Ben's Week In Review: January 22
View Large ImageSpent two hours shoveling today. My new driveway is deceptively large.
We probably should've expected it
We all knew Capcom would announce Resident Evil 6 eventually, and I suppose we should've anticipated the shift to a more action-oriented formula. I had hoped they'd get that out of their system with Operation Raccoon City but the trend of Japanese developers trying to emulate Western game makers continues. You know, I understand the reasoning; there's a wee bit of desperation behind it as Japanese designers seem to be falling further and further behind with every passing year. And in any industry, those who are behind look to the leaders and attempt to make some changes based on consumer preference.
But I never thought I'd see the day when Japanese creators voluntarily sought to lose their identity. I know they think all gamers only went Western style settings and themes, but there are millions of gamers who grew up in generations where most titles available came from Japan. And given Japan's fiercely proud culture, one wouldn't expect them to cave so quickly. Call of Duty? How's about sticking to what you've always done well, and see if that works? Do that before changing.
Kingdoms of Amalur might surprise the hell out of RPG fans
Although they've been working on promotion, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning continues to fly under the radar. But based on early feedback from those who played the demo (I'll get my impressions done early this week) and other information, this one seems uber-promising. Having been supremely impressed with The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (when I didn't expect to be), I have to say I'm looking forward to Reckoning. That new batch of info really struck me and yes, if you're wondering, I want this game more than I want Final Fantasy XIII-2. Never thought I'd say that (WRPG vs. JRPG always used to be a no-brainer) but...well, there it is.
As a side note, I wonder how much influence Curt Schilling had in the creation of Reckoning. I know he's a pretty hardcore gamer and he helped found the studio, but I'd love to know how much input he had, from the drawing board to the execution of ideas.
Personal gaming update
So I finally beat Gears of War 3, which was great. It had a better story than either of the last two, IMO, just because it felt a little more personal, what with Marcus going after his father and all. The end was pretty satisfying, too. I don't think there was anything particularly innovative or progressive about it - felt a bit too much like Gears 2 - but that's okay. I'm not a big fan of messing with winning formulas these days. I had also expected to be playing through AMY but...well, I make a point of not playing horrible disappointments. I.e., no time for junk.
I'm looking forward to all the games that are coming. Kingdoms of Amalur is only one; I also can't wait to try Twisted Metal (gone gold, baby!), Syndicate, SSX, and Max Payne 3. Yes, I know it got delayed but that only makes me want it all the more. :)
1/21/2012 Ben Dutka
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Comments (26 posts)
Pandacastro
Saturday, January 21, 2012 @ 10:25:20 PM
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Temjin001
Saturday, January 21, 2012 @ 10:34:56 PM
Last edited by Temjin001 on 1/21/2012 10:35:34 PM
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frylock25
Saturday, January 21, 2012 @ 10:35:07 PM
i did get the arrival dlc since it was on sale this past week. might still be on sale. havent played it yet.
Last edited by frylock25 on 1/21/2012 10:36:20 PM
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Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Saturday, January 21, 2012 @ 11:10:39 PM
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frylock25
Saturday, January 21, 2012 @ 11:28:48 PM
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Pandacastro
Sunday, January 22, 2012 @ 1:03:18 AM
Last edited by Pandacastro on 1/22/2012 1:04:17 AM
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johnld
Sunday, January 22, 2012 @ 2:45:47 AM
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Temjin001
Saturday, January 21, 2012 @ 10:27:25 PM
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I thought Gears 3 was amazing, and I don't think it felt too much like Gears 2. Gears 1 and 2 just didn't make me a fan. I liked them, more for how they looked and felt than for how they played(which wasn't bad). I tried doing Gears 2 again a few weeks back and about half way in it just losses it's steam with me. Don;t know, just 'cuz. Gears 3, though, Gears 3 was better paced, more varied in play with a much more diverse cast of enemy types in attributes and behavior which kept me thinking more often about responding with more varied logic, largely due to the addition of the Lambent, more destructible cover, looked gorgeous(UE3 is something to be proud of now), had a better story, and was probably the best shooter I played last year. It controlled tighter, too. I can't speak high enough of it.
Kingdoms of Amular just didn't cut the mustard for me. I was also persuaded by the hype on message boards, so the my expectations going in were high. The graphics really are borderline 7-7.5, at best, technically, and artistically. No. really, some of PS2's finer HD remasters look better by a good margin, not kidding. The control is equally as challenged with a character that moves way too jerky and accelerates from neutral to max speed almost comically. And so is there a lock on button? I couldn't find one. It needs one. It's shame if it doesn't get one before launch. But eh, maybe it's "just a demo" and maybe it has some sort of unforseen depth or some qualities I just couldn't sense. Anyway, so much of it's early impressions left me thinking, yeah, not impressed and yeah, this game is gonna get buried pretty quick come review time, no doubt. Let's hope I'm wrong.
Outside of that, PGU wise, just been doing some GT5 and MK: Arcade Collection. I'm planning to rev up again on Lost Odyssey and make some progress into disc 2. School work has me pretty encumbered so playing quality sessions of any game have been few and far between. I'm excited for next week, though. we're learning about game production assets. You know? The shortcuts that must be made to free up resources, like cardboard trees. Argh, CARDBOARD TREES! Sorry, if there's only one thing the next gen does which would make it worth it in and of itself, is the abolishment of cardboard trees =p They break the illusion every time.
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frylock25
Saturday, January 21, 2012 @ 11:29:45 PM
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Temjin001
Sunday, January 22, 2012 @ 1:33:23 AM
It's good. The port jobs were handled well. In fact, to well at first. People cry about arcade perfect and then when they get it they claim certain bugs of the arcade aren't fixed (later a patch fixed the arcade bugs of the digital release). So now Scorpian actually yells "Get over here!" Instead of UMK3 arcade's glitched out voice sample " Get ", stuff like that. It's nice. It doesnt have much by way of commerative features. Oh, and it's really nice being able to switch on the fly between online matches without rebooting a version of the game. Basically, I can play a match of MK2, then after that match flip it straight to UMK3 and fight online from there. It's very nice like that. Also, it's an easy 3 silvers and a gold for those trophy horders. Few people seem to player matches as I've only been able to fight ranked. And unlike Tekken fighting ranked doesn't mean fighting real skilled guys. I've fought some pretty sucky guys and I'm nothing special at MK. Got my flawless victory online match Trophy on my first online play session =)
And lastly, it makes for good neuro stimulation coming off of late night sleep inducing RPGs ;)
Last edited by Temjin001 on 1/22/2012 1:34:35 AM
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ZettaiSeigi
Saturday, January 21, 2012 @ 10:48:37 PM
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The demo itself is also rather lengthy. Unlocking bonus stuff for Mass Effect 3 is just the proverbial cherry on top. It sold me on the game and I think its going to be one of the sleeper hits of 2012. I hope the others would give the demo a try and see for themselves. I really hope the it sells well as we need more RPGs like this. It offers something different to the ones you can get from Skyrim, Mass Effect, and Fallout.
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bigrailer19
Sunday, January 22, 2012 @ 12:39:15 AM
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PGU: just playing Skyrim, amost got 100 hours in and I keep getting more and more quests! I try to shrink the amount of quests I have but in doing so it's inevitable I'll pick up more, so I just go with the flow now. Oh and it still runs fine for me, I have an occasional freeze, but that's maybe once a week or every 10 hours of play.
Also my buddy convinced me to download DC Universe. I actually enjoyed the beta so I figured since it's free why not. Can't tell you how it is though every time I log on, my modem resets itself. Doesn't happen with any other games and I have a stable connection at 20mbps upload and 2.5mbps download. Speed may not be the issue but at least I know it should handle an mmorpg. The crappy part is I though it'd be cool to try the first month at legendary status so I paid the $15 for one month subscription and I can't even play! They'll be getting a call for sure!
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556pineapple
Sunday, January 22, 2012 @ 1:17:01 AM
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Haven't payed much attention to Kingdoms, but I keep hearing good things so I'll have to give it a try at least. It's hard for me to get into RPGs, but once it happens, I'm absolutely hooked.
PGU: I'm working my way through a chronological play through of the MGS franchise now that I have the HD collection. Beat 3 a couple weeks ago, and still absolutely love it. Peace Walker is pretty fun so far, but not quite as engaging... at least not yet. I'm really looking forward to playing MG and MG2, followed by the rest of the "solids" again.
I also have to share this story my good fortune. I was browsing Goodwill the other day, and stumbled across a copy of Need for Speed: The Run for $5. Needless to say, I snatched it up, but after a couple hours of playing it, felt a bit bored. I brought it into a local "mom and pop" game store called Orbit, and they gave me a $29 in-store credit for it! That combined with the buy 2 used get 1 free promotion, I walked out of the store with MGS4 (oh how I missed you!), L.A. Noire, and Bioshock 2 with only spending $4 more! So now I have a huge plate full of games to play, but unfortunately, a serious lack of time to play them.
Last edited by 556pineapple on 1/22/2012 1:22:29 AM
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Killa Tequilla
Sunday, January 22, 2012 @ 1:39:14 AM
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Excelsior1
Sunday, January 22, 2012 @ 7:57:00 AM
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Qubex
Sunday, January 22, 2012 @ 11:38:15 AM
Q!
"play.experience.enjoy"
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Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Sunday, January 22, 2012 @ 6:53:55 PM
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___________
Sunday, January 22, 2012 @ 4:31:38 AM
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after what they have done to all their other franchises, mainly lost planet 2 and RE5.
ive totally lost interest in all crapcom franchises, they can do whatever the hell they want with them now!
i was really disappointed with the kingdoms of amalur demo.
it just feels really cheap!
the graphics are really sub standard, the voice acting is really cheesy, just feels like those silly B grade cheese films.
not to mention the amount of bugs it had!
i mean yea its a demo, but come on you cant release a demo 2 weeks before release and have it in that state!
i missed out on the entire story because for some reason the audio kept doping out, and the conversations i had with characters were fast forwarded so i have no idea what the ^%$# was going on!
combat is really shallow too, just mash the same button 5 times you win!
yay, how fun!
i was really expecting the same production values as skyrim, but with a much more advanced combat system.
sadly i got the opposite, a cheap crappy low budget game with a even thinner combat system then skyrim!
sigh, looks like ill have to go back to the witcher 2 for my RPG adventure needs.
AGAIN!
i had this preordered over the darkness 2, i think thats going to change tomorrow the demo just completely destroyed my interest in it!
i just started playing hydrophobia prophecy last night since i got it free with plus.
im really enjoying it so far, the platforming sections are allot of fun!
the puzzles are a little thin and repetitive, and so is the gunplay but besides those its pretty decent.
just needs some new puzzles and maybe a few different enemy varieties.
i can only shoot the same mindless sheep, and solve the same puzzle a small amount of times before i get bored sh*tless!
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bigrailer19
Sunday, January 22, 2012 @ 5:18:31 AM
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___________
Sunday, January 22, 2012 @ 7:20:46 AM
lacks impact too, like allot of reviews complained the sword strikes feel like there going through thin air you dont feel the impact of your strikes.
go play the witcher 2, thats how every adventure games combat should feel!
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bigrailer19
Sunday, January 22, 2012 @ 11:33:51 AM
But that's beside the point, you said the combat system was "thin"... Then said because it's a "button masher". I'm still curious how it's thin?
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Snaaaake
Sunday, January 22, 2012 @ 8:46:42 AM
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By the look from the Leon gameplay, doesn't look like a horror that scares the crap outta you though.
Looked more like a thrilling horror where you desperately try to survive.
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Russell Burrows
Sunday, January 22, 2012 @ 1:59:27 PM
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Go and watch Enemy of the State with Will Smith and Gene Hackman.
I was bored by the Pokemon demo from Square Enix...sigh.
Yawn very bored with news of Call of Noob: Zombie Shooter Six from Capcom.
The only real Survivor/Horror game that interests me and that looks like a next gen/1080p Resident Evil Two is the game The Last of Us by ND Developers.
Russ.
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DjStiv3
Sunday, January 22, 2012 @ 6:36:03 PM
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i saw it on amazon and decide to call so i can get it on day of release at gamestop and the guy was like uhhh sorry we wont be doing that it may be online or elsewhere but we arent planning on anything like that... i was like WTF!!! oh well
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FlyingKickPunch
Sunday, January 22, 2012 @ 8:21:50 PM
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Last edited by FlyingKickPunch on 1/22/2012 8:22:29 PM
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frylock25
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Saturday, January 21, 2012 @ 10:09:30 PM
i tried out the demo of reckoning but got tired and had to go to bed. i havent gotten back to it yet. i tried the demo of ffxiii-2 and was bored as hell with it. didnt really like it at all. def with you on that one Ben.
pgu: been playing the hell out of ME2. its fun but the controls frustrate the hell out of me sometimes. i am pretty far through the game by now but now sure exactly how far. trying to get with kelly (i know it wont get the trophy) as i am the female shepard.
also played all the back to the future game episodes and loved them. my daughter was watching me play them and it made her want to watch the movies so i popped in the bluerays. we watched all 3 and she thought they were great movies.
Last edited by frylock25 on 1/21/2012 10:10:08 PM