Playing - December

[Attrage]

Just got hold of Elder Scrolls V - Skyrim today. Wow. Have only played for about 45 minutes so far but I can tell this game is going to suck days on end from my life and that I am going to enjoy every freakin minute. (In fact tearing myself away from the game to log on and post about it took some effort.)

The graphics are stunning - this is another game where you just have to stop and slow pan around to take it all in. So...so far I have escaped a keep, tried unsuccessfully to chat up a girl at an inn, got hassled by some punk kid and his dog, slain a wolf that was silly enough to attack my beefy wood elf character, and then was silly enough myself to pick a fight with some Imperial soldiers who promptly chased me down and shot me full of arrows. The score is fantastic too.

[Steve T Power]

Honestly, in collecting thoughts for our "game of the year" episode, I keep going back to different elements of Skyrim, and on just about every level imaginable it's freaking SILLY how far ahead of the rest of the pack this game actually is.

[alexwagner]

Skyrim is not a surprise for your game of the year Steve haha. The rest of the list interests me though! Make sure you look at Q1 I'd completely forgotten about Dead Space 2 not because of it's lack of quality but I was positive it was a Q4 2010 title. I would have hung myself if I'd let that of my list.

I've also grabbed Fight Night Champion which I will post thoughts on later.

[mavrach]

Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 - I'm focusing on movies lately so I got this since you can play it casually. It's not nearly as refined as Street Fighter IV, and most of the special attacks seem to be the same as Ken/Ryu. But I'm enjoying the rapid pace of this one. A sea of random characters.


I don't know if I'd like Skyrim. I couldn't get into Oblivion, which I tried twice. I think it's a case of a game being too immersive. Maybe I just don't want to committ? How would you all compare the two?

[Steve T Power]

Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 - I'm focusing on movies lately so I got this since you can play it casually. It's not nearly as refined as Street Fighter IV, and most of the special attacks seem to be the same as Ken/Ryu. But I'm enjoying the rapid pace of this one. A sea of random characters.


I don't know if I'd like Skyrim. I couldn't get into Oblivion, which I tried twice. I think it's a case of a game being too immersive. Maybe I just don't want to committ? How would you all compare the two?

Skyrim is infinitely more accessible at the get go, and it slowly pulls you in. Oblivion is for fans of the whole "Euro style" open-world RPG. Honestly, Oblivion is one of my favorite games, ever, but i'd never begrudge someone who isn't into it. Skyrim on the other hand, I just can't understand why anyone who likes swords, dragons, and vikings (FREAKING VIKINGS!) wouldn't dig Skyrim. Oblivion and Fallout 3 were certainly appealing games with in the genre, but they have their hang-ups, their foibles, their rough edges if you will. Skyrim is just so ludicrously detailed, easy to navigate, and so ridiculously polished (compared to Bethesda's past work) that I can't see anyone not getting hooked unless the whole "medieval/norse fantasy schtick" just isn't their thing to begin with, In which case, why would you bother to try it in the first place.

Alex: No worries about Q1 my good man, I had an amazing year right out of the gate. I'm still not sure how I'm going to present my list this year (top 5, top 3, top 10... yadda yadda) but I'm piecing it together.

[Attrage]

Steve: Totally agree man, Skyrim has instantly got my vote for game of 2011, and I'm only 5.5 hours in (and feel like I have barely scratched the surface of possibility)...what an amazing game.

Mavrach: I am a case in point - I am NOT a fan of RPG games, nor fantasy games in general. But based on so many people recommending Skyrim to me, and reading/seeing so many glowing reviews, I had to give it a try. From the first few minutes I was hooked.

[mavrach]

I've been overkilling it with movies lately so it was time for a game. I checked out Batman: Arkham City, and ended up playing through the whole thing over the weekend. Batman is so perfectly matched to be a video game, the entire franchise translates over flawlessly. Most franchises would feel forced if they tried something like this, but all the characters, story and Batman's gadgetry work so perfectly without being less of a game or losing any of the story from the comics. Arkham City has more of a sandbox feel than its predecessor.

I worked through all of the sidequests, but like most sandbox games I won't take the time to do all of the item searching. So in this case I skipped most of the riddler puzzles. I always start out enjoying these sort of things, but then I get sick of it a third of the way in. Truly I'm just afraid of spending hours searching, only to miss the last 2% of the items. That's what happened when I played Infamous (I missed exactly 2 of those shards and was not about to spend hours searching for just that when I'd already cleared the city).

[Attrage]

^ I had a similar thing my first play through of Far Cry 2. 50 sq km of open world to explore and the currency you use in the game are rough diamonds scattered throughout the world in briefcases. I became obsessed with finding them all, so spent literally tens of hours of my game time just wandering around getting into needless firefights with the patrols and guard posts, only to finish the game with 250+ useless diamonds I never ended up spending on anything.

[mavrach]

I'm officially hooked on Skyrim now. The more I play, the more immersive it becomes. There's a big "just one more level before sleep" feel to it, and intended ventures turn into side trips into whatever burrows I stumble upon.

This definitely needed to wait for the right mood for me though. I'm the type to try to plow through one game so I can attack my next game. You need to be willing to relax in Skyrim, take in all of the scenery and spent a LOT of time in that world. I've got a 4-day weekend coming up, and I expect to spend a bulk of my free time in this game.

Is it sad that I'm at work now twitching because I just want to go home and go to the wizardry college?

[JoshRode]

Lord I can't wait 'till I have an extra $60. In the meantime, let me ask you experts something: how significant of a difference is there between the PC version of Skyrim and the console version (specifically PS3)? I prefer games of that sort on PC, at least historically, because the console controls always seem limiting. But I'm not sure how my laptop would like the graphic load.

[mavrach]

Lord I can't wait 'till I have an extra $60. In the meantime, let me ask you experts something: how significant of a difference is there between the PC version of Skyrim and the console version (specifically PS3)? I prefer games of that sort on PC, at least historically, because the console controls always seem limiting. But I'm not sure how my laptop would like the graphic load.

I can't comment on the PC version, but my PS3 version has a few jerky movements and some load times. Controls feel fine though. I'd played Morrowind on the PC back in the day.

[Steve T Power]

Lord I can't wait 'till I have an extra $60. In the meantime, let me ask you experts something: how significant of a difference is there between the PC version of Skyrim and the console version (specifically PS3)? I prefer games of that sort on PC, at least historically, because the console controls always seem limiting. But I'm not sure how my laptop would like the graphic load.

I can't comment on the PC version, but my PS3 version has a few jerky movements and some load times. Controls feel fine though. I'd played Morrowind on the PC back in the day.

It definitely looks nicest on PC (if you have the rig to run it cranked wide open), but it's no slouch on either console. The PS3 version is the weakest of the three, but not by any huge margin. It definitely feels MUCH better with a controller in hand, I had to synch my 360 controller to the PC to play it worth a damn.

[alexwagner]

I'm putting the finishing touches on Arkham City. Fantastic game that's otherwise daunting at first that took some time to grown on me. You've heard it everywhere before...an essential purchase. The amount of content in this game is staggering! I've finished the main story now just have to complete side missions and the Riddler trophies/riddles.

[Attrage]

I'm officially hooked on Skyrim now. The more I play, the more immersive it becomes. There's a big "just one more level before sleep" feel to it, and intended ventures turn into side trips into whatever burrows I stumble upon.

This definitely needed to wait for the right mood for me though. I'm the type to try to plow through one game so I can attack my next game. You need to be willing to relax in Skyrim, take in all of the scenery and spent a LOT of time in that world. I've got a 4-day weekend coming up, and I expect to spend a bulk of my free time in this game.

Is it sad that I'm at work now twitching because I just want to go home and go to the wizardry college?

Haha welcome to the Skyrim addict's club
The Winterhold wizard college is a freakin blast, I'm having loads of fun working through those quests. At first in the game I was content to just be a two-handed weapon brute force badass, but when I started coming across more and more mages who kept firing flames at me and setting my right-hand-girl Lydia on fire, I decided it was time to dive in and learn some magic of my own. Now it's sweet coz I have two outfits, I've got my heavy armor and super-blacksmithed longsword for when I'm trekking around taking on giants and those annoyingly frequent wolves, and my mages robes and hood for when I go caving and face off against those nerdy mages

[Steve T Power]

And that is one of the many reasons why Skyrim is amazing. I rock dual wielding Katanas, Ebony Armor, and a Dragonbone great helm. I can slay elder Dragons in two power attacks. I am bad-ass...

Also: Walking into a fully stocked banquet hall like Dragonreach and unleashing a full blown FUS-ROH-DAH! on the well stocked tables is about the most insanely entertaining thing to do... ever.

[mavrach]

I've never had a game hold my interest like this. I spent a few days just trying to lower the number of Miscellaneous quests. In the meantime I've completed the Winterhold & Companion questlines, and will beat the Theives Guild tonight! Assassins Brotherhood is next. I've been focusing on two-handed with some great sneak & bow prep to soften them up beforehand.

[Attrage]

Also: Walking into a fully stocked banquet hall like Dragonreach and unleashing a full blown FUS-ROH-DAH! on the well stocked tables is about the most insanely entertaining thing to do... ever.

Oh yeah...totally getting added to the "To do" list

[Attrage]

I've never had a game hold my interest like this. I spent a few days just trying to lower the number of Miscellaneous quests.

I tried a similar tactic but I just wound up getting more Miscellaneous quests. Not that I'm complaining