As far as Diakatana goes, that is why I think it was a good game, because I remember it and I remember enjoying a lot of parts. I played through at least twice, the second time using just the daikatana (for the most part) because if you remember, the more you used it the more powerful it became. It was fun smashing through hordes of enemies with a powerful sword. The other weapons were good and varied. You could also level up your attributes as you went along. The mythical greece and midieval norway levels were beautiful imo. It was like 4 smaller games rolled into one. Once the patch was out, your teammates didn't get in the way and sometimes helped out. The voice acting was more stereotypical versus actually racist and I think they were trying to inject some humor into it. There were a lot of secret areas to be found. I could go on, but thats enough about diakatana.

I found some positive reviews about Duke Nukem Forever so it's not all bad reviews: (these seem more like my experiences)

http://www.gamefront.com/duke-nukem-forever-review/
http://gamers-underground.com/content/978-review-duke-nukem-forever.html
http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/06/10/duke-nukem-forever-review/

And I think I was grumpy because I had a reaction to a wasp sting on my wrist which swelled up my hand and wrist bad enough I had to go to the hospital that day. I also couldn't play any more Duke


>> ^ponceleon:

You know, I can tell you that the fundamental thing that comes to mind about Daikatana was that it was entirely forgettable. I've been an avid gamer since BEFORE the Commodore 64, I've played the greats and I think back to games which were contemporaries of Daikatana, say Deus Ex and I can tell you every last detail about that game. Now, if you ask me about Planescape: Torment, another game that predates Daikatana, I can go on and on about why that game was amazing. Despite having played through all of Daikatana, all I have in my mind is the vague impression of a horribly put together game, poor (and arguably racist) voice acting, terribly outdated graphics for when it was released, drab design, unimaginative writing and a lot of broken promises.
What I mean by that last part was that there was a LOT that was promised in the development of the game that never happened. What was it? I can't remember worth a damn and that's the point. It was a minor blip that didn't live up to 1/10th of what John Romero promised and it certainly didn't make me his bitch.
I get what you are trying to say about Duke though. Hell, I even agree that it is something we NEED to play. But after watching videos and reviews, I really don't think it is a fluke that it is coming in at 40/50% reviews (at best). Like I said in another post, that moment where they compare Duke to that annoying uncle you thought was hilarious when you were 8, but now just see as sad and really unimaginative.
Again, I'll stand by Gearbox as well. We all wanted to see this mess and they did the work to bring it to us.
As for feeling like Mr. Grumpypants, no worries, I think DNF has made us ALL Mr. Grumpypants this week.

I like this game a lot. I give it 78/100.

Magic is just damn fun, it's a blast.

@kceaton1 I'm level 22 and pure necro, I don't know what you're talking about waiting 5 minutes and necro being underpowered. If it's a minor fight, I just summon 1 or 2 skeles then blast my target with spectral magic, he dies fast. I finished all the arena challenges, and they were great, a lot of fun, just challenging enough after I levelled up a bit. For the final few arena challenges I would rush it start summoning like mad, summon 8 or 9 skeles then go to work with missiles. Mabe you haven't yet realized that you can stack the same cards on top of each other for lengthier summons, more summons and summons of a high level.

I really enjoyed that whole quest line with the crime boss and the chick and that guy mirage, and the tongue. By the end I was truly engrossed and was sad to see some characters leave you at the end of that quest line. There was not a single quest line that really engrossed me like that in Oblivion.

Anyways, I'm sure the ps3 version I'm playing is better than the pc version. The ps3's version has an interface that doesn't frustrate me at all, fast and easy to navigate.

I find the feeling of character progression in TW2 is better, in Oblivion, there's the mobs levelling with you problem and the lack of items which ends up with you having nothing to do by level 25 aside from finish the story and concoct spells at the Uni.

This game is an excellent way to get your fix until Skyrim.

I agree with dismissing magic, it was a very interesting system to screw with for quite a few levels, but once you know two magic schools the "hard" factor that was in the game initially (like forcing you, as a mage, to find high ground and develop some useful tactical spells) became a complete slaughter. Then if I summon 8 guys to defend me I might as well sit down until their timer wears out (summoning needed to be powerful, but with a much longer casting time, longer shelf life, and a "slot" system depending on what you summon).

Don't get me started on Earth magic being completely overpowered and buggy to hell and beyond.

The item system, while at first seems neat, but even by level ten you realize that every RPG I've ever played extended and amplified their item systems over time. In Two Worlds you can metallurgically upgrade it then add crystals/stones to it to enhance it. This would have allowed for an amazing system, but again they spent minimal time and effort doing it--so it sucks.

The A.I. is a mixed bag. They do well at first, but have HUGE clipping and line-of-sight issues (archers and mages are happy to stand behind a rock and shoot at you: hitting the rock. Then many enemies get stuck in planer or clipping joint areas that have small gaps and IT HAPPENS A LOT! Most engines have dealt with this issue in some form (as it's been ten plus years to learn how to stop them; programmers still screw it up; yes, I know the engine is complicated, but give me the same game on Crytek's engine and I'll be much happier)...

The trade skills are alright have a little promise with them at least starting in the right direction, but as you level up they become useless except for ones you can do on the fly (mostly, metallurgy and fusion).

The rest of what Yahtzee said is correct. The game is buggy. The multiplayer is a let down (where the hell is open roaming or campaign playthrough?) The spell system is terribly broken in some areas (I'm looking at you Fire and Earth) and weak in others: Necromancy or as I call it Necropansies--you're forced to learn another magic or you'll die, unless you really love summoning and waiting the required 5 minutes per fight for a MINOR fight... But, again, the spell card system with maybe Magickas combo system together would make spell-casting an AWESOME experience.

Anyway, I would only suggest this game if you desperately need an RPG to play. If you've yet to play Torchlight play that instead. Otherwise, get Bulletstorm as the comic value and writing (Duke Nukem type one-liners and more) make it worth buying alone.; I hope Duke can live up to this--if it has full Physics I think it will. BTW, the Unreal Engine sucks, bad... There are a lot of games I've liked on it and it looks pretty, but the physics and map abilities leaves A LOT to be desired, BUT it is also a good engine in the manner that it's easy to develop for and very flexible in what it can do (Deathspank is an excellent example; same with Dungeon Defenders on the iPad). At this point though it is by far more a console engine than a PC one.

/My two cents and review for Two Worlds II, with a small peppering of Unreal Engine talk that has nothing to do with the review...

//No grammar check just spell; Deal...

>> ^xxovercastxx:

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Skyrim
>> ^shuac:
And the leveling system will likely be the same as before. Mods will just as likely present a workaround.
They've already described the new leveling system. It will be skill-based but not class-limited. Leveling any skill contributes to your level.
Level-scaling is in effect on the main quest and can be implemented on certain side-quests. Generally, monsters and such are not supposed to be level-scaled. Level-scaled quests are supposed to "lock-in" when you start them. If you're getting your ass kicked, you can run away and level some more and return without everything in the dungeon having leveled-up with you.
Well shut my mouth!

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Skyrim

>> ^shuac:
And the leveling system will likely be the same as before. Mods will just as likely present a workaround.

They've already described the new leveling system. It will be skill-based but not class-limited. Leveling any skill contributes to your level.

Level-scaling is in effect on the main quest and can be implemented on certain side-quests. Generally, monsters and such are not supposed to be level-scaled. Level-scaled quests are supposed to "lock-in" when you start them. If you're getting your ass kicked, you can run away and level some more and return without everything in the dungeon having leveled-up with you.

>> ^Retroboy:

Honestly, for previous chapters, some of the mods were better. Oblivion suffered from a flaw that if you took your time and went exploring your character ended up being vastly sub-optimal if you didn't play a certain way that used all of your various skills equally so your stats could benefit the most when you levelled up. I made the mistake of enjoying the experience only to get swarmed by horribly imbalanced monsters during the main quest because I deferred it too long.
Some of the user-created mods did great job of correcting this, and one of the more comprehensive of them turned it into one of my favourite games ever - you actually benefitted from taking your time and doing the subquests.
All that being said, the video is stunning and I'll prolly buy a melt-down rig just to play this. But I really do hope they ditch their experience/power-gain be-perfectly-balanced-or-suffer-major-brownouts system in lieu of something like what was created by the user community and was more traditional.


This is the only info available about the leveling system in Skyrim, it was posted by a Bethesda rep:
“Since people are asking, wanted to briefly touch on level scaling. All our games have had some amount of randomness/leveling based on player level. Skyrim‘s is similar to Fallout 3‘s, not Oblivion‘s.”

If you want more info on whats new check this page:
http://www.gamesradar.com/pc/elder-scrolls-iv-oblivion-shivering-isles/news/elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-new-levelling-system-dual-wielding-non-rubbish-peop
le-octogenarian-swedes/a-20110110162156647080/g-20070105111946415055/c-1#10374492282513319008787750472981395

I plan on waiting for the first patch before i buy this game, Bethesda makes great games but they are always soo big that there's lots of bugs in them. Elder Scrolls II Daggerfall was the worst for bugs, but enjoyable enough to keep you playing!

Honestly, for previous chapters, some of the mods were better. Oblivion suffered from a flaw that if you took your time and went exploring your character ended up being vastly sub-optimal if you didn't play a certain way that used all of your various skills equally so your stats could benefit the most when you levelled up. I made the mistake of enjoying the experience only to get swarmed by horribly imbalanced monsters during the main quest because I deferred it too long.

Some of the user-created mods did great job of correcting this, and one of the more comprehensive of them turned it into one of my favourite games ever - you actually benefitted from taking your time and doing the subquests.

All that being said, the video is stunning and I'll prolly buy a melt-down rig just to play this. But I really do hope they ditch their experience/power-gain be-perfectly-balanced-or-suffer-major-brownouts system in lieu of something like what was created by the user community and was more traditional.

you pricked everyone by chasing the next level up. You made less people laugh by seconding a dupe without giving it time of exposure. Thats that. whatever gets ya to the next level though !

In reply to this comment by chicchorea:
If you prick us, do we not bleed?

If you tickle us, do we not laugh?


http://videosift.com/video/Bruce-Lee-is-REALLY-bad-at-interrogating-people:

In reply to this comment by BoneRemake:
Prolly hurt your feelings to know that I'd of done it if it was you as well
RULES IS RULES GUY. Why have rules if they are not enforced. first thing that popped into my head is overcasts snuff post... slippery slope I tell ya, slippery slope.


>> ^BoneRemake:

Buncha pricks at the redirect. thats you two. PRICKS. PRICK 1 AND PRICK 2. COULD NOT GIVE IT A COUPLE HOURS.

I've seen little in WoW that has surprised me. There are a few things here and there, but it really is a game copied from another game that, that game copied from yet another and then they polished it. And..as The Mythbusters proved you can polish a turd; so taking this old-outdated-prehistoric-you-get-the-point concept of go fetch times 5 per level and go gather times 5 per level plus the times 5 per level go kill stuff -- this is WoW's main feature o'fun and is the core to leveling.

The items are okay, some quests are awesome: there's a Plants vs. Zombies type quest that is well done and VERY refreshing, some of the NEW new newbie areas (goblins and furry humans) have great opening quests and have "phases" which are essentially instances "on the run" -- you don't notice it load and others don't know your in it unless they're grouped -- essentially a personal instance, there are a few "red pill" vs. "blue pill" such as making you realize you need to jump off a cliff to complete it, some of the class specific are great due to their obvious care and attention to detail in teaching you how to play your class effectively (the rogue has some of these that are a joy to play), etcetera -- oh wait, there isn't really much beyond that except instances, raids, and "PvP".

Instances can be great with your buddies and when the group size is a nice manageable size, but the fact they don't have randomized group size and level based dungeons is ridiculous, with this much time having passed. The fact that some of the boss fights start of at super hard and never bother to ramp up is stupid (as wiping should minimized to affect only idiots; trust me it doesn't matter if everyone has l33t gear, everyone should have the chance to have a character they feel is special and a force to be reckoned with). Where the hell are unique, non-soulbinding items; i.e., there are these "named" (I know they've made a few, laughable, *requires a raid* to get the guild leader the super item, which means you've got a better chance to win the lottery if you're an average player ) items that could be made into the thousands available (non-soulbinding so that they can be sold on the auction house -- which would fight gold-farmers and allow ANY player to get: THE GOODS) that drop once per server and have a 100% chance of being found for everyone...?

I could go on, but I think my point is made. There is little thought going into game creation and mechanics. Everyone stole from the MUDS, Ultima Online, and what little originality Everquest had; and no-one ever looked back. I know it will take some hard work to make a NEW TYPE of MMO that isn't guaranteed to be a slight upgrade in graphics, item crafting, or *pick your one "special" thing* the next MMO does...

So many of the current crop of MMO's have their own original and great ideas. If it would be sifted through and made into a "best of all worlds" (which is what WoW did, but they left in aggro which is a HUGE disservice to ALL players) we might get something unique and great; it would only need expansions as the core would not need much change ever (unless the engine becomes the "hindrance" to development).

Right now the aggro system n e e d s t o g o . It's archaic and mystifyingly still used though it was made for games that couldn't handle AI running (Ultima Online, Everquest,etc...) full-blast. But, with the power servers have available plus the bandwidth and the users' computer this should be a very easily solved or solvable issue. Second, comes two things that walk hand in hand: dungeons and loot. I addressed both above and what I propose should solve a lot; but imagine semi-random dungeons created that lead to great cities (very doable just from what I've seen in Warhammer and WoW's "phasing"), think: D&D's Forgotten Realms - Undermountain™, anything approaching something that massive would be equal to creating a dungeon the size of the world map, but every-time you enter you procedurally move forward to a new creation (so if you join a party your "dungeons" join to make a "seed" that is unique to those to characters. I'll stop there as it would into full-on programming techniques that aren't used either because of the complexity, non-skill, or doubt that they can make a "performance" acceptable version. Items have just as much ability to be enhanced (their own level-ups with skills, AI weapons, vehicular type, etc...).

Quests are the last concern. Fetch should only be around if you're character is going there anyway. Collection type quests should ONLY be used if you are keeping some of said items and are useful in some way. Hero quests do need to teach you to be a better "x = your class + type of class + modifiers", using instances or "phasing" (which I like more as I hate load screens). Quests need to have an main-arch that branches, but it needs to available to even the solo player; not the 60 man raid (which is a joke in the first place). Quests need to be rich in diversity: send, fetch, lead, fight, find, steal, games, test, challenge, dungeon, redemption, vengeance/wrath, ability, skill, un-lockable/lockable, class, species/race, race/time, item, creation, destruction, defend, follow, help, should I keep listing....?

I hope the programmers, I don't really care who hits the trump card first (although a low monthly cost team would be nice), figure this out. As it is getting boring even though there is "more" to do, how it's presented in WoW makes me less inclined to get involved, because it requires dedication and at that point, as he pointed out is almost as fun as shooting yourself.

As @MilkmanDan points out there is a lot of content that I don't use and at the lower levels I believe this to be fine as you'll make a mage, a shaman, a warrior, etc... Doing the same quest over and over is terrible. However, much of the high level content you CAN see, but you'll never get the riches (lottery again) and doing THE SAME EXACT DUNDEON 30 times to find that one head piece is ridiculous -- that is their idea of fun "high-end" content. F*%K YOU! This is all due to the notion (and I believe you see this in action at the auction houses, if you can compare the past to present) of inflation; the numbers go higher for the sake of going higher -- if it's higher it's better, right?!?. I'm better due to a number increase and I'll add to that number continually, mainly, because as is said above I'm now level 10 and no longer 5. I want the numbers to be in a "set" range so that you know, whenever you find or get something new, immediately how this new addition (or subtraction) will affect you. (Ultima Online got that partially correct and it made fighting on their a unique experience, STILL, although Warhammer Online uses a set number of action points instead of mana so it has a fun PvP experience, but ultimately fails due to the level problem. Oh and PvP is a joke as level and gear are the deciding issues in battle (which is funny as the winners get the better gear, thus making them win more and you can see where that goes...) and as long as you aren't stupid your talent specs (you really can't screw this up anymore as Blizzard decided that you can only go down one tree at a time rather than all three, until you've got talent point 32).

I'll stop there as I'm getting nauseated talking about this much (which is a lot). But, this is my view point on almost any RPG. Why is it so hard to make a fun system -- it seems obvious how to go after these issues. I think they're (the programmers and publishers) are lost in the woods with 100 foot tall pines and I'm on a outcrop that can see over the forest -- I see them occasionally, but even if I yelled (and I've made some of these points before) they'd still never gather a clue of what I mean. Or as it's usually said at this point:

"I'm afraid you can't see the forest for the trees."...

Damn, that was long, phew (hopefully a programmer reads it -- or I'll just cut & paste ) !

That is exactly the problem that I have with most modern RPGs, and nearly every MMO. You get better numbers for the simple sake of getting better numbers. Every enemy that you face has numbers that go up at a rate proportional to the rate yours are going up. When you are level 1, you have 100 health and enemies hit you for 10 damage. When you are level 4, you have 400 health and enemies hit you for 40 damage.

Every piece of "content" that the developers create is made pointless and obsolete by the time you've leveled up 3-4 times. If RPG game-world development was centered around a "leveling" system wherein your character was, at most, 2-3 times more powerful (by the numbers) at the maximum level as you were at the starting level, they could instead concentrate on creating a game world with no level-gated content. Different areas and enemies might require different approaches or styles to conquer, rather that area X only being worth going into if you happen to be from level 10-15, and area Y only being worth going into if you happen to be from level 15-20.

Is this because of the blizzard and stocking up on needed food and goods beforehand?

/You could do a re-mix with Mario & Luigi, because they've got most of the problems here (or could have; maybe even a Airplane! version). For the friends in jail just use Bowser and Wario as they both are friend'lier, but still find time to get the next Nintendo title out the door.

//Good cover though and once again I'm forced to up vote gwiz665, who spent all of his levels up in force powers in upvotes for anything Internet(z). So far the range seems to be slightly off of the California coast, but extends farther over land--there are a shitload of video upvotes from Juárez, Mexico and Omaha, Nebraska--go figure.

>> ^Xaielao:

Lol quite funny. To bad the game sucks just as bad as the original did.


The game is definitely worth a playthrough if you like Star Wars in any fashion. It's basically, Star Wars *with the force powers over the top), a well written story and plot that fits into the mythos (except for the powers, but that's part of the fun).

It's more of an action-RPG for those wondering if they should play it. You level up (decide what powers/ attack combos/ and passive skills to put up), get to find hidden accessories for your lightsaber (let you deal more damage with force powers, more damage with your lightsaber, conserve "force stamina", etc...), and it has two endings going for it.

The story is better than the prequels... Even though it's straightforward and simplistic at times, it will make you play enough to get to the next story outro/intro. It sold a LOT of copies and was highly reviewed. But, I would listen to the gamers on this one as it's a platinum seller just on the XBox-360.

P.S.- I'm talking purely about the first "Unleashed". But, considering what I saw in the demo for the second, I'd guess that I'll be expecting the same quality/stuff plus the story is continued... The combat seemed far more "cleaner" in the "TFU:2" demo as well.

-- People have different tastes and expectations. Just turn the difficulty all the way up (it'll force you to learn good tactics and combo usage). I'd take "The Force Unleashed" anytime compared to: Halo:Anything, Gears of War: 2, Final Fantasy VIII-XIV, any EA Sports game, MoH 2-x^n, etc...

-- I'm not trying to be dismissive @Xaielao, but I thought I should do the very least of posting my completely different viewpoint. I also, got the game for ten dollars. So that helps.

>> ^shagen454:

I think some people in order to get into WoW just need to relax and smoke some ganja. Not even joking. The art direction, sound, ambiance, flow is all masterfully done and when you're starting out you might need to be a bit mind-altered enough to really see and feel that vibe.
Blizzard definitely worked on the patience aspect though - both BC & Wrath introduced lots of small quests that did not result in 30-40 minute grindfests making the game more satisfying. They also reduced the amount of experience needed to level up so it's much quicker to level up. The instances at this point aren't as satisfying as they used to be - not as much CC - but at level 80 a PUG will stomp right through the instance which may satisfy some. With the new expansion they will be reintroducing key CC situations which will be interesting.
I never really got into EQ. I did play EQ for a little but I thought that that was a "grindfest" and after coming from UO it didn't feel as free... you couldn't have pirate ship wars.


Not to mention the fact that this "Cataclysm" is a chance for them to remake the world. A lot of the grind of leveling in WoW was the boring quests, although they weren't bad for the time they weren't fantastic. Now Blizzard has learned a lot and as we can see from Wrath they can make leveling really fun. So that's what they're doing with the old world...changing it completely, new quests, new antagonists should be whats most appealing to people who like to level up alts.

I think some people in order to get into WoW just need to relax and smoke some ganja. Not even joking. The art direction, sound, ambiance, flow is all masterfully done and when you're starting out you might need to be a bit mind-altered enough to really see and feel that vibe.

Blizzard definitely worked on the patience aspect though - both BC & Wrath introduced lots of small quests that did not result in 30-40 minute grindfests making the game more satisfying. They also reduced the amount of experience needed to level up so it's much quicker to level up. The instances at this point aren't as satisfying as they used to be - not as much CC - but at level 80 a PUG will stomp right through the instance which may satisfy some. With the new expansion they will be reintroducing key CC situations which will be interesting.

I never really got into EQ. I did play EQ for a little but I thought that that was a "grindfest" and after coming from UO it didn't feel as free... you couldn't have pirate ship wars.

>> ^westy:

This game is a DUMP ,
Lag , Pore Graphics , Grind game play ,
Most people that play wow only play it because they are hooked on the level up system not the intrinsic game play, you can get about 40 hours of game play out of wow after that its pure grind , and the game play that you can get out of it is pritty pore.
I think it will take maby another 10-15 years before the technoligy is there to make an MMORPG that is actualy good.
At with whats avalable to the developers at the moment its like trying to make a Wedding cake out of 1 cube of choculet and a bag of flawwer.


I really should just give up trying to read your posts.