The NEW Game Journal

[Draak]

I had to abandon replaying Fallout 3 awhile ago for the same reason, even though I don't remember having any trouble the first time round, nor when I played NV. There's something about the movement in these games that feels really floaty, like you're not attached to the ground properly, just floating slightly above it. I recommend avoiding Half-Life 2 if you haven't already played it, it gave me the worst game-related motion sickness I've ever had, even with the FOV at max.

I've heard the HL2 stories. The first HL was enough for me to know the series wasn't for me. I naively thought that modding the shit out of New Vegas I would be able to at least play in 3rd view.

Try cranking the anisotropic filtering as high as it'll go.

It could also be the mouse sensitivity. I've never been able to get totally normal mouse movement in a NetImmerse/Gamebryo based game (Except maybe Civ 4). Not even morrowind.

Also experiment with playing it in widescreen or non-widescreen resolutions.

Yeah, tried all the above, still feel uncomfortable. Now that you mentioned, I could never get the mouse sensitivity right in Civ 4...


It's a shame. I was really looking forward to NV, but it's unplayable. Back to FTL, I guess.

[MeshGearFox]

So, yeah.

While I do have issues with Steam (namely, the client's kind of bloated, and I think offering a separate, lightweight, validation-only client would be a good idea), it's a FAR far far more benign form of DRM than the shit EA is pulling with SimCity. And this is where I really disagree with the anti-DRM-on-principle guys. Piracy happens. DRMs going to happen. Go with the not totally bullshit DRM, have it do REALLY well, and hope other developers flock to it.

Which actually has largely been the case. Yeah, there's some unfriendly stuff in Valve's EULA, but their service is ultimately one that helps out both customers and publishers, which is why Steam's kind of... doing so damn well. It's just that EA is deeply fucking stupid, and hopefully this SimCity debacle will force them to realize that.

I'm also aware that I'm eventually going to have to crack my copy of Amalur, because I have no idea if/when EA is going to shut down the DLC validation servers for that, and I'm not looking forward to having to sort through the mess of viruses that tend to go hand in hand with... cracking games I legally purchased and paid money for.

Anyway, up to the temple ruins in Felghana. I realize now that instead of grinding for another level, I should've just gone back to town and bought the upgraded armor -- the dungeon gives you enough money for that -- and gained a level just in the process of doing that. Still think the boss's attack patterns were a little bullshit/uninteresting. On the other hand there IS something about this game making me feel tingly inside, so I'm definitely not going to give it up.

Also finding it vastly easier to play with the keyboard than the mouse, which is surprising since you get more range of movement with the mouse.

Do wonder why the... Ys Eternal remake/port that came out recently didn't update anything to the Ys 6 engine.

Also picked up NiGHTS since GamersGate had it on sale. It plays a hell of a lot better than it looks, although the emulation on the Saturn version in-game is kind of goofy and I keep getting missing... triangles or whatever the fuck the Saturn used.

---edit---

Did like three quests in Kingdoms of Amalur, and just entered the House of Ballads.

Can't tell if the post-processing effects look good or if they look like a vicodin overdose.

[Yoda]

I think Sim City looks very fun. I think it'd be rad to co-op build cities w/ some friends and do that...thang. Too bad they messed it up with all the DRM stuff.

[MeshGearFox]

Felghana - Lava.

[Monsoon]

The four Thorney Towers levels in Psychonauts deserve spaces in the Platforming Stages Pantheon.  If there is one. 

[Dice]

I think Sim City looks very fun. I think it'd be rad to co-op build cities w/ some friends and do that...thang. Too bad they messed it up with all the DRM stuff.

All right men.  We've been training for this day for some time.  As proud soldiers of Dice-o-lopolous, I expect you to serve your nation and be rewarded with wine, wo/men, and song upon your return.  GO NOW, LEAVE NO ONE ALIVE IN YODERSVILLE, CLAIM THEIR RICHES AND RESOURCES FOR YOUR LAAAANNDD!!!!!

[MeshGearFox]

Dice's men return from a long, hard journey, having successfully raided Yodersville.

Regrettably, Dice-o-lopolous can't be loaded to to server issues, and the entire army starves to death.

HECH NECH.

Also no matter how much Felghana could potentially piss me off, the spritework is too SaGa Frontier meets Back to Nature for me to NOT play it.

I like the new dungeon designs quite a bit. Fairly straight forward, but they work, and they have stuff you can't get to immediately. Level designs of the dungeons after Tigray were pretty rote in the original Ys 3 which was the main thing that bugged me about that game. Tigray had a lot of vertical stuff going on. None of the other dungeons did.

[Dincrest]

I'm trying out the 3DS Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity demo and while it's relatively fun, there's WAAAAY too much exposition and no way to fast forward the slow moving text. 

[Kevadu]

I finally finished Growlanser: Wayfarer of Time.  I don't play games very fast these days...how many months did that take me...oh well, guess I can dig something else out of the backlog pile now...

While there are a million things I can (and have) nitpick about the game, I did rather enjoy it overall.  Interesting story, fun and challenging (but sometimes cheap...) combat.  I enjoyed it when I wasn't raging at it...

[Blace]

Well, over the weekend I restarted both Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy VI Advance. I have never played through either entirely (only got 5 hours in before i quit FFXIII when it came out and then sold it only to re-purchase it for 10 dollars last month, while in FFVI the farthest I have been is the floating city/area/thing). I'm about 7 hours into FFXIII and I'm digging it a lot more than I did when it came out. Too much hype ruined it for me, going back 3 years later has been a blessing I think. As for FFVI, about 2 hours in. I still remember all this stuff for some reason, despite only playing this part once and doing so 5+ years ago. I like having a game for the TV and one for the handheld if my fiance wants to watch TV or a movie. I can just switch haha.

[Ranadiel]

Finished Kingdom Hearts 3D over the weekend. Game was alright, still don't like Flowmotion. Best part of it was the promise of Kingdom Hearts 3.

Also finished the story mode of Persona 4 Arena.

Going to get to start Heart of the Swarm later today after I get it in the mail. Very unsure of what I expect with the story line as the trailers I have seen are not filling me with hope. >.>

[GrimReality]

Finished Dead Space 3 last night. Took me just under 30 freakin' hours! That's crazy for a game like this. The first two were both under 20. I liked it well enough, but it wasn't as good as the first 2. Less horror, and more action kind of dulled the experience. Plus the story was lame as hell. It's a solid 7.9 kind of game. I'd probably get any DLC that comes out, though.
Darksiders 2 showed up in the mail yesterday. I'm not sure if I want to start it right away, or whittle away at games I was already playing before. I'd like to go back to Xenoblade, as well as 999. We'll see.

[Dice]

999 is a good game played before your go to bed, to scare you a little (I beat the True Ending at like 4 AM, tired as hell... I was frightened by all the nasty plot twists and mind-fuckeries)

I got Atelier Ayesha!  I played it for an hour because I have no other time to spare.
I'm glad the graphics have become so awesome for the series, but they still have some trouble with backgrounds.  Nevertheless, yay!

[Wild Armor]

Games I'm going through right now

Super Mario 64 (At Jolly Roger Bay)
Chrono Trigger (After when that thing happens with the thing )
Space channel 5 Part 1 & 2 (This game is GENIUS)

Also, on a side note...I'm going to relearn my parent's language (Portuguese/Brazilian Portuguese) for two reasons:

1. For my second language for Grad School (Masters in Music)
2. To play Indie RPGs from both countries (I noticed there's a bunch of 'em, like is that something I missed?)

[Yoda]

I'm gonna beat me some Halo 4 tonight and maybe start up Dead Space 2.