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Dr. Video Games 0031
Jul 17, 2004

Gangsta Lean posted:

I'm looking for a first-person military combat game (Call of Duty, etc) for ps2 for my nephews. It needs to support split-screen multiplayer (either co-op or versus) on the same console since they don't have internet access. I know the split-screen experience in most games isn't that great, but is there something like this for ps2 that doesn't completely suck?

Are there any good fps options that meet the above requirements but aren't specifically military-type games?

TimeSplitters isn't really a modern military type game, but it's your best bet for fun co-op multiplayer on the PS2. The rest of your options are pretty poor.

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Dr. Video Games 0031
Jul 17, 2004

Anyone want to recommend me some Battle for Wesnoth campaigns? I haven't really played any for more than a mission. There's so many, I don't know where to start.

Basically, what are the best campaigns for it?

Dr. Video Games 0031
Jul 17, 2004

Space Rangers 2. http://store.steampowered.com/app/46330/ (for some reason every screenshot is of the RTS segment, that's just one tiny segment that makes up a small portion of the game.)

It's basically an X style game where you fly around space doing missions and whatever, trading, upgrading your ship, and all that. Except it's entirely in 2D and partially turn based. And there's a TON of poo poo to do. Usually you're cruising around fighting the main plot enemies (which has a dynamic campaign that's kinda cool), shooting pirates, being a pirate, whatever. But there are also RTS segments where you command guys on the ground, there's even really hilariously translated text adventure segments. But the overall game universe is huge.

Dr. Video Games 0031
Jul 17, 2004

Doctor Zero posted:

Ever play Freelancer? That's my favorite space game.

Also, what do you mean about Infinite Space being "incesty"? I was thinking about picking that up.

There's a kind of lovely sub-plot that happens where "MAYBE SHE ISN'T REALLY YOUR SISTER?" and "It's OK, really, we wont think less of you!" happens a few times sporadically. Basically, typical anime nonsense. It doesn't persist throughout the whole game.

Dr. Video Games 0031
Jul 17, 2004

Fardels Bear posted:

I want to play Sid Meier's Pirates, but IN SPACE. Any games like that out there?

Space Rangers 2? It's turn based, but it's kinda sorta like this. Run around the galaxy, doing trading, doing combat, sometimes engaging in on-planet RTS action, sometimes engaging in even text adventures, it has that Pirates style multiple game types in one thing going for it. You can succumb to piracy yourself, or make your money the honest way. It's a pretty good game.

Dr. Video Games 0031
Jul 17, 2004

GreatGreen posted:

I'm looking for a city building game or even a colonization game where you'll often need to expand with the help of a military.

In other words, expansion should be something like "build military buildings->send military to eliminate resistance in area of desired expansion->expand->send military units to next desired area of expansion->expand again and so on.

Honestly, the minutia of the city building doesn't matter all that much to me. For all I care, there could be just one big "build city/economic hub here" button and that would be cool, but I also wouldn't mind if I had to do the typical city building, "micromanging food/water/goods sources for the population" thing if I had to either. Same goes for military. I'd prefer not to have to control individual units, and instead just put them down and watch them go, but I wouldn't mind if I had to control them either.

Basically, what I'm looking for is a game that will let me dominate the game world by slowly expanding and building my cities, which will strengthen my economy, which will fund my ever expanding and conquesting military.

This is going to be a little bit of an odd suggestion because it's not so much a city building game but an RTS, but in all honestly it sounds like you just want an RTS anyways. Get Rise of Nations. It's loving fantastic, and it's basically real time Civ on a somewhat smaller scale (made by the lead designer of SMAC and Civ 2). It sounds like you'll enjoy that game an awful lot.

Before I thought of RoN, I was going to suggest Settlers 2 (which was suggested to you in another thread iirc). The game is pretty heavy into the economic management and domestic building, but you basically have to expand through use of military. And you don't directly control your military either, but when you want to expand into someone else's territory, you just click on one of their military buildings, set in invasion flag, and soldiers from your nearest military building will come out and start dueling with the enemy soldiers, automatically, controlled by dice rolls. I feel kind of dirty suggesting this, because while I love the game to death, the military side seems like such an afterthought and the fighting that's random chance and you can't control can be frustrating, and you're mostly focused on the military aspect. Yet, it's also one of the few games that fit your description exactly.

Dr. Video Games 0031
Jul 17, 2004

So, I've been having a little bit of a hankering for Evil Genius lately, but realize it's not necessarily a fantastic game and I've already played it a lot. I think what I really want is more games like it. Obviously, there's a lot of Bullfrog's games, like Theme Hospital or Dungeon Keeper (although preferably it would be less objective based/RTS-like than DK). But I've played all of those, and would like something else, possibly newer.

So, what can I play that's somewhat Evil Genius/Bullfrog-y? I'm also aware there's a lot of terrible shovelware THEME SHOE STORE management sims that I don't want, I'm looking for something with a little depth. What's out there? Anything good since Evil Genius, or anything slightly more obscure that I might have missed?

Dr. Video Games 0031
Jul 17, 2004

Mq posted:

I'm also looking for good DS rpgs. However, I hate random encounters and mandatory grinding so games that have that stuff are a no-no. Don't really have any other requirements as long as the game is good. I already played and enjoyed Chrono Trigger.

You want to play Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, it's pretty much exactly what you're asking for. The other Mario and Luigi game fits your criteria, but isn't as good. If you had a lot of fun with BIS, you might want to check it out anyways.

Foxhound posted:

I'm looking for some kind of simulator/strategy/management game.
:words:

Cities XL was incredibly simplified, and had a horrible pricing model applied to it. It's like Baby's First Sim City with none of the charm and an IRC chat room you have to pay for.

I'm going to second Tropico 3. On the economic and building side, it's more simple than Anno, but there's more internal politics that mix things up and make it fun, plus a pretty good sense of humor.

edit: Something you really should try that I just remembered is Transport Tycoon Deluxe with OpenTTD. It's really quite good. http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3232658 Yeah, it looks complex, but it's really as complex as you want it to be. You don't HAVE to create insanely elaborate railroad systems, and in fact it's often inefficient if you do so, it's just awesome that the game allows it.

Basically the premise is to create a transport empire, using planes, boats, trucks/buses, and trains. You usually get a large map with many cities and industries scattered about to transport goods to and from, and eventually you start up industries of your own and start making big money. Also, it's completely free! You have no excuse not to play it.

Dr. Video Games 0031 fucked around with this message at 03:07 on Jul 17, 2010

Dr. Video Games 0031
Jul 17, 2004

Contra Calculus posted:

I have been enjoying the living poo poo out of Final Fantasy Tactics. It's one of the few games I have been willing to play twice because of two things:

Its awesome battle system

Its interesting cast

Seriously, this is the one Final Fantasy game I felt that didn't have annoying characters. Could anyone recommend me another game with a good RPG battle system and is capable of developing good characters? It doesn't have to be a Tactical RPG like FFT was, I just want a good ol' RPG.

Here's a list of RPG's I've played so far that seem to have this:

FFVI
Chrono Trigger
The World Ends With You
FFIV
Suikoden

Persona 3 FES and Persona 4 for PS2 (persona 3 portable for PSP is preferred over P3 FES though) are two of the best JRPGs at developing truly interesting characters. Character development has always been a major weak-point in modern JRPGs, but it's really exceptional in these games, especially in Persona 4. I honestly can't think of any JRPG that does it better than P4. It's anime art style and plot that centers around high school students in Japan turn some people off, but considering you're a fan of TWEWY, you should be OK with it.

Also I'm really fond of the battle system. It's a standard turn based system in first appearances, but it's really fast, it's just challenging enough to keep your interest, it's tactical in how you use your spells/abilities and switch personas, and plus there's awesome music!

Dr. Video Games 0031
Jul 17, 2004

modestduty posted:

Here's a tough recommendation to tackle: tycoon games and business sims that don't absolutely suck. I probably put more hours into Railroad Tycoon II than any other game as a kid: I loved it. For many reasons, including it having the best simulation of the financial system any game has ever produced: stock trading was there, of course, but in great detail. Short selling, buying on margin, margin calls, a Yahoo! Finance worth of information on the equity of your company and competitors. Hostile takeovers, leveraged buyouts, you could do it all. Corporate actions like stock splitting were represented--hell, you could even issue corporate bonds and watch the credit rating of your company change! That's to say nothing of the terrific railroad simulation that it was, with tons of engines to choose from, a dynamic economy, and the ability to buy profitable industries. I felt like a little Dagny Taggart.

I don't think I liked RT3 that much, but I never really gave it much of a chance. Sid Meier's Railroads! was like an arcade version of the venerable series, I can't believe he put his name on it, seeing as he created the first game. There have been a ton of awful Tycoon games released that all seem to be for kids, like selling lemonade and fairy loving godmothers (I poo poo you not: http://www.pogo.com/fairy-godmother-tycoon/mkt-page.jsp). The Prison Tycoon series could have been awesome if everything about it gameplay-wise wasn't abysmal.

So I'm looking for business sims or *good* tycoon games to play. I loved Tropico 3, but it's not really what I'm looking for; sports management games (like Football Manager, which is supposed to be terrific) are also out. I want to run a plausible business, the more detailed and realistic, the better.

Any suggestions?

Well... how about a corporation simulator? Capitalism Plus is as straightforward of a recommendation as I can give, but it's really good. I never played the sequel so I can't say if it's better, but the first capitalism is a game that I really enjoyed quite a lot.

Dr. Video Games 0031
Jul 17, 2004

The Grandia series overall has an excellent battle system, but the games also generally have very weak plots. Grandia 2 was a really enjoyable experience for me when I played it just after its release. The way the IP bar works (that's what it was called right?) and the way you used moves and combos to slow, stop, or push back an enemy's progress on it was really interesting and added a lot of strategy to battles. There were other weird elements to it like the fact that your characters actually had travel time to get from their spot to their enemies and if they were too slow they'd lose their turn. It's just rare for RPGs to account for your physical location during the battles. The main pitfall of Grandia 2, aside from its weak plot, was that it was just too easy. I only really had trouble at once boss and every other boss was really easy and the other battles were also a joke. The game did very little to throw a challenge your way, and there wasn't much reason to use much of the strategy the game actually allowed you to do.

Grandia 3 had a better battle system, I think. But more importantly, it was more difficult. The bosses were more challenging, and throughout the game they threw in bigger more powerful enemies at you in unexpected places and they really made you use the most of the options the game gives you, and it was really fun. It's probably a better game because of this. But the plot is somehow even worse than Grandia 2 and has the most laughable dialog I've ever heard on the PS2, and makes you think you're watching a disney movie sometimes. It's really painful.

I firmly believe that as far as traditional JRPGs go, the Grandia series has the best battle system. It's just really involved and engaging. 3 especially.



Related to the above post, I want to ask, what is the PSP sequel to Valkyria Chronicles going to be like? Does anyone know? I don't have a PS3 and really want to play VC some time, but it seems unlikely. Is Valkyria Chronicles 2 going to have a system that's just as good as VC1, just with worse graphics? Is the plot going to be directly linked?

Dr. Video Games 0031
Jul 17, 2004

Yeah, none of the grandia games try to reinvent the wheel. Each iteration is just an improvement upon the previous one.

As for P3P Tartarus... I dunno, I'm not very far into Portable, but it seems like the removal of getting tired while inside tartarus actually makes it slightly more tedious, as you're never given any indication as to when you should stop until you reach the end of your current segment, so people are more prone to just marathoning every segment. Not a bad strategy, just kind of tedious. People got annoyed by getting tired in P3 and P3 FES, but really it forced a certain amount of pacing on you that actually made it more bearable.

Dr. Video Games 0031
Jul 17, 2004

Have you considered Mount and Blade? The hack and slash combat is great, and it's really fun to lead around a roaming band of madmen.

Dr. Video Games 0031
Jul 17, 2004

vulgey posted:

I'm about to move house and it looks like I'm going to be without an internet connection for at least a month, maybe more. So I need recommendations on PC games to burn away the hours I would usually spend on WoW and various other games that require actual internet. I have other hobbies that I enjoy doing and I'm sure a lot of my time will be poured into getting the new place sorted but I love my PC gaming time.

I will play (almost), anything and probably enjoy it. I don't care if a game is "old" or the graphics are "outdated", good solid gameplay OR a lot of fun is what I'm looking for.

Games I played recently and loved:

Dragon Age
Singularity
Bad Company 2
Assassin's Creed 2
Mass Effect 2
Dwarf Fortress
Saboteur
Arkham Asylum

Also played a lot of the major games from the past couple of years like Bioshock, Oblivion, Civ 4, Fallout 3, the Total War games, Mirrors Edge, Modern Warfare etc.

I've played all the old(er) classics like Deus Ex, Fallout 1 & 2, Thief, X-Com games, Baldur's Gate etc.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

I was just about to suggest Civ 4 before I saw you mentioned it. Such an awesome game that will eat away your time.

I will suggest Dawn of Discovery Gold. It's seriously one of the best city builder games every made. You'll start wondering where your nights are going as you build some of the most elaborate and beautiful cities. Get it, it's awesome.

You've played other strategy games, and complexity doesn't seem to daunt you, so maybe you should consider looking into Paradox's suite of strategy games. I'll suggest Europa Universalis 3 in particular. It's not very complex, but I love it.

Dr. Video Games 0031
Jul 17, 2004

Get Settlers 2 10th Anniversary Edition, it's the best. It's just a 3D remake of Settlers 2, but it's a good one and Settlers 2 gameplay still holds up to this day.

Dr. Video Games 0031
Jul 17, 2004

CharlesWillisMaddox posted:

I'm not too crazy about sports/racing games unless they are especially good. For handhelds I mostly like RPGs or Zelda like or action/adventure games.


SOTN is one of my favorite videogame ever, and I was looking at these but ended up with something I knew I'd like, I'll pick one or two of them up next time.

One thing I don't like is the gimmicky games that require you to use the microphone or stylus all the time (except Phoenix Wright, my friend keeps telling me I'd love them and they really do look interesting)

Dawn of Sorrow is the game that's most like SOTN out of the DS Castlevania games, and it's pretty good. There's a mountain of DS RPGs that are at least decent. The best are probably Final Fantasy 4, Dragon Quest 5, Dragon Quest 9, The World Ends With You, Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor, and Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story. All of these are fantastic games. Of them, only The World Ends Wtih You relies heavily on touchscreen controls, but it's still pretty well done.

Other DS RPGs that are good but not excellent are Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey, Etrian Odyssey 1 and 2, the other FF and DQ remakes, Infinite Space, Final Fantasy Tactics A2, Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume, Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon, Knights in the Nightmare, Shiren the Wanderer, Luminous Arc, and probably more I can't remember.

There are a LOT of DS RPGs, so you picked the right system if you're into them, I guess. Of these, I really heavily recommend Dragon Quest 9 and Bowser's Inside Story, they're really good.

Dr. Video Games 0031
Jul 17, 2004

Well, Diablo 1 was originally a roguelike before they made it real-time, so the similarities are there for a reason. You're not going to get rid of the mouse controls, they're integral to the genre and have barely changed simply because they work so well. I don't know what you find fiddly about it, but this is kind of like playing half life, and saying "well, if only they could come up with a better system than wasd+mouselook." You'll get used to them.

As for other games, get Titan Quest. It has a couple downsides, first being that the maps aren't randomly generated. But the game is so long, this is barely an issue because you'll have forgotten things by the time you want to do a repeat playthrough, and the hand made maps are well designed. The other downside is that class balance can be an issue, but less so when playing co-op and you can make up for others' weaknesses.

The rest of the game is really awesome. Tons of enemies on screen, hilarious rag-doll physics combined with satisfying attack animations, really well designed loot system (especially with the expansion, which is what you should play with), it's long, it's addictive, and the co-op is a blast when playing with friends. Titan Quest is awesome, and Titan Quest Gold is $20 on Steam. Start it via Immortal Throne to get all of its features in the whole game.

Dr. Video Games 0031
Jul 17, 2004

Astro Cake posted:

I really want to play a Harvest Moon game but I don't know which one to play. Is there any one in particular that's good as an introduction to the series?

The first one for the SNES, it's really fun, charming, has all the basic gameplay elements that the rest of the series only expanded on (and in many instances, hosed them up big time).

Dr. Video Games 0031
Jul 17, 2004

GyverMac posted:

King of dragon pass is a fantasy village/tribe building game where gameplay consists basically of you making choices for your tribe. If you have archives, you should look up the excellent LP of this game.

No need for archives. http://lparchive.org/LetsPlay/KODP/

506 updates :psyduck:

Dr. Video Games 0031
Jul 17, 2004

Try Crusader Kings. There's only 3 levels of power that a player can be, count, duke, King, but it's pretty fun to start as a lowly count, build up your dynasty, and through a couple hundred years build up a vast empire that spans europe. Until your heir becomes schizophrenic, gets excommunicated, the entire continent erupts in chaos, and your brother tries to kill you.

Boiled Water posted:

Go buy Civilization V. It sounds like it's everything you ever wanted (it is).

But it doesn't at all simulate being the ruler of a dynasty, so if that's what you're looking for then you wont get it in Civ.

Dr. Video Games 0031
Jul 17, 2004

Elswyyr posted:

I really want to play another city-builder like Anno 1404/Dawn of Discovery. I've played SimCity 4 already, so that's out of the picture.

Try Settlers 2 10th Anniversary Edition, an excellent remake of an absolute classic (and a big inspiration for the anno series). The rest of the series after 2 ranged from mediocre to awful. I've heard mixed things about Settlers 7, the recent entry. Some think it's good, some think it's awful, I have no idea myself.

Dr. Video Games 0031
Jul 17, 2004

Danger Mahoney posted:

So are there any PC multiplayer games with active communities that are actually easy to get into? Right now I'm trying to play Team Fortress 2 and Bad Company 2 and I am absolutely dreadful at both. Not only that, but the people playing are really really good. I don't have the most time in the world to "get good" and it would be nice to be able to jump in a game and contribute something to the team other than a bullet shield.

I mentioned two FPS games but I pretty much like them all.

If you really can't get into TF2 now, maybe wait until the next time it has a free weekend. Then every server is flooded with idiots just like you!

Actually, thanks to Cetegory Fun!'s brief advice and someone's in the Steam thread where they were having a similar discussion, I decided to give TF2 a shot when I've only played it for an hour well over a year ago. Played as Pyro and 45 minutes later I had a positive kill death ratio.

I think there's just a misconception about these games. It's not like they've been reduced down to a core community of hardcore fans. There's tens of thousands of people who play every day with a wide range of skillsets and most people aren't pros or even going to mind that you suck. Just stop scrutinizing your every death. As a pyro, just go out there and light dudes on fire who are close, remember to repel rockets (I kept on forgetting and dieing :ohdear:) and use shotguns to finish off kills or hit longer distance targets. And most important, don't go alone, stick with your other teammates and never try to be the lone hero who rushes in. You'll do fine. This is me with my 100 minutes of TF2 experience talking, so take it with a grain of salt, but it somehow worked for me. :v:

Dr. Video Games 0031
Jul 17, 2004

Quick Scoop posted:

Can anyone recommend me a PC combat flight sim? I have a Microsoft one from something like '99 but would like a new one - I also have a great force feedback joystick.

Flaming Cliffs 2 is the latest game in the somewhat popular Lock-On series. It both looks and plays nice, a pretty good modern military flight combat sim.

edit: I'll second IL2 1946 as the king of WWII flight sims.

Dr. Video Games 0031 fucked around with this message at 20:46 on Oct 23, 2010

Dr. Video Games 0031
Jul 17, 2004

Fritzler posted:

My two brothers and I used to play Guantlet Dark Legacy for the Gamecube and Dungeons and Dragons: Heroes. for the Xbox. Now, we all live accross the country, one in New York, California, and Kansas. We all own 360s, and are basically looking for a game we can play online, that reminds us of the gameplay of those games. So basically games where all three of us can play co-op online against a bunch of monsters or some other bad guys, which doesn't require much or any thought, but is fun.

Thanks.

You want Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2. Run around killing hordes of bad dudes as marvel comic characters. Pretty fun action RPG that's similar to Gauntlet, the older X-Men Legends games, and the Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance games, except this has online play.

Dr. Video Games 0031
Jul 17, 2004

bonds0097 posted:

The first Marvel Ultimate Alliance has multiplayer as well and is a much better game in my opinion. I have played through both and I only ever went back and replayed the first MUA. The 2nd one was derivative and stripped down with its only real 'addition' being the Fusion moves which aren't all that in my opinion. Plus, the first game has some awesome cinematics by Blur.

So if you can find it, pick up a copy of MUA and play the poo poo out of it, you won't regret it.

I thought the first one was local multiplayer only? Well, if I'm wrong, definitely get the first one.

Dr. Video Games 0031
Jul 17, 2004

Red Octopus!! posted:

I've been thinking about getting Infinite Space for DS, but I'm worried it'll have incredibly convoluted gameplay and I'll devote excessive amounts of time learning every nook and cranny of the game mechanics. If it helps, I also prefer to have the boxes of the games I buy, and I hear the manual for Infinite Space is really helpful. I also liked the two GBA Super Robot Wars: Original Generation games, and I'm fully aware that SRW is a different RPG type than Infinite Space; I just like sci-fi, is all.

Infinite Space poorly explains a lot of its mechanics initially. You kind of have to stumble through them, learning them on your own, until they game feels gracious enough to unlock a help topic in the game's help system. The manual only partly helps. I wouldn't say that the mechanics are especially convoluted, they're not, they're just very poorly documented. Still, I found Infinite Space a very enjoyable game. Give it a shot, it's one of the most underrated DS games of this year.

If it will help, here's mine and someone else's posts from the "What should I know before playing a game?" thread about IS. Basically, pay attention to the help menu and you shouldn't have much trouble learning the game.

Dr. Video Games 0031
Jul 17, 2004

Supreme Allah posted:

Didn't Arkham Asylum get a PC port?

Yep. If what you want is good quality brawling on the PC, then Arkham Asylum has you covered. I highly recommend it.

Dr. Video Games 0031
Jul 17, 2004

Sulk posted:

I'm looking for something sci-fi, preferably of the space variety. Doesn't have to be exactly an MMO (cheaper the better, really), but an RPG or action would be nice, especially with a multiplayer component where people are actually online. I'm going to try out Global Agenda but I don't know how that would be. PC is probably the best option, though I have a 360 (yes, I've played Vanquish, and it owns).

I feel like there are no good space/sci-fi games. :(

Uhhhh.... Halo? I mean, yeah it's the most obvious candidate, but you can't really overlook it. There's a lot of love and a lot of hate simultaneously, but I still think it's a pretty fun online game. Halo Reach definitely feels the most sci-fi of the bunch.

Man, if only UT2K4 was more active... or if UT3 didn't suck as much.

Dr. Video Games 0031
Jul 17, 2004

Palpek posted:

Ummm, actually no - it is browler style - much more then usual RPG's. I don't know where you get the notion that it's not - maybe from the fact that it has a specific combo system - where you have to click with proper timing to create a chain. You also have different stances like in Jedi Outcast. You can also dodge enemy attacks and you move your character with WSAD so this could still be your cup of tea. Still combat is not as interactive as Jedi Outcast - I'll give you that. I don't remember how it compares to Fable.

I think you're overselling this. At its core, The Witcher is a point and click RPG with shallow combat where 90% of what you'll be doing is just left clicking with the proper timing and not worrying about anything else. This is fundamentally completely different from something like Demon's Souls.

I love The Witcher, but its combat is definitely its weak point.

Dr. Video Games 0031
Jul 17, 2004

Pikey posted:

Looking for a single character RPG with good, tactical combat. I've played the witcher and while the writing was good, the combat and character progression didn't exactly grip me. I've seen threads on Risen and Divinity 2 pop up occasionally here, are they decent enough to look into?

How about the Fallout games? You CAN get companions, but they're usually fairly weak and dirt stupid and the whole game can and should be played with one character. They're also really tactical and fun. Fallout 1 and 2 are cheap and on https://www.gog.com.

Dr. Video Games 0031
Jul 17, 2004

GreatGreen posted:

It depends on what you want. I bought the game thinking I could be an evil character in an RPG for once and make good people's lives miserable. Turns out you're still a good guy by comparrison to the rest of the game universe and you end up fighting against a force that's even more evil than you, making the player, yet again, the good guy.

Overlord is a lighthearted, linear RPG. If that's what you want, you should be alright. If you want a Sauron simulator, look elsewhere.

On the other hand, you can pillage towns, enslave their women, steal their food, and make their lives fairly miserable. The problem with Overlord is that its default path has you being mostly a goodie two shoes, you kind of have to go out of your way to be evil and most people end up not knowing about most of the evil stuff you can do.

Dr. Video Games 0031
Jul 17, 2004

Frankosity posted:

How good is the Shining Force series compared to other strategy RPGs? I've got 1 and 2 from the SEGA Ultimate Collection, and after I gave it a spin the other day I was wondering if it's worth trying to get into. In the same vein, should I jump straight to 2 if I don't have any nostalgia invested in the series?

They play pretty differently from most modern SRPGs but are still fairly fun. 2 is probably a better game but to be honest it's not necessarily such a massive improvement that you should skip 1. Just play both unless you really don't have time to.

Dr. Video Games 0031
Jul 17, 2004

If you rate Black and White 1 and 2 so highly maybe you will enjoy torture or self mutilation? Perhaps other equally terrible games like Daikatana or Big Rigs Over the Road Racing?

Joking aside, I'm going to recommend Little King's Story for the Wii. It's a bit like Pikmin and Overlord in that you get a group of lackeys and give them vague orders to do stuff kill this, chop down that, etc). It's actually incredibly fun and charming, and just as good as those games were. Actually, if you haven't played Pikmin, I'd recommend those games too, they were the prime inspiration for Overlord's and Little King's Story's gameplay.

And, uh, you've played Portal 2? What? It's not out yet.

Dr. Video Games 0031
Jul 17, 2004

Calantus posted:

I want to play an FPS online with my brother but I haven't kept up with FPS games for years, so please reccommend one for us.

It must be:

- Modern(ish).
- On the PC.
- Team-based.
- Still have a large community.
- "Realistic" in that it avoids people jumping around like crack monkeys. We like our FPSs a little slower and "tactical" than that.

Bonus points for:

- Less vehicles = more better.
- NICE interface and matchmaking. Take a look at bf2142. That's the perfect example of the opposite of what I'd prefer.
- Respawning. Counter-strike is great for when you want counter-strike, but a lot of the time it's just nicer if your buddy respawns.

We used to play a shitload of counter-strike and bf2142 and loved both in their own way if that helps. Honestly, bf2142 -vehicles -titans -lovely interface/matchmaking would be perfect.

Bad Company 2 has fewer vehicles than 2/2142, and the ones that are there have reduced roles. Tanks can be taken out in no time by the infantry and air power doesn't terrorize nearly as much. It's far more focused on infantry combat than any of the other battlefield games due to how fragile and less deadly vehicles now are.

Downsides: Matchmaking is nonexistent. The server browser is decent now (was terrible at launch), so it's not too hard to join the same server, but there's no party system and the game wont make any effort to make it easy to join the same server or join in on the same team. Other biggest downside is that the perk system is poorly thought out and balanced, imo. Newbies have it harder in BFBC2 than almost any other modern shooter I've played, mostly due to the Magnum Ammo perk.

It's still a really fun game to play and one of the best online FPSes out there, and fits most of your criteria.


The other option is to pick up Modern Warfare 2 or Black Ops, which just came out. They're a lot more fast paced than Battlefield, and maybe too much so for your liking, but it's not exactly Quake or anything. You can occasionally pull off stupid stunts like jumping around corners but you're still on the ground for the most part. It's fast paced in the sense that people die fast, movement speed is pretty decent, and the maps are designed around sprinting around cover, flanking, and that kind of stuff. And I think they're built really well for just a couple players in a party teaming up and getting poo poo done together, since most matches (in MW2) are 6v6 and you don't need large team efforts to accomplish objectives, the two of you can often handle things on your own. With MW2, IWnet isn't great and there's often a bit of latency in the games, but buddying up with a friend and joining games together is a breeze. Black Ops uses dedicated servers with a server browser, but apparently it also integrates the Steam friends list feature. I haven't played it so I don't know how easy that is to use.

Dr. Video Games 0031
Jul 17, 2004

Calantus posted:

I'll definitely try out the bad company 2 demo as that sounds pretty good.

On the CoD front, I haven't played one since the very first. How do modern warfare and black ops compare to eachother on a gameplay perspective?

Unfortunately there's no BFBC2 demo for PC. Maybe there's one for 360 you can try to just get an understanding of the game?

For Modern Warfare 2 and Black Ops, gameplay-wise, they're incredibly similar. Movement, physics, gun handling, etc are all similar enough that most people wont be able to tell the difference. Many of the perks, weapons, and killstreaks are better balanced in Black Ops. Playing Black Ops now, I can tell you that it will be difficult for you and your friend to play together. Treyarch kinda botched the dedicated server stuff, and there's no way to reliably join in on the same side as a friend since there's no team switching and after every match they scramble the teams. If there was, I'd recommend it over MW2, but for your specific purposes, maybe it's not the right choice.

Modern Warfare 2 has a matchmaking system that has rubbed many people the wrong way, but at least it works as far as playing with a buddy goes. You'll always be put on the same side. I don't know how the PC version's player count is holding up, though.

Dr. Video Games 0031
Jul 17, 2004

Not to mention that with smaller game worlds like GTA3, a city block is far smaller than games with bigger game worlds like Burnout Paradise. They didn't want GTA3 to be 2 or 3 blocks per island, so they put in streets every few buildings, which isn't very realistic.

The one thing that bugs me about that picture is that the Far Cry 2 map they use is actually less than half of the game world. There's a whole other segment just as big as the one shown south to it in the game and a strip of desert between the two.

Dr. Video Games 0031
Jul 17, 2004

OpenTTD is what you want. It's pretty fun to sandbox in by yourself as well, multiplayer isn't required to enjoy yourself. It's all about networking various cities and industries together. You can do it by road, train, air, or sea, and there's tons of options available to you. Rail building is fairly robust and people have built some insanely intricate rail networks with it, if that's your thing. The business side isn't exactly Railroad tycoon level of complexity, it's mostly there as a backdrop for your network building, but it's still fun.

Dunno if it's this way in the most recent version of OpenTTD, but in the versions I played, if you wanted to cheese it you could have just built airports in big cities on opposite sides of the map, and ferry passengers across for a huge never-ending profit stream while you played around with other stuff.

Dr. Video Games 0031
Jul 17, 2004

smokyprogg posted:

So looking here for stupid hard games. Not I Wanna Be the Guy or Mario romhack stupid. Just really hard, legit games. I love unnecessarily difficult challenge, but not completely unfair (ie. IWBTG, stupid rear end romhacks). Moreso recent games.

Super Meat Boy. Almost none of it is unfair, but it's still incredibly challenging, and incredibly good. It's on XBLA right now and will be released on Steam in a week.

Dr. Video Games 0031
Jul 17, 2004

If you want an easier to get into roguelike with better graphics than ADOM, then you can always try Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup, it's really solid.

Have you considered just downloading an SNES emulator and playing some old JRPGs?

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Dr. Video Games 0031
Jul 17, 2004

Oh yeah, and try Recettear! (there's a demo) It's a whimsical shop-keeping/dungeon-crawling RPG that will keep you addicted for a while. Pretty sure you can play entirely with a keyboard or gamepad.

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