Forums RSS feed http://nnkgaming.com/forums/index.php Sun, 20 May 2012 21:03:29 -0400 2 http://nnkgaming.com/forums/index.php http://nnkgaming.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=3820
An online petition called Operation Rainfall started with the goal of getting Nintendo to bring these 3 titles to North America. Well, they've been 2/3 successful: Xenoblade Chronicles has already been released and The Last Story was recently announced for a NA release. The last I heard Pandora's Tower is still in limbo, but the odds are looking good that it, too, will get a limited NA release.

I was throwing $5 on Dragon's Dogma the other day and decided to pick up Xenoblade. I had to dig my Wii out of a box in the attic...

- The first thing I'll say is that, considering this thing is on the Wii, it looks pretty amazing. It always seems that the best graphics on the Wii are saved for Nintendo's flagship titles like Mario and Zelda and such. I was surprised by how great this game looks, even if it's closer to a late-era PS2 game than anything current gen.

- If anyone has read anything about it, I've repeatedly seen it described as a "single-player MMO." I'd say that's a pretty accurate description. Mainly this manifests itself in some western-style MMO standards: roving mobs, color-coded enemy strength indicators, EXP for discovering new locations, etc. I'm only level 21 and I've already stumbled across level 70+ mobs, as well as a level 90 unique monster. Needless to say I did not fuck with them.

- Another game it's been compared to is Monster Hunter, but besides some of the enemies being absolutely gigantic there's really nothing similar between the two.

- For the most part, the game is very traditionally "JRPG" style, but there are definitely a lot of western influences at work. I've already touched on the MMO-style aspects, but one of the most important things in this game is quick travel. You can warp to any "landmark" you've discovered at any time, from anywhere in the world. Considering the size of the game world, this is a life saver.

- Instead of re-dubbing the game, they just left it with the British dub that was done for the EU release. I have to say, it's way better than most American dub work. Plus it's amusing listening to some of the more unintelligible English accents.

- There are a number of shitty things in this game, the number one example being the menu system. First off, they make you spend WAY too much time inside the menus. The layout is terrible, equipment comparisons are a pain the ass, and it's just generally WORK to get anything done inside the menus. This also relates to the store because, again, equipment comparisons are really annoying, in addition to "buy" and "sell" being two separate conversation options instead of just separate tabs within the store itself. It's the little annoyances like this that really become a grind in a game that's supposedly 100+ hours before doing most of the crazy extra shit.

- Gem crafting (like most other games, gems gives you bonuses and you can slot them into equipment) is fucking weird, and honestly a bit stupid. By the time you start being able to craft your own gems you've got a million different Rank I materials. The problem is, neither the materials or the gems you make from them can be upgraded. When I started crafting, I already had about 20+ different Rank II gems that I got from completing quests, making every single Rank I gem or material in my inventory useless. Also because 2 of the same material may have slightly different qualities, they rarely stack. Basically this makes for a confusing amount of shit in your inventory that isn't even very useful. It almost seems like the sheer amount of shit you get is all smoke and mirrors to make the crafting process seem more complicated than it actually is.

- While I really like the battle system, there can be times where there is just way too much shit going on which makes it horribly confusing. Because the battles are action-based, you need to position yourself in relation to your enemy properly in order for your skills to be effective. The Back Slash skill, for instance, totally sucks unless you use it from behind the enemy. This isn't really a problem in the early going, but as the enemies get harder and the mobs get bigger, it becomes totally frantic. You're constantly trying to shift aggro to your warrior so you can position yourself to use your own skills effectively.

- Another thing that was just introduced for me and makes battles even MORE hectic is this whole "future vision" shit. Basically, if an enemy is about to use a skill that's going to kill or at least do massive damage to someone in your party, you get to view it before it happens, then a countdown timer starts. If you don't do something about it before the timer runs out, then the vision comes true and that person gets fucked up. When this shit starts happening in quick succession the battles just become a total mess.

Overall, the fun factor outweighs the annoying bits. It really is a massive game (I've apparently only scratched the surface... as I said above, supposedly just the normal story takes you past 100 hours of play time) with a shit-ton of stuff to do, it looks great, and it's just generally a lot of fun. They added just enough things inspired by western RPGs without totally shedding the JRPG feel.

I'd probably give it an 8.5/10. There's just enough annoying shit that it's not quite 9+ material, but it's still a really fun game, and if you have a Wii I would recommend it (plus, buying it reinforces to Nintendo that they should be bringing as many awesome RPGs as possible to NA).]]> AngryHippie AngryHippie Wed, 02 May 2012 13:43:26 -0400 3820 http://nnkgaming.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=3819
I've read a lot about this game, and it's only $20 on Steam so I've been thinking about picking it up.

It's basically a first-person survival horror where you can't actually DO anything except run away from the frightening shit you come across and cower in fear. As far as I can tell, your only item is a lantern which lights up a pretty limited circle around you. Apparently it's just really well done, and I've seen videos here and there of people recording their playthroughs and getting the shit scared out of them. The last game that truly made me uneasy was playing Silent Hill 2 in the dark with headphones on.

Any of you folks ever actually play this? And if so, what did you think?]]> AngryHippie AngryHippie Wed, 18 Apr 2012 16:20:19 -0400 3819 http://nnkgaming.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=3818 Pro AngryHippie Tue, 20 Mar 2012 03:23:33 -0400 3818 http://nnkgaming.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=3817
It is awesome. I'm sure most of you read enough previews to know the general idea of it, but I'll try to describe it anyway:

There's not much to it - the controls are limited to moving around, moving the camera, and then 2 actions.

As you wander around you sometimes meet up with other random people. Since you can't chat, it's fun to see how people try to communicate with each other. One of the actions you can do is to send out a tone - which has a normal, practical application - but can also be used to get other players' attention. I actually played about 90% of the game with a companion (not the same companion) - they tell you the PSN IDs of the people you played with after you finish the game. The main benefit of having a companion besides just the general fun factor is that when you're next to each other you both constantly regain health/power.

It is really short, but it looks amazing and is really fun. It mixes together some pretty standard gameplay elements in unique ways. Basically, I enjoyed the shit out of it. Probably do another run-through tonight when I get home.

Edit: It really reminds me of the Team Ico games in a lot of ways, and makes me more excited for The Last Guardian, whenever that ends up coming out.]]> AngryHippie AngryHippie Wed, 14 Mar 2012 10:25:23 -0400 3817 http://nnkgaming.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=3816 If so I have one easy question for you. How? ]]> ascii ascii Fri, 02 Mar 2012 08:39:34 -0500 3816 http://nnkgaming.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=3813
Happy birthday?
Hope you're drunk on scotch by now.
Happy diaper changing tomorrow.
xo
]]> -stev=o HareOfTheDog Tue, 17 Jan 2012 23:29:38 -0500 3813 http://nnkgaming.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=3812
- Saints Row 2 (Yes, 2): Good, boring after awhile, but retains the fun factor for this genre that GTA4 sorely lacked.

- inFamous 2: Great; I enjoyed the first one, though it also got boring after awhile. This one is polished as shit, and expands on the powers you already got in the first game (as opposed to starting you from scratch having to acquire them all again).

- Call of Duty: MW3: Good, amazing in terms of epic set pieces, but lost something from 2 - namely those quiet moments in between the explosive fights where the tension grows and you can sort of reflect on the previous mission while building anxious anticipation for the next. It's just over the top nonstop. There's no real cohesion to what you're actually doing because it drags you along so quickly. Seen as the finale of a 3-act story, though, it's incredible.

- Battlefield 3: Great. The style of the single player is exactly what I loved about MW2, but more focus on missions tying together and somewhat cleaner controls and navigation. I played the campaign twice already, and I'm itching to go back again.

- Dungeon Hunter: Alliance: Great. Dungeon crawler, pretty cheap on PSN. Hippie and I started a game one evening and played for 8 hours straight. Then another 4 the next day. VERY addictive. Downside: only 3 classes and not enough sleep.

In progress:

- El Shaddai: Ascent of the Metatron: Good so far. Very trippy.

- Shadow of the Colossus HD Remaster: Boing.

Lying in wait:

- Uncharted 3

- Ico HD remaster]]> Grudge Grudge Tue, 03 Jan 2012 15:16:49 -0500 3812 http://nnkgaming.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=3811 ]]> Squick -stev=o Sat, 24 Dec 2011 08:46:38 -0500 3811 http://nnkgaming.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=3810 ]]> ascii DiscoGodfather Fri, 16 Dec 2011 10:58:18 -0500 3810 http://nnkgaming.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=3809 Shaun’s nephew is 20 months old and is a little rocker. The kid loves music and grooves to Beastie Boys and the radio (bleh). Wanting to broaden his exposure, I saw Juno DVD’s on Amazon and thought they seemed neat. Ever heard of it?

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=bl_sr_toys-and...bin=Juno%20Baby

I'm trying to find something fun and not too annoying to the parental units. Are there toys or media your mini me's have taken to?




]]> DevilzKandi DiscoGodfather Thu, 15 Dec 2011 11:59:07 -0500 3809