christmas games

[Eggman]

Sniper rifles are the worst weapons in the game to specialize in. You literally can't hit the final boss with it.

I ran through the game without even getting close to dying. Shotguns do ridiculous damage. Also, don't play the game like a shooter. That may be why you die a lot. Play it slower and try to micromanage what skills everyone uses.

And don't worry about what skills you get. You end up as a god as soon as you hit 1 million credits (happens faster than you think) because that unlocks Spectre grade weapons.

[vladgd]

you know, i may just remake my game and go back to soldier(10 hours down the drain, but ive done this with kotor like twice, resulting in around 60 hours total down the drain). 

i mean, i played with sniper rifles, at long ranges (which doesn't happen most of the time) they kick ass, but being utterly useless at a medium/short range isnt too hot.

if im using tali, and liara as teammates a big armored soldier wielding a boomstick would be good support.  not to mention, tali + shepard using shotguns sounds hurtey.

and yes, im a little obsessed with min maxing.

*edit*

8 hours on this new file

shotguns are easier to play with than sniper rifles

also, the shotgun has a better range than i had assumed.  its not like in most shooters where you need to be in point blank range for it to be effective, you can use shotguns in medium range and still kick ass.

also, carnage makes the shotgun fire like a rocket launcher, this is awesome.

so,

me: soldier with shotguns
tali: engineer with shotguns
liara: lift + singularity

this works

*edit due to lack of posts*

doing optional quests(not doing the main quest until im finished with every last optional quest i can do and not get renegade points for), developing relationship with liara, shooting people in the face with shotguns.  mass effect life is doing well.

as for killer 7, i started the third hit, CLOUDMAN.  the game is starting to get a little on the hard side, more and more jackasses blowing up in my face, but its weirdness is definatley something that will keep me playing.

and started up a little dragon quest, but i probly won't get too into it for a while.  the game is slow getting into, and i have other games im interested in.

[vladgd]

double post due to yall not liking to post about the vidya

been playing lots of mass effect latley, and i think im going to get married to my shotgun.  yasee, i got the 1,000,000 credits, and i got mahself a specter grade shotgun.  now, with this shotgun, i can own geth primes on foot (abusing my abilities of course), and "snipe" turrets from far away safely. 

22 hours in game, level 31 ish, soldier/shock trooper.

just beat the planet where i had to kill that plant thing with all of the cool expliding zombies everywhere.  and im pretty sure im not too far in the story missions of this game.  im pretty sure i will get AT LEAST 30 hours in this game, most likely more due to my whoring of the sidequests.

as a final note, this is the best game ive played in a long time.  ive not been so hooked to a console game since i spent a week nonstop to beat final fantasy 8 several years ago(or that month period of me beating final fantasy 7, 9, and 10...but that doesn't count, i hated 10).

[Bobbias]

So, how many hours should the game take on average? 30 hours seems kinda... small. to me.

[Eggman]

Took me 25 to do everything I could.

I really wish people would stop calling 20-30 hours short. If the game's really well done or gives incentive to play again later, that amount is plenty.

[vladgd]

Took me 25 to do everything I could.

I really wish people would stop calling 20-30 hours short. If the game's really well done or gives incentive to play again later, that amount is plenty.

underlined for truth

for the amount of content in mass effect, and its high replay value, its game length is perfect.

if you are thinking 30 hours is short, maby you are playing too many jrpgs.

[Bobbias]

Maybe I am. Then again, look at how many hours people sink into MMORPGs, that's WAY above and beyond most JRPGs...

Sure, replay value is really important, but even FF7 took me like, 70 hours to get as close as I could get before my disk was too scratched (bought it second hand, and the 3rd disk was toast). I got stuck a couple times and sidetracked, so it would have been more like 55-60 hours, but still. If there is enough replay value, 30 hours is fine, but if there isn't then 30 hours is short as fuck.

[MortifiedocAlot]

I really wish people would stop calling 20-30 hours short. If the game's really well done or gives incentive to play again later, that amount is plenty.

It really depends on the game, 20 to 30 hours is pretty good. I remember most Kojima games hardly last 15 hours or so (I beat zone of ender within 5 something hours, still liked it). It just kind of feels like a rip off when a game can be beat within the first week or so of you owning it. Also I have about 126 hours on Dark cloud 2 and I only got halfway threw the bonus dungeon before everything raped me.

[Bobbias]

Well, one of my friends has logged 400+ hours on tales of the abyss, since he keeps it turned on when he goes to bed and shit, lol.

But yeah, I like games with practically unlimited things to do during the main game, and after. I really enjoyed Morrowind because of how open it was. (of course, I got too sidetracked and never really got for into the main quest. And I was kinda sad about how easy it was to get to be practically invincible. Even the hardcore enemies were no trouble at all for me.)

[Ulti]

Yeah, I was always kind of irritated at the difficulty scaling in Morrowind and Oblivion, it's either everything rapes you, no questions asked, or you breeze through the game effortlessly, depending on your level.

[Spectere]

It only took me 8 hours to beat Max Payne (the first one...forgot how long the second one took me) and I enjoyed every minute of it.  If they would have stretched it out any further it would have started to get boring, I think.  Same thing with Call of Duty 4 -- I put about 6-7 hours into beating that and it was pretty good all the way through (though they are a bit skimpy with checkpoints in some areas).  I hate when people call games with perfect lengths short.

I tend to look at the production value more than the length of the game anyway.  Portal, for instance, makes up for its short length with a great deal of replay value and overall awesome production.

Someone needs to tell some JRPG fanboiz that 4 hours of story and 100 hours of leveling does not a good game make.  All it makes me do is reach for the Action Replay.

[Bobbias]

I like games that combine a linear story (preferably a plot heavy one that doesn't have 3 hour cutscenes [ingame stuff is better, if you can skip through it when you don't feel like reading]) but also has a lot of sidequests, optional things and such, both before and after beating it. I hate games that are either extremely linear or way too open ended.

[vladgd]

30 hours is never short as fuck.

thats 30 hours, you are spending playing a single game just to beat it one time.

as for the mass effect, i have a little over 30 hours on it, im on my way to llos.  and i think im powerful enough to the point where i won't be having any more hard battles. 

but yea, i hope the game ends soon, i have other games on my list to play.

[Bobbias]

And I've spent 126 hours, almost 127 online on spectere.net

[vladgd]

around 32 hours, i beat mass effect.  this game blew me away, i have not played a game so good since i first got diablo 2 (my all time favorite game, period)

if you have access to a 360, play mass effect.

if you don't, get access to a 360 and play mass effect.

if you like bioware rpg's, sci fi, some shootan, FOR FUCK SAKE PLAY THIS GAME.


yea umm, now i have the choice between playing mass effect again, or playing kotor 2, killer7, viewtiful joe 2, onimusha, final fantasy anthology, unreal anthology, dragon quest monsters joker, or dreamfall. 

well yea, the ending kicked ass (well the one i ended up getting, i may have got the best one, ill have to read up on it)

the song in the credits kicked ass

the scene between shepard and liara kicked ass

the entirety from llos to the last of the credits kicked ass

the entire game kicked ass


and i know im going on, im just really giddy, and satasfied. 

10/10

and happy new year.

*edit*

summary

level 45 female shepard
soldier/shock trooper
shotgun user
full paragon, no renegade
used tali and liara the entire game (well, as soon as i got em)
32 hours played
my achievements

didn't manage to get any of the "ally" achievements, most likely due to not finishing off my sidequests before i went off to llos, but i don't care, i achieved what i wanted, and im pleased with that.

*i have an editing fetish, stfu*

so there are three endings

a "good ending"
a "neutral ending"
a "bad" ending

i picked the neutral ending, because it was my honest opinion that i would be doing more "good" in the game than what i read from the choice i would have needed to pick for the "good" ending.

the "good" ending for me resolves everything in a nice to accept way
the "neutral" ending, resolves everything in a good way for humanity, and the story, but at the expense of some key players to the story, which i sacrificed for the greater good.

all in all, thats how i roll, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, and thats how i ended up going with the neutral ending.  that and i thought the "good" choice would give me a bad ending.

also, i hope i worded everything general enough to avoid any major spoilage.

and some spoilage in tiny print

how i seen it, the good ending would have me sending the alliance fleet to save the council, at the risk of sovereign not getting destroyed, therefore wiping out every single organic race in the galaxy.  what good is saving the council, when they are just going to die later anyway.  so i ended up telling the fleet to ignore the council, and wait to strike sovereign, and only sovereign.  so the council is dead, and humanity(the newcomer race) is in a good position to get shit back in gear for everybody. 

actually, i reloaded my save, and did the good ending.  i like it better, makes me feel all good inside.

and and and

i just have to replay this beast, i can't get enough.

*final edit* k this thread was originally intended to be "hey check out what games i got for christmas" and i derailed it by going "FUCK SHIT COCK GOOD MOTHERFUCKING GOD MASS EFFECT IS JAWEZOMEEE!!11!!!ZORS!!11!!!11111shiftone!223"

maby ill make a mass effect thread later, but till then, requesting loq captain.