynickers
I am generally impressed with the quality of the missions I have played so far. The pacing is much better.
I just beat a mission where I was saving some students from an academy, and I was impressed how interesting it actually ended up being. This is the kind of mission I would half pay attention to in the other games, but here it gets a nice extra layer of polish and some interesting characters/drama.@Roc Didn’t we hear Hackett’s voice a number of times in the first game or something? I don’t think we ever saw him. I think he would hail your comms and draw your attention to some side missions involving alliance business. Obscure character to give screen time, but whatever. I was more jarred by the implied relationship that developed between Shephard and James inbetween 2 and 3 games. I just looked at him like ‘Who is this guy, and how does he know me?’. The time jump between each game is kinda crazy.
Similarly crazy I find is how the citadel is never the same in each game. I mean yes, they represent different areas of the citadel, but why does the Embassy office have to be presumably on the other side of the citadel from where it used to be? I justify it in my head that Sovereign’s attack may have destroyed where the old place used to be… but sometimes I wish they took the time to render the old and the new just for a sense of consistency. Maybe thats just me. Its all pretty awesome though.
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beige
ALLRIGHT I’m on the N7 train. Got back from work after a hellish day yesterday, pulling long hours, slipping off my boots wearily and what do I see on the table in front of me? BOOYA. Also, this “rapid delivery to house” thing has some merit. I forsee Amazon Super Shipper in my future, bigtime
All you others with the N7 Edition will bear this out, but holy god did the install take some time, especially with the 2-disc long massive 3-code downloadathon that takes place upon box cracking. Wow. So, uh, prop, Online Pass, From Ashes, DLC… uh… that everything? Jesus H Christ EA. I felt like I was updating my PS3 firmware here, waiting on my progress bar. “Let me slip into something more comfortable Shepard”…. [waits on bed for 45 minutes]
I was joking to Lynette “Hey, maybe I’ll actually be playing this thing by 10 oclock”. Don’t make jokes like that. 10:09, booted it up to find that Shep’s face didn’t or won’t import correctly. Fffffffffuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu. Fortunately I’m not terribly far off the mark naturally. Was able to recreate in about 20 mins. These things are important.
Thoughts:
- Who the hell is James? No, seriously, are we supposed to know this guy?
- Bowley, I instantly thought of you seeing red during that first “slow mo” sequence at the end of the Mars mission. “Noooooooooooo you muthafugggaah wwwwwrrrrraaaaahhhhhhhhg!!!!”
- Anderson is great, as usual.
- JUMPING! This is one of those things I was thinking about specifically when (re)playing ME2. “You know what would improve this experience? Bruce Willis action stunts!” Sliding down collapsing superstructure, firing at zugs: “You got your Uncharted in my Mass Effect!” Love it.
- Pacing seems super snappy so far. Lynette was mentioning this in a negative context as compared with the more free roaming Mass Effect 1, but I’m generally onside with it. If the directors need to take a firmer hand and narrow the funnel in order to keep things ticking briskly, I’ll trust their directorial judgement. Still don’t have the ship so I don’t know whether things will open up or not.
- Council: Keeping it useless since 2167
- Engineer class still rules. Thought seriously about switching it up for ME3, but glad I didn’t. New ability to hurl little hockey pucks that transform into stationary turrets is easily my new favorite power. “Have some of these! And these! And these! (cue up attack drone) Flush ’em out!”
- I wish they wouldn’t make me start making romance choices before I’ve met everybody again. My Shepard is conflicted. Ashley -> Miranda -> unknown…. I hardly know these people anymore “I’m the same man as I always was, Ashley”… except I’m not. Will Sparks fly for Shepard and Tali in this third installment, or will our hero be lucky in action but unlucky in love? Time will tell.
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beige
Hey romantics: I just discovered that my plans for romancing ladies come Mass Effect 3 have come to a screeching halt. Bioware won’t let you pick up the pieces of romances that you aborted as a result of a decision to choose (other) people in Mass Effect 2. This is a shame. I’d been kind of angling in my case for a Shepard who eventually came around to a “..the time wasn’t right back then….” 11th hour romance with Tali the Quarrian but Bioware says that if you let someone down easy, they stay let down.
To sum up: Looks like your choices are:
- Anybody you successfully paired with in ME1 or ME2
- New people in ME3.
- If you “cheated” in ME2 you can get back together with ME1 people, but it will take extra work.
- No playing the field amongst your crew.
- Note: Characters from ME2 are NOT romance options for Shep unless you “carried the romance through” from an imported ME2 saved game.
Sorry Tali. I was hoping to make your Quarrian day, but I hope you find some nice guy instead.
Back on the Getting To Know You train with Ashley…. Poor Shepard. This is what you get, for not choosing the nice girl when you had the chance playa. They don’t stay single. -____-;
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beige
I wonder if BioWare programmed any sort of contingency for a situation like that. I mean, having a “Broken hearted Shepard watching Tali walk away into the distance” scene would be fucking awesome in a “what goes around comes around” kinda way. Guess we’ll find out.
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RedSwirl
I was kinda hoping Traynor turned out to be the new Kelly.
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RedSwirl
Crap. Read some Tali spoilers on the Wiki.
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RedSwirl
This is just some stupid thinking on my part, but here’s what I gather so far about the Reaper war in 20th century terms:
The Humans = The Soviet Union
The Turians = England
The Batarians = Poland
The Volus = France
The Asari = The United States
The Reapers = Nazi Germany
Cerberus = The Empire of JapanRoughly speaking.
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impynickers
Romancible Jessica Chobot? Good lord, I had no idea.
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feenwager
You know that moment in a good RPG where you feel like you’ve accomplished a lot and then the world opens up and you suddenly have a full quest log again?
That just happened. Sweet.
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CMWhittington
At what point is that? This is a spoiler thread so let it rip.
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CMWhittington
Yeah, and she looks…odd. I found it funny that she’s only worth 5 “war readiness” bucks.
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feenwager
I’ll try to stay somewhat spoiler free, so I’ll say it’s right after an assault on the Citadel.
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sinfony
Spent the afternoon trying out the multiplayer. It’s pretty good! The microtransaction element of it is a bit annoying, but I’m having a ball ignoring all that and playing matches with pubbies. Still haven’t managed to win a round–died on 10th wave several times, though. And it’s done wonders to allay my fears about tying into the maingame, as just the afternoon’s play was enough to kick my war readiness up 20%. Definitely worth a go.
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Jeff Grubb
I’m a little bit past that. Have you had to switch between the first and second disc much? I switched to disc two a while ago and haven’t switched back a single time. I just hope I didn’t miss anything.
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Jeff Grubb
SPOILER:
Anyone choose to kill the Rachni queen in the first game?
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Jeff Grubb
Well, that isn’t the spoiler, but what I want to talk about is…oh, fuck off. I’ve been playing this game non-stop.
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feenwager
I did. Why?
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CMWhittington
Good to know. My son’s been playing the MP non-stop and his war readiness is at 98%. However, he didn’t play for a day and it went down to 97%…the horror!!
I am at the spot where I “need” to play MP to make sure my end game is what I want it to be. I just don’t want to have to play it for too long.
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CMWhittington
I’m gearing up for an attack on Mr. Illusive Man’s home turf. Damn has this game gotten under my skin in a good way.
The disc swapping has been more then ME2 which is disheartening. I’d say I’ve swapped it about 4 times.
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Jeff Grubb
There are several really big missions involving them. The big one involves Grunt. I was just wondering if they really cut that out for people who killed the Rachni Queen, or if they cheated and replaced it with some generic placeholder.
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feenwager
they didn’t cut it. Instead I got a crazy hybrid rachni/reaper abomination that I had to either destroy or recruit. It was cool, but in retrospect it kind of dulls the impact of that decision in the first game.
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Jeff Grubb
Oof. That’s some BS. I got the same thing, however, I could recruit the Rachni queen to fight in the war.
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CMWhittington
I’ve reached the “point of no return” and all that’s left is for me to boost my “war readiness” score. As far as I know, I only have 2 options to do this: 1) play the multi-player for awhile and/or 2) play the iOS game. While there’s no way I’m doing the later, I’ve seriously considered letting my son play the MP on my behalf. After 3 games of seeing this story through (which is the only reason I’m invested in this series), you’d think I’d be able to hop right in there and get an ending I’d be happy with. Instead, I feel like I’m forced to play a gameplay feature that’s probably only there because a tool at EA deemed it a necessary add-on.
I’m trying not to get too frustrated with BioWare. On one hand, they’ve really done a great job with Mass Effect. It’s the futuristic, GI Joe-stylized “Choose Your Own Adventure” video game I would have killed for when I was 13. It’s just that a lot of seams are showing now and the business side of the industry is taking too much control of the interactive reins. Mass Effect will go down in history as being a textbook example of what happens when ambition is met halfway by the forces that will allow it to grow leaving only a shell of the original, beautiful ideal.
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Pete Davison
Yeah, don’t play the iOS game.
Also, I was afraid of what you describe. What a shame. Ah well.
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beige
You guys are all cockteases. We just finished the part where Mordin shows up for his first cameo last night. Damn, I love this party.
Had a difficult decision last night were my Shepard had to tell Miranda it was over. Rather than lead all the female characters on until I’m forced to make a decision between one of them THIS TIME my Shepard took his lumps like a man. Miranda, tears in eyes, telling me that she was going to be OK, but obviously really not really. We’ll keep in touch. Except we won’t. Fuck. That was my first “stare at this dialogue choice for like, ten minutes while I get a ginger ale and contemplate” moment of ME3. There’s something very final in making choices like that. After years of play, as a player you’re finally committing to one course of action and sticking with it — this or that – defining for the last time what Shepard’s ultimate story is going to be. That sound you hear is doors closing all over the place. Poor Shepard. See, the thing is Miranda — we thought that we both might die tomorrow, and both of us were supposed to be grownups with no regrets — the only two adults on the Normandy without significant issues in that department. Then we go our separate ways and that’s that. You were supposed to be the one whose skin was thick enough to take it. Now, sadly I don’t think it’s going to work out that well or happily for this character now, and it’s kinda my fault, maybe, a little. Uh oh. At least they gave you an “it’s… complicated” dialogue option. Ash, you better appreciate your fucking Tennyson novel. At least I can console myself with not being a FemShep who was into Thane in ME2. Poor fucking guy. Talk about a doomed romance.
As I said before, I’m now moving into a sort of state of regrets about a few of my choices from earlier in the series, but that’s OK. I’ve accepted that it’s not going to be a happy time for everybody involved. I like Wrex on a personal level but the Krogan are kind of freaking me out right now. Shepard is already doing things I’m not proud or particularly comfortable with here just to make sure there are boots on the ground and that the alliance survives.
Little cameos and dialogue tweaks from past games keep cropping up here and there and making me smile. Kasumi Goto, the Arrival guy… just little shout-outs to people who actually played the DLC with various references pasted in there.
If I have one gripe so far it’s that my special “From Ashes” character who seems like he should be kind of, y’know, A BIG FUCKING DEAL has not had any significant dialogue contributions nor has particularly piped up on missions to say this or that. I keep bringing him along in the hopes that maybe this time things will be different, but I’ve found that the most juicy interactions are just to keep kicking everything back to a Mass Effect 1 love-fest with all the original cast getting the most screen time.
I’m pretty sure you can get the best ending without having to do all this multiplayer nonsense. Galactic readiness is nice and all but you don’t need it. 50% is enough as long as you do lots of side questin’.
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bowlisimo
Grunt is dead in mine, had some random Krogan leading that squad. Dag or something.
Saved the Rachni, saved the Queen AGAIN, now her and her kids are working on the crucible. Interesting. I was hoping friendly Rachni armies would come flooding out of the relays at the last moment, but I guess this will work too.
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bowlisimo
Multiplayer is great but it gets old fast, like really, really fast. I also hate these random packs you buy with in game currency. I can never unlock a damn thing. Ugh.
It’s cool that it loosely ties into the singleplayer, but you know what? Just armchair developing here, but I would have spent those resources on THE GALAXY MAP.
IT’S SO STUPID. Fly into system, carpet bomb with scans, find everything, die to Reapers, no penalty, restart in same system, go right to all the spots you found before and grab random war assets that should be a big deal to get, but are just a pop-up. WHAT’S THE POINT? This is the most frustrating part of the game for me.
I hate to say it, but I’d rather scan for minerals.
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bowlisimo
Heh, interesting. For me, talking to Miranda went something like this, “Hey, how’s it going? How’d that Cerberus thing work out? Your sister is gone? You need help? Well, I’ll take a break from saving the galaxy when you do. Bye.”
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Jeff Grubb
I made the same choice with Miranda. The thing is, I heard she has a quest involving her sister that was supposed to trigger there if you don’t make her tear up.
That whole thing totally broke my heart by the way. Mass Effect’s face technology has never been great, but the disappointed conveyed when I told her that we were done was obvious in her sunken expression. Then the tears. It was affecting.
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bowlisimo
Didn’t make any progress last night, found a pub multiplayer team that was magical. Killed two silver random matches without much trouble. The galaxy is at 99% and I’m only 1/2-2/3 through the game, it feels like.
I need to get going on this game, though. The hoopla surrounding the ending is slightly worrying. Petitions? Really?
It’s weird, because the main line of the game has been AMAZING to me so far. Slowly watching that memorial wall on the Normandy fill up with names (including Kaiden, Legion, and Grunt from the first two games), rekindling love with Ash, touching moments, dramatic sacrifices and goodbyes, cinematic moments, I love it. Too bad the side stuff is all pointless and shallow, sort of like Assassin’s Creed, but as long as they keep it up and make good on all this military buildup, with a modicum of closure, I’ll be happy.
Almost feel like I shouldn’t have finished MGS4 before this.
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beige
There’s certainly been a lot of handwringing about the ending online, that’s for sure. I’ve said time and again to Lynette that “the only opinions I care about are those in the Squadron of Shame”. Everyone else is a philistine and/or a Visigoth as far as I’m concerned. I don’t trust Joe NeoGAF to have a cultured objective opinion when it comes to things like this. Also, if I hear the term “Franchise Killer” I don’t necessarily think “bad thing”. You know what’s great about well written books and movies? They END. It’s like people have forgotten what a real story’s supposed to feel like in the age of undying lich-like IPs.
Like Bowley, my experiences with ME3 so far have been fantastic – watching the Party come out of retirement for cameos here and there… some people’s storylines wrapping up for the worse, some better. I trust BioWare that in TEN YEARS of development time they’d probably have given some thought to the tone of how they wanted stuff to end.
Lynette’s feelings (she’s read more rage-filled messageboards than I have) is that Bioware could screw everything up by removing “the feeling that player choices actually mattered” at the time it comes time to end the game. This is a fair point: I know that Bioware probably didn’t create, you know, assets for 70 different final encounters and 70 different final areas and final bosses that key off of whether or not you blew up X in game #1. This is AAA land, and it’s nice to want things. That said, they’ve already sunk a hell of a lot of money into creating things I’ll never see during MY playthrough – who knows what they’ll do?
I’m probably going to be routed down a single path a la the Suicide Mission in ME2 when it comes time for this to build to a head. I might be fine with this, I might not. It will depend heavily on whether they can keep up the smoke and mirrors illusion that My Choices actually mattered in a significant way when it comes time to roll credits. On an intellectual level I know that the whole show is an illusion… my choices DON’T really affect things that much… but the way they’re presenting it to me right now obfuscates this in a pleasing way that lets me suspend my disbelief. When I see Mordin show up I’m kind of glad he didn’t die way back there in the day. Etc. It SEEMS like my story, even if it’s also your story. Does that make sense?
I think I saw Lik post on facebook today that the game was finished and the ending was great and Epic. This is the first message of any kind I’ve had from someone within the squad, so it bodes well.
This is from someone who wanted Master Chief to blow himself up to high hell though rather than continue on in franchise land. Say what you want about MGS4, that fucker ENDS.
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CMWhittington
While I haven’t finished it yet, all of this “internet rage” can only mean one thing: Shepard dies. Guess what? That’s how epics end. So be it.
Like @liklik, Greg Knight (aka @Vegan) has finished the game and says great things about it. His take on games is definitely in line with ours so I’m not concerned.
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beige
Note the large and SPOILER FILLED article up right now at penny arcade’s “PA Report” called “Why the ending of Mass Effect 3 was satisfying, and worthy of the series (Massive spoilers)” By Ben Kuchera / Tue, Mar 13, 2012
Note. MASSIVE SPOILERS. In case you didn’t read that before. I’m not going to link to it here so that nobody can accidentally click it, but if you’ve finished ME3 then go ahead and go over to Penny Arcade and examine to your hearts content. If you can condense your thoughts into something resembling spoiler-free prose I’d be interested to hear your take here on the box.
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bowlisimo
It’s cliche, but I’m fine with noble sacrifices, if that’s how it ends (I’m still a ways off). They’re satisfying. I voluntarily let my Dwarf die at the end of Dragon Age. Classic heroes usually die for the greater good.
Although, I did have a thought last night about what a sequel set in the future, post Reapers, Shepard’s still alive, would be like. I kind of like the cliche where old Shepard (bearded and gray, like Sheriden in later B5) has to pull some of his crew back together on the Normandy (which is now completely obsolete at this point) for whatever reason and sort of have a No Country for Old Men realization on the way. I’m a relic, this galaxy ‘aint for me anymore.
Another thought: Shepard doesn’t actually save the universe, the crucible isn’t a weapon, per se, and the reapers win, but the message is safely passed on to the next cycle or into the past or something weird in a Bastion-like ending.
Just thinking out loud.
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CMWhittington
Oooo, that later option would probably piss me off.
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beige
FRANCHISE KILLA
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tolkoto
I just finished the game, and I personally had a lot of problems with the ending. I don’t want to get to into it because I know a lot of you are still playing. I’ll hold off for a week or so.
I will say that basically the problem was Bioware trying way, way too hard. Also, some of you are predicting that the hate is just nerd rage over Shepard dying/not dying (I’m not saying he does or doesn’t). It’s not that.
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CMWhittington
Interesting… *chin-stroking*
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RedSwirl
Yeah I finished it too, and I can definitely understand the nerd rage. It “ends” the universe of the games in a definitive way. Some have compared it to the end of The Return of the King, where the price for killing Sauron was that the Elves had to leave Middle Earth.
The biggest problem though is that the endings are more similar to each other asset-wise than those of either of the previous games. It feels lazily-produced.
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tolkoto
Yeah, but in Lord of the Rings the elves were leaving anyway. It wasn’t really the “price” for killing Sauron. The real price, at least for Frodo, was the life he left behind and that he could never return to.
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bowlisimo
Still haven’t beaten this game, but this should be the credits music, it’s fucking great.
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CMWhittington
I’ll probably finish it this weekend because I’ve found a way to raise my war readiness w/o playing the MP: Mass Effect Datapad on iOS. It’s free and has a AC: Brohood-style mini-game where you send fleets into regions for missions and collect the booty at the end.
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tolkoto
This is my favorite reasoning for why the ending sucked yet. Written by a screenwriter: http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/355/index/10022779/1
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bowlisimo
I’m almost there, Mike, but it just keeps getting better. I can’t possibly imagine how they fuck this up. I don’t see any signs. I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop constantly, like Shepard takes a dump and uses it as the catalyst or something.
Next stop, Asari space.
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impynickers
@bowlisimo That song is so gooood….
Also, I beat the game. I see what the fuss is about, but the game overall was spectacular. So I can deal with it.
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feenwager
The ending was fine. Some of the stuff in the final moments wasn’t as well presented as it could have been, but the actual ENDING was everything it needed to be.
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bowlisimo
Apparently I got the “Best” ending. Can’t help but feel disappointed with how that was handled. I loved every moment of that game up to the point where you talk to the catalyst and make the decision.
Even so, I can live with it, but I feel no sense of closure or accomplishment at all. Which really sucks.
Shepard should have died, that scene where he takes a breath is a cop out, and I thought the scene after the credits was kind of hokey. Also, COMMANDER SHEPARD’S LEGEND LIVES ON THROUGH DLC.
*eye roll*
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beige
Just got to the migrant fleet. I’m some behind yall as I’ve been up to my ass in aligators at work, but I’m running the slow and steady race. Disappointed to hear Bowls’ assessment as I’m currently sitting at the “I have no idea how they could fuck this up” phase.
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impynickers
One thing I felt throughout the final hours leading up to the climax was an incredible sense of weight and despair. I think they were able to really drive home that this is basically the end of the galaxy as they know it. Its a fools hope, and shephard is that Frodo with the ring wildcard. The game would not let up. I remember the epic struggle on earth, and it was exhausting and depressing.
Shephard has never been tragic, but I felt bad for the character. All the crap he/she has put up with in this entire series, and here he/she is still the beacon of hope for the galaxy to the very end. There was a huge burden on this character, but my Shephard was a strong character. Not Marcus Fenix style strong, but a rock solid individual in which people could depend on.
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sinfony
Okay, finished. Have spent a little bit of time poking around the internet seeing what people have to say. Most of the criticism I’ve come across is drivel. Indoctrination theory is pretty interesting. Will definitely be interesting to see what DLC they have in store.
On the whole, thought the game was fantastic. My only real problem with it was that the direction and camerawork of most of the cutscenes was godawful. I don’t remember it being this bad in the first two games, but perhaps that’s just nostalgia talking.
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CMWhittington
I felt as if everything wrapped up a bit too tidy. Basically, if someone died, it was always for the greater good. With the final goodbyes being doled out systematically right before the final battle, well…it just felt too produced.
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bowlisimo
The only exception to that being Cortez, who exploded randomly in his shuttle. It was at this point that Ashley (my love interest from ME1, I brought Garrus/Ash to Earth) decided to scream this horrible misdirected scream.
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bowlisimo
Oh, also Kelly Chambers WHO CERBERUS SHOT IN THE HEAD.
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RocGaude
OK, we need a ME3 sticky that’s fully loaded with spoilers.
EDIT: Done, see above.
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RocGaude
@unmanneddrone I think Bastion’s the most logical first step for me. Like @feenwager, I’m going to knock it out before ME3 drops on Tuesday.
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RocGaude
@feenwager Right.
@unmanneddrone @mjpilon @cgrajko @redswir1 and anyone else still interested, please re-post your list as a comment on the sticky.
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RocGaude
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feenwager
The list:
Xbox 360:
Arkham City
Dead Island
Castlevania: lords of shadow
Majin and the forsaken kingdom
Deadly Premonition
Singularity
Skyrim
Sonic generations
Crysis 2
Shadows of the damned
Homefront
Rage
Gears 3: raam’s shadow
Beyond good and evil hd
Outland
Sam and max save the world
The beaconing
Splinter cell conviction
Mafia 2
The saboteurPS3:
Jak 2
Jak 3
Ico
Shadow of the colossus
Sly 3
Ghost of sparta
Shank
Rochard
Pixel junk sidescroller
Back to the future episodes 2-5
Dead nation
Trine
3d dot game heroesPC:
Alice: Madness Returns
Amnesia: Dark Descent
Starcraft 2
To The Moon
Binding Of Isaac
Divinty 2: Dragon Knight Saga
Duke Nukem Fovever
Gemini Rue
Neverwinter Nights 2: Platinum
Tales of Monkey Island 2-5
Witcher 2 -
CMWhittington
The List:
*Amnesia
*Baldur’s Gate
*Baldur’s Gate 2
Bulletstorm
Castlevania: Lord of Shadows
*Company of Heroes
Darksiders
*Dawn of War II
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Hitman: Blood Money
*Neverwinter Nights 2
*Planescape: Torment
Space Marine
Splinter Cell: Conviction
*S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat
*The Witcher
*Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines
Vanquish*I currently have no way of playing these games until I get either Win 7 or a gaming PC. It might be awhile.
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unmanneddrone
PC:
- Shogun 2: Total War (two runs to a definitive end game)
- Jagged Alliance: Back in Action
- Wargame: European Escalation (single player campaign)
- Real Warfare 2 (one run to a definite end game)
- Capsized
- East India Company Complete
- Darkspore
Vita:
- WipEout 2048
- Unit 13 (All solo missions / High Value Target missions)
- Motorstorm RC
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A.J.
You bastards would start this the day that Mass Effect 3 comes out. Let’s see…
XBOX:
Alan Wake
Bullet Storm
Child of Eden
Crysis 2
Dragon Age 2
Fallout: New Vegas
Gears of War 3
Halo: Anniversary
Lost Odyssey
Red Dead RedemptionPS3
L.A. Noire
Mortal Kombat
Shadow of the Collosus
IcoWii:
Super Mario Galaxy 2PC:
StarCraft 2
To the MoonPhew, this may take a while.
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CMWhittington
Don’t worry, this is some long tail shit.
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unmanneddrone
Am I doing it wrong or is there no way to edit posts in comment threads?
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CMWhittington
You should be able to.
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unmanneddrone
Cool. No stranger to doing it utterly wrong. Cheers, Roc.
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mjpilon
My list
360:
Saints Row the Third
Assassin’s Creed Revelations
Bioshock 2
BayonettaPS3:
Heavy Rain
Ico
Shadow of the Colossus
Uncharted 3 (currently going)
Pixeljunk Monsters
Pixeljunk EdenWii:
Okami
Donkey Kong Country returns
Super Mario Galaxy 2PC/ Mac:
Amnesia – this will kept for October as per @Bowlisimo suggestion)
Cave Story +
Original Deus: Ex
Rock of Ages
Terreria
VVVVVVV
And yet it moves
Blocks that matter
Civ VI do have a issue I guess with my GameAccess subscription in that when I complete the game I have (right now Bayonetta) they will send me another one from my list…. but my pledge is to focus on the games I have right now and work on those once I clear these ones. Good with everyone?
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RedSwirl
Just wanna say, this is basically the reason for which the Squad was created… or at least why I joined it. Also, I can tell you right now that everything on my list ain’t gonna happen within the span of a year.
My Current Gen List:
Xbox 360:
Need For Speed Hot Pursuit
Dark Souls
Shadow Complex
Stacking
Gears 3: RAAM’s Shadow
Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts n’ Bolts
Halo AnniversaryPS3:
3D Dot Game Heroes
Demon’s Souls
Top Spin 4
Sly Collection
Rayman Origins (nearly done)
GTA IVPC (current gen):
Skrim
Fallout New Vegas
Bioshock 2
ArmA II
Metro 2033
STALKER Chermobyl
STALKER Pripyat
Gemini Rue
Magicka
Penumbra Black Plague
Penumbra Requiem
Amnesia
Civilization V
Sonic Generations
Super Meat Boy
Bionic Commando Rearmed
Command & Conquer 3
Cryostasis
Deathspank
Mount & Blade
Trine -
feenwager
Don’t worry, Red. I don’t think anyone has any illusions about clearing these lists within 2012.
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impynickers
My full pile of shame is pretty epic. The pile constitutes game I just never got around to beating, but I want to. I don’t intend on getting to most of it this year, but I would like to have it written down as a chronicle of shame. Just to remind me when I am bored what is waiting for me on my shelf, in a drawer, or digitally.
will designate games I actually intend on playing for the duration of this challenge.
Steam:
Aquaria
*Rage
*Magicka
*Freedom Force
*Trine
*Dead Space 2
*Scratches:Director’s Cut
Singularity
Breath of Death VII
Cave Story
The Binding of Isaac
Dino D-Day
Duke Nukem Forever
*Machinarium
Metro 2033
Torchlight
The VoidGOG:
*Gabriel Knight 3
Sanitarium
Beneath a Steel Sky
Messiah
Syberia
Broken SwordOrigin:
*Mass Effect 3
*Battlefield 3CD’s:
Anachronox
Stalker: Misery
The Neverhood
Heretic II
Sin
Hell: A Cyberpunk Thriller
Revenent
Under a Killing Moon
*The Legend of Kyrandia 2: Hand of FateSneak King
*Saints Row the Third
*Rayman Origins
*Dead Island
*SSXDreamfall
Fatal Frame II
Jade Empire
Conker: Live and Reloaded*Pixeljunk Shooter 2
*Resistance 3 co-op
Invincible Tiger
Everyday ShooterShin Megami Tensei: Nocturne
Rogue Galaxy
Maximo
Tenchu Wrath of Heaven
Odin SphereSabrina the teenage witch: A twitch in time
Vagrant Story
Crusader: No Remorse
Blood Omen: The Legacy of Kain(you heard me):
*Last Story
Xenoblade ChroniclesF-Zero GX (Story Mode)
>NES>
Bill and Ted’s Excellent Videogame Adventure
River City Ransom
Dig Dug II
BattletoadsThat is a relief. Its all out in the open. I hope I am not forgetting anything. Time to get to work.
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impynickers
elements of this post have disappeared…. Interesting. You get the gist.
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impynickers
To Simplify:
*Rage
*Magicka
*Freedom Force
*Trine
*Dead Space 2
*Scratches:Director’s Cut
*Gabriel Knight 3
*Mass Effect 3
*Battlefield 3
*The Legend of Kyrandia 2: Hand of Fate
*Saints Row the Third
*Rayman Origins
*Dead Island
*SSX
*Pixeljunk Shooter 2
*Resistance 3
*The Last Story -
impynickers
And yes, one day I intend on beating both Sneak King and Sabrina the Teenage Witch: A Twitch in time … thank you very much.
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feenwager
Wow, man. You went deep. Godspeed.
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unmanneddrone
What a cracking list! Some great titles there, Impy. Great to see Revenant in the mix.
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Pete Davison
ALL RIGHT FOOLS. Here we go. I am doing my own slight twist on the challenge which is to go without buying any new triple-A games for a whole year and see if it’s possible to exist on indie, retro and slightly lesser-known titles alone. I think it’ll be possible.
Then at a games night last night someone pointed out that if Diablo III came out this year, we should play multiplayer. So I have amended my challenge to be “go without buying any new triple-A games (except Diablo III) for a whole year and see if it’s possible to exist on indie, retro and slightly lesser-known titles alone.”
My pile includes a few games that I haven’t bought yet. While this may seem like a bastardisation of the very Pile of Shame concept, I have long been intending to play these games and just haven’t got around to it. In short, I would have bought them anyway, and adding them to my list means I might actually get to them. Non-owned games have been marked with a dollar sign.
So here goes. I will probably have to make several edits to this list.
PS2
Killer7
ICO
Shadow of the Colossus
Metal Gear Solid 3
Odin Sphere
Persona 3 FES
Shadow Hearts
Shadow Hearts: Covenant
$ Yakuza 2
Project Zero (aka Fatal Frame)
$ SMT: Digital Devil Saga
$ SMT: Digital Devil Saga 2PS3
3D Dot Game Heroes
Demon’s Souls
Dark Souls
Yakuza 3
$ Yakuza 4
Midnight Club LAPSP
Corpse Party (currently playing)
$ Persona
$ Persona 2: Innocent Sin
$ Persona 3 Portable (this may replace Persona 3 FES in the above list)
$ Trails in the SkyXbox 360
Rayman OriginsPC
Amnesia
Aquaria
Assassin’s Creed II
Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood (OnLive)
Breath of Death VII
Chantelise
Cthulhu Saves the World
Far Cry 2
$ Fortune Summoners
GTA: San Andreas
GTA IV
GTA IV: Episodes from Liberty City
Hacker Evolution
Hacker Evolution: Untold
HeXen II
Hard Reset
Jade Empire
King’s Bounty
King’s Bounty: Armored Princess
King Arthur: The Role-Playing Wargame
Magicka (Squad multiplayer sometime, hmm?)
Mata Hari
Neverwinter Nights 2
Portal 2 Co-Op
Puzzle Agent
Sherlock Holmes vs Jack the Ripper
Sherlock Holmes: Nemesis
Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened
Sherlock Holmes: The Mystery of the Mummy
Sherlock Holmes: The Mystery of the Persian Carpet
Sherlock Holmes: The Secret of the Silver Earring
Take On Helicopters
Thief: Deadly Shadows
Time Gentlemen, Please!
TRAUMA
Trine
Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines
VVVVVV
X-COM Apocalypse (and possibly the previous two)
Baldur’s Gate II (inc. Throne of Bhaal)
Gabriel Knight 3
Ghost Master
Master of Magic
Ultima Underworld
Ultima Underworld II
$ Ultima VIIWii
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories
Zack & Wiki
Xenoblade Chronicles New Game + run alongside anyone else playing it… maybe -
RedSwirl
Honestly, I’m too scared to break out my handheld backlog. Even limiting it to the DS and PSP just looks scary. The bad part is that almost all of my unfinished handheld games are long-ass RPGs.
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RedSwirl
The worst thing about having a backlog though is that it ensures you’ll always be moving from game-to-game. You never have the time to just stick with one or a handful of really great games like you used to. I hate that.
There are a bunch of games I bought last year that I would still be playing the shit out of if I still had the time. I think it’s devaluing the games themselves.
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RedSwirl
And shit I didn’t even mention my Wii backlog. Yeah I got a Wii backlog. It’s the reason why I still own the system.
Wii:
Rhythm Heaven Fever
Sin and Punishment: Successor to the Stars
Endless Ocean
Endless Ocean 2
Punch-Out
Metroid Prime Trilogy -
unmanneddrone
Don’t stress too much. And if you do, why not go swimming with the cetaceans in Endless Ocean!
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sinfony
Here is my very sad list:
(all on PC)
Total War: Shogun 2 (1 complete, non-tutorial game)
The Witcher 2
Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl
Shift 2: Unleashed (reasonable progression)
Alpha Protocol
Left 4 Dead 2 (one attempt at each campaign)Sadly, this list is probably too ambitious. But let us see!
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unmanneddrone
We’ll have to be Shogun 2 buddies, Sin. Let me know a tentative window when you plan to kick it off and we’ll compare notes. I’ll probably be ready for a little Shogun in a month’s time if Jagged Alliance can be dusted in that time.
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sinfony
I’m afraid my schedule will be too erratic to figure out when I’ll give it a crack. I plan to read over frogbeastegg’s extremely elaborate walkthrough before I give it a go as well.
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Shingro
I’d love to get some good squaddie info about Shogun 2 from you guys, I got the game but I’m having trouble keeping myself motivated to really dive into it.
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unmanneddrone
@sinfony Whenever you’re up for it, let us know. I’ll busy myself with Real Warfare 2 until we hit Shogun.
@shingro I totally (and somewhat shamefully!) just checked out your Steam list for comparisons…and you’ve got quite the swathe of hours on Civ V! I dunno, with the strategic map, it’s kind of the same thing…what’re your concerns at this point? (should this be a discussion outside the Challenge thread? I dunno. Make the call, sir!)
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CMWhittington
I’ve culled my list over the weekend and dropped Darksiders. I figure that if I’m going to commit to playing through my pile, the games need to serve my entertainment needs at an acceptable level. Darksiders is just pissing me off. Too much of what’s turned me off to Zelda is angering me.
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Shingro
I just feel like there’s more I should be doing, In civ I’m always trying to work additional tiles, managing building queues, get more technology and manage my social tree. Comparitively I feel like I somehow got through Shogun 2 without identifying the things that I’m supposed to be managing and working with per turn.
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impynickers
I am in the same boat, I just included the games I got onto my list. When I am done, obviously I want my moneys worth. Games I rent through the service aren’t piling up like my pile of shame, they will stay at a consistent number. So I don’t see a big issue.
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impynickers
Count me in for some Magicka or Portal 2 co-op. These are both things I have yet to finish.
Also, Baldur’s Gate II has co-op i think. I don’t know how that would manage on modern computers, maybe through Hamachi. You may want to solo it first though. The prospect gives me a joyous shiver. I am sure there will be some time synchronization we could manage. -
unmanneddrone
There’s a lot of stuff below the surface, unlike Civ where all options are laid out on the table, so to speak. Granted, the Total War titles aren’t as fully-featured as a Civ game, but it’s primarily a wargame franchise. That said, I love the Shogun 2 diplomatic model and the tactical combat is fine as well.
If you’ve already completed a run, though, I don’t know what to add, but if you’re feeling like you’re missing something, I second Sinfony’s statement of checking out FrogBeastEgg’s guide, as it’ll give you a great overview of things like province management and land development…
…once you’ve got an idea of what you felt was in deficit prior, have a crack at at a few different early game runs with different clans. And, of course, if you choose Shimazu, three cheers for you! I’m a few pixels west of Kagoshima on the Satsuma peninsula and will spur on the troops and the peasants for you.
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scribl
@sinfony I just started on The Witcher 2 recently. It’s fantastic. It’s got everything I could ask for in a choice-centered WRPG.
Would definitely be interested in playing along whenever you hit Alpha Protocol, STALKER, or Shogun 2. Also, I love me some L4D/2.
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Pete Davison
Excellent, I would love to play some Magicka and Portal 2. Who’s around this weekend? I may make this a separate post to ensure people see it.
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Shingro
I’m game for this! I never did finish the game entire, missed the early boat on it =P got maybe halfway through the Portal 2 co-op but it’s a bit of a tarred experience ’cause my friend has already solved everything before
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cgrajko
PS3
Nier
Final Fantasy XIII
LA Noire
Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time
Resonance of FatePSN
Wipeout HD
Costume Quest
Little Big PlanetXbox 360
Alan Wake
Child of Eden
Deadly Premonition
Lost Odyssey
Portal 2
Child of EdenXBLA
Perfect Dark (I have beaten it, but not on the hardest difficulty)
Rez (cannot beat Area 5 for the life of me)
Puzzle Quest 2
Scott PilgrimPC (There’s way too much here as it is, so I’m not listing all of the Indie Bundle stuff)
Amnesia
Aquaria
Baldur’s Gate
Baldur’s Gate II (I want to do both with the Tutu mod)
The Blackwell Games
Beneath a Steel Sky
Cryostasis
The Dig
All 3 Deus Ex games.
Fallout: New Vegas
Limbo
The Longest Journey
Loom
Machinarium
The Penumbra series
Recettear
Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines
The WitcherWhere the hell do I even start with this?
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cgrajko
Oh, yeah, I just remembered that I also have the Ico collection (both of which I beat on PS2, so they may not count.
I also have STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl, and Uncharted.
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unmanneddrone
What do you reckon you’ll tackle first, man?
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cgrajko
I don’t even know. I was thinking that I may try to knock out some of the easier/shorter things first, but maybe I should play through an RPG concurrent with some of the shorter stuff on the list, so that I always have a longer game to fall back on if I’m in the mood for that and a shorter game to play in bursts if I want something bite sized.
I guess I will finish up Nier and try to beat some of the PSN and XBLA stuff.
How long are LA Noire and Alan Wake?
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RedSwirl
I think we all need to start with the shorter stuff: downloadable games and stuff we’re almost done with.
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unmanneddrone
Hmm, I think Pete and Mark would be able to answer those two enquiries.
Can I request a nice big @cgrajko spiel on Nier once you’ve dusted it?
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cgrajko
Oh, don’t worry, there will definitely be a nice, big spiel on Nier once I’ve finished it. Though, from what I understand, there are four endings. So, maybe there will be one spiel per ending or something.
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unmanneddrone
Looking forward to it. Only knowing it by reputation, both Nier and the Souls games seem to evoke some sort of Eastern Euro vibe.
But yes, very keen to hear your thoughts on Kainé especially.
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beige
Re: Neir. Yeeeeeah…. I think I said everything I currently need to say on the subject here here and here. I’d repost in its entirity but this is the kind of thing that throws the board into discord. I’ll just add that if you are at all curious, give it a read. It’s shonuff a pretty thorough analysis of my thoughts on the game.
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cgrajko
Whoa, AJ, we have a lot of games in common. Just let me know when you want to start up Alan Wake, Child of Eden, Lost Odyssey, LA Noire, or one of the games from the Ico collection 🙂
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cgrajko
Let me know when you start up Deus Ex, because I have never made it all the way through. I think I may need some external motivation or something.
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RedSwirl
After I finish ME3 I’m probably gonna catch up on my Film/TV Pile of Shame before I start on games.
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feenwager
At my current pace, the Feenwager Challenge shall last approximately…forever.
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unmanneddrone
I smell a good ol’ TV show/film discussion on the Squawk!
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unmanneddrone
Bodes well for the pocket book! Enjoying it so far.
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mjpilon
I’m actually making decent headway…. two down already. But now I enter the “open-world” games with AC Revelations and Saints Row, so my pace will slow down
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cgrajko
My girlfriend bought the most recent Mortal Kombat the other day. I’m not sure that counts as a title I would put up on the list, but it certainly counts as a title that will steal my free time, because, I’ve got to say, it’s pretty damn fun.
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feenwager
Alright, kids…Mass Effect be done. The list is up there. What next?
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CMWhittington
@feenwager Conviction’s on my list, too. Want to tackle some co-op?
Side note, I went and tried Amalur. I don’t own it but has been in my GameFly queue. I’ve been playing too many RPGs with great stories but unsatisfying gameplay so this game’s a welcome relief. Man, do I feel good about playing one where I don’t give 3 shits about the story and just enjoy fucking shit up. May have to take this one the distance.
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feenwager
I actually decided to go with Singularity, mostly because it was already downstairs.
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impynickers
@feenwager interesting choice. Its on my list too, I played about 3 hours of it. It takes a lot of interesting ideas from other games and mashes them together to some suprising success.
@cgrajko I played Mortal Kombat a couple of months ago and was a fan. I am not a fighting game guru of any sort, but I felt like they finally brought MK back to its roots. Brutal and fun to play with people.
Also, I am interested to hear your take on Deus Ex. Its a game I don’t get sick of talking about.I am done ME3. I wonder what to get into next. I was thinking of going old school. I dunno.
Impending exams and papers are choking my free time, but slick time management might ensure I down another game in the next week. -
unmanneddrone
Oh damn. So, the new patch for Jagged Alliance has some sort of really heinous way of dealing with my GPU, so I can’t get more than fifteen or so minutes into a level without my laptop overheating and shutting down. Crazy. Thought it was a hardware problem, but can run everything else fine without a hitch or a hint of this overheating problem.
So, back on the digital shelf this goes until that one is sorted. A shame, because it’s great fun.
Next up, back into Wargame!
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unmanneddrone
Turns out the heinous patch was simply a heinously corrupted or corrupting something or another in Windows that seemed to push my GPU into some sort of overdrive. Either way, formatted and now have a rather clean system once again. But yes, Wargame for now…will get back to JA down the line.
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RedSwirl
Looks like the Mickey Mouse Illusion games just got bumped up on my backlog. Nintendo Power just revealed the fourth one: Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion for the 3DS coming out this fall.
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impynickers
Keeping on top of this challenge is tough. Knee deep in The Legend of Kyrandia 2, a game I previously had not touched since sometime in the mid 1990’s. I beat the 2 other games in the series, but some people have been telling me 2 is the actual better game. It is certainly a unique adventure game. Your character being somewhat of an alchemist ensures a few non-traditional puzzles, and the dialogue so far is still charming. I think I may be resorting to FAQ’s just to fast track things though… at the pace I am going I wont be making it through my list until I am a senile old man.
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RedSwirl
Symphony of the Night is down. Impressions over at my new blog: http://noplatform.wordpress.com/2012/03/30/late-to-the-party-castlevania-symphony-of-the-night/
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RedSwirl
My report on Sonic CD: http://noplatform.wordpress.com/2012/04/02/late-to-the-party-sonic-cd/
In short, it’s the real sequel to Sonic 2.I think I’m moving on to BioShock 2 next, if for no other reason than “Minerva’s Den”. Somehow I’ve figured out that I can’t subsist entirely on “small” or “indie” games for too long. I can play them in-between the big shit, but they alone won’t quite satisfy my appetite.
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Pete Davison
My progress is going slowly, not helped by my looting of Game and Gamestation stores over here adding Eternal Sonata, Lost Odyssey, Resonance of Fate, FFVII Crisis Core, Harvest Moon Hero of Leaf Valley, Dissidia Final Fantasy and doubtless some other ones I’ve forgotten to the mix.
In the meantime, I’m still finishing up Shadow Hearts: Covenant. The final dungeon has been “open” for a while now. I thought I’d just go and do a few quick sidequests. 15 hours later…
Full thoughts when I’ve finished it.
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impynickers
Finished Legend of Kyrandia 2. Set up a tumblr specifically for this kind of thing…. impressions at:
http://arpeegee13.tumblr.com/
Ill say that this game does something unique and horrifying, it takes the worst part of adventure games (the impenetrable puzzle logic) and uses it to basically troll you everytime you think you have figured the game out. This is the Dark Soul’s of adventure games, though I use that term not so much to suggest you should actually play this game. The results are rather entertaining to read about I am sure. -
cgrajko
Since Nier is going to be put to bed (and will have deleted my saves once it is), I’m going to need something else to play. Does anyone want to recommend a game on my list? I have the house to myself for a week and a half, which should be more than enough time to beat anything you all can dream up.
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RedSwirl
BioShock 2 is down for the count. Just need to roll on “Minerva’s Den” which I got for $5.
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RedSwirl
Demon’s Souls is down motherfucker. Final impressions.
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cptcarnage
Figure’d I’d weigh in on this… although listing my complete pile would reach massive wall of text territory. Current tally on Raptr is 422 games… yeesh
here’s the main ones
PS3
——
Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time
GoW Collection
Shadow/Ico Collection
Sly Collection
L.A. Noire
Uncharted 3
Journey
Dark Souls (I highly doubt i’ll finish this…)
DarkSiders
FFXIIIXBOX360
————-
FEZ
Batman Arkham City
Fable III
Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet
Bastion
Rayman OrigensAssassins Creed Brotherhood
Assassins Creed RevelationsPC
—–
Bulletstorm
Mass Effect 3
Diablo 3
Torchlight
Sword and Sworcery
SkyrimThats probably not even 1/8th of my titles. Still got to start somewhere.
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RocGaude
This is the best idea we’ve had in a while. I’ll play through the games and decide whether or not to finish them by the third hour or so. If it’s a “no go”, I’ll mark it off of the list for good with no regrets. I’ll be making it a point to leave my “field report” for each game here on the Squawkbox.
XBox 360:
Castlevania: Lord of Shadows
Space Marine
Darksiders
Tony Hawk: Project 8
Far Cry 2
VanquishPS3:
Uncharted 3
M&M: Clash of HeroesMac:
Frozen Synapse
Civ V
Cave Story+…and the most daunting, *the PC:
Amnesia
Arcanum
Baldur’s Gate
Baldur’s Gate 2
Commandos 3
Company of Heroes
Dawn of War II
Freespace 2
Ghost Master
Hitman: Blood Money
Neverwinter Nights 2
Planescape: Torment
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat
Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines
The Witcher*I currently have no way of playing these games until I get either Win 7 or a gaming PC. It might be awhile.
Games I will be playing in 2012 despite this list:
Mass Effect 3 (360)
Witcher 2 (360)
SSX (360)
Persona 4 Arena (360)
BioShock Infinite (TBD)
Assassin’s Creed 3 (360) -
RocGaude
I’m so glad @liklik is around to keep it real. 😉
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RocGaude
@unmanneddrone Oh, I haven’t given up on the Vita completly. I just need to let it “mature” (if Sony’s even capable of doing that to a platform anymore) before I feel confidant enough to buy one.
I signed up for that Mechwarrior Tactics thing. Looking forward to that.
Speaking of Darksiders, I need to get back into that this weekend.
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RocGaude
@unmanneddrone Drop and give me 20! 😉 I’m going to jettison this “day 1 DLC” debate and leave it to those who care more about it then I do. You guys have a hoot.
Thoughts on the PS Vita: I put my mitts on one this week. The screen is not as nice as the iPhone 4 I have in my pocket. Wipeout 2048 took ~1 minute to load the first level. Gameplay was not great. Blegh.
Alex (my 13-year old) then messed around with it for about 10 minutes. When asked what he thought, he replied, “it sucks…it’s way too big. I can’t get my fingers to where they are supposed to be!” Not good.
My feelings of hope for the system’s success are waning. The Vita is the video gaming equivalent to superhero comics. Just because you can make it “bigger, better, stronger” doesn’t mean it’ll be compelling.
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RocGaude
@bowlisimo @feenwager Ditto.
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RocGaude
OK, I love you guys BUT remember, there’s a value attached to your time. The time you all have spent belly-aching about the ME3 DLC farce equates to the retail cost of about 3 special editions. You guys are silly.
Mass Effect 3 is the one game this year that I’ll pay retail for with a smile on my face. That art book (and some figures) will also be owned. That’s all I have to say about that.
Yeah, I think it’s time we all flaunt @unmanneddrone-made avatars. It’s the Squad Sig v2.0.
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RocGaude
Good to see so much more chatter around here. Maybe someday when I’m not in the middle of a life-altering move, I’ll hop in and chat, too. Here are some quickies.
HAWT Shit:
- Billings, Montana – It’s cold, sparse, friendly, and beef lovers want for nothin’. Folks, I think I may have found a place I can call home.
- The “loli cripple porn” SquadCast (I kid) – Amazing job, guys. Leave it to the Squad to make such a niche title appealing to even the most uninterested player. @shingro, you did a hell of a job on the show. Hope you can hop on future episodes, too.
- Hero Academy – I love it because of one thing: limitations. Each side only gets 5 actions per turn and deciding how to best maximize your turns hits my happy chord. Plus, we’re getting dwarves on 2/22. Much love to my fuzzy kindreds.
- Idle Thumbs returns – You mean people will financially support a kick ass podcast? I guess a few people seem up for it. Let’s hope this trend continues.
Horse Shit:
Navigating a ’17 foot UHaul truck towing a car through a snowstorm. That’s an adventure I shant be returning to unless at gunpoint.
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RocGaude
In the middle of a big move right now but seeing @tolkoto, @jeffgrubb, and @sinfony back in action makes me feel all special and stuff.
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RocGaude
To @feenwager‘s point, I’ve also found the discussion here lately to be far outside of my interest level. I agree that the Squad is a uniquely mature place that’s perfect for discussions like these but the balance just seems to be off. @unmanneddrone made a great point that many posts get ignored while the obscure game discussions reign supreme. I’m sure that some kind of restructuring of the discussions (like what @bluesforbuddha has alluded to) would help out a lot.
I was playing Hero Academy yesterday and realized that while I was playing with a lot of Squaddies, only @angryjedi posts here regularly. The lack of “centering” voices from the others (@iscariot83, @bigdaddygamebot, @zegolf, @scribl, @ajguy) is really missed around here. I’m going to reach out to them.
Much love to my Squaddies.
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RocGaude
If you have an iOS device, you should try Hero Academy. Lots of Squaddies are having a hoot with it and we’d like some more challengers. Plus, it’s free.
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RocGaude
@redswir1 ? That’s unexpected but awesome.
EDIT: Pishu’s their video editor now, not a writer.
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RocGaude
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RocGaude
@bowlisimo Sold.
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RocGaude
@feenwager Something slightly more seasoned with a touch of lime.
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RocGaude
Playing through the Gears 3 campaign with my son. Wish I had something more to say then, “it’s just more Gears”.
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RocGaude
@bluesforbuddha Because those who can make shit happen, will (and are). I approve of this. It’s about time for the gaming media to get a reboot.
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RocGaude
@mjpilon I’d be happy to oblige:
Gaming:
- Giant Bombcast – It’s my gaming “comfort food” podcast. I’ve listened to these guys since the HotSpot days and have always liked hearing Gerstmann’s opinions on games. Having added Klepeck last year, they have the strongest regular lineup of any gaming podcast right now.
- Irrational Podcasts – Hands down the highest quality shit out there. The shows are produced by Shawn Elliot, Chris Remo, & Ken Levine, all of whom “get” podcasting and are always cool to listen to. While the shows don’t come out very regularly, every one is worth listening to and makes you proud to be a gaming enthusiast.
Other:
- This is Only a Test – As long as Gary Whitta’s on the show, it’s as close to the Brodeo as it gets out there. Fun tech show that’s not too nerdy and most of their guests are great, too.
I still listen to an episode or two of some other shows (8-4 is notable but way too heavy on Japanese gaming for me) but I mostly just tune in if they have a good guest who rarely does podcasts anymore (most notably the old Ziff crew) or if there’s a big reveal on it.
While I appreciate Garnett saying nice things about us from time to time on Weekend Confirmed, the show itself is just too “LA” for my taste. I think Xav brings the best input to the show by far. I used to really like Canata’s take on games but he’s fallen out of favor with me and I can’t remember why.
One last thing, I used to go on and on about G4TV’s Feedback but now the show is falling on hard times. Although Sessler was replaced by the very competent Blair Herter, the quality of the guests is really spotty. Based on the things said on the show and on Sessler’s Soapbox, I think the network is going downhill fast. I fully expect Sessler to leave soon and hopefully to a better place for him to do his thing at.
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RocGaude
Not to be outdone by @feenwager in sneakin’ some preview for you all regarding the SquadCast, this announcement bodes well for gaming media at large. @angryjedi, you should totally apply for a writing gig there.
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RocGaude
Does anyone here have a spare DOTA2 invite? I have a friend in need.
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RocGaude
@everyone *clink* To a kick ass 2012, fellow Squaddies. This whole group is seriously bad ass. Can’t wait to talk more shit with you all next year.
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RocGaude
@bowlisimo Great idea. Will ponder on mine over the weekend. Currently trying to mix work with a mini-vacation. Blegh.
@angryjedi You continue to be the man.
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RocGaude
@bluesforbuddha Dope. Essentials:
TweetBot
Instacast
Instagram
Instapaper (yes, 3 “insta”s in a row)
Path
Pandora
Evernote
Reeder
Flipboard
Shazam
Carcassonne
Sword & Sworcery EP
AppShopper -
RocGaude
@unmanneddrone @shingro @feenwager Topic decided: be awesome. We’ve succeeded.
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RocGaude
Remember the SquadCast? @angryjedi, @bluesforbuddha, @feenwager, and I are recording one tonight.
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RocGaude
Happy holidays, fellow Squaddies. Looking forward to more fun with you all in the years to come.
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RocGaude
@redswir1 Sorry to hear that. Who were you working for?
bowlisimo, 
sinfony, and 9 others are discussing. 
cptcarnage, 
RedSwirl, 
cgrajko, and 11 others are discussing. 
The Squadron of Shame Squawkbox 
Come back to me, Ash. I didn’t bone any of the weirdo broads in ME2.