Games
So, I'm accumulating things to say on a few different games in progress...
GW
I'm reminded of why I generally feel Nightfall was the best of the three campaigns. It feels more fleshed out. The party limit juggling at the beginning is annoying, but it feels better upon reaching the mainland where that isn't an issue.
Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction
Whee. Long names. I picked this up recently, though it was from fairly early in the PS3 cycle. It was recommended to me back before I had said console. And yeah, it's fun. It's a 3D platformer with lots of shooty action. It looks good - cartoony, but smooth. Play reminds me a little of Sly Cooper, which I greatly enjoyed, though with more weapons and gadgets. And I find the tone and sense of humor just about right for me.
"In the unlikely event the Dimensionator creates a time-space singularity and tears the fabric of the Universe asunder, please log an "A" bug and notify a programmer immediately."
Dragon Age: Origins (PC)
Just starting on this, so there's only so much I can say. It looks and moves well. As reviews have said, the world feels deeply detailed already. I haven't met any of the more intricately-storied companion characters yet (as far as I know), but I've seen characters I've liked and disliked already.
That said, tashiro should probably not come anywhere near this. And if you do, I don't want to hear you bitching about it. Our opinion on the line between "fantasy" and "dark fantasy" seems to differ greatly, but even I will classify this in the latter category.
The KotOR games gave you good options like helping someone while turning down a reward and evil options along the lines of kicking a puppy for no reason. DA:O is looking more along the lines of sacrificing said puppy to save the world or watching civilization crumble into oblivion. If you think Jedi are mean for recruiting kids early and frowning on contact with family, the Grey Wardens and Templars are probably going to strike you as sick bastards. The most upbeat character I've seen thusfar is so starry-eyed with hero worship that there's a definite sense he's going to get people unnecessarily killed.
And that's just my sense of things after the first hour or two of play.
WoD
So... plotwise, we've pretty much confirmed the disappearances are due to the "Others." It appears several have been kidnapping people at about the same time and replacing them with Fetches. It seems like there has been an unusual amount lately, but we don't actually know that. We've had a couple names thrown out as Others responsible, but there doesn't appear to be any major link (save the stolen people making good stories, but there are always people like that around somewhere). So we really don't have any idea why it's been happening so much lately, what commonality there is in who is behind it or who's being targetted. I'm not even altogether sure we should be trying to apply normal human logic to the situation. Whatever the case, we've been bouncing around between NPC help the last few sessions, and there doesn't seem to be enough information to take the initiative to stop things.
So I have the sense we're not clear on what to do next. We were assembled by different factions and sent to investigate. Okay, we have a loose handle on what's going on. Are we supposed to stop it, too? Because the NPCs we've encounters seem a lot more able in such matters.
There's also some degree of time pressure, in that we can potentially recover anyone replaced by a Fetch as long as they haven't been gone a week. But I'm not sure the PCs do (or even should) care enough about strangers to make the bargains necessary to do so.
I'm unclear on whether they are Changlings, or fae, or if there's even a difference between the terms in this iteration of the game. Most of those we've dealt with directly were human once. I have the sense that such humans tainted/changed by the other realm are Changlings. That would make native beings there something else. Others? That's something I haven't grasped directly from discussions.
I'm also sitting on something like 50 XP now. I think I'm going to look at spending some of that, but I think it's been less than 48 hours in-game since we started. It's a little hard to justify sudden increases in talent and skill in that time.
GW
I'm reminded of why I generally feel Nightfall was the best of the three campaigns. It feels more fleshed out. The party limit juggling at the beginning is annoying, but it feels better upon reaching the mainland where that isn't an issue.
Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction
Whee. Long names. I picked this up recently, though it was from fairly early in the PS3 cycle. It was recommended to me back before I had said console. And yeah, it's fun. It's a 3D platformer with lots of shooty action. It looks good - cartoony, but smooth. Play reminds me a little of Sly Cooper, which I greatly enjoyed, though with more weapons and gadgets. And I find the tone and sense of humor just about right for me.
"In the unlikely event the Dimensionator creates a time-space singularity and tears the fabric of the Universe asunder, please log an "A" bug and notify a programmer immediately."
Dragon Age: Origins (PC)
Just starting on this, so there's only so much I can say. It looks and moves well. As reviews have said, the world feels deeply detailed already. I haven't met any of the more intricately-storied companion characters yet (as far as I know), but I've seen characters I've liked and disliked already.
That said, tashiro should probably not come anywhere near this. And if you do, I don't want to hear you bitching about it. Our opinion on the line between "fantasy" and "dark fantasy" seems to differ greatly, but even I will classify this in the latter category.
The KotOR games gave you good options like helping someone while turning down a reward and evil options along the lines of kicking a puppy for no reason. DA:O is looking more along the lines of sacrificing said puppy to save the world or watching civilization crumble into oblivion. If you think Jedi are mean for recruiting kids early and frowning on contact with family, the Grey Wardens and Templars are probably going to strike you as sick bastards. The most upbeat character I've seen thusfar is so starry-eyed with hero worship that there's a definite sense he's going to get people unnecessarily killed.
And that's just my sense of things after the first hour or two of play.
WoD
So... plotwise, we've pretty much confirmed the disappearances are due to the "Others." It appears several have been kidnapping people at about the same time and replacing them with Fetches. It seems like there has been an unusual amount lately, but we don't actually know that. We've had a couple names thrown out as Others responsible, but there doesn't appear to be any major link (save the stolen people making good stories, but there are always people like that around somewhere). So we really don't have any idea why it's been happening so much lately, what commonality there is in who is behind it or who's being targetted. I'm not even altogether sure we should be trying to apply normal human logic to the situation. Whatever the case, we've been bouncing around between NPC help the last few sessions, and there doesn't seem to be enough information to take the initiative to stop things.
So I have the sense we're not clear on what to do next. We were assembled by different factions and sent to investigate. Okay, we have a loose handle on what's going on. Are we supposed to stop it, too? Because the NPCs we've encounters seem a lot more able in such matters.
There's also some degree of time pressure, in that we can potentially recover anyone replaced by a Fetch as long as they haven't been gone a week. But I'm not sure the PCs do (or even should) care enough about strangers to make the bargains necessary to do so.
I'm unclear on whether they are Changlings, or fae, or if there's even a difference between the terms in this iteration of the game. Most of those we've dealt with directly were human once. I have the sense that such humans tainted/changed by the other realm are Changlings. That would make native beings there something else. Others? That's something I haven't grasped directly from discussions.
I'm also sitting on something like 50 XP now. I think I'm going to look at spending some of that, but I think it's been less than 48 hours in-game since we started. It's a little hard to justify sudden increases in talent and skill in that time.
Re nWoD: You won't see a 'sudden increase'. You can raise any given skill once per adventure, so getting small nudges here and there can be justified. :)
ReplyDelete