The Arcade Random Thoughts Thread

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  • Swarley
    A Special Kind of Cat
    • Jul 2010
    • 11213

    Am I the only one who has been getting the urge to replay games now that the end of the current gen is in sight? Currently replaying Tomb Raider and I've also got Saints Row The Third and the two Arkham games lined up and ready to go. Not to mention I'm really wanting to give the Uncharted series yet another playthrough.

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    • JayDizzle
      Let's Go All The Way...
      • Nov 2008
      • 14215

      Originally posted by Swarley
      Am I the only one who has been getting the urge to replay games now that the end of the current gen is in sight? Currently replaying Tomb Raider and I've also got Saints Row The Third and the two Arkham games lined up and ready to go. Not to mention I'm really wanting to give the Uncharted series yet another playthrough.
      I'm playing GTAIV and its DLC later.

      Can't beat good games it seems.

      Then again, this has left time to beat good games from this decade a little wanting.

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      • padman59
        Slayer of Demons
        • Mar 2009
        • 5709

        I ran into the fabled Ur-Dragon in Dragon's Dogma. Apparently, I can team up with other players if I'm signed into PSN, but I didn't see anyone during my few short minutes of getting my ass handed to me. The bastard also has a ton more health if you're online. I guess I'll sign out of PSN the next time I fight him.

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        • SethMode
          Master of Mysticism
          • Feb 2009
          • 5754

          Originally posted by padman59
          I ran into the fabled Ur-Dragon in Dragon's Dogma. Apparently, I can team up with other players if I'm signed into PSN, but I didn't see anyone during my few short minutes of getting my ass handed to me. The bastard also has a ton more health if you're online. I guess I'll sign out of PSN the next time I fight him.
          Your Dragon's Dogma posts serve two purposes for me: I find them enjoyable; and they make me happy I gave up on that game after beating the Dragon.

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          • padman59
            Slayer of Demons
            • Mar 2009
            • 5709

            Originally posted by SethMode
            Your Dragon's Dogma posts serve two purposes for me: I find them enjoyable; and they make me happy I gave up on that game after beating the Dragon.
            The difficulty gets ramped up after you kill him. Now it's Hellhounds, Succubi, and some type of dragon around every corner instead of wolves, harpies, and bandits.

            I do have some screencaps of my Ur-Dragon fight that I can pull off my PS3, but I really hate the watermark that the game puts on them. That would be an awesome feature otherwise.

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            • Swarley
              A Special Kind of Cat
              • Jul 2010
              • 11213

              Has anyone played Alpha Protocol? Thoughts?

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              • jms493
                Junior Member
                • Feb 2009
                • 11248

                Originally posted by Swarley
                Has anyone played Alpha Protocol? Thoughts?

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                • SethMode
                  Master of Mysticism
                  • Feb 2009
                  • 5754

                  Originally posted by Swarley
                  Has anyone played Alpha Protocol? Thoughts?
                  It's very good but super flawed. AS an RPG it's fantastic, I just wouldn't recommend speccing in anyway but Stealth and Pistols. Dice rolls means having the target over a dude's head doesn't mean you'll hit it, necessarily.

                  It's janky as hell, but the way the story changes based on your decisions is pretty cool, and the conversation feature is one I wish more games would do.

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                  • JayDizzle
                    Let's Go All The Way...
                    • Nov 2008
                    • 14215

                    Originally posted by Swarley
                    Has anyone played Alpha Protocol? Thoughts?
                    I've beat it twice.

                    It shouldn't exist given that they had to go back and basically redo it all over again before shipping and what we got is the epitome of "unpolished."

                    The combat system looks and feels like a standard cover shooter but the mechanics give way to you spending cash for weapon upgrades...

                    Underneath that is a layer of spending points like you would in Mass Effect to spec your character the way you want to play the game (stealth, guns blazing, tech and gadgets, being stellar in conversation).

                    ...unfortunately, there's only a few good spec sets to choose from if you want to be successful on harder difficulties (and Rookie, which basically gives you a blank slate (with no points) from the start that you have to fill in as you go along; it gets... rough).

                    This leads into having to metagame when you should be enjoying the story and convo trees (again, comparable to Mass Effect with the added wrinkle of characters remembering how you acted later on AND you're on a timer so you gotta think on your feet when you have to choose between being cordial and slamming that fucker's head onto the table).

                    If you can find it for around $20 or less, pick it up for the experience but unless you're going to fall in love with it within a few hours (it DEMANDS multiple playthroughs if you want to hit New Game+ and unlocks), don't expect a GOTY candidate.

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                    • Handleit_44
                      Posts a lot
                      • Jun 2009
                      • 3330

                      Comment

                      • Buzzman
                        Senior Member
                        • Oct 2008
                        • 6659

                        That mod is one of many that is amazing in GTA IV.

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                        • padman59
                          Slayer of Demons
                          • Mar 2009
                          • 5709

                          Originally posted by Buzzman
                          That mod is one of many that is amazing in GTA IV.
                          I almost want to buy GTA IV on PC just to mess around with them.

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                          • killgod
                            OHHHH WHEN THE REDSSSSS
                            • Oct 2008
                            • 4714

                            padman tell me about dragon's dogma, im debating getting in on that.

                            Comment

                            • padman59
                              Slayer of Demons
                              • Mar 2009
                              • 5709

                              The combat is akin to the Souls games though not quite as good. You'll need to learn your attacks and how long they take to set up because if you whiff or don't give yourself enough time to get your attack off, you'll be open to enemy attacks and end up dead. If you go the Mage/Sorcerer route, you'll really want to fight along the edge of the battle because some of the spells you'll want to use can take forever to cast.

                              The world isn't very large, and you'll probably do most of your travel on foot because there is very limited fast travelling in this game. You can get Ferrystones that will transport you to a Portcrystal that is in a fixed location. At first, the only Portcrystal is in the main hub city, but you can get another during one of the quests in the last half of the game which you can place where you wish. Your Portcrystals carry over on NG+'s though, and from what I understand, the Dark Arisen version has more that you can place per playthrough.

                              Take what I say about the difficulty with a grain of salt because I played on Hard, and from what I've read, the difficulty and strength of enemies don't change when you start a NG+. So I basically started out fighting the toughest enemies you can get from the start. With that said, I found the game to be pretty brutal early on. Not even Demon's Souls came close to what I was getting for the first twenty hours or so. This is a game where you'll want to save your game often, and the difficultly ramps back up after you finish the main story.

                              There are some choices you can make during the course of the game that can potentially change the story in minor ways. I can't really say how much those choices affect things.

                              There is a basic crafting system that allows you to combine two items to create stronger curatives or buffing potions. There is also a system where you can upgrade ("enchance") your weapons and armor. The armor upgrade can only be done at certain merchants and cost both money and items. The rarer the equipment you're trying to upgrade typically costs more and requires rarer items. However, you have a chance to max out your equipment by defeating the various kinds of dragon's in the world, but that depends on which kind of dragon and is limited to what your character has equipped.

                              Pawns are your AI controlled companions. Very early on, you'll create your own pawn that will be with you for the rest of the game. Your pawn can also be rented by other players, and you'll earn XP and Rift Crystals which is a currency that only goes toward renting high level pawns and potions that alter your pawn's behavior. You can rent out two additional pawns. Pawns of equal or lower level or pawns that belong to people on your friends list cost nothing to add to your party.

                              The downside of the pawn system is that you have almost no control of them during battle. So you'll want to check their profile and tendencies before renting them to make sure they fit as best as possible with your playstyle. You can search for pawns with specific qualities, but the search feature leaves something to be desired.

                              As far as the story goes, it's ok. It's a typical you've-been-chosen-to-save-the-world kind of tale.

                              TL;DR - Overall, I like Dragon's Dogma. You can probably find a good difficulty setting that falls in line with your preference, and if I had to compare it to other games, I'd say it's a mini-Skyrim with better combat. It does have some quirks that can be annoying, but I don't feel they are big enough to really detract from the overall experience. If you can get the Dark Arisen version for a good price, I'd get that since it has all of the DLC for the vanilla version and the additional expansion.

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                              • SethMode
                                Master of Mysticism
                                • Feb 2009
                                • 5754

                                So, I was going to do some more updates today, but then I booted up Rogue Legacy. That was at 10AM. WHAT THE FUCK.

                                Such a great game.

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