Monday Blues - What did you actually play?

[menage]

Monday Blues time! Everybody feeling blue? What did you guys play the last couple of days? Cut some demons in half in DMC4? Actually bought Turok? Or did you go all out on Windows Solitaire? Share your stories, high scores, embarrassing moments right here.

I played DMC4, and only DMC4 last weekend. Mission 18-19 or so I think. Love the damn game.

[Booda]

Played some DMC4 and a little QW-ET.

[Atorak]

Played The Witcher, I'm about 6 hours into the game and I love it so far. I can't wait to play some more, thanks for all the recommendations EvAv!

[Angelus073]

Played lots and lots of CoD4 online, Rock Band and had a dabble with The Club.

[Nura]

City of heroes, got my hero up to level 36, and some of my smaller ones got a couple of levels aswell :]

[maverick106]

Man, i fired up the PC, the 360, and even the gamecube 5 different times over the weekend...but never got to pick up a controller before something came up and I had to go :(

I'm going to lobby for increasing the length of the weekend, who's with me?

[Gorvi]

I played a good deal of Final Fantasy XI like I'd planned. I got Scholar from 24 to 28, almost 29. I also played a bit of Crackdown, Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, and Lumines II.

[Ancalagon]

Baldurs Gate 2 until it came out of my ears. And then some more.

in fact, the whole weekend is just a blur of baldurs gate 2, I cant even remember where I was on friday night.

[DangerousDaze]

Max Payne 2 off Steam. Damn that game was great! :)

[frederec]

Bunch of Final Fantasy Tactics. Picked up Zack & Wiki at Wal Mart for $30, and played that a bit. Even put in some time in the Luigi version of Mario Galaxy. Almost up to 60 stars in Luigi's quest. Still fun.

[lost]

Finished up Conflict: Denied Ops, totally awesome. Then I started Turok, also pretty awesome. Good gaming all round!

[Rock Bandit]

I've had GRAW2 sitting in my 'need to play' pile for a while and finally decided to throw it in. Good stuff.

And some Rock Band of course.

[civil_dead]

Instead of my usual "Waah, I didn't have any time to play because of the GF" bullshit I'm going to say...

I didn't play at all this weekend. But! I did get a chance to play for an hour or so last week because of one thing: The GF got sick. Huzzah!

So now my path is clear: Give the GF some sort of disease and I can get my gaming time back. The secret is out, motherfuckers!

[bapenguin]

Finished Turok...started DMC.

[CoachCrazyMcScot]

some CoD4 online, and one more game of Madden before it goes away until next season

[scythe]

Almost done with Gears of War PC. Killed another target in AssCreed.

[tehhu1k]

WoW

*ashamed*

[Itchyeyes]

I finished Call of Duty 4. What a fantastic game. I'm really glad I rented though, because that campaign was short and I have no interest in the multiplayer. As predicted, I also spent an ungodly amount of time with Sins of a Solar Empire. This is one of those games that makes you look up at the clock and go "holy shit how can it be 3 in the morning?"

[menage]

I finished Call of Duty 4. What a fantastic game. I'm really glad I rented though, because that campaign was short and I have no interest in the multiplayer. As predicted, I also spent an ungodly amount of time with Sins of a Solar Empire. This is one of those games that makes you look up at the clock and go "holy shit how can it be 3 in the morning?"

I had that with DMC4. Only it ws 5 o clock in my case. GF was pretty pissed;P

[NationalKato]

Burnout with a bunch of you punks, Halo 3 Big Team Battle (aka vehicle chaos), COD4 (aka watching the spawn timer), and a bunch of excellent Sine of a Solar Empire.

A ton of gaming this weekend, and I still managed to get out and be social.

[Deunnero]

After picking it up Friday, I proceeded to play Culdcept Saga every chance I got over the weekend. Amazingly fun game, although frustrating at times.

Addictiveness factor is suprisingly high. So far today, I have not been able to get "what deck modifications I could make" out of my head.

[mr. murphy]

So I split my time between No More Heroes and Assassin's Creed, spent about seven hours with each. On a recent Penny-Arcade podcast Tycho and Gabe said they couldn't understand how a game like No More Heroes gets such rave reviews and Assassin's Creed gets dumped on, and I don't understand why they can't see it: NMH is fun. Assassin's Creed is beautiful and the story is mildly interesting, but I can definitely understand why people complained that it was repetitive. I enjoy both, but I would have to say No More Heroes is a better video game, hands down.

[Worldcrafter]

Busy weekend, but I restarted S.T.A.L.A.L.K.E.R. and played around with my new R4.

[Bad_Buddha]

Played a little bit of LotRO but got bored. Think I might be done with that one.

Finally got the manual and CD-Code for NWN2 back from my son. Fired that up and ran 3 characters through the tutorial and first encounter before I decided to run with a human rogue Swashbuckler. I'm having quite a bit of fun with it so far.

[spdiscus]

rezhd direct assault.
that's all.

[LongStepMantis]

So much for playing 4 of my GBA games. I started playing MegaMan Battle Network...and never made it to any of the others. GutsmanV2, attack!

[AgtFox]

Had a pretty busy weekend, so got just a little gametime in. I'll leave it up to you guys to guess what I played. One game I am reviewing for the other site I write for (literally fell asleep playing it) and an upcoming review here.

[Bone]

Burnout Paradise and a live band performance are all I played this weekend. In Burnout we knocked out more of the multiplayer challenges. In the band we rocked the house and added a Zeppelin cover (Trampled Underfoot) to our repertoire. The audience loved that one.

[Franjo]

Vegas, ranked matches over live with a buddy. A bit of Assassins Creed.

[fitbabits]

I played Mass Effect for 15 straight hours... And, aside from the occasional graphical glitch, it's a remarkable game so far.

Thanks, Pete.

[HunterX280]

On Friday my fiancee got very sick. I decided to stay home and take care of her so I got an extra long weekend. I got around to unlocking the last 2 characters in Melee and a few more levels and then decided to plug in Metroid Prime into the Wii. I never had a GC when it first came out. That game is awesome! I just got the thermal vision and it's making the game really interesting.

On Sunday I got around to finishing off the last couple Striders in Half-Life 2: Episode 2. That game was spectacular! I am thinking about going back through to get the last 2 achievements. Getting the gnome into the rocket is incredibly frustrating at parts! I can't seem to find 8 of the dang bugs to kill either.

All in all, it was a great gaming weekend.

[Heretic Machine]

City of Heroes, I grabbed two levels on my Peacebringer. I spent quite a bit of time playing with Pocket Physics (homebrew) for the DS; which is fun but tends to crash. I spent most of my day Sunday being pissed off at Winamp as it constantly hard-crashed my PC, and went to bed early. Today I figured out that some video files were fucking it over whenever it tried to add them to the library, and I have no idea as to why.

[vherub]

1 week behind schedule, softmodded the old xbox and threw a bunch of my games onto it- can play Snatcher again! Currently tracking down copies of Metal Wolf Chaos and Shin Megami Tensei: Nine.

[Ranhert]

Well I played COD4 and that was about it. Unfortunately, my internets was spotty at best all weekend and therefore instead of doing multiplayer like I planned, I played through the single player campaign (checking my connection in between missions of course). I must say the single player campaign in COD4 was great. I am really glad I took the time to play because it was fun and I've started it all over again.

[Epix]

I didn't get to much time this weekend for games, but the GF had an exam today so while she was studying, I played some Disgaea. I just started the game and so far it's pretty awesome. Looking forward to sinking more time into it.

On Sunday night I tried to play a bit TF2, but my ping went into the 300's after a round so I had to stop playing.

[zrikz]

Played a couple hours of The Witcher and its rockin. I've come to the conclusion that being a witcher means you can get any girl you want apparently.

Aside from that I played some Vanguard and did like 6 hours of homework. Whoever mentioned an extended weekend, I shall vote for that with you. Lets move to a 8 day week.

[Spigot]

I couldn't play anything on Saturday... Not that I didn't try, but I just sucked whenever I touched a keyboard or controller.

That said, I spent the weekend playing No More Heroes (at the 7th ranked boss fight right now) and Poker Smash, as well as a bit of Rock Band and Burnout Paradise.

I also sank some time into Sins Of A Solar Empire... eep!

But the highlight of my weekend was getting Professor Layton & The Curious Village yesterday and having my brain start too ooze out of my skull from some of the puzzles. And that's a good thing.

[Returner]

Lineage II
CSS
Endless Ocean

[netcraazzy]

I played Mass Effect for 15 straight hours... And, aside from the occasional graphical glitch, it's a remarkable game so far.

Thanks, Pete.

I agree! I started playing ME on Sunday afternoon and couldn't put it down. Itching to get home from work to play some more.

[atariv8]

Played some Mass Effect (360), PAIN (PS3) and started Turok (360)(which I'm actually enjoying quite a bit). I also played through The Experiment (PC) demo again...damn I can't wait for it to be released.

[Evil Avnovice]

-The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Master Quest) (GC)
-Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (GC)

I might try to squeeze Skies of Arcadia Legends inbetween sessions of Echoes, but at this point, I wouldn't be at all worried if I never picked the game back up. Beside my problem with ship battles, the game feels "Eh." It's not a must-play, and time works against it in that I've played erpgs that handle things a lot better.

At least I managed to give it a spin. :(

[Skull3r]

I actually started Blue Dragon in anticipation of Lost Odyssey. I don't know why, i agree with all of the critics in that the storyline, something that is essential to an jrpg, is quite shallow, but i can't put it down. Any other next-gen jrpg's other than eternal sonata, or enchanted arms?

[ElektroDragon]

I managed to play Culdcept Saga, Motorstorm, Eye of Judgment, and a touch of Lemmings. Didn't have time to touch Mass Effect or DMC4, and I signed up for the Rock Band Play & Win for nothing, as I didn't get a chance to play. And I actually won something for the last Play & Win and Green X too.

[ElektroDragon]

I actually started Blue Dragon in anticipation of Lost Odyssey. I don't know why, i agree with all of the critics in that the storyline, something that is essential to an jrpg, is quite shallow, but i can't put it down. Any other next-gen jrpg's other than eternal sonata, or enchanted arms?

Nope, not really, unless you count Culdcept Saga, but that's more of a board/card game. Blue Dragon, Eternal Sonata, and Enchanted Arms are amazingly it right now. To put them in order of my personal preference, I need to say: Enchanted Arms, Eternal Sonata, Blue Dragon. Yeah, I was one of those nutjobs who thought Enchanted Arms was amazing in EVERY way.

[gojira]

City of Heroes - I have one level 50 now. :D

Advance Wars: Days of Ruin - awesome old school turn based strategy game. Buy this right now. If you don't have a DS, buy one to go with Advance Wars.

[ezzkmo]

I said I would finish Mass Effect. Almost there!

[Spigot]

Evil Avnovice, your opinion officially means nothing to me! And here I thought we were on the same page about, well, everything. Not liking Skies Of Arcadia? Heresy!
I actually started Blue Dragon in anticipation of Lost Odyssey. I don't know why, i agree with all of the critics in that the storyline, something that is essential to an jrpg, is quite shallow, but i can't put it down. Any other next-gen jrpg's other than eternal sonata, or enchanted arms?I was the same way with Blue Dragon. I loathed the story (it's not that it's derivative, it's that it's just so juvenile and shallow) and couldn't have cared less if anyone lived or died for almost my entire playtime of the game. When I am rooting more for the random NPC villagers than the main characters, there's something wrong with the storytelling.

That said, it did suck me in enough to have me sink a good 45 hours into it. If Lost Odyssey wasn't out this week, I'd probably have gotten around to finishing Blue Dragon up but I just can't be bothered right now.

I really need to stop griping about Blue Dragon whenever people mention it.

[Spigot]

Nope, not really, unless you count Culdcept Saga, but that's more of a board/card game. Blue Dragon, Eternal Sonata, and Enchanted Arms are amazingly it right now. To put them in order of my personal preference, I need to say: Enchanted Arms, Eternal Sonata, Blue Dragon. Yeah, I was one of those nutjobs who thought Enchanted Arms was amazing in EVERY way.I actually quite preferred Enchanted Arms to Blue Dragon and have it tied with Eternal Sonata (but that was only due to how dull the combat in Eternal Sonata gets).

Once the story gets going and you get a little further than the first hour or two, it's not half bad. It doesn't reinvent the wheel, but (unlike Blue Dragon) I actually liked all of the characters and thought the world of the game was pretty interesting. I really should get around to finishing it too.

Granted, you need to have the Japanese audio on as the VO in the English track is horrendous.

[Dukefrukem]

Mass Effect...and I dominated it.

[revelation]

FINALLY finished Assassin's Creed, possibly the greatest concept demo ever sold at retail. It really dragged on and got tedious toward the end. It was as though they figured they couldn't dull you anymore with repetitive missions that they had to throw 800 people at you every battle. The way it ended sucked too. I get to put it in the 'never to be played again' pile.

Had friends over and we managed to play some Burnout Paradise which was a hell of a lot of fun and The Club which was also a lot of damn fun (far more than I thought it would be).

Next up...I have to get through my RPG glut (Mass Effect, Eternal Sonata and Blue Dragon).

[MrE]

Ended up playing The Simpsons for Xbox 360 and not much else. Curse you busy weekends...

[menage]

Evil Avnovice, your opinion officially means nothing to me! And here I thought we were on the same page about, well, everything. Not liking Skies Of Arcadia? Heresy!
I was the same way with Blue Dragon. I loathed the story (it's not that it's derivative, it's that it's just so juvenile and shallow) and couldn't have cared less if anyone lived or died for almost my entire playtime of the game. When I am rooting more for the random NPC villagers than the main characters, there's something wrong with the storytelling.

That said, it did suck me in enough to have me sink a good 45 hours into it. If Lost Odyssey wasn't out this week, I'd probably have gotten around to finishing Blue Dragon up but I just can't be bothered right now.

I really need to stop griping about Blue Dragon whenever people mention it.

I cared for Blue Dragon's characters more than most RPG's. At least they didn't whine:P

[A Lusty Alien]

City of Heroes. One of my toons hit level 44, which must be the sweet spot to bridge lower level toons for powerleveling. I was barraged by requests to mentor while I was working on my enhancements. I finally had to turn set my flag to Not Looking for Team while I was shopping.

[Spigot]

I cared for Blue Dragon's characters more than most RPG's. At least they didn't whine:PAt least most JRPG's have characters that don't have the same glazed expression on their face for the whole STUPID GAME... and yelling all the time is just as annoying as whining :)

That said, there were a few parts in Blue Dragon where they actually stop Shu from just saying, "I WON'T GIVE UP!" and say, "You can't just say you won't give up all the time and think that will make everything ok."

If there were more instances like that, I'd have liked the characters a lot more.

Give me whiners with a bit of nuance over shouting punks who WON'T GIVE UP!

[Gorvi]

Evil Avnovice, your opinion officially means nothing to me! And here I thought we were on the same page about, well, everything. Not liking Skies Of Arcadia? Heresy!
Yeah, I think I'll have to agree with that. Granted, it's been over 7 years since I played it on the DC, but the only complaint I had was the large amount of random encounters. Other than that, the setting alone made it fantastic.

[Spigot]

Yeah, I think I'll have to agree with that. Granted, it's been over 7 years since I played it on the DC, but the only complaint I had was the large amount of random encounters. Other than that, the setting alone made it fantastic.Exactly. It's the poster child for why random battles are bad, but every other aspect of it was fantastic. I can't fathom what he's not liking about the ship battles. Those were a high point for me.

That said, I'm in the same boat. I probably haven't played it since 2000 or so on the DC.

[yourdarkesthour]

Screw games. I went to Disney World!

[Kielaran]

Lots of COD4 and a little Burnout for variance. Man I really need to finish something. So many games, so little free time.

[Crittias]

Finished Crysis (great game until the last 20% or so. The alien part just didn't grab me) and now I'm starting STALKER.

[Evil Avnovice]

Exactly. It's the poster child for why random battles are bad, but every other aspect of it was fantastic. I can't fathom what he's not liking about the ship battles. Those were a high point for me.

It's in 3-D, but there doesn't seem to be much to the game. It feels very basic. Magic in my opinion is useless, since as soon as you learn what the Spirit Gauge is capable of, I found that there was no reason to really wield it, and items were far more effective in the long run.

I guess it has to do with when this game was released, and since then, I've played eRPGs that handle pacing, progression, have an interesting battle system, that I'm kind of spoiled nowadays. It doesn't help that after Tales of Symphonia, menu-based anything is becoming hard for me to swallow.

Off-topic: Ship battles were so slow, to answer your initial question. Sitting around watching ships circle around each other, turns took awhile to play out; I guess I just wanted a more faster pace.

[Evil Avnovice]

Just finished Ocarina of Time (Master Quest). Good stuff. :D

Next stop: Metroid Prime 2: Echoes!

[menage]

At least most JRPG's have characters that don't have the same glazed expression on their face for the whole STUPID GAME... and yelling all the time is just as annoying as whining :)

That said, there were a few parts in Blue Dragon where they actually stop Shu from just saying, "I WON'T GIVE UP!" and say, "You can't just say you won't give up all the time and think that will make everything ok."

If there were more instances like that, I'd have liked the characters a lot more.

Give me whiners with a bit of nuance over shouting punks who WON'T GIVE UP!

They didn't yell all the time. Only MaruMaru did. I'll agree that visually the characters don't give a lot of feedback, but the Japanese voiceacting compensated enough for me.

It beats a Squall hunching up in a corner crying for his Mommy or Tidus getting into a angst-my father is a monster moment. Don't start me on FFXII, cause that had less emotion than Blue Dragon disk 1. I'll stop the FF bashing here. Cause they are actually pretty good. I'm trying to make the following point.

I see why people don't like BD. But I also think people bash it way too much compared to games mentioned above.