Just went through a few cycles of Dynasty Warrios 6: Empires, still good fun; but I miss some of the elements of 5E.

The Walking Dead episode two came out today and I gotta say it was crazy!!

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Originally Posted by firedoom666

The Walking Dead episode two came out today and I gotta say it was crazy!!

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It was, I say it was worth the month delay. So tense and well executed!

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Originally Posted by Rock_Starman

It's most certianly NOT just another shooter. It may look it but noooo,not even close.

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The gameplay is just like any other shooter but the story was fantastic.

I beat Ratchet and Clank 1. Overall? Pretty great, but not classic. It's varied, but actually uses all of its assets to an acceptable degree unlike Jak 3. It has more platforming than Ratchet and Clank 3 (about to play through 2), which is good, and is entertaining from the time you start to the time you finish. Problems? There are a few too many instances where you have to pay people for equipment. This should be the game with the least grinding, as it has very little RPG-esque stats. The final few hours are also really hard if you're not careful about the guns you pick up.

But yeah, worth playing if you haven't done so yet, and worth revisiting if you have.

I liked Ratchet and Clank 2 the best, just because it made a lot of things smoother with things like the gravity boots and strafing. The introduction of the arena was also really good, and made doing things to get bolts less excruciating than it was in Ratchet and Clank 1. It's also just really hard to go back to 1 without strafing, seriously.

The new Walking Dead episode. WAYYYY better than the TV show.

I completed Catherine today.

There's a lot of things going for Catherine that hook you the instant it starts. It has an interesting premise, engaging gameplay, and has a very fun art style that fits the game perfectly. Besides, it's an Atlas title. Those guys are great! There's so much going for the game, but the flaws (or rather FLAW) hold it back from being a phenomenal title, however it is definitely a recommendation. Let's get the big point across right away. This game is hard. Like tough as nails hard. They weren't kidding when they said that this game is one of the toughest games this whole generation. I played the game on Easy and still had a real hard time playing. I've practically given up several times while playing Catherine. This isn't a bad thing however, but it needs to be noted in order to prevent potential frustrated buyers. What drives you along the frustrating gameplay is the story. Curiosity and a desire to know what's going on is the main force behind games whose gameplay may not be extremely accessible or not necessarily fun. Survival horror games, especially, focus on grabbing the curiosity of the player and to march through an experience that isn't really fun to play and also would like to scare the crap out of them on every turn. Catherine does this fantastic. Every day is divided into a day and night stage, where the important plot events occur and the night stages are where the fierce puzzles take place. The benefits are two fold: the players are rewarded for their good work with a continuation of the plot that hooked them to begin with and the curiosity to push through the next even harder night stage. I've come back to Catherine several times, because I just HAD to know what would happen next.

The main problem with Catherine is... well, the story just isn't that good. Don't get me wrong, the hook to the story is fantastic, the characters are all likable (even though Vincent is the biggest tool in the planet. Even at the very of the game everything he says makes me facepalm), and the tension to the climax is amazing. The first 3/4 of the game's story is fantastic and makes me want to know more and more. However... at the climax it COMPLETELY falls apart. And it doesn't just disappoint, it angers. The main bad guy, although he has supernatural powers and is technically a divine being, comes off as EXTREMELY weak and ineffective, and he fails to raise the stakes any higher and succeeds in creating massive plot holes that make me go "Dude, come on, man." Not only does he pretty much blurt out his master plan by accident, but he is THREATENED when Vincent attacks him. With his fists and eventually a sharp object of some kind. An IMMORTAL god, cowering in fear of a dude that probably has never hit the gym in his lifetime. Not only that, but even if his powers are only extended to dreams (which is STUPID), there was NOOOOOOOOOTHING stopping him from grabbing a glass of wine, smashing Vincent's big fat head with it, knocking him unconscious, and going from there. Not only that, but not even a minute after Vincent confronts him, the rest of the company show up and they both pretend everything is a-ok. Really? They both just pretend it was just a bar fight. And it's really really really really pathetic. Not only this, but he explains why everyone is having those bad dreams... and it JUST doesn't make ANY sense. Barely any of the other characters fit the bill, and one last character was told that they had the dreams too in the scene before and they COMPLETELY didn't fit the bill at all. And his explanations for his actions were PATHETIC. I'm glad that they tried to tie in a real political issue with what was happening, as Japan's population has been declining as of late, but REALLY?!?? You guys went with "we must force men to marry and reproduce in order to continue the optimal population!" Isn't overpopulation a SERIOUS problem that leads to food shortages, pollution, overconsumption, etc? His motivations are just so half assed, and considering that you don't need to get married to have children makes it even more baffling. Also, he's confirmed to have created the stages, so why he couldn't just make an impossible stage at the very end is beyond me. Maybe he was just trying to show sportsmanship. Perhaps it was my lack of understanding, but even if it was me missing the explanations to all of these massive plot holes, then it was just extremely poorly explained.

And lastly... having multiple choice questions to determine morality and the ending is just stupid. It was stupid in Deus Ex: Human Revolution, and it's stupid in here. Let us show you our morality through our actions, not by making us answer multiple choice questions that are either incredibly obvious what you want us to pick or beyond my understanding of how one is "good" and one is "bad".

A "Are you Hitler or Mother Teresa?" example:
Do you like the words "world domination"?
>Yessssss
>This is stupid!

This is a bad question because it's obvious to know which one you want us to pick that's good or bad. It doesn't show you how a player's mind works. It just shows you how well they can take a multiple choice test.

The "Would you rather eat a water gun or an air conditioner?" question example:
You must kiss one of these. Choose!
>A cephelopod-like alien
>A beautiful corpse
...
I think it's obvious where the problem lies. It makes no freaking sense! How is one "bad" and one "good" and how in the world is it suppossed to show you how a player would behave in a relationship?!?!?!?! :I

And the worst of all is the confused morals example:
Have you ever been told you were stingy?
>Maybe...
>No.

You see, the problem with this is that the majority of questions in the question pool talk about recieving pain rather than giving it. And... IT'S BACKWARDS HERE! Isn't being called stingy in a relationship... you know... a BAD thing? But nope! It's the good choice. They confuse the morals or type of thinking they're trying to push (which is also bad. Relationships should be on equal ground on mutual respect, not hurting yourself by putting her on top) and just blows me away of how this could happen.

Instead of asking stupid multiple choice questions, why not judge our morality by our actions? Helping people out and leaving the bar early to be with Katerine could be good actions, while drinking your health away and looking at dirty pictures of Catherine could be bad actions. But nope, multiple choice questions it is!

The next thing is Catherine. The mystery behind her is pretty obvious and can be seen from about a bit into the game, but she's still an interesting character. She's not too offensive in terms of the story and to my intelligence, so I'll go on.

The narration is... well, it's not fantastic. There's lots of moments that make me facepalm over their inclusion. You'll be seeing lots of "Did you know that this game has a morality bar?" and "Talk to the other bar patrons in order to develop friendships!" and "Drinking alcohol will make you go faster in the nightmare sequences!" more than halfway in the game. And no, these aren't the "helpful hints" at loading screens, they're actually pauses in the story in order to explain to you things you've known from the beginning of the game. Also, a very baffling narration decision occurred at the very end of the game where the symbolism of the game was explained to you. Setting aside that the symbolism is extremely obvious, WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!?!? Wouldn't it be better for the player to think about it and go OHHHHHHH, SO THAT'S WHAT IT MEANS! and come off thinking they're intelligent and have a greater appreciation of the game? You could have made people feel smart and appreciate your game more by deleting TWO sentences at the very end. But nope! They chose to irritate those who knew what it meant and spoil it for those who didn't.

Lastly, is it just me or is the final stage of the game incredibly incredibly easy. Even though I was playing on easy, I'm complaining because the rest of the game felt relentless, and then pretty much stopped giving a **** about challenging me. Perhaps my puzzle solving skills just exploded at the very last few levels *shrugs*

Even with these story problems, the gameplay is engaging enough to continue playing throughout the end and the problems with the story shouldn't let you not experience the brilliant 3/4 of the game. Finding new techniques and watching yourself improve and eventually conquer the nightmare stages is incredibly satisfying and enjoyable. It frustrates me that these problems exist, because without them Catherine could technically be flawless. Not best game of all time material, but exist without problems. Either way, it's a definite thumbs up and recommendation. An unforgettable experience from start to almost end.

EDIT: Forgot to mention the control and camera problems. Good luck trying to figure out what you're doing if you're behind the front row of blocks. The controls are reversed AND you can't rotate the screen all of the way to see what you're doing.

And what was the deal with those ants, anyway?

EDIT EDIT: The whole penultimate day being a dream is also mind blowingly stupid. Seriously, it was really interesting and could have developed the story so well! But nope! It was willed out of existence.

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Originally Posted by Cubecubed

The new Walking Dead episode. WAYYYY better than the TV show.

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But, still not as good as the comics. ;)