November 20, 2009 6:18:39 PM
I'm mildly disappointed that the actual assassinations seem to be more linear (or at least simple) this time around. I very much enjoyed the assassinations in the first that more or less placed you in a large courtyard filled with guards.The intel you collected in the runup often contained little bits like suggested routes or guard locations that could be used to give the task some semblance of planning. Then again, in the end most of those plans devolved into running up and stabbing the dude, then booking it out, so perhaps the game is being more honest with itself this time around, saying "screw it, you're just gonna end up doing it [x] way anyway, you don't need no fancy map with guard routes."
November 10, 2009 7:08:28 PM
Oh, I remember Shadow of Rome so fondly. I also remember playing it until I thought I was gaining carpal tunnel syndrome, and eventually had to put it down.
October 7, 2009 3:29:27 AM
@JasonMcMaster: Oh, it is. Imported it (it was already in English then, Atlus just needed to publish it, clean up the text, and open NA servers), never regretted ordering the NA deluxe edition.As for the multiplayer being deliberately "fussy," I think that's the point. It's all meant as an accessory to singleplayer. All the atmosphere and tension is lost when you're voicechatting to someone who just goes "hey I did this before just follow me." It's even worse if someone invades your game and manages to gank you, then laugh, calling you homophobic names and teabagging your ragdoll.The idea is that you're the only living thing left in the world, with the one comfort being that there are OTHER "only living things left" out there, somewhere, in parallel hellholes.From Software has (mostly) made games that are a little bit "off" from the norm, especially regarding multiplayer. Remember Chromehounds? It was quite unique in the way it dealt with player commos also. It's good to see developers that are still so uncompromising in (at least some) of their design vision. Demon's Souls oozes an attitude that says, "This is how I play, if you don't like it, you can go to (a different) hell."
October 7, 2009 3:08:19 AM
@JasonKill: Hey, Don's just doing his job, too. Look at it from his perspective: He's not paid to like the games he's asking reviewers to review. He's paid to get them good scores. He might not have the same passion for games that journalists and gamers have, but who ever said you needed to give a crap about the things you're running PR for? If you do it well, you do it well.I'm in marketing (and a bit of PR), and I f'ing HATE how everyone thinks we're the bad guys, that we're ruining games and are somehow dead inside. I could turn some of that back at you. Why do GAMERS care so much about metacritic scores? If you were more open to good games journalism and more intelligent critiques rather than a number on a site that judges games based on dodgy math, maybe WE wouldn't have to hound you about the scores. Maybe your publications would see that smart journalists and good writers are important, and pay them more. Maybe all we'd have to do is edit nice soundbytes and quotes to put on the back of the f'ng BOX.Scott said it. We don't do our jobs, we catch heat. And doing our jobs sometimes means turning the heat on the people who make our lives harder. If you're a good journo, you maintain your ethical stance, and the suits see that pulling those stunts is pointless. Maybe we'll get a chance to do it the "right" way.I'm lucky that I'm not in videogame PR/Marketing specifically, and that I occasionally get to write about games on the side. Just remember that we're people too, thanks.
October 3, 2009 11:46:54 AM
@JasonYou can still play Demon's Souls if you disable your network connection/unplug your LAN cable, to prevent it from trying to auto-login to PSN.
September 10, 2009 12:13:59 PM
That point about smaller publishers sending copies to more "focused" outlets sounds especially smart when it comes to pubs who cater to a niche market, such as Atlus or NIS-America. A few years ago an Edge Magazine "reviews post-mortem" for Atlus' Steambot Chronicles noted a decision they made regarding a lukewarm review from G4:"On a related note, we knew that Steambot's sincere 'tude would clash with G4's snarky 'tude, but we sent them a reviewable copy against our better judgment. A few of our titles are great fits for G4, but not Steambot, so we'll be more selective with what we send them in the future."While it might sound like Atlus was being bitter about the whole thing (maybe it was), but it's very relevant considering that many outlets have their OWN target audiences to write for. A site that attracts a lot of gamers interested in action games is less likely to write about a plodding JRPG. And if it does, their standards for a "quality" JRPG might be different from the ones held by the audience (and staff) of a JRPG-devoted site.Addressing the most receptive audience via the most receptive outlets can have a resonating effect, with the audience going out and preaching the word to people that might not have been interested otherwise. Sega seemed to realize that after Valkyria Chronicles' sales burned hotter after the disappointing launch.
September 9, 2009 2:14:55 PM
B-b-but I always play from the cockpit view! Ever since the original Stuntman! I love having only an eighth of the screen available for use!
August 27, 2009 8:26:24 PM
@KyleOrland: And that's not all. It's Mark Hamill who does the Joker's voice. Top-notch performance that. Just like in Wing Commander :D
August 26, 2009 8:25:22 PM
But where's the Ace Combat melodrama?!
August 12, 2009 9:24:55 PM
Indeed. Thank God for Europe and its unrepentant dedication to '90s-style RPGs, Adventure games, and economic strategy.
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