General Games Discussion

Yeah that's what i mean by tokens lol, anyway i never said not to try it just saying it's not that good.

Pretty boring video, but I bet actually playing a game like GTA with Oculus Rift/VR headset is tons of fun.. when you don't feel like throwing up.

Thimmy wrote:Pretty boring video, but I bet actually playing a game like GTA with Oculus Rift/VR headset is tons of fun.. when you don't feel like throwing up.

VR is still way out of the league for a non hardcore enthusiast. For an experience worth living up to the hype (and without simulation/motion sickness) you need 90fps at 2160x1200 (2.8MP) equivalent.

That's basically a 980Ti and above :/

Does put me in contention though... $600 doesn't sound too bad for something that wont be "mainstream" for another 4-5 years.

A 10

I wanna make a joke about the reviewer's gender in relation to the score

Would rather play Wii U than that

ES wrote:I wanna make a joke about the reviewer's gender in relation to the score

In fairness it's getting 9s and 10s elsewhere as well.

I remember buying Braid for XBOX 360 back when it was getting universal praise in 08/09/10 whenever it was

never did get around to playing

same developer

i only heard of this game a few days ago but it doesn't look my thing

dem visuals tho

Me either Firenze but thought i'd post it for 10 rated reasons

'Everything feels placed with a purpose'

Kind of a funny way to describe a walking simulator

ES wrote:'Everything feels placed with a purpose'

Kind of a funny way to describe a walking simulator

It's not tbf, it's a puzzle game and the puzzles are used as a way to navigate the world and everything around it.

Tbf if it's as well designed as it sounds i can see why people are going gaga over it but obviously you need to enjoy solving puzzles to begin with.

Me n Moal getting BF4 Tom. Cheap & will be great banter if you, cheese and your other m8 joined too.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2016-01-26-playstation-4-players-can-download-the-division-beta-now-using-this-one-weird-trick

about to try this now for PS4

edit: works

double edit: apparently this doesn't work in the US since they charge u immediately

Didn't know SF5 is out in a few weeks.

Might get it at launch or the following month. Miss playing fighting games.

SF4 & SC4 on PS3 :banderas:

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/01/26/digital-gaming-sales-hit-record-61-billion-in-2015-report.html

"Hey it's me your wallet"

Got Rise of the Tomb Raider.

Anyone interested in a stream when it's done dling?

http://www.twitch.tv/npnfphritz

http://www.twitch.tv/npnfphritz/v/38248444 (720p60fps)

http://www.twitch.tv/npnfphritz/v/38271312 (1080p30fps) let me know which you prefer

Game itself is running at 2560x1080 at maxed settings at around 57-62fps on a GTX 980 Ti. This game is gorgeous btw.

Are you guys playing the dvision beta?

gonna play it later or tomorrow

watched a few videos and i'm not all that impressed, but this beta will make my mind up about buying it

Phritz wrote:http://www.twitch.tv/npnfphritz

http://www.twitch.tv/npnfphritz/v/38248444 (720p60fps)

http://www.twitch.tv/npnfphritz/v/38271312 (1080p30fps) let me know which you prefer

Game itself is running at 2560x1080 at maxed settings at around 57-62fps on a GTX 980 Ti. This game is gorgeous btw.

Do you have any of it archived? i'd like to watch and been grinding for Gwent cards since yesterday lol.

Division beta is out? Still got my key lol

yeah it's out, preordered on the uk store then cancelled

it plays decent for now, needs to play more

I'm not going to buy any Ubisoft games anytime soon, considering the state in which they released Rainbow Six: Siege, and how they blatantly decided to release the full game without any bug and server fixes, only a day after it's beta ended Several months in, and they have yet to fix random disconnect errors. Amateurs..

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:

Phritz wrote:http://www.twitch.tv/npnfphritz

http://www.twitch.tv/npnfphritz/v/38248444 (720p60fps)

http://www.twitch.tv/npnfphritz/v/38271312 (1080p30fps) let me know which you prefer

Game itself is running at 2560x1080 at maxed settings at around 57-62fps on a GTX 980 Ti. This game is gorgeous btw.

Do you have any of it archived? i'd like to watch and been grinding for Gwent cards since yesterday lol.

http://www.twitch.tv/npnfphritz/v/38357558 continuation from last night,, me dicking around stoned mostly.

My stream quality really doesn't do the game justice.:/

I'll post some screenshots later, as for now I'm streaming it atm

http://www.twitch.tv/npnfphritz/v/38505377?t=44s

http://www.twitch.tv/npnfphritz/v/38509441

http://www.twitch.tv/npnfphritz/v/38512906

#67

Game: Phantasy Star II.
Year: 1990.
Genre: RPG.
Publisher: Sega.
Developer: Sega.



First things first, I am changing my rating system to better rate different genres according to their own rules. It will still be from 50 quality points, but every title will start from 25 and earn/lose points according to criteria important to the titles and genres themselves.

The Phantasy Star series is nearly as old as the Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy RPG series, and while it is held in high regard, it never reached the acclaim of those other two franchises. The second game in the series is the first on the Genesis, and is highly regarded by Genesis fans.

Unfortunately, this is an example of an early JRPG that didn't age well. Still, there are glimpses of the brilliance that made gamers love it 26 years ago.

"Mother Brain is essential to our life"

In theory, the plot of PSII can be both unique an engaging. Its about a society that came to depend on a super computer that manages all of its needs, and as such struggles when that super computer starts malfunctioning.

However, in practice, the game's story can only be implied through its archaic and poorly translated dialogue. With sentences having limited punctuation, no indication of tone, delivery, or basic dramatically nuance, the game struggles at delivering any story.

This was common-place in the early RPG days, which is why many pre-SNES RPGs aged terribly.

Take your party members for example. Other than their introductory dialogue, they do not speak for the reminder of the game. There is no exposition, no character growth, and you will only depend on the very few clues provided and outside information to make sense of the story and game world.

Thankfully then, the PS series is unique in that regard. Set in outer space, its generally an interesting idea to explore a frontier planet.

Terrible Dialogue: -3
Weak Characterization: -4

"Fool! You say such things but your powerless to stop me"

Like all the RPGs of the day, gameplay is divided into exploration and turn-based battles, which starts randomly in dangerous areas such as dungeon and the over-world. PSII's combat system is geared toward automatic play, where you can interrupt the combat to issue orders to your party.

This means that battles finish more quickly, with only the toughest battles demanding close micro-management from the player.

Of course, this doesn't mean its all on autoplay, as the player must observe all the information on enemy and ally attacks to see if they need to intervene and change the game plan. Some enemies can cause a lot of damage to all party members, which will require special focus on them with magic attack, or simply healing to counter their damage.

Outside of battle, you will be visiting a lot of dungeon and cities. The over-world is interestingly designed, especially the second planet you visit.

Unfortunately, due to its ancient design principles, this game is a chore to play. In order to progress through the difficult dungeons, you will simply need to grind for levels and equipment. Roughly more than half of my gameplay time was spent grinding. Since there are party members that cannot be in your party, the grinding time will increase if you want to use other characters. Which is why I ignored a lot of the other characters because I didn't feel like grinding more than I already did.

However, its not only grinding that will waste your time, but a multitude of other problems as well. It simply takes too much time to do anything in the game. Take healing for example. Once out of battle and you want to heal your party members, you must open the menu, go to the skill menu, choose the character whose skills you want to use, choose the skill, and then choose the character you want to use that skill on. Once you finish that five step procedure to heal one character, you are booted out of the entire menu and you need to repeat it again to use another healing spell.

Ironically, when you use items instead of healing spells, the menu doesn't boot you out of the whole thing, and instead you can choose to use another healing item. Suggesting the developers could have figured the same thing for the skills as well.

This is of course assuming you have a guide explaining what each skill and item does, because the game doesn't explain anything about items and skills. You are left looking online for clues about what each magic skill does.

Then we come to the game's dungeons, which are IMPOSSIBLE to navigate without a map or a guide. I have never seen such mazes in an RPG. Even with the manageable encounter rate of PSII, trying to navigate these mazes alone would be impossible.

Good Combat: +3
Too Much Grinding: -3
Caveman Design: -5

"The Many tragedies which have come to pass as the world falls into turmoil"

The visual design of PSII's world is both colorful, and aged. Especially out of combat. These are not the chunky sprites of other early RPGs, but an attempt at creating more "realistically" proportional models. This results in more unique models, and a different kind of world.

In battle, its similar to the style of Dragon Quest, but the backs of your characters are visible, and they are animated when they attack. Enemy models are also animate when attacking (instead of the vibration effects in Final Fantasy games) and are varied and interesting enough.

However, dungeons and cities are poorly designed, with some visual effects actually working against the player obscuring their view.

As for the game's sound, it must be said that it suffers a little from the Genesis's lacking sound capabilities. This results in several tunes sounding the same. Yet, these are some really catchy tunes, that fit well with the game world and are a delight to listen to.

There are only about 20 different tracks, which is small for an RPG but still OK considering this game's age.

Graphical Design: +3
Sound: +3

In Conclusion:

This a review I know many would disagree with. Many would say I am judging PSII harshly for a game of its time, and that it was a much better game if played in 1990. However, I am not reviewing this game in 1990, but in 2016. When making this review, I am making a recommendation for someone wanting to play the game now.

With that in mind, PSII has aged terribly, and as such I can only recommend to the retro enthusiasts. I can see how the game managed to attract such a fanbase back in the day. Yet, where games such as Chrono Cross and Final Fantasy 6 managed to stay great despite their age, PSII suffers too much from it.

Final: 20/50

"Tips"
1- Character order is important, those in the front are more likely to be attacked.
2- Use maps in the internet to play the dungeons.
3- Use guides in the internet to learn about Skills and Items.
4- Whenever you go to a new city, go back to your house and see if a new party member joins.
5- Grind a lot.

"Next Game"

Although PSII might be historically important, it didn't age practically well. As such, I spent most of my time with it struggling with its archaic design choices, rather than enjoying myself. I am hoping PSIII and PSIV aged much better.

Next game is apparently and interesting Adventure RPG also set in space. At #76, Starflight is another EA game on the Genesis. Here is hoping for some good time.

Stay Tuned