DeathscytheX

Oh yeah, the later levels are impossible to solo. I beat it tonight with some friends... even with 3 players the last boss is an asshole. It was down to the wire gaining another skull coin while someone was dead waiting for it to pop. After each vulnerablity phase he only drops 1 turkey for someone to regain HP. The thing about this game is that you can destroy potions and food by attacking them... it is an issue with ranged characters spamming attacks, or using potions too close to food when pure chaos is going on... it adds a challenge for sure. I was Elf and my friends were Valk and Warrior... honestly you need a Valk on the team to reflect the projectiles. This is an great multiplayer game... I wish it was longer like Champions of Norrath or Balder's Gate.

Yeah rooms fill up fast so wizard gets destroyed so easily. You start with 1 continue called a skull coin. You can gain more by filling up a kill meter and finding them in secret spots. Generally there is only 1 findable one sometimes. It resets every level so you can't stack them up. The most I ever got was 4 with finding one. Without dying 3 seems to be the most you can build.

I downloaded this yesterday and played it for a few hours today. Its pretty fun, but some of the controls are kinda poor for some of the classes. The free edition gives you access to the full game and every character except necromancer. I started off with the Wizard just to be different for once. He has slow powerful attacks, the main one being a fireball. The wizard has many issues. Swapping between Fire, Ice, and Lightning is a pain in the ass, You have to DOUBLE tap square, triangle, and circle to move to a new element... this is frustrating in high pressure situations. The ice beam makes you stationary, so its pretty useless if you aren't in an area where enemies can't get to you... the lightning shield would be the perfect combo with it, but double tapping makes the timing more difficult than it should be. I think the Wizard can be really strong once you upgrade his attacks. I was able to get enough gold to upgrade lightning to do an invisible spell, but the wizard is too slow and low HP at its core for my liking. His potion power does a nice explosion that is really only good for basic enemies, and doesn't do much to stronger foes and spawn towers. The Valkyrie is probably the most well rounded character with the best controls. She is the only character that can block and she has lightning fast regular attacks. Her special attacks are a spear dash and a Captain America type shield throw. Ranged classes like the wizard and elf use the dual stick method, while Valk and Warrior use square/triangle/circle for their different attacks. Left stick blocks in the direction you choose, while L2 also blocks but in the direction you are currently facing... its a nice backup for a panic block. She has medium health so you can take some hits and her potion power is the most OP, sending a huge cone wave of destruction that wipes everything except stronger foes. Its useful for instantly taking down spawn towers, which are the most annoying thing in the entire game when you cant take them out fast enough. Warrior is generally my favorite type of character for this genre, but I don't really care for him. He has heavy health, but his lumbering movements sorta cancels it out. He wields two handed weapon that cleaves for regular attacks. His smash attack is crap and makes him open for punishment, and his starting special attack does the classic barbarian whirlwind. His potion power is sorta like the wizards but more ranged, same effect though. Left stick does a dash attack that knocks everyone down... its not very useful when the crowd is too big and you stop in the middle of it. It doesn't even kill low level baddies. Without means to block, this character suffers a lot in high pressure situations. Elf is definitely my favorite character despite its problems. Its the most agile character in the game and his starting bow seems to be the best of the 4. (sadly I wasted 40k upgrading to something that wasn't anywhere near as good). The elf has the second best control set up. Of course left stick shoots arrows where you point it, circle does a dodge dash, L2 does a bomb arrow, and R2 drops a magic bomb that does the same damage that the wizard and warrior's potion power does. L2/R2 change with what type of bow you choose (its just not worth giving up the magic bomb). The basic arrow attack fires fast and takes down regular enemies no problem... you can stay mobile, kiting huge mobs around a room until they are all dead. My biggest issue with elf is how clumsy the stick accuracy is, this becomes a big problem for his potion power. Its as powerful as the Valkyrie's but instead of a large hit box, its a precision piercing shot... so even though you think you are pointing towards a spawn tower, you may miss it by a hair a lot of the times. Potions are pretty scarce, and you learn to save them up for bad situations pretty fast. So wasting them feels frustrating when the room is flooding endlessly from spawn towers that have moderate HP. I'll def be changing his potion power to something else when i save up the gold to do so. Elf upgrades seem to cost the most of anyone's. The class is low HP, but he seems to be able to take a hit better than the wizard. Im sure Wizard and Warrior become great once you get them decked out, but damn its hard to not use the Elf when it seems so good from the get go, I'm judging these classes on a solo experience basis.... but even then, one of the Elf's potion power upgrades heals allies and makes you invisible for a period so yeah....

Thats the biggest issue with this game is the paywall is an actual paywall, and not just DLC people cry about like on most FPS where you can still enjoy the core multiplayer. Instead, you're locked out of equipment which makes you useless in Iron Banner and Trials of Osiris. The fact that my Messenger got shitted on, when it was a brand new gun was complete crap... and of course they made a new gun to replace it for TTK. I mean the gun was barely 3-4 months old before it got left behind on what was suppose to be the hardest gear to acquire. It was my fatebringer, and they took it away. Destiny wants their own "Gem Store" the Anet guy they hired is definietly influencing the game... the problem is there is no F2P games on console, you're always paying a fee to play because of the XBL and PS+ fee. Asking to pay another sub fee makes it harsh for MMOs to survive on console. If D2 was structured like GW2 it would be interesting to see how it survived.... although the anet guy would be overrode by coperate execs and they'd sell pay-to-win type stuff eventually ruining the whole concept. I'll def be getting AC7 Strider... I enjoyed AH, but I miss the days of AC4/AC5 type gameplay. I did enjoy 6 more than Assault Horizon as well.

Its clear that the TTK didn't sell very well and/or the population completely died after the content was finished by the majority of those who did. They are going to really scrap the universe and start over. Activision isn't going to give them $500 million again. The next game is going to have to take place way in the future so they can get a clean slate going. Fallout 4/COD/BF killed there population, and it won't be coming back ever with the holidays only making it worse and the new year of games on the horizon. I'll probably buy the core game when D2 comes out, but if I find out they are gonna nerf and leave behind weapons again for the DLC, I won't bother and cut my losses there.

I can't really comment on how/if action RPG killed turned base... I never liked turn based gaming because I never like to not be in control. But it is sad that they moved away from skill based gaming. KOTOR was a decent hybrid of turn based and action, that required some skill. You had to pick you attacks and when to medipac. I guess games like Mass Effect and Borderlands never felt like RPG games to me so I really didn't consider them as such. I like a nice balance of challenge. I'm not into Contra hard games anymore, but I don't like ridiculously easy games like Dynasty Warriors. I've never played a single FF game for very long... and the closest I've come to liking an old RPG was Star Tropics on NES.

You also have the remember how limited the space was on those primitive laser discs... they weren't even DVDs. XD I don't think that is a reasonable excuse, the game discs now just serve as an install/verification tool. I forgot all about disc swaps... I remember playing RE4 on Gamecube, and being so hyped swapping to disc 2 after hours of gameplay... only to be served with what was basically the last boss fight... I was like WTF?

OMG, April 12th! I'll def be on vacation to play this. I can't wait!

A terrible decision TBH. But they know people will pay for it regardless. Until people finally start putting their foot down and stop buying shit, it will continue. This is my issue with remakes/remasters. I'd love a remaster of COD4/MW2, but I'm afraid they'd totally screw it up by adding an "updated engine" putting it more in line with the garbage toned down gunplay today's COD's have, and messing up the gameplay mechanics. Id like to see a final kill cam and theater mode added, but I'd want everything kept the same post models/jav glitch patch. On the other side. I'm super excited about the reimagining of Ratchet & Clank coming out in April. I'd like to see stuff like this done with Twisted Metal 2 and Dark Cloud. I'm sure this is what FF7 fans had in mind for this game... and now they have to deal with episodic BS.

Looks like realtime combat... I'll be playing this then.

The best analogy I can think of is gaming magazines. Gamepro, Nintendo Power, EGM, Play, and Official Playstation Magazine... remember those? At one time we flocked to the magazine stand at the grocery store to scan through these because they were our only source of gaming info. What was coming out? When was it coming out? What games out now are actually any good? You could argue that they were the only honest reviews we could get on games compared to what we get now. But nevertheless, the internet and gaming sites put them out of business. You didn't need a subscription anymore to get the same info... these mags actually lived longer than their usefulness with some ending publication just 2-3 years ago. And even though gaming site reviews are bought and paid for these days, reddit and weeding through all the trolls in comment sections can really give you a decent consensus opinion on a game. That's what Social Media has done to forums. I remember when Carmie had me sign up for Facebook way back when.... I was like "Wow, this will never catch on". lol

RIP

We all grew up and life got in the way. lol. I remember spending all day on the forums way back when. Now I work 50 hours a week, and balance video games and friends with my free time. Anime is way more mainstream now then it was back then when we were all a niche hardcore fanbase. Internet commerce was barely a thing back when this place first started... your best bet was ordering from a magazine, a toll free number, or getting lucky finding something in the dark corner of a FYE or Suncoast Video store. Funimation, Right Stuf, Crunchy Roll, Hulu, Netflix has given us such ease of access, we can spend more time watching anime, then talking about it, and looking for suggestions on a wise purchase. I think Reddit as a whole has also supplanted traditional forums as the most popular fandom hangout.

The body in the bag was Zod. Isn't aquaman suppose to be in this movie too? Its just way too much stuff going on.... and they just toss in Doomsday like he's just another villain... He'll end up being like Batman & Robin Bane or Spider Man 3 Venom... poorly done and marginalized. I can't really criticize Eisenberg.... Luthor has been portrayed in so many different ways. We're so used to the bald, menancing, serious mastermind that has been presented to us via Smallville and Justice League, we're not use to something different. It seems they are going for more of a Gene Hackman Luthor, or maybe its all an act until he loses the hair.

There is no point to higher streaks because the rng on care package is the best it's ever been. I've yet to get a UAV or Counter UAV from one. Demolition had always had good objective play because it's like casual S&D. Domination not so much. Its really hard to stay alive in this game. Triple kills are a feat. Even going 20-6 you don't see a lot of big score streaks. The days of 30+ kills are over. Camping is annoying but it's not helping anyone get good streaks. It is helping them win on TDM tho. Since the maps cater to wall running, there are a lot of tight spaces and long hallways. Now that I have a gun I like and leveled it to have a usable suppressor I'm enjoying it more. Starting out at level 1 is too disadvantagious. Your gear blows.

lmao

Initial thoughts. My friends only like TDM for some reason. I'm the only one that likes demolition so I haven't had a chance to play it yet. TDM: Spawn flips are really bad, but some how spawn trapping is still possible. As usual, I find myself getting shot in the back as soon as I spawn. Assault Rifles are very poor outside of the IRC-1 so far... It seems all the starting guns are really really bad. ARs are outclassed by SMGs by the time you level one up and slap a stock on it for AR like accuracy. Too many hit markers for ARs. LMGs are actually decent for the first time since MW2. That futuristic Model 1887 is OP and needs a nerf asap Not really digging the specialization class thing. The bow is the only thing I like so far, the flame thrower looks beastly Suppressors ruin your gun completely... very upset about this more than anything else. The accuracy drop is way too much... hopefully with additional upgrades they will be usable... but seeing as they are one of the first 3 things you unlock for a gun, they aren't worth using from the start. Frag grenade is garbage. Only 3 pistols and the first one you get has the best stats. Higher score streaks aren't worth it... they are only there to serve as care package RNG. UAV/Care Package/Hellfire is what I run.... the RC car thingy sucks, and you can just jump out of its way if you are outside. Camping is really bad in this game for TDM. The unlock token system is by far the worst concept they've imagined yet.... BO1 had it perfect with the currency system. In this game you can only unlock 1 thing per level up. You can choose a perk, a gun, or a piece of equipment (nades).

While rebalancing can be good, DICE is the only company can seem to do it correctly. Thats possibly because so many variables go into their game mechanics, and the attention to detail put into the core of the game makes it possible. Autorifles are king in just about every FPS... its just the way it is. Its the reason they are what every military uses in combat as their main infantry weapon. Its great at all ranges, and is the ultimate multipurpose weapon system. When this happened in Destiny, Bungie nerfed ARs so hard that practically NO ONE uses them even in PvE because they were so shit compared to HC and shotguns... naturally these took the AR's place in crucible because the maps are generally small and hardly ever wide open.... so shotguns get nerfed, HC gets nerfed, and Pulse Rifles like Red Death, The Messenger, and its successors in Y2 take its place as king.... People are always going to gravitate to what they feel is the most powerful weapon/easiest way to get kills. Nerfing ARs to uselessness is never the answer. Balancing is mishandled by just about everyone these days due to a loud minority of QQers in games that get mad at something that kills them a lot... instead of learning how to counter it, they just want it nerfed now. I see it in Guild Wars, I see it in FPS games, I see it everywhere. My first really bad experience with a nerf that killed the game for me was the FAL nerf in BO2... I've talked about it enough not to go into it again. The work that had to be put into getting that gun to where it was, was no easy feat, and to have that hard work taken away was demoralizing. It wasn't an exploit like the SUPER OP Models from MW2 that were justifiably nerfed... it was just a damn good gun that was crazy deadly in the right hands. The community isn't always right about nerfs, but sadly those that can spend time on a reddit or forum and rally people to their cause can change a game for the worse... and I blame the business model of gaming for that. They want their playerbase to buy DLC, so they are going to be more willing to bend to the loudest voice.

The only thing more useless is the vehicle turret as empire. unless you're on Sullust, those things will tear into a turbo laser.

I love the Pulse Cannon for its one shot kill ability. It does some pretty hearty damage to turrets too. The charge time is a handicap, but I usually use the time to line up shots. I love it for people trying to troll spawns from mountain tops. The only handy application it has for close to medium range is down hallways. I'll charge it up and strafe into view to blast someone. If your target goes out of view you can just tap the shoulder button to cancel the shot out instead of wasting it, and if the target is not full health, you don't have to fully charge it. It's nothing compared to the beta cycler rifle, but that's been nerfed so hard, I just deal with the charge time handicap of the PC. I don't know why I have such bad luck with the detonator. My best double kills have been with the smart rocket. Damn, I love that pickup. I wish it was a star card, I get the stupid blaster cannon 90% of the time I get a pick up.

Thats the only problem with 1 sided small modes. Drop Zone could be over so fast. That would be another game type that would be great with a bigger map and more players... it would be hysterical really... it would be the "operation locker" of this game. I've only been killed by explosive shot by one player that seemed to have an endless amount of charges. It was pissing me off. I use Scan Pulse, especially for Endor.... and I struggle to maintain a healthy supply of charges. I don't even use it that much because of that reason. I personally use barrage. Impact Grenade is trash, and as much as I'm killed by the Thermal Detonator, I never seem to be able to land one. Barrage lets me flush people out or get the kill. The damage isn't really the OP issue IMO, its the damn bounce physics that need a huge nerf. They should only bounce once, maybe twice before exploding. I've been killed by Barrage bouncing all the way down a curved hallway and into a room on Sullust. I have to scratch my head when I see the red outline of the person that killed me seem like they are sniper distance from my location. In the beta I thought the Jump Pack was going to be a neccessity, but I can't justify giving up an extra weapon for it. Barrage/Pulse Cannon is how I roll 95% of the time. Jump Pack is only useful for Cargo.