🚀 go-pugleaf

On 3/1/2017 6:05 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
> (Oh, fuck me; I did it again - it's Feb /2017/... reposting under the
> correct subject...)
>

Well, F me, I wrote a huge reply 2 days ago and it doesn't seem to have 
gone through, far worse than messing up a date. :(  This attempt will be 
much shorter.  Oh well, brevity is the soul of wit, right?

> * Grand Theft Auto 4 (replay)
> Let me just start by saying that I replayed GTA4 using the ICE 3.0
> graphics enhancement mod, and ohmigod, does it make the game look
> gorgeous. It's not quite up to the standard set by the sequel, but it
> comes pretty damn close (well, most of the time; some of the textures
> and the shorter draw distance knock things down a notch). In some
> areas - particularly the AI animations - the game is noticeably
> superior. Not bad for a nine year old game.

Holy crap!  This is 9 years old?  I swear I was just playing it a couple 
years ago.  I did have problems getting it working the first two 
attempts, computer not up to it, so could be I was.

> The gameplay is pure GTA, with all its strength and weaknesses. The
> huge open world is wonderfully detailed; more so, in my opinion, than
> that of GTA5. The vehicles control as terribly as ever, and the combat
> is middling. But it's the scale and variety of the world far more than
> the gameplay that was always the draw of the franchise.

Meh, missing Rampages, and my other favorites - taxi, firetruck, and 
police missions.

>
> The satire and humor, on the other hand, are decidedly sub-par; too
> biting and nasty to be enjoyable even for a Rockstar production (even
> for the guys who made literal murder-simulators with the Manhunt
> games). I did quite enjoy the early parts of the game which focused
> more on Nico, the protagonist, and his relationship with needy cousin
> Roman. Nico is a truly broken person and the developers managed some
> surprisingly deep and satisfying characterization, making him equally
> loathsome and pitiable at the same time. Unfortunately, the latter
> half of the game degenerates into broad stereotypes with increasingly
> fantastic adventures, and this early magic is sacrificed for cheap
> jokes and over-the-top action cliches. I struggled to play the game to
> the end.
>

I did finish this last time, but it was a pain in the ass, and i hated 
having to switch back and forth between controller and mouse/kb, and by 
the end I just felt like it should've ended wiping everyone out as I 
hated all the characters.


> * Dead Space 2 (replay)

Added to my wishlist.  Is Dead Space 1 worth playing too, should I play 
it first?  Wow, they're both the same price at $20.

> * X-COM Enforcer (replay)

Sounds fun to me, added to my wishlist too.  I ages ago tried picking up 
the original X-Com, but it was at least a decade after it had come out 
and I couldn't get into it.

> So what about you? What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2016?
>

Dark Souls 2 (PC New)  2 months straight.  I've got a lot of problems 
with it now, and have to say it's about a 75 vs. 95 for DS1.  There 
don't seem to be enough people late game to complete most of the 
covenant lines. On top of that every couple weeks I've had a day or 3 I 
couldn't connect to game servers so no progress possible in the 
covenants.  I'm also getting pretty tired of the grind in general.  It's 
still good enough to scratch the DS itch though and at 2 months of play 
well worth the money.

Buriedbornes (Android New)  Japanese fremium turn based RPG.  It's 
pretty rudimentary and reminds me of some very old games, a bit like 
Telengard. You can make progress easily if you've just got a few 
minutes.  The fremium stuff is nearly non-intrusive too, one of the 
better fremium games in that regard.  You can buy some currency that 
lets you do some stuff like reroll treasure a 3rd time if you don't like 
it (you get 1 free reroll with each hoard), but it doesn't seem to be 
necessary, and there's a small add banner at the bottom.  The 
up/downside is it's constantly being updated and I don't like updating 
on the cell network, and never remember when I'm at home as I've got 
other stuff to do, so I end up not being able to play it most times.