Baal Backlog: New Poll

Shut Up and Jam Posts : 26828 Joined : 2008-07-31 Age : 32

So I have recently realized I have too many fucking games and have a habit of never finishing any. So I need you dudes to pick my games for me here and there. Some of these I've started, some I have not. I want to play through a lot of my games and it's going to piss me off if I can't get through enough of them.

I also have a stream where sometimes I stream just to give me reason to play through certain games. I am always buying new games and playing them, so don't expect to ever run out of shit. I also watch other things while I'm playing games, so you can definitely be sure I'll have something to say for every time.

Spoiler:

Game	Comments	Date Completed
	I have not played an Assassin's Creed game for quite a while. Brotherhood was the last one I played and I borrowed it from a friend two years ago and hadn't really played Revelations. Many of the reviews I have heard of it said it was dull, didn't change much and felt kind of pointless and I have to say I agree. The game has changed nothing and made very few worthwhile additions. The bombs added to the game are unnecessary flair for what is supposed to be a master assassin, I never used them outside of when the story requires me to. About the online time I enjoyed using them was terrorizing the citizens of Istanbul and I get punished for doing that, so yeah. The extra segments to the game that essentially are minigames are boring as hell. The first one you do is a chariot battle and it's very unintuitive, the chariot moves everywhere and so slowly and getting caught in rocks which you are always near is enough to make it luck based. There's another one near the end of the game, but it goes on for far too long and gets insanely stupid when parachutes are brought into it. The gameplay in general just feels really slow when I'm using anything but the hidden blades. Navigating around the city feels nice again too, except it gets really aggravating having to do it constantly when going from point A to point B, which is a lot of the time. There are some missions in this game that just shouldn't exist with this sort of thing, like tailing informants WHICH TAKES FUCKING FOREVER. On the subject of the story it feels very... pointless. I dunno what to say beyond that. It's a chapter in Ezio's life that you don't really need to experience, his character is better but there's nothing really wrong with his character come Brotherhood. This game introduces his love interest who's... a nice lady, I guess? She really didn't leave that much of an impression on me and the plot twists were overall pretty easy to predict. All of the Desmond stuff seemed to be pretty unimportant and boring? Like they just drop Desmond's dad and Subject 16 into the story like I'm supposed to immediately figure out who these guys are until someone says their names? What? Did a miss something from Brotherhood here? We didn't even know what 16 looked like until this game. In summary it's not a bad game, it's just really boring and doesn't do much to change up the formula of the previous two games before it. It's willing to remain stagnant which is enough to damn it. Just because you have a good system going on doesn't give you the right to think you just can't change any future games. Hopefully AC3 will be better whenever I get around to that.	11/20/13

First things first, I had a lot of time playing this game on a consistent basis when I bought it two years ago. It was so cool, so interesting, but I could not play it for an extensive amount of time, because I would get tired of tossing in about an hour or so of work and making no progress. The same happened again when I finally spent a day finishing, but I didn't put it down and kept pushing forward. This is a HARD game, it will lie, cheat, and fuck you out of everything single thing you think you've learned and then do it some more, which is part of the reason why it's so great. It's a legitimate challenge and you must play by the rules it plays by (AKA None) or you will be killed a myriad of times.

Part of the thing I learned about the game is it welcomes several playstyles. No bosses are outright undefeatable because you decided you wanted to specialize in melee or magic, anything goes. So long as you can run your enemy through with the same ruthlessness they showed you, you can win. The most terrifying thing about the game though is the bosses are not the toughest part, no it's the regular enemies. They can be in so many different patterns, but they will always remain in the same pattern, you'd think that means you're able to plan around this, which you are but if your plan is even slightly off, they will end you. It is ruthless, it is unforgiving, it is not fair, it is Demon's Souls.

The combat is very deliberately meticulous, there's no depth to what you can actually do, it's not like other action rpgs. You have a set number of things you can do and you have to use those abilities to your benefit and find a way to also be wary of the environment because there are things in that too that can hurt you. It's a game that requires a lot of thinking, meticulous planning, and scumbag tactics. It's a lot of fun too, but it's really to get disheartened with constant failures and to be honest the game really slows down when you get to the final section of each of the worlds and even the last boss is kind of a let down. Still a great game though, I'd recommend it to people who want games that force them to think more about what they do.

11/23/13

Okay, so I like Rockstar and they genuinely try to do something different with every game they make. GTA in general has changed with basically every new game, Bully was a fun little game that put you in an area of rules and allowed you to wreak as much havoc as a teenager in some high school possibly could, and Red Dead Redemption was an awesome love letter to all kinds of Westerns with great shooting mechanics and just letting you do everything in those movies. LA Noire is very obviously them showing their love for detective stories, although the problem is I don't think Rockstar understands how to make their detective story very compelling or even fun to play.

A big problem I have with this game is the fact that it's 80% dialogue. The meat of the game is spent interrogating suspects and that would be fine if it were interesting or even fun to do. ...It is not. The interrogation mechanic works in such a bizarre way, at no point are you able to really gauge if the right response to a situation is actually the right response just from word choice. It's only obvious when it's very obvious from what the person said, if they say something vague then it can be either the truth or they're lying, but it's very hard to tell so you have to watch their facial movements. BUT WAIT, the facial movements are so fucking inconsistent in how much they change it's impossible to gauge what is standard as the truth or doubtful. It doesn't help that no matter what Cole doesn't really react the way I wanted him to from the choice I made.

Investigating scenes is also a giant chore as the game relies on the music ramping up as you get closer to important pieces of evidence, however there is so much shit lying around crime scenes sometimes that it's difficult to tell what is what and the music is so obnoxious that I just start channeling it out because it annoyed me and it became harder to investigate. There is only one crime I was really interested in and it involved a murder, a shame really as the last case of the first part of the game involved an attempted murder but it was boring as fuck because it involved the politics of rich people and I know no one playing a game about being a detective gives a fuck about that.

The actual story isn't interesting either as it's just a constant stream of cases that are unrelated to each other. The characters are pretty fucking boring too, Cole is about the most robotic protagonist I've seen in a Rockstar game, he doesn't seem human. He's so analytical about everything which is fair, but I can't be interested in anything he does because he never reacts to fucking anything, he only ever raises his tone to get information. A good indication of how much Cole sucks is when his wife is brought up in casual conversation and he doesn't even talk about her in more than a passing tone, like he's not even interested in his own fucking marriage. I can't play this game anymore, I'm done. I might come back to in the future, but right now no.

Suspended
12/27/13

I haven't played a Twisted Metal in years. The last one I remembered playing was Twisted Metal Black which I remember being very enjoyable, but again it's been a long time. I've been hoping that combat car games would go back in to void at some point and with Sonic Racing being super good and now hearing that Twisted Metal is actually pretty good, I decided to give it a shot. So first thing when I start up the game, it has a really obnoxious main theme and I never want to hear it again.

So playing the story mode was weird. Mostly because I did not expect to get an actual story that focused on characters and was expecting just batshit crazy insanity. It was insane too, but I was not expecting to know the name of Sweet Tooth's driver at the end of this all. So the story is based around three drivers: Needles Kane, Mr. Grimm, and Dollface. All of the stories have some semblance of insane murderous shit happening to them with Mr. Grimm's being the tamest. I am really happy the story is relatively short, because man what's here does not need any more focus. That's not to say the story is so good it doesn't need more, that's saying that the story is so fucking violent and crazy it has the perfect amount in there for what it is. Especially with Calypso fucking every single person he grants wishes for over in increasingly ridiculous ways.

The actual gameplay took me a bit to get used to. I don't remember Twisted Metal being this difficult to get a hold on or my car being sent flying whenever a larger truck hit it, but I did start enjoying the insane physics the more I played. It adds a lot to the charm that you can be sent flying 40 feet by a semi running into you at high speeds. I especially enjoyed using some of the meatier vehicles, because it meant I got to do a lot of that. Just blowing shit up with weapons feels pretty good and being able to do it while pinning them down and chasing them is also a lot of fun. The general chaos of the game just works in its favor, the game doesn't pretend to have anything deeper or meaningful in its gameplay, you just blow shit up and you either like blowing it up or don't. About the only problems I have with the game is the races not being handled well since the game engine is clearly not meant for racing, so it leads to awkward shit happening. The boss battles are also not very well thought out, especially the final boss.

Though for what this is I enjoyed it and would not mind a sequel with more stuff.

12/30/13

I have been playing MegaTen (Megami Tensei) games since what seems to be like... 2006? My first one was Digital Devil Saga 2 and man did I love it. I was about 14 though so I can't say I really understood it, but I am happy I played it. It was very tough, especially the later parts and the end dungeon is really tiring and long, but man it had some cool designs and the gameplay had a ton of great mechanics and it just felt good to level up mantra and shit, IT WAS GREAT. The thing I've always liked about MegaTen games is they never feel like they're holding your hand, you get everything you need to know in the opening, anything you learn or do from there on out is on you. Of course this differentiates depending on the game, but the same truth remains in most of them.

SMTIV is actually the fifth main SMT game in the series, Strange Journey does actually count as one. Thankfully unlike Strange Journey, SMTIV's gameplay is based entirely in its core mechanics, the game of Darwin. Eat or Be Eaten, strategy is a big focus in this game, there's not as much room for tactical maneuverability in this game as there was in some others should your plan go south. If your plan gets screwed, you might as well restart the fight or hope you can find a hanging point otherwise you will be killed.

You get control of your main character and any demons you convince to join you or fuse. Now the big thing that's different from other games is that your level only matters for what demons you want to fuse, of course while your stats do matter there is no endurance stat. So this effectively makes it so everything is on the same level in terms of what they can get hurt by and how much they can get hurt, this means you could take down a level 70 boss with about a Level 25 team of demons provided you plan accordingly. You must kill everything as soon as possible, enemies do too much damage for you to really afford dawdling around. The longer a fight goes on, the higher your chances are of losing. I love this system because it encourages you to not mess around and to get shit done.

The game is however really long, like there's a ton of sidequests and my Neutral playthrough took me almost 90 hours to do. Thankfully you are able to transfer everything in a new game plus if you choose, but that initial playthrough is gonna take a lot of dedication. The story and characters are VERY subjective in how you will react to them. They have nowhere near the depth that Persona characters do or even the DDS characters, you get a basic outline of who they are depending on which route you choose you will get more depth on the characters specific to that route. Unfortunately this game also features the most egregious example of chaos and law being complete shits so if you want an alignment that isn't Darwinism or Instrumentality, you WILL be putting effort into getting that Neutral alignment.

Despite its flaws, I love SMTIV, it's really been a while since I've played a new MegaTen game that did a great job of not only having meaty mechanics, but also giving me enough to keep going on and wanting to see everything through to the end. I'm gonna definitely play this some more on my own time, I really recommend it to people who don't mind having long games.

1/16/14

Subject: Re: Baal Backlog: New Poll Thu Nov 07, 2013 2:26 am

Play Revelations because it might motivate me to actually continue playing it.

Subject: Re: Baal Backlog: New Poll Thu Nov 07, 2013 2:58 am

Bioshock should take less time than the rest, go for that. Personally I'd just write off Asscreed but you might not be as tired of the series as I am.

Subject: Re: Baal Backlog: New Poll Thu Nov 07, 2013 1:34 pm

revelations was the last good creed, also if you're just trying to complete the game & dont give a shit about trophies/ 100% etc then start with that.. ive never played origins before but i heard its very short.. demons souls needs a lot of attention (and probably a spare controller)

anyways revelations is my pick

Subject: Re: Baal Backlog: New Poll Thu Nov 07, 2013 2:29 pm

Disgaea 4 because its a brilliant franchise and you should play it.

Shut Up and Jam Posts : 26828 Joined : 2008-07-31 Age : 32

Assassin's Creed Revelations it is.

Subject: Re: Baal Backlog: New Poll Sat Nov 09, 2013 3:44 pm

Are you going to do a write up and express your thoughts on these games?

Shut Up and Jam Posts : 26828 Joined : 2008-07-31 Age : 32

Yes.

Also I started playing Revelations and Subject 16, this guy literally just pops out of nowhere as far as I remember. I don't think 16's appearance was ever shown before this game unless I'm forgetting something.

Live Free or Don't Posts : 22124 Joined : 2008-08-01

Subject #16 was mentioned in the first game and he was the guy inside the glyph puzzles in AC2. I can't remember what his role was in Brotherhood. But yeah, in Revelations he just pops up and whines the whole time.

Shut Up and Jam Posts : 26828 Joined : 2008-07-31 Age : 32

No, I know 16's existed and been built up as some dude who's eaten shit, but hell he just pops up at the start of Revelations. No fanfare whatsoever and I'm pretty sure his appearance was never actually shown before this which makes it even more polarizing.

Also, holy shit why does the combat feel so slow?

Shut Up and Jam Posts : 26828 Joined : 2008-07-31 Age : 32

There's really no reason to use anything other than the Dual Hidden Blades, is there?

Subject: Re: Baal Backlog: New Poll Sun Nov 10, 2013 5:49 am

What's the last AC game you played? I think the ability to chain instakills was added in Brotherhood so I dunno why Revs. would be slower. Maybe you're just used to games with better combat.

Shut Up and Jam Posts : 26828 Joined : 2008-07-31 Age : 32

The last one I played was Brotherhood, but admittedly it's been about two years since I've played an AC game and my patience for slow combat has probably lessened since then. Anyways I've been playing more of the game and I really... don't know what's supposed to be happening here. Like, I know Desmond's mind got fucked because of the Apple, but why is he just reliving memories? Is any of this actually important or is this basically a filler game? I also think this is Ezio's most generic story so far because his goal isn't revenge nor is it fighting off a crazy man who wants revenge on him, it's a video game goal, find five keys to unlock the secret tomb.

Hell, I don't even really like the bombs that much, they're enough to cause a bit of chaos, but there's no real reason to use them since nothing really poses a threat and this game has very linear stealth.

Live Free or Don't Posts : 22124 Joined : 2008-08-01

I just used the hidden blades and throwing knives for the whole game ignored all the new stuff. Ezio's story actually improves a lot. It's the only game where I liked him.

Subject: Re: Baal Backlog: New Poll Mon Nov 11, 2013 6:13 pm

A_Nonny_Moose wrote:: I just used the hidden blades and throwing knives for the whole game ignored all the new stuff. Ezio's story actually improves a lot. It's the only game where I liked him.

Same, but i did like the hook dealie.

Shut Up and Jam Posts : 26828 Joined : 2008-07-31 Age : 32

Yusuf seems like a cool dude so far. I'm not really digging this key collection thing, but now that the game has opened up more I'm enjoying myself a bit. I like these Altair parts quite a bit too, but like it feels they're trying to humanize Altair more than they should be.

Shut Up and Jam Posts : 26828 Joined : 2008-07-31 Age : 32

I'm in Sequence 7 now and this story still doesn't really seem to have gone much of anywhere. I mean, I liked a few of the story twists like Tarik wasn't actually working with the Templars and Altair losing Maria, but most of this has honestly been pretty middling. Sofia feels like a pretty boring character and I'm sure her and Ezio are going to marry each other so that just makes it even more dull.

Also, why the fuck do tailing missions return? Does anyone like these missions where you have to follow around some schmuck as he's faffing about his daily routine? On the subject of missions, do only the story missions contain actual story content or is there any side stuff I should do after I finish the story?

Shut Up and Jam Posts : 26828 Joined : 2008-07-31 Age : 32

Finished the story mode, apparently there's extra Desmond stuff. Is any of that necessary or can I just move on to the vote for the next game?

I'll do a write up of my opinion whenever I'm definitely done with this game.

EDIT: Fuck it, I'm gonna say I'm done here. I haven't really cared enough for the game to do extra stuff I'll just read a summary of what this is.

Subject: Re: Baal Backlog: New Poll Wed Nov 20, 2013 8:38 pm

Baal wrote:: Finished the story mode, apparently there's extra Desmond stuff. Is any of that necessary or can I just move on to the vote for the next game?

I'll do a write up of my opinion whenever I'm definitely done with this game.

EDIT: Fuck it, I'm gonna say I'm done here. I haven't really cared enough for the game to do extra stuff I'll just read a summary of what this is.

In the DLC, you find out the blonde lady was a triple agent so Desmond killing her at the end of Brotherhood was a good thing.

EDIT: Don't waste your time with 3 until you got excess time its crap. The plot is also dumb and the game is glitchy as fuck.

You should now go play disgaea.

Shut Up and Jam Posts : 26828 Joined : 2008-07-31 Age : 32

Alright, comments on Revelations are up and the poll has two days on it, get to voting.

Subject: Re: Baal Backlog: New Poll Wed Nov 20, 2013 9:11 pm

There were movies between the games they may have revealed who those guys were.

Shut Up and Jam Posts : 26828 Joined : 2008-07-31 Age : 32

That's some really important stuff to be leaving for supplementary material.

Subject: Re: Baal Backlog: New Poll Thu Nov 21, 2013 2:14 am

Voted Demon's Souls because the game is awesome.

Subject: Re: Baal Backlog: New Poll Thu Nov 21, 2013 3:13 am

Guess I won't be playing revelations any time soon then. Voted for The Wolf Among Us as it seems pretty cool.

Shut Up and Jam Posts : 26828 Joined : 2008-07-31 Age : 32

Just FYI, I've already started a few of these games and ended up putting them on the backburner for a good year or so. Demon's Souls is one of those games where I've actually made quite a fair bit of progress, but have awful habits of trying to commit to it. I've also started Disgaea 4 but only gotten past the first chapter and SMTIV I'm probably halfway into.

If you feel I shouldn't put games I've started on the list please tell me and I will change it, I'm mostly just putting things I haven't started/finished so I can finally get it over with.

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