Games Beaten 2014

[BogusMeatFactory]

I think if we're talking vanilla SF3, there's an argument to be made. But if we're talking 3rd Strike, then GTFO. While Alpha 3 is a brilliant game, no doubt, 3rd Strike is perfection.

Although I agree that 3rd Strike is a better game, I find Alpha 3 to be a more enjoyable and accessible game in comparison. 3rd strike has the technical aspect of what makes fighting games great and amps it up a notch, making it one of the best 2D fighters, but I just don't have as much fun as I do when playing the Alpha series......I hope that makes sense.

[Violent By Design]

I think Alpha 3 is actually harder than 3rd Strike. Alpha is a lot more mechanically demanding on the player, it is more combo based while 3rd Strike is more methodical. A lot of the characters in 3rd Strike don't require a lot of precision to play them, which I think is easier for a new player, at least easier for me!

[Flake]

I think if we're talking vanilla SF3, there's an argument to be made. But if we're talking 3rd Strike, then GTFO. While Alpha 3 is a brilliant game, no doubt, 3rd Strike is perfection.

I actually thought 2nd Impact was better than 3rd Strike. Sean got nerfed in 3rd Strike. Regardless of the flavor, Alpha 3 offers so much more variety and has got way more personality than Street Fighter 3. In my mind, Alpha 3 is only surpassed by two other 2D fighters: King of Fighters '98 and Capcom vs SNK: Match of the Millennium.

[noiseredux]

I actually thought 2nd Impact was better than 3rd Strike. Sean got nerfed in 3rd Strike. Regardless of the flavor, Alpha 3 offers so much more variety and has got way more personality than Street Fighter 3. In my mind, Alpha 3 is only surpassed by two other 2D fighters: King of Fighters '98 and Capcom vs SNK: Match of the Millennium.

more personality??? Weird dood. Agree to disagree, I guess.

My Top 3:
1. 3rd Strike
2. Capcom Vs. SNK 2
3. Garou MOTW

(#4 would prob be DOA2, but you didn't ask...)

Anyway, I think Alpha 3 is fantastic. But 3rd Strike & CVS2 def surpasses it to me.

[Flake]

But how? SF3's cast is teeny tiny in comparison and there's only something like 15 stages. The final boss is crazy annoying and not balanced well for any non-Shoto characters. The newer characters are given almost no chance to develop a narrative and by the time the series got to 3rd Strike, it was basically Capcom admitting that they hadn't created a product that met SFII Turbo's standards so here's Chun-Li and Akuma as an apology.

Street Fighter Alpha 3 is a tour de force of content and character. It has a huge roster and yet avoids too much re-iteration of fighting style. Yeah, it's got its share of charge and shoto but then you have wacky one-offs like R Mika and Juli who are an absolute blast to master. And Karen, the Capcom character who most needs to get back into circulation in Capcom's modern games. You have fully developed back stories, mid game narrative breaks, specialized rivalries, character specific final bosses, there is no end to Street Fighter Alpha 3.

[prfsnl_gmr]

That is kind of how I feel, too. SFIII has breathtaking graphics and solid mechanics, but I never clicked with any of the new fighters. I spent a lot of time with it, but nearly as much time as I spent with Alpha 3.

[Violent By Design]

Some of the new characters in 3rd Strike were awesome. Alex and Dudley were great. Urien had a really cool moveset, and Elaina was really unique and interesting (especially design wise).

Sean was cool too, but he was ruined in 3rd Strike, I agree. I dont really consider Sean to be a shoto clone though (none of his special moves are projectiles), so there are really only 3 shoto clones in 3rd Strike, while Alpha 3 has like 4 or 5, so the shoto clone argument doesn't really work here.

3rd Strike does have a lot of....freaks though. Necro, Q, Twelve - and none of them are any good, so I can see why Capcom had to throw in Chun and Gouki.



My top 3 fighters would probably be SF2, SF3 and SF4

My favorite non-SF fighting game is King of Fighters XI.

[noiseredux]

But how? SF3's cast is teeny tiny

exactly. And much the same reason I love Garou so much as well. SF3's cast has a bunch of characters that you can't play in SF2 or 4. Or any other game for that matter. I love that it's very much it's own game. And if you look at the first iteration, even more so with no Chun-Li, Akuma, etc. It's just so so unique to me. Sure the roster's small, but they're all so well done. Number of stages - I really don't care. It doesn't really matter to me which background I'm fighting against.

I agree that Alpha 3 is great. I agree that it looks incredible. But I've clocked far more hours into SF3.

[Violent By Design]

1. Sonic Triple Trouble - Gamegear - (5/10)
2. Hearthstone - PC - (8/10)
3. Portal 2 - PC - (10/10)
4. Super Street Fighter 4: Arcade Edition - PS3 (10/10)
5. XCOM: Enemy Unknown - PS3 (10/10)
6. Tomb Raider - PS3 (9/10)


Tomb Raider

This was more or less the first "triple a" title I've played by myself this gen. This was a great thrill, really just loads of fun.

When I first started it, I was a bit underwhelmed by how streamlined it was and how much it held your hand (the game tells you everything you need to do almost the entire game).

While there is actually exploration in this game, I didn't really find any of it necessary. I suppose if you're into trophy collections or grinding for XP (which you don't need, the upgrades aren't interesting for the most part) then exploring is worth it, but after 1 or 2 optional tombs, I pretty much skipped the others. I also didn't care about the collect-a-thon things, but I did like collecting journals and reading exposition about the island you are trapped on.

The combat is good, I had to play this on a PS3 controller, so it'd probably be better if you were on PC. I loved using the bow and arrow, it just felt so satisfying killing people with it, but using the rifle and shot gun are pretty fun too. I only used the pistol if I was low on ammo (and the game gives you a lot of ammo, so there isn't much survival based gameplay thrown into it).

The game is insanely cinematic though, there is a huge amount of detail, you could really feel the labor of the developers work here. A lot of the scenes are breath taking, and the action is very fast pace and consistent, you're constantly moving on from mission to mission. The scenery is breathtaking, and there are quite a few "oh shit" moments.

The plot ends up being pretty decent, nice character development, you feel for some of the characters despite spending very little time with any of them.


Platforming in the game feels great. There's zero challenge in it, you basically have to mess up intentionally to miss a jump, but the jumps themselves feel very rewarding and a joy to watch.

Highlight of the game

One of the last fights, where you're just going up against an army of samurais. That was one of the few fights where I felt like I could use terrain/higher ground. A lot of movement had to be used in that fight, and I loved it

.


Tomb Raider delivers a great adventure with awesome visuals, I'd certainly recommend it. 9/10.

[TSTR]

All this 3rd Strike talk, and yet nobody shows up to play it for the last two weeks...