I'll be interested to hear if it holds up for you because it didn't for me. The combat is too MMO-y in all respects. Both in managing power recharges and agro. There are also some BLAND quests and dungeons later. This game disappointed me more than any game I can think of in the last ten years.

It might just work for you. It's a popular game and I'm decidedly pretty old school with my western RPGs. But I was promised a spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate and this is not it.

I liked it, but I ran into the same issue I have with most RPS's: I start over like 15 times and never get more than half-way through. I just keep thinking: I should have made the other choice.

While i'ts not quite the same thing, I kind of like the Rogue Likes where everyone dies. Ya, you made the wrong choice and suffered the consequences, but... eh... that's the point. In games like DAO, it makes me feel like I made some mistake, and I constantly feel like I should re-start and fix it.

Games like that I have to play with a walk-through so that I can make sure I make zero mistakes. After a while, it just starts begin no-fun.

It's not just dying either: situations where there are items that you can't get later in the game give me just as much anxiety. I've sat there with checklists, running through each tiny pickup before moving on to the next area.

@Whiteboy, I'm not really into either of those games, but for different reasons. FF12 has this license board issue that i plan on writing about on here soon where it makes all of your characters the same. KOTOR I just couldn't get into because I'm not really into Star Wars (yup). The combat wasn't particularly what I didn't like about those titles.

With DA:O, I was looking forward to it SO hard and the combat in Baldur's Gate is SO good. I think that was more the issue.

It's the level up system. The problem was that abilities were locked by two factors: if you had the license for them (read: you unlocked them in your skill tree) AND if you bought them. Since there's an escalating progression of gear/spells/abilities as you go from city to city, you're encouraged to spend points on what's available. If you insist on specializing your characters, you're going to have tons of XP just sitting around, doing nothing until you get to the town where you can "buy" the ability you want. They should have picked one or the other. It was frustrating as hell.

I liked the license board. I thought it had a good mix of customization and natural aptitude. Depending on where the character started, there was an obvious progression, but if you were willing to put in the work, you could make anyone do anything you wanted.

But you were limited by what was available. So, if I want to make a white mage, I can buy cure in the first town. Between town 1 and town 2, I have tons of unused license points (or whatever they called them) so it incentivizes teaching the white mage fire because I have all these points and it's the only game in town. Same with equipment and other class abilities. Same thing with my black mage. It's not like you need to save those points. They give you plenty to work with.

Now, imagine it worked more like FF10. You didn't buy magic, you just unlocked it. So if you had a bunch of leftover points, you could throw someone down the white mage path and actually advance.

OR it could be like FF1 and you just have new equipment available when you enter a town. You just buy spells and your progression is limited by your progress in the game. I suppose you can just pretend it works like that in FF12 but it's inelegant that way. I played through 2/3 of that game and by the time I quit, each character knew each magic spell and ability available by that point because there was no reason not to.

I got through the magic tower, the wood elves thing and one other one, I think. All of them except the Dwarf one, which was where I gave up.

Oh, the DLC with the golem, is the other thing I did. I like the golem, for the record. I like all the characters in DA:O.

That was weird. That was meant to be another post. I did the mage tower, the wood elves, one other thing and got stuck half way through the dwarves, in addition to the above.

Isaac, Indie Game the Movie and Legend of Grimrock are all great. Dungeon Defenders is sort of fun. Well worth it, regardless.

Wrath of the Lamb is great but it does make the game harder. Gotta man up, Dodson!

The way you advance in Isaac is unlocking characters and knowledge. Work on getting 4 health upgrades in one playthrough to unlock a character that is sort of a beginner mode. Then work on getting 70 cents in one play through to unlock another easy mode character.

During break I'm going to try to record some LPs or guides for Isaac. I figure I should use my 300 hours for something.

Don't use the wiki! It's much more fun to experiment.

Roll with Maggie for a while and try to unlock Cain. He's the next tier. All other characters are actually much more difficult and are akin to challenge modes.

The Tick is only a problem if you're going for the Chest, which is waaaay in your future. Until then, it life drains each boss when you meet them so it's not too bad!

Pawn's Adventure

The Walking Dead is the only game on here that changed how I think of games. A lot has already been said about the narrative which is the focus and is top notch. But not enough has been said about the play.

TWD has the best "false gameplay" of any game I've ever played. The gameplay is almost entirely quick decisions and mild puzzles and the decisions are the draw. Not only do they have real consequence and do they masterfully manipulate tension by having timers, they are sometimes false. Sometimes, what you say doesn't matter. Sometimes, it doesn't matter how quick you are. Sometimes, the things you say have the opposite of the intended effect. Just like in life.

Further, there are some actual quick time events. Sometimes these are just button tap fests, but I want to talk about a very specific one that is very SPOILERY. So please STOP READING IF YOU HAVEN'T PLAYED IT BECAUSE I'M GOING TO SPOIL SOMETHING.


















Seriously, spoilers.








Near the end, when you're strangling the guy in the hotel, you're prompted to slam on the Q button to do so. The prompt disappears. If you stop slamming Q at this point, he gets the upper hand and you're forced to take care of him another way. However, if you're like me, you're so emotionally invested in this character and what he's done and in protecting Clementine, you just keep slamming on the Q button as if you are actually choking the life out of someone. If you can't stop pressing the button until he's no longer a thread, he dies. DESPITE THE FACT THAT THE GAME ISN'T TELLING YOU TO. That moment alone makes this my game of the year. The fact that I cared enough to transcend mechanics and actual "game" signaled to me that this would be a game I'd never forget.

Runner up: Dishonored. Dishonored is a stealth game where it's fun to get caught. Think about that for a moment.

Spec Ops: The Line.