Gaming What Are You Playing?

[Sakura]

[color=navy][size=1]I haven't visited this thread in a while but I did finish [B]Hotel Dusk[/B] from when I said I was working on it in my first/last post.

Lately I've been playing [B]Final Fantasy VI Advance[/B] again, which is just edited from the original with extra espers and another couple of dungeons, if I remember correctly. I'm almost ready to hit Kefka's Tower but just collecting all the extra espers.

As soon as I'm done with it I'm probably planning on playing [B]Final Fantasy IV Advance[/B] because I enjoyed that one too.

Before I started working on VI I was playing [B]Final Fantasy Tactics Advance[/B], trying to get back to where I was last time before my game was erased, which was finished the story but working on completing the last few missions (had 200 something out of 300 complete) but the missions are repetitive and a bit of a pain to continue so I've put it on hold.[/color][/size]

[The Spectacular Professor]

[quote name='Tombstone'][COLOR="Navy"]Got this small looking PSX hooked up... I really didn't expect that thing to be so small. A DS is about the size of this thing.... I think. (Never seen a DS up close)[/COLOR][/QUOTE]

That's an accurate description. One time a kid brought one to school (presumably to take to a friend's house) and I mistook it for a Gameboy Advance (those funky lopsided first-gen ones.)

Still playing WW. I figured out how to get the last bottle, but now I need to get the friggin' triforce. I hate this quest.

[Dagger]

Right now I'm focusing on [b]Kichiku Megane[/b], a BL game from Spray. In some ways, it's a huge power trip (almost like Death Note). The main character, Katsuya, is weak-willed and easily depressed until he gets a pair of glasses that transform him into a self-confident business hotshot (and, incidentally, a predatory seme :animeswea).

There are five attainable characters, and thirty-four different endings. These are actual endings, even the bad ones--it's not like you just take a wrong turn and die suddenly. So there are multiple seme and uke routes for each character, depending on how much Katsuya uses the glasses, etc.

I was underwhelmed by the first route I played. It felt kind of abrupt, and Katsuya (glasses-version) was way too harsh for my tastes. But then I played the same character's route with uke-Katsuya, and I realized that he was a total bastard who deserved every second of it. So now I kind of want to go back to glasses-Katsuya and make him act crueler, haha.

Although none of the routes are long, having multiple parallel routes for the same character (with the relationship dynamic developing differently each time) is really satisfying... it adds up to a much fuller picture of both the character in question & Katsuya. Not all of the routes are great by themselves, but taken together, they make for a much more psychologically interesting game than I'd expected.

When I'm playing visual novels, I usually do the first route on impulse, making whatever choices I feel like, and then use a capture guide for the subsequent routes. In Kichiku's case, I think I'm going to try getting all the endings on my own. There are a lot of choices, and part of the fun is calculating what other endings there might be and how to reach them.

~Dagger~

[silpheedpilot]

[SIZE="1"][COLOR="SlateGray"]Lately I've been hankerin' for RPGs. After beating FF12, and Persona 3 I needed something that would satisfy my RPG urge and I found it in the wonderful mythos of Middle-earth.

The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age. It's not japo, there are no emo kids who blow their brains out, no stupid paranormal plot twists. Just mean men in armor killing even meaner forces Sauron.

It plays just like every other console RPG out there with your team on one side of the battlefield and the enemy on the other but the interesting take is that there are no towns. Its you, the world around you, and your enemies. Everything you need you'll find in the field or make with the crafting system.

The battles themselves look really nice with good animations and plenty of moves to use against the enemies. Your characters are standard if not, like FF12, the same. Each character can be tailored to be different but it's much easier if you just make everyone the same. The skill system is a bit of the grind with each move you use giving you an SP towards that skill tree and some higher level skills requiring you to use any move from that given skill tree anywhere from 35 times to 80 times. It's daunting but it makes leveling up worth it because you're always looking forward to that new move you'll aquire.

The interesting thing about the story is that you're following the steps of the Fellowship of the Ring the whole way and even get to fight along side some of the legendary heroes like Gandalf. [SPOILER]when he takes on the Balrog[/SPOILER]

The graphics look nice and the sound is top notch quality with every move, sword swing, and Orc growl done up real good.

I recommend this game to any LotR fan and to, really, any RPG fan.[/COLOR][/SIZE]

[Japan]

[COLOR="DarkRed"]Riding the city buses from point A to point B can be rather tiresome and boring. So lately I am occupying myself with Pokemon Yellow for the Gameboy Colour. It is entertaining me so that is all that matters.[/COLOR]

[Andy]

[FONT="Book Antiqua"][SIZE="2"]I have just recently gotten into this neat ol' game called Team Fortress 2. And I would explain it to you, but it's just too awesome for word's. So go wiki it.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[Korey]

[quote name='Andy'][FONT="Book Antiqua"][SIZE="2"]I have just recently gotten into this neat ol' game called Team Fortress 2. And I would explain it to you, but it's just too awesome for words. So go wiki it.[/SIZE][/FONT][/QUOTE]

[FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"]Never mind that, let's just sing TF2's praises here! For those who haven't got the Orange Box yet, I would definitely suggest it, even if you're not a huge fan of FPS games. The games are just so awesome, it's hard to describe them without sounding like a fanboy. First off you get [B]Half Life: Episode 1 and 2. [/B]. Anyone who has played Half Life 2 knows how awesome this game is. Not much to say here, except that it is wicked fun and is definitely worth looking at. You will get hooked.

Next up is [B]Portal[/B], which is a Half Life 2 mod where you use the various weapons, mostly the anti-grav gun to propel yourself through various puzzles and so forth. It gets pretty hard at the later stages, but it is a rather short game. It's a neat premise though. I'd like to see another larger installment of this game.

Lastly is [B][I][U]Team Fortress 2[/U][/I][/B]. This game is the second installment in the Team Fortress series (duh), and it is evolves upon the Team Fortress Classic formula and still keeps the addictive formula of the first game. I haven't bought the Orange Box yet, but I did get to play some TF2 at a friend's house and now I log into his XBox Live Account and play a ton of TF2 until he calls me and tells me to get off his account so he can play. It's kinda funny, because I'm a much better player than he is, so there is some confusion to how good his screen name is. Some people go "is the REAL n0b0dy here? or is your little brother playing again?" [/FONT]

[silpheedpilot]

[COLOR="SlateGray"][SIZE="1"]Or we can hush up about the Orange Box and play some Call of Duty 4!
Its too awesome for words. Wiki it.[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[Korey]

[quote name='silpheedpilot'][COLOR="SlateGray"][SIZE="1"]Or we can hush up about the Orange Box and play some Call of Duty 4!
Its too awesome for words. Wiki it.[/SIZE][/COLOR][/QUOTE]

[FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"]*Goes to Wikipedia*[/FONT]

[quote name='Wikipedia] [B]Call of Duty 4[/B'] is a stupid first person shooter that has some obvious design flaws. It has no where near the addictive gameplay or multiplayer mayhem that is known as Team Fortress 2. Oh and if you haven't guessed this is a joke to throw you guys off...then the jokes on you. Don't believe everything you read! ^_~ [/quote]

[FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"]Nah, I jest. CoD4 is pretty boss, but I'm still waiting for Smash Bros Brawl and various others. I did score some hands on time with [B]Rock Band[/B] today. That game is gonna blow Guitar Hero out of the water when it drops. Assuming you can pay the hefty price tag for the entire ensemble (cause playing just with one of the instruments is soooooo lame). :animesigh[/FONT]

[Anakoni Stark]

[SIZE=1] I recently bought [B][U] Guitar Hero III[/B][/U] and dude, that game is awesome, like the last one....
but, there's room for improvement, like the fact that they should of picked [B][U] Hunting For Witches[/B][/U] or [B][U] Skeleton[/B][/U] instead of [B][U] Helicopter[/B][/U] and I really do hate ending a session, in order to turn on two wireless guitars, and the constant autosave is pretty annoying.

yea, I've been playing it since last saturday, but had to hang the axe up because I've been having sharp pain in my left hand.[/SIZE]

[Korey]

[quote name='Felix Freeman'][SIZE=1] I recently bought [B][U] Guitar Hero III[/B][/U] and dude, that game is awesome, like the last one....
but, there's room for improvement, like the fact that they should of picked [B][U] Hunting For Witches[/B][/U] or [B][U] Skeleton[/B][/U] instead of [B][U] Helicopter[/B][/U] and I really do hate ending a session, in order to turn on two wireless guitars, and the constant autosave is pretty annoying.

yea, I've been playing it since last saturday, but had to hang the axe up because I've been having sharp pain in my left hand.[/SIZE][/QUOTE]

[FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"]Meh, I loved the set list for GH3, I just think that Rock Band is gonna blow it out of the water with the full band experience.

Is it me or did they pick the longest, most difficult guitar rock possible. [B]One[/B] on expert will slice your fingers off and feed them to rabid gerbils who have been deliberately starved for a couple of days. This is a really awesome game, and the Co-op career is a neat little feature. My friends and I love to play battle mode, because of the douchebaggery that abounds when you do stuff like break the whammy bar or double the notes. :animesigh Sadly we haven't talked in the past few days...[/FONT]

[Ellerby]

[FONT="Tahoma"][COLOR="DimGray"][quote name='Felix Freeman'][SIZE=1] I recently bought [B][U] Guitar Hero III[/B][/U] and dude, that game is awesome, like the last one....
but, there's room for improvement, like the fact that they should of picked [B][U] Hunting For Witches[/B][/U] or [B][U] Skeleton[/B][/U] instead of [B][U] Helicopter[/B][/U] and I really do hate ending a session, in order to turn on two wireless guitars, and the constant autosave is pretty annoying.[/SIZE][/QUOTE]
You can actually turn off autosave in the options. Thought you should know. And as someone who has never heard any Bloc Party before Guitar Hero III I've got to say that I happen to like Helicopter. :)

So, yeah. Obviously the game I'm playing at the moment is [b]Guitar Hero III[/b]. I beat the Career on Hard and am currently going through it on Expert. I really like the online feature (especially since it's free on my Wii) but I get disconnected a lot and I don't think it's my connection. :/

Once again there is a great selection of songs to choose from which I love. So far I've had it since and came out and I'm still enjoying it a lot.[/COLOR][/FONT]

[Allamorph]

[FONT=Arial]I'll assume, then, that you guys have taken a gander at that DragonForce monster they added as a bonus track?

I thought the band was Finnish, from the way the track sounded at first. And holy Moses, but the part is a beast.[/FONT]

[Korey]

[quote name='Allamorph'][FONT=Arial]I'll assume, then, that you guys have taken a gander at that DragonForce monster they added as a bonus track?

I thought the band was Finnish, from the way the track sounded at first. And holy Moses, but the part is a beast.[/FONT][/QUOTE]

[FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"]Dragon Force's song is definitely a beast, but the whole game got took up three notches...my fingers are still aching. I haven't even completed the whole game on expert yet (including the bonus tracks). I'm trying to get 95% or better on all the songs, but this is definitely gonna be a month or so in the works. I'm probably gonna become a ghost on here thanks to Guitar Hero....:animestun[/FONT]

[AgentMasterson]

I started playing Silent Hill Origins for the PSP last night. It is cool and scary.

[color=darkred][size=1]Hey AgentMasterson, how's it going? At OtakuBoards we appreciate a tiny bit of depth in posts because it allows a scope for discussion and feedback from other members. With what you've put, I don't think it'll generate anything at all and will most likely just be overlooked. In future, try to explain why you like a game and whatnot. Cheers. -- BlueYoshi[/color][/size]

[Dagger]

Going back to male-targeted eroge, I just started [b]Ayakashibito[/b] (awesome OP movie [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMleYGQcNQE][u]here[/u][/url]). The artist is the same guy who did Saya no Uta, and the main heroine actually reminds me quite a bit of Saya-tan... hopefully the similarities are just superficial, haha.

Before that, I took a quick break to play [b]Quartett[/b], an absolutely delightful little game about young aspiring musicians in Europe. It's unvoiced, but the soundtrack is lovely. My only complaint about it is that the romance/ero angle felt kind of superfluous--it was best when it focused on family, friendship and small character arcs. The really cool thing about it, though, is its visual layout.

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v632/DaggerIX1/q2.jpg[/IMG]

It's arranged like a comic book, but new panels & dialogue bubbles pop up, float around & disappear dynamically. Fun to watch, and it makes for a whole different kind of playing experience.

~Dagger~

[Zen]

[color=darkred][size=1]

While waiting to finally get my hands on [b]Guitar Hero III[/b] I've been playing an extra amount of [b]GHII[/b] and [b]Rocks the 80's[/b]. Apart from that I started a new game on [b]Pokémon Emerald[/b] cuz I was bored.

[b]Halo 3[/b] has been fun, I occasionally still play with friends on Live, and thats really fun. I'm still waiting on an opponent to challenge me at [b]Soul Calibur III[/b], but I guess they don't exist. I've stopped playing it, so hopefully next time I pick it up, it'll be more of a challenge to play.

Seriously, its not cool how much better I am than others at this game.[/color][/size]

[casandra]

I bought Altelier Iris 3: Grand Phantasm for the PS2 yesterday and it's great. It's a fairly typical Japanese rpg. You play with a team of 2 raiders: Edge and Iris (so far I haven't got any new party members). A raiders job is to full fil quests for the guild. So you spend most of your time going into Alterworlds slaying monsters, finding cats for people and collecting items you can use for synthesizing.
It's really good fun. I also like the fact that I can set the voices to Japanese. :catgirl:

On the way to school and back I tend to play FFIII on my DS. I've already gotten the Invincible (again :p a lot of final fantasies seem to have this ship).

[Rachmaninoff]

Well my gamecube is still collecting dust, though I'll probably pull out Twilight Princess and beat it again just for the fun of it. Or I'll attempt to finally finish the cave of trials since I've never gone farther than what was needed to have [spoiler]farires at one of the springs.[/spoiler]

In my Playstation2 is [B]Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete[/B] hence my current avatar and banner which is from that series. As it says at Wiki:
[INDENT]Lunar is the story of the idealistic lad named Alex who dreams of one day becoming Dragonmaster, the legendary guardian of the Goddess Althena and commander of the Four Dragons. The game begins fifteen years after the disappearance of the previous Dragonmaster, Dyne, who is presumed to be dead. A monument to Dyne was built in his home town and is an inspiration to all of Alex's dreams. As a series of extraordinary events unfold, Alex sets out on an adventure with his foster sister, Luna, to meet the dragons. Eventually Alex is compelled to realize his dream of becoming Dragonmaster in order to stop the evil forces which threaten Luna.[/INDENT]
What makes this game fun even though it's a PS1 is that the game has well-developed characters, a solid storyline, fantastic anime cutscenes, and the dialogue and voice acting (especially for non-playable characters) is excellent. It's quickly shaping up to be one of my favorite games of all times. As soon as I get to the end I intend to play the sequel[B] Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete[/B], another PS1 game.

As for my computer, I've been playing Diablo II Lord of Destruction, but only occasionally since I've been too caught up in playing the Lunar game.

[Zen]

[color=darkred][size=1]

I owned, (and lost), [b]Lunar 2: Eternal Blue[/b]. It's really, really good. I enjoyed you immensely, or atleast, the parts I got to before I lost it, haha.

I think you may like the characters a bit better, and it continues with the great anime cut scenes.[/color][/size]

[Allamorph]

[FONT=Arial]As soon as I can find a PS1 memory card, I'll be camping with The Legend of Dragoon. I fell in love with this game back when it was a demo in Target (which was the only reason I had to go to the store for three months), and I just bought it Saturday.

[CENTER][I]*happy*[/I][/CENTER]

Anyway, I thought the timed combat-addition system was amazing, and of course the whole dragon bit piqued my fantasy side. I don't really care about having to look at polygons, so I'm pretty hyped right now. I only wish that FFVII and Panzer Dragoon (I think) hadn't overshadowed it; maybe we'd have had more in the series.

Ah, well.... :animesigh

Until then, I have the DMC series to occupy me. (I'm so behind.)[/FONT]

[Korey]

[quote name='Allamorph'][FONT=Arial]
Anyway, I thought the timed combat-addition system was amazing, and of course the whole dragon bit piqued my fantasy side. I don't really care about having to look at polygons, so I'm pretty hyped right now. I only wish that FFVII and Panzer Dragoon (I think) hadn't overshadowed it; maybe we'd have had more in the series.
[/FONT][/QUOTE]


[FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"]Actually, I think the series did quite well during it's run. It did reach the "Greatest Hits" status for the PS1 which is an amazing feat for the game, seeing as what it was up against at that time (FF for sure, not sure which Panzer Dragoon you are talking about, I'm guessing Saga for the Sega Saturn?) I was highly intrigued by the game because of it's outlandish and yet very endearing story. All the character were heavily type-casted: The brave, yet socially awkard hero, the delicate, yet unfathomably powerful girl, the dark and mysterious woman who ends up becoming one of your closest allies...etc. That's not a gripe on my part however, I think that a story like that needed those roles to make it cool. I loved the additions combat series, because it made fights a tad bit more interactive before this new free roam stuff came out. It was more fun than just pressing X and waiting to see the battle animations. LoD was indeed a great game, no matter what time you played it. It's worth looking at again in my opinion.

I've been playing lots of [B]Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection[/B] lately, due to a decline in my internet connection :( but I've realized how cheap and how much of an overall douchebag I can be at that game. I normally use Asuka and let me tell you, if you get launched in the air...kiss your tookus goodbye, because there is a 50%+ damage combo coming your way. All it takes is two of those and the match is over before you can scream out any expletive. I also figured out that taller characters are very susceptible to spammed Phoenix Smashers by Paul if you continue to roll backwards. All it takes is one knockdown and 5-6 Phoenix Smashers to guarantee a victory. The worst part about it is, it's [B][U]UNBLOCKABLE[/U][/B].[/FONT]

[Petie]

[FONT=Verdana][COLOR=blue][B]Assassin's Creed (Xbox 360):[/B] When I first read about this game, I was extremely disappointed to find out it was a PS3 exclusive. I was actually going to buy a PS3 specifically so I could play it and I didn't even really know much about it at the time. Needless to say, when I found out it was coming out for 360, I was thrilled and quickly reserved it.[/COLOR][/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana][/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana][COLOR=blue]This game is absolutely amazing. They took an interesting approach for the controls but once you get used to them (which does not take long), having the ability to free-scale just about anything in a massive world is nothing short of amazing. I personally find that everything is very well done and while there is the occasional complaint of the investigation missions getting too repetitive, I haven't had that complaint myself.[/COLOR][/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana][/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana][COLOR=blue][B]Halo 3 (Xbox 360):[/B]Not much really has to be said about this one. Granted, since Assassin's Creed came out, I haven't been playing too much of it but the online play is still great. I beat the campaign on Heroic and am not looking forward to trying it on Legendary...[/COLOR][/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana][/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana][COLOR=blue][B]The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Xbox 360):[/B] Okay, so I was really just rushing to finish the guild quest lines before Assassin's Creed and haven't played since but I figured it was worth mentioning because I still have quite a bit left to do there. I forgot just how good this game was until I picked it up again. I'll definitely be going back to this one sooner or later if not only to finish the main quest line.[/COLOR][/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana][/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana][COLOR=blue][B]Pokemon Pearl (DS):[/B] I'm not ashamed to admit that regardless of what became of the show, the games have remained just as great as they were when Red and Blue came out. There's just something about them that always remains fun, with the exception of Victory Road which is still a painful experience until you make it to the other side.[/COLOR][/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana][/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana][COLOR=#0000ff]And finally...[/COLOR][/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana][/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana][COLOR=#0000ff][B]World of Warcraft (PC):[/B] I haven't been playing this nearly as much as I used to but I haven't dropped it entirely. I guess I'm just waiting for my one friend to re-activate his account and my other to get a new computer to really play this again.[/COLOR][/FONT]

[Korey]

[FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"]I scored some hands on time with [B]Rock Band[/B] the other day and I have to say, it will be the next big thing in gaming. It's increidbly addictive right off the bat and people who played Guitar Hero will find that the guitar parts are a little easier in Rock Band compared to their GH counterparts. The drumming really steals the show in this one, at least in my opinion. The drum set is reminiscent to Drum Mania, an older BEMANI music title that didn't make its way to American shores for console release. We have a Drum Mania machine here in my hometown and I used to play the living daylights out of it, but now it's just fell to pieces. The drumming in Rock Band is very similar and in some ways, harder, because of the complexity of some of the songs. I thought that I could start on Hard right away because I've played Drum Mania, but the skill sets are completely different.[/FONT]

[Magus]

[COLOR="Navy"]I just beat [b]Final Fantasy VIII[/b] for the 2nd time last night. The next time I play the game, I'm going to try to get Squall's Lion Heart before disc 1 is over with. I also beat Omega Weapon :). It wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be, but it was still long. I did miss a couple of magazines for Zell's limit breaks, but whatever.

I'm now staring at the book to [b]Final Fantasy Chronicles[/b]. Trying to see what I'm getting myself into. I probably won't start playing this until I wake up. (Very sleepy.) Don't know which game I'll start off with first.

I also have [b]Final Fantasy Anthology[/b] on the way. So many people kept recommeding these games, and I thought I'd check them out, with them being cheap and all.

Tips/advice on these 4 games? lol[/COLOR]