We chat about videogames and videogame accessories.

So how long does it take you guys to get into a game?

Since around my teenaging days, I have had this memory issue, personally, where, cause I'm not in any way engaged in the game yet, I cannot commit things immediately to my brainframe. I could walk into a town, go all around it, walk out, and then if you asked me anything about it I would most likely have to walk back in and refresh my mind to tell you the answer. These things just don't get into my head right as I do them, and its a bit frustrating because I can get all worried about my ability to focus and enjoy the game that I don't enjoy the game, and sometimes I'll just quit because I'm not feeling engrossed.

But if I do push through, and make it through the first major area, I will find that everything is stuffed into my rememberingbanks. I could tell you almost EVERYTHING about that town now, and if I run across a thing that needs to go to a person in that town, well holy shit guess who knows what to do, its me, this guy. And then that focus issue I had early in the game rarely comes up again, unless the game slows to a crawl and bores the shit out of me.

Very few games are ever able to get me that early, force their way into my mindzone and put up shop at first light, and I don't like that this is my tendency because I have games that I absolutely adore that I just couldn't get into on the first go (Paper Mario Thousand Year Door is my Ultra-Example here, took me days just to push myself past the first level, then I could NOT put it down). What's worse is when I tell myself it will get better, and then the game doesn't hold up its end of the bargain by being terrible (I can harp on and on and ON about all the things I hate about Kingdom Hearts 2. Oh and Skyward Sword, but I still marginally liked Skyward Sword).

So what's up with you guys on this, any similar/differing experiences?

I know there have been times when I've played a game, said to myself "hey, this is kind of neat", then put it down for months and picked it up again later and loved it. I can't remember a lot of them off the top of my head, though.

I remember that happening with Etrian Odyssey and Final Fantasy 12. And I know those weren't the only ones, I just can't remember any examples right now.

I'm kind of an emotionally reactive and opinionated person.

This is me too, except I kind of assume by default my opinions are not amazing-exciting so keep them to myself. I am a total sucker for anything with a bit of atmosphere or quirkiness, even if it's not a mechanically good game. I tend to brute-force my way through most stuff if the story is compelling enough, even if it's narratively pretty flimsy. I just need some kind of emotional attachment to the story (even if it is a rather obvious "you care about these characters" banner shoved over the protagonist's head in the opening sequence sort of deal) and I happily keep plugging away at something just for the sake of completion.

Atmosphere itself is a pretty fuzzy term, though - "anything with eyes and a face" seems to qualify, as does anything sufficiently hipstery or "artistic" enough.

I just finished Swords and Sworcery EP, and I'm not squealing over it like an idiot but I certainly did enjoy it, albeit on some kind of superficial "this sure was a nice little world I got to peep into" kind of level. I wish it was longer, even though I kind of know the game mechanics (which pretty much equated to point-and-click puzzle) would've overstayed their welcome if the game had any more length. My attention span is certifiably atrocious, nor do I particularly enjoy twitchy reflex-sensitive games - so generally, vidja games for me are about exploring a world or getting immersed in someone else's story, with the "completing the game" portion being the work for the story-dishing reward.

Music is weird, although I'm apparently quite capable of warming to things and my initial impressions are unreliable as heck. If the music is poppy or dancy or angry enough, it hooks me right away, but my poor lyrics-comprehension means I have to listen through words-focussed songs several times more to get an appreciation for 'em.

I will say that there's something about the Dragonquest games that get me from the get-go.

I would never EVER in a million years nominate a single Dragonquest game for any top ten lists, because of the simple, grind-it-out formula. But, iunno, maybe because they stick to that formula they have more time to commit to the atmosphere. Dragonquest VIII got me from the very beginning because I loved the how big and colorful the world felt. I mean, its really not that large of a game world. Its big, but not like, super big. But I loved exploring that world, it just felt really nice, the colors caught my attention, the music really fit the mood. Its nothing more than just another turn-based RPG but I loved it from wire-to-wire.

Dragonquest V got me that way too, but that only because I'm a sucker for "Kid to Adult" time skips.

All I know about games is that I'm fine with a challenge but there needs to be a very reasonable difficulty curve or I go absolutely fucking apeshit.

Any RPG where I come to a boss and get my ass handed to me? Grind a few levels, if that doesn't work I'll almost certainly give up. Fighting game where I can't get past a certain opponent? Instantly head for the difficulty settings.

It's not even an absolute challenge thing, because I can really enjoy obscenely, insultingly hard games. It's just when it suddenly gets way harder and I feel unprepared that I go all "oh this is lame" and give up. It also doesn't seem to be as much of an issue with bonus dungeons and stuff, which is weird, because I'd think it would be the story that makes me pull through.

Apropos of nothing, can I just say how incredibly proud I am to be the only person other than Orange who voted for accessories?

All I know about games is that I'm fine with a challenge but there needs to be a very reasonable difficulty curve or I go absolutely fucking apeshit.

Any RPG where I come to a boss and get my ass handed to me? Grind a few levels, if that doesn't work I'll almost certainly give up. Fighting game where I can't get past a certain opponent? Instantly head for the difficulty settings.

It's not even an absolute challenge thing, because I can really enjoy obscenely, insultingly hard games. It's just when it suddenly gets way harder and I feel unprepared that I go all "oh this is lame" and give up. It also doesn't seem to be as much of an issue with bonus dungeons and stuff, which is weird, because I'd think it would be the story that makes me pull through.

Of course there's a need for a quality, steady difficulty curve but one thing I am a big proponent of, especially in RPGs, are difficulty spikes. I don't mind running into a fuck hard boss, and then the next boss being pretty easy in comparison. The gameplay takes me through an emotional level in that sense. I get my ass rocked and I'm forced to really think and attack in a different fashion and the whole thing is a fight, and then the next boss around I'm given a lob and I'm allowed to spike it straight through the ground and into the Earth's molten core. I get to feel triumphant beating the tough boss and invincible dispatching the wimp.

More on this subject, this is not a All-the-time thing that I like. I would be kinda pissed to go through, say, a whole Zelda dungeon and get that lob because Zelda bosses have a pattern to them unrelated to the difficulty curve. They are beaten by the item in the dungeon, or by a clever use of the sword. They don't really GET progressively harder, and what little difficulty they do increase in is really only relative to your heart container.

Video games are always too hard for me. I always have to quit after a particularly hard part or a boss battle.

So, after a week and a half of way too much of it, I finally just deleted Minecraft and all my saves from my 360. This is the first time in I think four years (when I quit WoW) that I've had to completely swear off a game. I'm disappointed that I couldn't enjoy it in moderation, but I'm proud I at least made the decision after ONLY a week and a half.

So who's excited for the big E3 conference? Thats that thing where they show off new games and finally let slip some secret projects!

Being a Nintendo guy, I'm looking forward to seeing the 1st actual games for the soon to be released WiiU!

Rayman Legends has that wiiu trailer, and also the Amazon page. On the other hand, announce pikmin 3 you bastards.

I wish and wish and wish that the Beyond Good And Evil sequel will make it WiiU-wards.

SKULLGIRLS
CONFIRMED FOR PC

FUCK YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR
I CAN'T WAIT TO BE A NOOB WHILE EVERYONE ELSE HAS BEEN PLAYING FOREVER

By the way you guys remember Shadowbane? Shadowbane was a cool free MMORPG by Ubisoft with a very WoW-like feel, with terrible graphics but some cool systems and nice gameplay. Me and my brother (and step-brothers and friends) played it when it was still out, and we were really good at it! But then some time it disappeared and we don't really know why. Ubisoft just ran out of interest in hosting it.

But now that's gonna change! https://www.shadowbaneemulator.com/ has been working for the past year-ish on bringing Shadowbane back, and maybe even adding some to it seeing as they're gonna be owning the game from now on. Ubisoft gave their okay (more like a "sure why the fuck not" but it counts) and now SHADOWBANE IS IN THE HANDS OF THE SHADOWBANERS.

Which is good because that game needed some serious fixing. Now that we actually have people reconstructing the world you can also ask for them to fix all the stuff the official ubisoft team had been putting off. Like flying bridges*.

Anyway the game is not that amazing but it's fun to play with friends because of how good and bad it is at the same time. Servers are running a stress test for the rest of the month, and it's been going swimmingly so far. MAYBE YOU SHOULD CHECK IT OUT?


*I don't want anyone to fix the flying bridge glitch. It is the best glitch.

Awwww butts woffie, it's XP only! And just when I was getting good and interested too!

It works perfectly on windows 7! At least here, it does!

I just finished Swords and Sworcery EP, and I'm not squealing over it like an idiot but I certainly did enjoy it, albeit on some kind of superficial "this sure was a nice little world I got to peep into" kind of level. I wish it was longer, even though I kind of know the game mechanics (which pretty much equated to point-and-click puzzle) would've overstayed their welcome if the game had any more length. My attention span is certifiably atrocious, nor do I particularly enjoy twitchy reflex-sensitive games - so generally, vidja games for me are about exploring a world or getting immersed in someone else's story, with the "completing the game" portion being the work for the story-dishing reward.

Music is weird, although I'm apparently quite capable of warming to things and my initial impressions are unreliable as heck. If the music is poppy or dancy or angry enough, it hooks me right away, but my poor lyrics-comprehension means I have to listen through words-focussed songs several times more to get an appreciation for 'em.

Oh hey lookit what's been humble bundled!
I'll probably get this one!
And then hand off Bastion/Bonus Games Steam Codio to someone else.
I might hand off the whole Steamy Steam thing and just play it off-steam too because Psychonauts is a game I own and I have ZERO INTEREST* in Amnesia so I am just saying words and telling things and I don't know why.

*ie: i am a cowardbaby


YAY
SUMMER
GAMES
SOON
LOVE
YES

I still have to play Aquaria, Bastion, and Psychonauts and the general aesthetic and praise-by-schazer's made me want Swords and Sworcery EP too.
There are probably others SO MANY OTHERS I am forgetting.
Like Wind Waker.
I still have a copy of Wind Waker that I borrowed like.
Three years ago.

ON THE BRIGHT SIDE
I just beat Link's Awakening DX.
It was pretty great and hard there at the end, but I'm glad that I more or less beat the game without using a guide! I just 'cheated' to get the last heart pieces :x

Currently playing: Rhythm Thief 3DS.

It's like a tourist's guide to Paris, but with rhythm games and theft.

I still have to play Aquaria, Bastion, and Psychonauts and the general aesthetic and praise-by-schazer's made me want Swords and Sworcery EP too.
There are probably others SO MANY OTHERS I am forgetting.
Like Wind Waker.
I still have a copy of Wind Waker that I borrowed like.
Three years ago.

ON THE BRIGHT SIDE
I just beat Link's Awakening DX.
It was pretty great and hard there at the end, but I'm glad that I more or less beat the game without using a guide! I just 'cheated' to get the last heart pieces :x

Size-wize, it's about a perfect game for a bundle. I will probably cave and get it anyway because a) Psychonauts b) The other two that I've played and c) soundtracks.

I already caved.

Oh look, Frozen Synapse got an expansion! Moooooore agony and unbeatable missions for me! :P

On the other hand they also did some updates for free. I should start playing again, feel the frustration of hearing 'unit down' and the jubilance of 'hostile neutralized', play that one level of the campaign I have yet to beat before spending money on an equally difficult expansion.

But daaamn it's compelling :3

I'll probably get that humble bundle even though I have played every game in it except for amnesia. I mean, it's worth more than a cent in my estimation. Also w/r/t rhythm thief it's the best rhythm based prof. layton inspired game from sega this year but the motion based games can eat shit with one exception

Wrath of the Lamb and Realm of the Diggle Gods have banded together to kill me.

At least it will be a joyful death.

I have always been tempted to do a challenge run of Final Fantasy Tactics, since it may well be my favorite vidya of all time, but when I remember that someone out there already did an all-calculators run without using math skill and with level caps

It all feels pretty pointless

Well you could do an all minion run, where the only people you level up are people who aren't Ramza.

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