Last game you finished and your thoughts

Haven't played acid or portable ops, no. I have got peace walker though, do you think I should do that first?

I think it would.

Professor Layton And The Azran Legacy

Legacy is typical Professor Layton for the most part. It does mix things up by having a round the world quest in the middle and though it does tie things up neatly (please don't spoil yourself if you've not played it) I have a sense of dissatisfaction with it. The minigames, normally a highlight, were both ropey and the central mystery didn't grip me as much as in past games. Perhaps it's Layton fatigue... anyway,

8/10

Whaaaat?

Balladeer wrote:

Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy

...

But the story may be the best in a Layton game: certainly, only Lost Future gives it competition.  It loses a bit of pace in the middle, but that aside...  And oh God the ending.

I still stand by this. Then again, I don't play the minigames at all.

The fashion minigame has been naff so far but I thought the acorn and gardening ones were good. I think my minigame highlight would have to be the shop organisation game from MM though.

Curious Village remains my favourite Layton ending. The reason I think I'm down on the Azran Legacy ending is because I accidentally spoiled myself reading a little too far down Eurogamer's article on the history of Professor Layton as a character.  There'd have been far more impact if I hadn't done that.

Ah yes, that would spoil it a bit. But still, Aurora...

...not that anyone who thinks CV has the best ending can be reasoned with anyway.  

Curious Village's ending made me cry. It is overtly sentimental but I am rather fond of that.

Dark Souls

So, where do I even start with this one? No seriously someone tell me, it's just bloody brilliant! Quite simply the best & most believable world I have ever explored in any game ever, the combat is meaty & satisfying, taking down a boss after it has bested you umpteen times is the best feeling ever.

It has shot up to my best game ever spot above Monster Hunter.....I really don't think I can say anything more that would justify how phenomenal this game is.

Praise the sun! 10/10

(Side note: 10 = its fucking quality GET IT PLAYED!)

Is it really the best game ever or is it your favourite game ever. As I know it's supposed to be good and likely worth the 10/10 as more than likely the best in its genre. But can't see how it's better then things like SM64 or OoT.

I still hope there's some sort of Soul's on next gen announced.

Masofdas wrote:

Is it really the best game ever or is it your favourite game ever.

Both.   

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker

So glad I played this. The plot is a pretty big chunk of Big Boss' character arc, the music as ever is phenomenal and the gameplay is a really nice distillation of that delicious Tactical Espionage Action.
I'm just annoyed I played it on a PS3 and raced through the story mode. I think this would work a hell of a lot better as a handheld game. It's like a Metal Gear Monster Hunter. Quality stuff, and it sounds like this is an important bridging game between Snake Eater and Ground Zeroes. So I'll be moving onto that soon, as soon as I finish Mass Effect 2.
8/10

Now they just need to hurry up and crank out Metal Gear VI, starring The Boss. Kojima's most amazing character.

LEGO Marvel Super Heroes

Really, LEGO City Undercover spoiled us. Marvel Super Heroes went straight back to being the standard LEGO fare: you have two or more characters and combine their skills in a very simplistic way to get through the levels. By the third level I'd had enough of the generic nature of it all. It's not a bad game by any means, although the final level is very anti-climactic; I've just played too many LEGO games now.

8/10

That's almost a CVG review, ZJ! "I found it boring and gave up by the third level; 8/10."  

It's still a quality game - very good-looking and reasonably well-produced, with hours of content. It's just that the leap that LEGO City Undercover made for the series has not been built on as well as I wanted.

Dark Souls



I did it! Praise the Sun!

So, yeah, Dark Souls. It's entered internet lore as being "that game that's REALLY hard, hardcore players only lol" and yeah, it will kick your ass. But Dark Souls is a retro game in a modern world, and I love it for it. There's no real story - everything is implied through item descriptions and all the NPCs seem to talk in riddles. The only real guidance through the game you receive is a vague "eh, you should go there and do the thing I guess" at the beginning and the midway points of the game and the sometimes helpful, sometimes cruel player messages dotted around.

If you've ever played Castlevania Symphony of the Night, this plays like a 3D version of that with teeth. Gothic environments, crumbling ruins and a plethora of horrific looking beasties out to get you - it has them all. There's a real joy in exploring the world, scraping your way through an area to discover a shortcut back to the starting zone, or a new area entirely. That interconnection between areas is one of the games strong points. Each locale feels different enough despite still having the same dark tone. There's only a couple of weak areas in the game - the Demon Ruins with its rehashing of enemies and poor pacing between bosses and Lost Izalith with its terrible positioning of enemies and ugly environments, and probably the worst boss in the game too.

Speaking of bosses, they are probably the highlights of this game. Each one is suitably monstrous - giant Lovecraftian horrors replete with teeth and scales, hulking giants looking to step on you, necromancers with hordes of skeletons, a tag-team terror, a big wolf with a sword... each one brings a fresh challenge to the field. There are a few palette swaps, but it doesn't tarnish the game too much. The retro challenge of the game is learning the patterns of these bosses - you'll almost certainly die on your first attempt.

The combat initially feels a bit clunky, but that's more down to the player than the control scheme. Soon you'll be going from bashing your sword against an enemy in vain to parrying and riposting their attacks before circling them for the finishing backstab. The challenge is comforting in a gaming scene full of games eager to hold your hand throughout. The game never really gets easier - you just get better at it.

It's probably one of the best games I've ever played. It alters your view on difficulty in games, for the better, natch. And it's well worth the 30-60 hours of struggle. It's marred only slightly by a couple of uninspired areas, but on the whole, it's a hardcore experience you won't forget soon.

9.5/10

Wow, you guys are quick at Dark Souls. I'll get around to it eventually but I am catching up on a whole generation....
Mass Effect 2

I can totally see where Mas is coming from when he bogs these games up. Obviously, the game play isn't as pure fun as Ninty's best. And the story doesn't have such interesting characters, or as much to say, as Metal Gear Solid. But what it does is integrate story and game play phenomenally well and genuinely start to unlock the potential for videogames to be the greatest storytelling medium on the planet.

Graphically, the game outshines it's predecessor so much they don't feel like they were made for the same console. Technically breathtaking and, barring a dull final mission, driven by top art design as well. A genuine achievement. The music and voice acting are top as well.

The game play was slicker than the previous game and the shooting was much more impactful but sometimes it felt like my hand was being held much more than last time. I also felt all the customisation from the first one was sorely missed. The galaxy exploration was cool though.

Story - wise, I preferred the first without doubt. Most of this felt like a complete retread. The Sarren story and the whole space cop angle was cooler than the collectors and Cerberus rubbish. The finale was way more epic the first time as well. Obviously, the ending kicked off the reaper business but this one sort of felt like it was treading water until then so it could fill up a trilogy. It's a shame, because the world is so absorbing and the character stuff is written so perfectly.

Can't remember what I gave the first, but this is solid 8/10

Psyched for 3 now, but I've got MGSV:GZ, TLoU, and DK:TF first.

Not a fan of the suicide mission?! That's one of my favourite moments in gaming ever! I do agree that the lack of customisation was a bit of a bummer though, fortunately 3 remedies that.
Also MGS having better characters? Lies   

Great DS review Jay, you summed it up better than I could.

Cheers Jas!

I'm surprised you didn't like the suicide mission Buska - I thought it was a really great finale to the game. Did you lose any squadmates on the mission?

andyman949 wrote:

Not a fan of the suicide mission?! That's one of my favourite moments in gaming ever!

I thought it was a quality mission, I just thought the location was dull looking and it lacked the wow factor of going to the Citadel I'd been visiting the whole game and shooting it up and saving the council.

Quote :

Also MGS having better characters? Lies   

The Boss says otherwise
I dunno about better characters but it says things about war and identity and gaming. This sort of feels like a big homage to star wars and star trek and Babylon 5 and Battlestar Galactica.
I know I'm sounding really down on it, but that's just because it's so good I just find myself wishing they'd been that bit braver.

JayMoyles wrote:

Did you lose any squadmates on the mission?

Only Jack, Thane and Kasumi because I hadn't upgraded the Normandy. But I found those three pretty dull so I'm not fussed.

Thane and Kasumi?! THAAAAAAAAANEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  Thane is one of the best characters. Much better than The freaking Boss...

They were the two most generic characters! But hey, you wouldn't be Andy if you didn't express some blatantly wrong opinion
On my next play through, I'll try and save everyone mind. I'll probably play as a dude as well, but that would feel weird at this point.

Aw man, I really like Thane and Kasumi.

But yeah, try and do a playthrough with everyone surviving - if you're planning to play Mass Effect 3, everyone crops up at least once if they survived in the previous two games.