My roommate is playing it. I don't usually play first-person shooters, but I did sit in the room and watch him play one morning while I was drinking coffee.
A little effort this year and I could have 2 Platinums from Sonic Generations and Brave. Might take longer to get a third from Shadow of Morder, but I will have at least one of them. Brave on the Brave Difficulty though, yikes.
I'm still playing through Chrono Cross. I'm past the big mid-game (well, mid disc 1) twist,which I'd already been spoiled about, and I'm still enjoying it a lot. The story is pretty good, and the combat is still entertaining. I really like the selection of companions, the problem is there are so many, and the party is so small, I don't get to use most of them very much. I also got several games off PSN today Street Fighter Alpha 3 (Flash sale, $1.20) King of Fighters '99 (same as SFA3) Pac-Man Championship Edition DX Metal Gear Solid (The only main MGS game I haven't played) Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver Along with Hitman: Absolution (which I got used at Gamestop), I ended up with a pretty good haul today. I think I'll go to MGS after beating Chrono Cross (then probably Suikoden II after that, since I got that game on PSN right after it was released). I still got awhile with Chrono Cross, although I think I'm probably more than 3/4 of the way through disc one.
Nice! I'm in the middle of playing that one myself. Just fired up my 'new' used copy of Tony Hawk Proskater 4 and started a new file. It works really well . I'm pretty happy about it, and I had a blast playing it. Also played a bit of Super Smash Bros. Wii U. Looking forward to getting Soul Reaver 2 in the mail soon. Just ordered it off of Amazon today. Had a heck of a time finding a good copy of that game. Can't wait to play it again.
Yup, pity the controller battery life is offputting and slowing things down. Hopefully I can grab two this year.
If you have a decent sound system (especially bass), I advise you to start up that game and just idle on the main menu screen. That game won Giant Bomb's best soundtrack award that year for a reason.
I'm finding that I don't like GTA IV like I thought I would. The physics are different, the world just looks and feels gray, and I'm just not having fun with it.
Yeah, there is also the story/gameplay segregation that is a bit weird... Cutscene: Nico:"I don't want to kill anymore!" 10 minutes later you killed 50+ enemies without a problem...
^ Yeah, quite a bit of cognitive dissonance going on in that game. I understand the art direction in GTA IV on a conceptional level and I respect their creative intent, but I don't enjoy it. As J. said, it's just a very drab, grey-brown look. Blessed are the PC gamers, for they can mod the shit (or in this case, post-processing stuff) out of things.
I think that's just where they're trying to portray Liberty City as a New York City knockoff. Admittedly, the cars are pretty terrible at handling (especially coming off of GTA V) I'd recommend at least a rental for GTA V as it's very bright, colorful and the cars are an infinite improvement over GTA IV's. Not to mention, I like the characters a lot more in V.
I actually found the driving mechanics to be superior in IV. I had nothing but fun blazing around town. It's taken me some time to get a handle on the 'improved' physics of V.
The car physics are the worst part for me. Sometimes it's only mildly annoying, but most of the time, it's frustrating as hell, and it ruins the game. See, I'm more interested in stealing cars and driving around the city than anything else. In previous GTAs, I could steal a car and make it back to my safe house without getting it damaged. GTA IV? Shit, I can't go two blocks before it gets dinged, and damaged.
Have you tried playing around with the sensitivity settings in game and the controller? Might help a bit. ------ Just wrapped up my 28th Plat. in R&C: Up Your Arsenal. - A good step up from Going Commando.
GTA IV was the first game in the franchise with an attempt at a more grounded, realistic physics model with the Euphoria engine, which made running over pedestrians both enjoyable and horrifying, depending on your disposition. It also made hitting a bollard and flying out of the front window kinda hilarious. Unfortunately for some, it also made the driving more realistic in some ways, compared to the more arcade-y handling of vehicles in earlier GTA games (especially when cornering). My main pet peeve with driving in GTA IV was the need to constantly adjust the behind-the-car camera angle to be able to seein front of the car (unadjusted, the camera would be forced down to convey a better sense of speed, with the car blocking the most important area of the screen).
^ Over time, the constant manual adjusting becomes second nature and you stop noticing it, your thumb just keeps doing it. That still doesn't mean it's not a terrible design choice though Luckily, they fixed this artificial issue with GTA V.
Now playing Magus for PS3. It's mindless killing as if George Lucas was involved. Enemies fall like the droid armies. Almost through the game after 3 hours. Looked at the trophies completed thus far, only need 10 more for the Plat. Looks like I'll need 3 or 4 when the credits roll. I might have to hunt down the last of them. I do hate having titles with less than 100%.
I'm starting to get used to it, but chase scenes are still a pain in the ass. The car overcompensates when turning, and the camera likes to pick that moment to show me my bumper instead of the road.