We haven't done this in a while...what are you playing?

[Murgatroyd7]

The forum has been so stagnant lately. Everybody's busy with summer and there hasn't been much in the way of great new games or exciting news, so everything is pretty dull. But I know some of you guys are still setting aside some special time for your games. So, what has been taking up your free time recently? Good, bad...I don't care, I just want to know what everyone's playing!


As for me...I just started Enslaved earlier today. The graphics don't look as good as they did when I played the demo (except for the faces), but the game itself is still every bit as fun. I hate games like Devil May Cry and God of War, but this is very much toned down compared to those (no seemingly endless waves of enemies and bosses that are big as the Titanic) and it focuses a lot more on platforming. The collectibles are a pain in the ***, but they don't detract from the fun I'm having.


Okay, now it's your turn!

[Raymo]

My brother just let me borrow Assassin's Creed 2 and Assassins creed brotherhood so I'm playing those, and on a retro gaming note: I just ordered Super Castlevania IV off amazon and it should be here in a few days! I'm actually very excited about finally playing that game

[StatiK TactiK]

...honestly I havent really played anything other than MvC3 since it came out like in February lol. I've played a few other games here and there since then but I pretty much only play that. It's pretty disgusting how many hours I've put into it in 5 and a half months and there's no sign of letting up.

I am planning on buying both Bastion and Ms. Splosion Man in the next few days though so that will give me a temporary break.

[MTDrunk]

Since late May, I've played mostly Oblivion but I'm taking a break from that. I have played some Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, trying to get 100% synchronization and also a little bit of Sonic & Knuckles (which is the crappiest Sonic game I've played). Yesterday, I went and bought Gears of War and Gears of War 2 (less than $10 together). I am hoping to be caught up with that series when the 3rd comes out. I had intended to get Portal 2 as well but it slipped my mind when I was there so I'll probably pick that up this weekend.

[Murgatroyd7]

My brother just let me borrow Assassin's Creed 2 and Assassins creed brotherhood so I'm playing those, and on a retro gaming note: I just ordered Super Castlevania IV off amazon and it should be here in a few days! I'm actually very excited about finally playing that game

You know, I've never been a big Castlevania fan, but that's still exciting. Not too long ago, I found Castlevania III for NES at a thrift store, which I still need to play. I've actually been in sort of a retro mood lately. I was looking at all of my current games, trying to decide what to play, and all I wanted to do was turn on the Wii and go through my Virtual Console backlog. But I ultimately decided on Enslaved because I feel bad getting all of these new games and not playing them, even if I do get them at amazing prices (I just bought the Dead Rising 2 Collector's Edition for $20!). Once I beat this game, though, I just might go back and play some classics I never finished.

...honestly I havent really played anything other than MvC3 since it came out like in February lol. I've played a few other games here and there since then but I pretty much only play that. It's pretty disgusting how many hours I've put into it in 5 and a half months and there's no sign of letting up.

I am planning on buying both Bastion and Ms. Splosion Man in the next few days though so that will give me a temporary break.

I imagine you probably plan on getting the Ultimate version of MvC3? I've been on the fence about the game, and I decided that I'm going to wait for that version so I can play as Phoenix Wright! Ha ha. Bastion and Ms. Splosion Man are both great games, by the way. They're not quite in my top 10 of XBLA games, but they are absolutely worth playing.

Since late May, I've played mostly Oblivion but I'm taking a break from that. I have played some Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, trying to get 100% synchronization and also a little bit of Sonic & Knuckles (which is the crappiest Sonic game I've played). Yesterday, I went and bought Gears of War and Gears of War 2 (less than $10 together). I am hoping to be caught up with that series when the 3rd comes out. I had intended to get Portal 2 as well but it slipped my mind when I was there so I'll probably pick that up this weekend.

Getting caught up on Gears will be super easy. Those games are only about 6 hours long each. Well, if you play co-op, that is. If you play by yourself, it's probably another hour or two. They've got a lot of replayability, though. I played the first one at least three times and the second one at least twice. And you should definitely get Portal 2 this weekend. Such a great game (also about 6-8 hours long). Not sure where you plan on getting it, but Amazon has it for $36.

[StatiK TactiK]

I imagine you probably plan on getting the Ultimate version of MvC3? I've been on the fence about the game, and I decided that I'm going to wait for that version so I can play as Phoenix Wright! Ha ha. Bastion and Ms. Splosion Man are both great games, by the way. They're not quite in my top 10 of XBLA games, but they are absolutely worth playing.

Yeah I definitely plan on getting UMvC3 although I can't say I agree with how quickly this upgraded version is coming (...but this has been Capcom's thing ever since the SF2 days and its billion different versions so I guess it wasn't entirely a shocker). Unfortunately in the world of fighters, to stay competitive, you need the newest version so alas I have no choice if I want to continue playing it.

I've been following the changes so far that have been made though (in the SD Comic-Con/Evo build) and I'm really afraid they are way too aggressive. Capcom has a history of over-reacting with their nerfs and making previously great characters useless. Personally I really only want nerfs to Phoenix and Wolverine and simply buff everyone else. Instead, they are taking the nerf hammer and crushing anyone and everyone who was good. It's going to be like starting from square one again. Literally every single character I use now is getting nerfed to **** and things that work now will not even be possible in UMvC3 (particularly all my Wesker tricks ). Im going to have to switch my teams and relearn everything. I guess you won't really notice since you didn't play MvC3 lol but this is going to be a completely different game even though they look the same.

As for Phoenix Wright, I am actually really curious about how his playstyle is going to be. Its not like he was ever in any kind of fighting game or even a side scroller before so his moveset can be anything. All I can predict is a counter move where he yells "OBJECTION!" lol

[Murgatroyd7]

That's lame about all of the nerfing, but like you said, I won't notice a thing. However, if I end up really liking this game, I may go back and try the regular edition. But even then, I don't think it will matter much to me just because I don't plan on playing online. Maybe a match or two just for the heck of it, but I already know I won't have any fun. No matter how good I get at a fighting game, other people are usually better. I'm played an obscene amount of Dead Or Alive Dimensions, but when I fight online, you'd think I'm a complete newbie. Soul Calibur is a different story, however...


And yes, I can almost guarantee that Phoenix Wright will have an "Objection!" move. If they don't, I'm pretty sure fans will go on a rampage. Heh.

[Raymo]

Oh man, Castlevania IV is fun so far. Damned tough, but fun. Honestly, I wanted to take a break from new games because a lot of them value graphics over art direction and it takes its toll on the industry. I still love my 360, but I feel like when its gone, the memories wont last as long as my SNES, N64 and dreamcast days. Of course there are games that stand out, but classics like Castlevania do so much with so little; it really sticks with you. The level design on Castlevania 4 is just so varied and gothic, that it gives a great atmosphere.

and as far as MvC3 goes, sorry to hear it man. I just saw some wednesday night fights matches on youtube and Phoenix is a powerhouse! And I've seen some people use Wolverine like crazy. I thought it was a throw away character in MvC2, so I guess they changed a lot for him

[Murgatroyd7]

I completely agree that many of the older games are far more memorable than newer ones. There are obviously some incredibly memorable and influential games this generation (I believe BioShock is one that most people can agree on), but the NES and SNES games seem to have longer-lasting appeal. The same goes for music. I can remember main/theme songs of very few current-gen games, but I can hum quite a few bars of the classics. I mean, you can walk into a room with people of all walks of life and hum the theme to Super Mario Bros. or Tetris and most of them will instantly recognize it. Hum the main song of Halo to the same people and see how many of them know what it is. Hell, I don't even know how it goes...it's just some chanting or something, isn't it? We're able to get so complex and orchestral with music in games, but chiptunes are far catchier.

[StatiK TactiK]

and as far as MvC3 goes, sorry to hear it man. I just saw some wednesday night fights matches on youtube and Phoenix is a powerhouse! And I've seen some people use Wolverine like crazy. I thought it was a throw away character in MvC2, so I guess they changed a lot for him

Yeah Wolverine in this game was too crazy. Unlike other melee characters, his Berserker Slash move has invincibility so he can 50/50 cross up for free...but now that's gone in UMvC3 so he'll be like any other melee character. As for Phoenix, she's getting nerfed to the point where she'll be useless. She can only throw one fireball in the air now so no more lame run away that 3/4 of the cast can't deal with, she has even LESS health than she has now even though one simple combo already kills her in vanilla MvC3 and side Aerial Exchanges as well as certain characters' moves now take away meter, meaning she'll have a much harder time turning into Dark Phoenix. Jean was OP'd but those changes are overkill imo. But I dont use her so I dont really mind but that kinda stuff makes me worried about the rest of the cast.

[DeYanKees1]

I'm playing alot of games lol.

Mostly Mortal Kombat after playing it for a while its hands down one of the best MK games I've played. Really fun and deep, online is not as frustrating as MvC3 and SFIV.

Then there's Shadows of the damned which I haven't touched in about a week but I'm planning on finishing it up in the coming days since I hear its short.

The one game I always play Gears 2 lol only 6,000 kills away from Seriously 2.0 without ever boosting yay, also trying to get my practice in till Gears 3 where I'll hopefully if all goes right go from Semi-pro to pro and do some MLG events etc.

Then I have Alice: Madness Returns which is another I need to finish up.

Dragon Age 2 which I only played for about 30 mins.

Lastly is NCAA Football 12 which I play for fun when I need my football fix.

[Rah5er0]

I just recently got Fable III from Gamefly. I like it, but it's completely different in some ways that I don't particularly care for. Fable I & II had a convenient way of selecting will power during battles; III is somewhat awkward in that you can't quick select items like you use to. The slow-mo effect is cool though during flourishes.
Other than that I'm still playin COD BO (pathetic, i know :P ), and I'm about to get my hockey fix on with some NHL 11 after I beat FableIII (can't wait for NHL 12!)..yeah, buoy!

[Raymo]

yeah, I know what you mean. And while I actually can hum the Halo theme, I do agree that more people will recognize the Zelda, Mario or Tetris theme. Same goes for the castlevania one now, I've heard that theme dozens of times before and I never played an old school castlevania game until this one so even when I don't know the game: it still sticks with me in some way or another

as far as MvC goes, I'm glad they're taking Phoenix down, but thats too much. The whole point of the phoenix character is that she's supposed to be crazy strong.
And wolverine didn't even need leveling IMO. He seemed pretty balanced to me.

[Murgatroyd7]

Sheesh, you've got a lot on your plate, Yank! I used to do that a lot, but now I don't let myself play more than a few games at a time. There are a ton of games that I have to go back and finish, but most of those are on the backburner. Right now, I have just over 300 games in my backlog. Seriously. According to my Backloggery, I've finished less than 200 games out of 527. And that actually needs to be updated because it doesn't include any WiiWare or a lot of my casual PC games like TextTwist, Collapse, Cubis, etc.

You guys should sign up for that site, by the way. It's a great way to keep track of your collection and backlog.

I just recently got Fable III from Gamefly. I like it, but it's completely different in some ways that I don't particularly care for. Fable I & II had a convenient way of selecting will power during battles; III is somewhat awkward in that you can't quick select items like you use to. The slow-mo effect is cool though during flourishes.

I absolutely know how you feel. In their effort to simplify Fable III, I think they made it a lot less intuitive. I mean, replacing the menu with the Guild Hall is freakin' ridiculous. And I hate not having an actual accessible inventory or any way of choosing what emotions I want to use. Also, not including a Repair All option in the property manager was a gross oversight (I ended up selling all of my houses because of it). I still enjoyed the game, but I feel like they just took Fable II and stripped away everything that made it better than the first game. There were very few improvements in this game, which is rather unfortunate. It was nice to see a proper save system, however.

[MTDrunk]

Well, my plans changed. I was going to go through the first couple of Gears of War games but L.A. Noire fell into my lap. Literally, my brother came over and dropped it in my lap. I finished the first Gears game on casual but felt it way too easy and wished I had played on hardcore (which is a term I heartily dislike in gaming). Then I popped in L.A. I never did buy Portal.

I played seven games of MP on Gears and only had four kills. The few people that still play are insanely good and I can rarely touch them. I usually enjoy a challenge on multiplayer games but that is crazy.

The talk of Castlevania brought back some memories. I only ever played the original but it was the first game I bought with my own money. I had an Atari (which is the only console I have ever gotten rid of) and a Nintendo at the time but the games were always gifts. On my birthday, I put my money together to get Castlevania.