What were the last video games you played?

[Bulzeeb]

Looks like Persona 3 was released on PSN today, by the way. Might pick that up since it was never released on the PS2 over here, as far as I know.

Oh yeah, I should have mentioned that earlier to you since we were talking about it awhile back. It's the FES version, in other words the first re-release, which includes an epilogue story called The Answer.

So what's the story with the three Persona games that are on PSN as PSP games? Are those ports or remakes or what?

Persona 1 and 2 are ports I'm pretty sure. Persona 3 Portable has some notable changes compared to the original and FES:

1) Male or Female Protagonist

The female main character is a new take on the same basic story, but with two new characters and different people for Social Links. In other words, more story.

2) P4 Battle Improvements

Persona 4's battle system was practically the same as P3's but with a few tweaks that really made it shine. P3P carries over some of these improvements such as:

- Full AI Partner control

- If you're hit by your weakness and knocked down, the next turn you get back up AND can attack in the same turn

- Co-op attacks: Every so often after you knock down an enemy, your partner will ask to team up on one more enemy for a guaranteed critical hit. Good for enemies with no weaknesses.

- Guarding: I don't know why they didn't think of this for the original or FES. Guarding reduces damage and protects you from being knocked down by your weakness for one hit.

- Partner Equipment: You used to have to talk with each party member individually to change gear, but now it's all done on the main pause menu.

- Restoration (more of a downside depending on who you ask): One good thing about the original and FES is when you return to the main dungeon's entrance, you're fully restored. Now you pay a fee, I guess to keep from long grinding sessions, despite the characters having a fatigue system not present in P4 when paying to have Spirit restored showed up.

[Dangimarocker]

Battlefield 3- Friend told me to get, I refuse to buy another Call of Duty after the MW2 hack and BO' s just plain out sucking.
I can say i wasn't impressed.. just as much camping.. the only plus was the lag was a lot better.

Price is Right Decades- Decent PSN gameshow game.. not much to it really.. the plat is hard

Mortal Kombat Vs DC Universe (got for 9.97 in PS store with PS plus)- It's not very good.. the fatalities are childish and the stories are really bland IMO.

I know i listed a lot of older games, i don't buy new games very often...

I just got Dead Island, and will review it when my friend gets it Saturday and we play it. *I still haven't even opened it.. it dropped to $20 at gamestop so friend reserved a copy, guess it's selling out fast in stores*

[Bulzeeb]

New RE6 Trailer

(Hey GNF, she's not Ashley.)

[Cipher_Peon]

So I've played some Silent Hill Downpour. Huh.

My first impressions on it aren't very positive, but the game isn't terrible as of yet. Some of the things that have been bothering me are:
1. The main character talks way too much. I'm pretty sure by now he's already had as many lines as Harry did in the whole of Silent Hill. This breaks the tension for me quite a bit, which is disappointing.
2. The amount of interaction with the scenery is at a scary low. The interesting thoughts that the characters come up with when inspecting random rubbish seems to be all gone. This is a MASSIVE waste of potential for characterization, plot development, replayability, exploration, etc. Incredible things have been told through the inspection like Heather's fear of mirrors in SH3. Which leads me to my next point...
3. The game tells too much instead of shows. Things like Murphy's interest in cars, the step by step analysis of his own progress, "oh no, I think that's gas!" should all be inferred based off of interacting with the world instead of pointing it out and explaining to the audience. Which goes pretty well with point 2.
4. The game isn't scary so far. Sure I haven't even encountered my first enemy, not including the mist, (I just got the gun), but I wasn't feeling really threatened or anything at all. There should be more fog, more creepy noises (AT LEAST HAVE FOOTSTEP NOISES IN THE SECOND FLOOR WHILE YOU'RE IN THE FIRST), and less telling. Oh and the shift to the Otherworld was way too fast. The gradual approach is better for pacing, but just throwing it all at once isn't too scary. In Silent Hill 3, the further you progressed through the church the bloodier and more corrupt previous rooms became. Which led to nice pacing and scarier gameplay.

Although those are MASSIVE complaints, I feel that the game is pretty interesting. The world is a lot more fluid and mobile this time around, instead of having the locations all set mostly to reality's standards of gravity. The world feels alive, which is fantastic, but there's very little interacting with it so hopefully that changes soon.

[BohemianMatt]

Downloaded Crysis after that MS Points deal a couple days ago. Pretty fun, although I'm still not nearly a big of a fan of FPSs as I used to be. This one is still more fun for me than any CoD or Battlefield title since there is more of a scifi swing to gameplay and plot.

Also got Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit with the points, and shortly afterward, a friend of mine gave me copies of NFS: Most Wanted and NFS: Carbon since he has since switched to PS3. Haven't played enough of any of them to find out which one I like most.

I haven't owned a racing game since the launch of the original Xbox (Project Gotham Racing).

[Lowlander2]

The main reason behind the story's problem is the fact that it's a direct sequel to the original. No, that is not a bad thing. In fact, it's a great thing. It's a lot of fun seeing how the original and this game are connected, especially at the very end. But it limits the story, because there's not much to expect outside of killing Claudia/the inevitable God. Silent Hill 2's story completely ignored the original, which allowed it to be unrestrained from its plot and tell an amazing story of a new cast of characters.

Careful what you wish for, Cipher. It might just come true (Origins, The Room, Homecoming, Book of Memories).

[topperharley]

Thanks Bulzeeb. I may pick up FES since it's only $10. The PSP games seem a bit spendy.

Haven't played enough of any of them to find out which one I like most.

Most Wanted was pretty fun for a while, but having to prove yourself to the guys on the list by beating their underlings before you could race them got real old about halfway through the game, at which point I sold it on eBay. I only got a little ways into Carbon before thinking that it was a less fun, more tedious version of Most Wanted. I don't think I ever played Hot Pursuit.

[Bulzeeb]

Thanks Bulzeeb. I may pick up FES since it's only $10. The PSP games seem a bit spendy.

I would agree with you if P3P was still $40, but Atlus cut prices on all its games for a reVITAlized sale. P3P is only $20 now, and the combat improvements plus a separate main character are definitely worth the extra $10 compared to FES.

[Lowlander2]

Polished off Operation Raccoon City. Yeah...not one of the series' shining moments.

The mechanics and AI are simply too shoddy and wooden to bring the game to a level of even competence, let alone brilliance. The game itself is short, but the levels are way too long, and there should have been a split between levels, especially in a multiplayer focused game. Even levelling up your characters felt kind of weak because of the lackluster development trees, and all in all, it was just not a fun game to play.

Can't recommend, not even for cheap.

[Cipher_Peon]

I can't believe I forgot framerate issues, autosaving, and the fact that it's a pain in the ass to read memos as complaints.