What are you playing?

[kelsoanim]

So for some reason I decided to pick up Xenoblade Chronicles and Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate on the same weekend. So long free time...

Loving both games, they both have that loot thing going that always gets me hooked. Xenoblade Chronicles' combat system is amazing. More and more layers and options keep getting added. I really feel like I can make decisions to change the tide of battles.

Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate is the first Monster Hunter I've put a lot of time into and I think I finally get it. I am playing with the Switch Axe and it has the right kind of feel and abilities for me I think. Haven't hunted a boss type monster yet but I'm doing pretty good so far. Can't wait to fight my first big baddy.

[Menegrothx]

Just about to kill the final boss in Lunar Silver Star Story. I'm also playing Sanitarium, collecting 150 diamonds on all the levels in Klonoa: Door to Phantomile and about to start playing Transarctica.

I'm doing something I don't usually do: playing two games at once. Dishonored and Oblivion. I'm loving both so far. I didn't have much expectations for Oblivion seeing as I hated Morrowind, but they did a much better job on this one. It's far more polished and accessible.

Oblivion is the worst in the series

[s1mplehumar]

Fired up my dusty AGS-101 SP for some Minish Cap again. I'm trying out this official Zelda Timeline thing.

Lunch breaks with Project X Zone. And of course Pinball Arcade on PS3/Vita...always.

[BurningDoom]

Just about to kill the final boss in Lunar Silver Star Story. I'm also playing Sanitarium, collecting 150 diamonds on all the levels in Klonoa: Door to Phantomile and about to start playing Transarctica.

I'm doing something I don't usually do: playing two games at once. Dishonored and Oblivion. I'm loving both so far. I didn't have much expectations for Oblivion seeing as I hated Morrowind, but they did a much better job on this one. It's far more polished and accessible.

Oblivion is the worst in the series

Well, it has a 94 out of 100 score on Metacritic and it's sold into millions upon millions of units, even going as far as winning Game of the Year.

That speaks volumes about the game. You are definetly in the minority.

[BoneSnapDeez]

I'm not crazy about Oblivion, but it's 100 times better than Daggerfall. Never tried Arena, not sure I want to.

[Menegrothx]

Well, it has a 94 out of 100 score on Metacritic and it's sold into millions upon millions of units, even going as far as winning Game of the Year.

That speaks volumes about the game. You are definetly in the minority.

How surprising, a game that was dumbed down&casualized in order to sell more copies sold more copies than the previous game.
Besides the game mechanics and writing, I'd argue that Morrowind also had superioir world (more intresting), but that's a more subjective thing and harder to argue.

I hope I don't even have to bother explaining why equating Metacritic score with quality is a stupid thing to do.

I'm not crazy about Oblivion, but it's 100 times better than Daggerfall. Never tried Arena, not sure I want to.

Arena and Daggerfall were released in 1994 and 1996, they were far more limited by contemporary hardware. You can't judge a NES game with SNES standards. Morrowind was evolution, Oblivion was devolution.

[Jmustang1968]

Well, it has a 94 out of 100 score on Metacritic and it's sold into millions upon millions of units, even going as far as winning Game of the Year.

That speaks volumes about the game. You are definetly in the minority.

How surprising, a game that was dumbed down&casualized in order to sell more copies sold more copies than the previous game.
Besides the game mechanics and writing, I'd argue that Morrowind also had superioir world (more intresting), but that's a more subjective thing and harder to argue.

I hope I don't even have to bother explaining why equating Metacritic score with quality is a stupid thing to do.

I'm not crazy about Oblivion, but it's 100 times better than Daggerfall. Never tried Arena, not sure I want to.

Arena and Daggerfall were released in 1994 and 1996, they were far more limited by contemporary hardware. You can't judge a NES game with SNES standards. Morrowind was evolution, Oblivion was devolution.

I think 'dumbed down' is over used when often it is streamlining. As much as I love the old PC RPG classics, they are filled with unnecessary tedium. Some of the new games do a good job of balancing that, which you seem to have no appreciation for.

The old D&D PC RPGs were helped and limited by the D&D license and ruleset. You would get tons of worthless skills and spells and many mechanics that did not always translate well.

Too often in this debate you state your opinions on the differences between the 2 as facts. I can certainly appreciate you preferring the older PC RPGs over the new ones. I do in some ways as well, but the news ones are not terrible games nor is it some known or well established truth that they are.

[brunoafh]

I have recently finished the first Viewtiful Joe and now, I'm on Viewtiful Joe 2. Loving the series so far!

You should totally check out God Hand. It's a bit different, but it's by the same studio and it's another crazy take on the beat em up genre heavy on comedy. It's in many ways a parody of the genre and games as a whole, but it's got one of the most unique personalities of any game I've ever played and it's just fun as hell. It's very difficult though, far more than Viewtiful Joe even. It's rising in price but not too outrageously, I think the current going rate is well worth the one of a kind experience.

Awesome music too.

[BurningDoom]

Well, it has a 94 out of 100 score on Metacritic and it's sold into millions upon millions of units, even going as far as winning Game of the Year.

That speaks volumes about the game. You are definetly in the minority.

How surprising, a game that was dumbed down&casualized in order to sell more copies sold more copies than the previous game.
Besides the game mechanics and writing, I'd argue that Morrowind also had superioir world (more intresting), but that's a more subjective thing and harder to argue.

I hope I don't even have to bother explaining why equating Metacritic score with quality is a stupid thing to do.

It was more than just the metacritic score that was pointed out. It was also sales numbers, and critical acclaim that was pointed out. Game of the Year means that the critics loved it. A good Metacritic score means that website and magazine reviews were across the board positive. And high sales means that it was a popular among the average gamer.

A combination of all 3, again, speaks volumes about the game.

[Menegrothx]

Any one here with model 2 Sega CD and Lunar Silver Star Story? My game freezes when I try to enter another room if the music stops playing. It happens in some places - like at the boss battle with Xenobia. Since she dies after the music has looped, I get stuck in the battle over screen after I defeat her. Any idea how to circumvent this? In the few places where this has halted my progression before (the mining town and one of the dragon caves), I could just save in front of a door way, reset the game and I'd have plenty of time to make my exit. But since this is a boss fight, my only choice is to nuke her down faster than the song ends, I'm not sure if that's possible.

I think 'dumbed down' is over used when often it is streamlining. As much as I love the old PC RPG classics, they are filled with unnecessary tedium. Some of the new games do a good job of balancing that, which you seem to have no appreciation for.

The old D&D PC RPGs were helped and limited by the D&D license and ruleset. You would get tons of worthless skills and spells and many mechanics that did not always translate well.

I'm not a big fan of the use of D&D ruleset in video games myself - I think you should keep board and video games separated.
The problems of Oblivion and Skyrim go deeper than just simplified game mechanics - easier puzzles, simplified dialogue, quest arrows, no punishing consequences for players choices etc. Those are not just issues that make the game mechanically more simple, they kill immersion and make the game less enjoyable. Having the freedom and burden to make choices and having to deal with the fact that the choices you make have an impact the game world and on your character are what separate WRPGs from (most) JRPGs and the reason why I play WRPGs. If you remove that, I might as well be playing a JRPG. Not that there's anything wrong with JRPGs, I play more of them than WRPGs, but I play WRPGs for a different kind of gameplay experience.

I'm speaking more in general terms here now, but having very situational items and spells can help to bring a lot of depth to a game, depending on the implementation of course.

Too often in this debate you state your opinions on the differences between the 2 as facts. I can certainly appreciate you preferring the older PC RPGs over the new ones. I do in some ways as well, but the news ones are not terrible games nor is it some known or well established truth that they are.

It's not just my opinion, it's the general consensus amongst RPG fans.

It was more than just the metacritic score that was pointed out. It was also sales numbers, and critical acclaim that was pointed out. Game of the Year means that the critics loved it. A good Metacritic score means that website and magazine reviews were across the board positive. And high sales means that it was a popular among the average gamer.

Modern Warfare 3 won game of the year awards and got great scores too. That doesn't mean anything. Yes, it's a solid game, but that's what you can expect from a game with a mega budget.
Average gamer hasn't played as many games as intermediate, avid and hardcore gamers and therefore aren't as knowledgeable. A gamer who has played 100 RPGs within his lifetime has a better grasp of how good RPG X really is than gamer who has only played 5 or 10.