Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[BlackFlyme]

Final Fantasy XIV is half off, and a friend of mine has been bugging me to get it for a while now.

Is it worth it?

It's about $13 a month. What's half off, again?

It has monthly fees?

Never mind then.

I should have looked into it more first. I thought it was like Guild Wars, where you just pay once.

E: I didn't answer your question. It's half-off the box price.

[Biowraith]

I have gotten Aarklash: Legacy, and although I haven't played much so far, here some preliminary impressions: It's a niceish real time with pause CRPG. Don't go expecting all that much, no character building from scratch either. Few tactical options, not a really deep combat system. Heard good things about the story. Don't go in expecting anything revolutionary, but it's nice enough.

I bought this a while back in another sale and yeah, it's not the kind of game that'll blow you away, but it's pretty solid and enjoyable.  The main criticisms / things to know going in are: 1) the RPG elements are relatively limited - there's cutscenes and talkie bits, but the player input is pretty much 100% combat (well, 80% combat and 20% puzzles) with very few choices to make during the story;  2) it's pretty short, about 10-15 hours to complete;  If those aren't dealbreakers though it's well worth the sale price.

[scrdest]

$15 for a free flash game?! Where do I sign up?!

To be fair, it does seem to be much bigger than the flash game; more infection vectors (the original had 3) plus content creation tools and multiplayer.

I'll wait for it to go on sale though.

Plague Inc is not free and there is a LOT of differences between Plague Inc and Pandemic 2 (the flash game you're thinking of). There's more disease types with very distinct set of characteristics (vs. Pandemic's 3), a lot of random events that benefit or harm you (like bird migration, which quickly transmits the plague through borders if you evolved to infect birds) as well as pre-made ones and combo effects.

Plus there are for now two disease types that play VERY different from the rest, particularly the second which makes you control a zombie apocalypse. With active abilities.

Also, there's a ton of graphical and UI improvements, plus the multiplayer and custom content, which I didn't realize were features in Evolved.

[Sean Mirrsen]

Plague Inc is definitely a great step up from Pandemic. The mechanics for cross-country infection are tremendously improved, the response from the world is much more realistic ("The whole world is infected with a strange, but so far harmless bacteria strain? Let's start developing a cure just in case it mutates on us, but keep it low-key. No need to alarm the public." - in contrast to Pandemic's "SHUT. DOWN. EVERYTHING!"), and the different abilities of the different disease types make the game quite varied.

Now, whether or not Evolved is worth its cost... well, it costs about double what the mobile game costs with all unlocks, and it provides all those and all future updates (i.e. everything the mobile game will receive later) with no extra payment, so I'd say it seems fair, at least at first glance. However, the mobile game allows you to pay naught but the entry fee, merely requiring you to win the game over and over again to unlock everything, so technically you're forced to pay too much, so waiting for a sale is not unreasonable.

[scrdest]

Plague Inc is definitely a great step up from Pandemic. The mechanics for cross-country infection are tremendously improved, the response from the world is much more realistic ("The whole world is infected with a strange, but so far harmless bacteria strain? Let's start developing a cure just in case it mutates on us, but keep it low-key. No need to alarm the public." - in contrast to Pandemic's "SHUT. DOWN. EVERYTHING!"), and the different abilities of the different disease types make the game quite varied.

Now, whether or not Evolved is worth its cost... well, it costs about double what the mobile game costs with all unlocks, and it provides all those and all future updates (i.e. everything the mobile game will receive later) with no extra payment, so I'd say it seems fair, at least at first glance. However, the mobile game allows you to pay naught but the entry fee, merely requiring you to win the game over and over again to unlock everything, so technically you're forced to pay too much, so waiting for a sale is not unreasonable.

My recommendation: if you have an Android phone, get the free mobile version first. There IS a completely free version, except it's stripped down from certain features like the genetic modification (basically unlockable traits/bonuses).

[Micro102]

Or just go on a flash site like kongregate and play it there for free >_>

So far all I'm hearing is that it's got more atmosphere (as in text describing how the world is reacting) and different way the world responds mechanically, meaning you just have to learn a different way to evolve your organism. Doesn't really seem worth paying money for.


It's reminding me of flappy bird. Taking a game that has been redone on flash websites many times and monetizing it.

[scrdest]

Or just go on a flash site like kongregate and play it there for free >_>

So far all I'm hearing is that it's got more atmosphere (as in text describing how the world is reacting) and different way the world responds mechanically, meaning you just have to learn a different way to evolve your organism. Doesn't really seem worth paying money for.


It's reminding me of flappy bird. Taking a game that has been redone on flash websites many times and monetizing it.

Err, no. Again, Pandemic 2 is a very different game. It's the same subgenre, but it's a different game. And Pandemic wasn't, AFAIK, redone by anyone except the Plague Inc team so far.

[Sean Mirrsen]

Or just go on a flash site like kongregate and play it there for free >_>

So far all I'm hearing is that it's got more atmosphere (as in text describing how the world is reacting) and different way the world responds mechanically, meaning you just have to learn a different way to evolve your organism. Doesn't really seem worth paying money for.


It's reminding me of flappy bird. Taking a game that has been redone on flash websites many times and monetizing it.

The flash game, for all the good things it does, is ridiculously basic. It's not Flappy Bird so much as it's... I don't know, Dungeons of Dredmor? Take the basic premise of the original and pump it so full of new things that all that remains the same is the basic concept.

In Pandemic, you can play in one of three ways, and every one of those is practically the same - the difference is in a basic starting ability and the balance between visibility and infectivity.

In Plague Inc. you have... well, a lot more than 3 disease types, and every one of them plays entirely differently. The Bacteria is the only one that plays similarly to the old Pandemic, and even then you recover points for devolving. Its special abilities focus on resistance to environments. The Virus, the first disease you unlock, returns the "pay points to devolve" thing, but for a reason - its abilities center around uncontrolled mutation, changing the required tactics entirely, as you must race to infect the world before your disease becomes too dangerous and noticeable, and either gets slapped with a cure or kills all hosts before spreading everywhere. The Fungus (I think that's the second unlock) changes it again, being nigh unable to spread normally and having extreme trouble moving between countries, but having abilities that infect additional countries through increasing evo point payments. And so on, and so forth. It is an entirely different game from Pandemic, with only the basic premise remaining the same. The Evolved version might not exactly be worth the money, but with some 25% or 33% sale it should go quite well. And of course the original mobile version is quite good. Excellent timewaster.

[Sirus]

I'm hesitant to try the mobile version, given that my phone is starting to show its age quite badly. Plague Inc looks like fun, but I'll wait for a sale. I do like the idea of a more complex, expanded Pandemic, and from the looks of the trailer you can start anywhere. Madagascar, your ass will be mine one of these days.

[Sean Mirrsen]

I'm hesitant to try the mobile version, given that my phone is starting to show its age quite badly. Plague Inc looks like fun, but I'll wait for a sale. I do like the idea of a more complex, expanded Pandemic, and from the looks of the trailer you can start anywhere. Madagascar, your ass will be mine one of these days.

Madagascar is hardly a problem in Plague Inc. With bird and insect movements you'll usually have it covered after the first large migration event. The bigger problems are Greenland and New Zealand. And Canada, and central Africa, but the latter two mostly because they are on the extremes of climate scales, so it can be hard to infect them wholly if you're in a hurry to kill everyone. Greenland, however, is entirely able to close itself off, and large, self-contained island nations far off the mainland in general can be trouble.

[scrdest]

I'm hesitant to try the mobile version, given that my phone is starting to show its age quite badly. Plague Inc looks like fun, but I'll wait for a sale. I do like the idea of a more complex, expanded Pandemic, and from the looks of the trailer you can start anywhere. Madagascar, your ass will be mine one of these days.

Madagascar is hardly a problem in Plague Inc. With bird and insect movements you'll usually have it covered after the first large migration event. The bigger problems are Greenland and New Zealand. And Canada, and central Africa, but the latter two mostly because they are on the extremes of climate scales, so it can be hard to infect them wholly if you're in a hurry to kill everyone. Greenland, however, is entirely able to close itself off, and large, self-contained island nations far off the mainland in general can be trouble.

Canada is also rich, and thus has good healthcare, so even if you have Cold Resistance lack of Drug Resistance can fuck you up if you go lethal. I also had some problems with the other island region near Asia/Australia, but can't remember what was it right now.

[kcwong]

Skyborn is a classic JRPG with good story, characters and music. I completed it in 9 hours skipping some optional content; can't really complain for the price right now (50% off - $7.49 USD).

Made using RPGMaker 11, which should tell you a lot.

Combat is not complex; turn-based with an action sequence queue. Buff/debuff and equipping too heavy items will change the order. You have skills using two kinds of resources: Mana, which regenerates slowly, and Energy, which always starts at 0 increases by hitting or getting hit. Enemy AI reacts to threat - a displayed percentage indicating how dangerous you are. There are skills to manage threat, which in a nutshell means you dedicate a party member to be the official punching bag.

There are no random encounters; enemies patrols the map which you can choose to evade. Once killed they will not come back. This also means you cannot grind for levels.

You have the standard item shop and treasure chests; also a simple crafting system. You can collect ores and craft weapons and armors (the protagonist is a mechanic), which is not really useful as it only allows you to get the next tier of items a little earlier. Then there is an augment system, which allows a one-time insertion of various bonus into weapon/armor. You can pretty much ignore both though; you are given new items quite frequently so you can get by without any crafting.

Each character starts with a predefined class; during the course of the game you get two promotions for everyone, giving you different skills to use.

You can change combat difficulty from easy to normal to hard anytime you want; I have it set at normal the whole game, and combat is generally very easy with the exception of some optional fights... two of which I didn't complete, as you cannot grind in this game.

[My Name is Immaterial]

This is probably not the right place for this, but I don't care.

Spoiler: A review for Barbie Dreamhouse Party (click to show/hide)

This game is pretty much what every man should strive to be, A fab godess of fashion. I once was a young boy that would only play anime girl and watch action figures but then this game came along to changed my life forever as i realised that i had purpose. My purpose you ask, to be fab and pretty to be able to date Ken and to be the best BarbyDoll™ there ever was. I love this game its almost as good as Gone Home but i think its pretty much GOTY in all fields.

Now i will go into detail to why this game is so good and beats others like Skyrim and Bioshock Infinite for they are ok but nothing compared to this game and its amazing gameplay, masterfully written story, and its great graphics. Now listen by now you must be saying "this guy is crazy its just a game for little kids" but this game is deeper it explores the human condition and to why we love others. Barby is not a doll she is a statement that tells us that h-human emotion (sorry i got choked up there) and how easy it is to tame. This is where Ken comes in he is the beast inside us all for he wishes to tame Barby(Our emotions) but never will for Ken is feral and does not understand Barby's complexity.

The other cast represents the hopes of our emotions and how consumerism is taking those away from us by not taming the feral beast that lives within our hearts that beat to the rhythm of the earth. The earth cries as it sees these girls(our hopes) being taken away by the guitar man at the beinging but they wish to only feel free and to stride with Barby and her own emotions.

The house is actaully the galaxy we reside in and all the mini-games represent inventions made by our greatest aspirations. for example the garage mini-game this represents Eli Whitney inventor of the cotten gin but more importantly interchanegable parts and how emotions are also interchanegable like the parts created by Ken(The beast inside us).
The universe must go on, so must Ken(the beast inside us) so he must continue to invent and to improve upon our emotions for it is what every beast must be enslaved to do by our own hopes and dreams.

So remember when yolu play Barbie™ Dreamhouse Party™ you are not playing a video game or reading a book. you are changing the very universe by experiencing the interworkings of ourselves. I would go into further detail but some might think im over analysing a tad. God speed fellow Dreamhousers.

Aforementioned game say s that if I like this, I might like Metro: Last Light, Nether and State of Decay.
Damn it taggers, y u so funny?

[0x517A5D]

There are a few amusing reviews like that, if you dig for them.

From a review of Petz® Horsez® 2:

At first I thought this game was wonderful, but oh how things can change. Don't be deceived by the joyful horse pictures, this is a hazardous game that should not be sold without severe warning. After countless days of raising horses, I was grazing on some nearby greens when my roommate dropped a dish on the ground. It broke and the noise of it spooked me, causing me to rear back and kick him in the head. Now he talks with a speech impediment and has a wonky eye. I haven't launched this game in 3 weeks because it will remind me of the incident. I can't face the reality of what I've done. My family won't speak to me, I have badly infected rug burn on both of my knees, and I'm malnourished from eating nothing but carrots, although my eye sight has never been better. Damn you Petz Horsez, you've ruined my life!!!!

ON TOPIC, because Petz® Horsez® 2 is currently on sale, 35% off.

Petz® Horsez® 2 is tagged: Features a Very Cool Horse, Best Game Ever, Horror, Hardcore, Post-apocalyptic, Gore, Game of the Year, Horses.

The "more like this" list includes Secret of the Magic Crystals, Resident Evil 4, and DOTA 2.

I love the tagging system.

[Chaoswizkid]

There are a few amusing reviews like that, if you dig for them.

From a review of Petz® Horsez® 2:

At first I thought this game was wonderful, but oh how things can change. Don't be deceived by the joyful horse pictures, this is a hazardous game that should not be sold without severe warning. After countless days of raising horses, I was grazing on some nearby greens when my roommate dropped a dish on the ground. It broke and the noise of it spooked me, causing me to rear back and kick him in the head. Now he talks with a speech impediment and has a wonky eye. I haven't launched this game in 3 weeks because it will remind me of the incident. I can't face the reality of what I've done. My family won't speak to me, I have badly infected rug burn on both of my knees, and I'm malnourished from eating nothing but carrots, although my eye sight has never been better. Damn you Petz Horsez, you've ruined my life!!!!

Someone's late to the party 

At first I thought this game was wonderful, but oh how things can change. Don't be deceived by the joyful horse pictures, this is a hazardous game that should not be sold without severe warning. After countless days of raising horses, I was grazing on some nearby greens when my roommate dropped a dish on the ground. It broke and the noise of it spooked me, causing me to rear back and kick him in the head. Now he talks with a speech impediment and has a wonky eye. I haven't launched this game in 3 weeks because it will remind me of the incident. I can't face the reality of what I've done. My family won't speak to me, I have badly infected rug burn on both of my knees, and I'm malnourished from eating nothing but carrots, although my eye sight has never been better. Damn you Petz Horsez, you've ruined my life!!!!