Torchlight 2

I never REALLY liked diablo. I mean yeah, the first one was kinda interesting but since then things never really made significant progress. The mechanics was copied over the years in dozens of games, each one not being able to hook me on for more than coupe of days. I remember spending hours and days on to the games that had some sort of co-op, since the monotonous hack and slashing is more fun if you have someone with you.

So, looking forward to the co-op i recently got Torchlight 2.
The game itself is basically the original introducing co-op features. Yeah, ofcourse the graphics is polished and there is a lot of new content (monsters, levels and sceneries, tons of weapons, etc etc ..) but the core mechanic is the same - clean up the monsters, complete quests, kill bosses. It's definitely me, but it was boring when I was solo-ing. I've loved RPG's since I started gaming so the repetitiveness (of the mechanic) becomes quite a killjoy.

But as all tiresome tasks become fun, or at least bearable when you have a friend with whom you're doing them with, Torchlight 2 is no exception. Fact is, the co-op is not new in hack-and-slash RPGs but the social aspect delivers. Another thing that is a big plus, is it's difficulty. This was no click-your-way-to-the-end kinda game. There are some serious difficulty spikes that require adjusting your strategy (I've played on the highest difficulty - Elite). Especially if you're playing co-op.
It's a fun co-op game.

The Elder Scrolls : Skyrim

The latest in the Elder Scrolls Series - Skyrim. The hype for this one was insane. Memes , Soundtrack themes covers, videos and whatnot. But what surprised me the most, that people started telling their stories. Call me nostalgic but that kinda remembered me of the early dial-up era , when internet was a privlege and there were no gaming hubs on the web, when you needed to actually talk to fellow gamers about your journeys in the virtual world.

Having played the previous Elder Scrolls games (Morrowind and Oblivion) I can say that for me there is decent amount of novelty brough into Skyrim, but it somehow lacks the addictiveness. To elaborate :
The crafting system - which is something you do until you are able to craft the best weapon and then you almost never get back to it. The same can be said for the enchantment. It's kinda of a crach course to power. I can't recall I dabbled arround with it when I crafted the weapons I wanted.
The shouts - I never used them except for solving a few puzzles. They just never seemed like a tide-turner in battles mainly because they lack the damage output, so I stuck to good ol' sword and spell. That's the kind of player i am - practical. I never do stuff if a certain way if can do it in a more efficient one.

The gameplay on the other hand was impeccable. It works like it's supposed to be. although sometimes it can be annoying when the guards have no visual on you and yet they immediately know it's you who commited the crime, and instead running to the place of the crime they engage in a pursuit. Also , the interface could've been better. Constant switching and gear changes seriously hinder the fluidity of the gameplay. They could've done with some gear sets like gear set for thieving, gear set for trading etc.. instead, you have to manually equip the specific gear.

Regarding the story i have nothing to say. To be honest It kind of bores me, being set in some fantasy medieval surroundings, with all it usual cliches - poisoning, assasinations, treachery and loyalty, vendettas... I've done it so many times before in other games and Skyrim was kinda "Meh.."

Still, the world is vast and there's plenty stuff to explore and find out, but I think Fallout 3 offered much more interesting locations that seemed to form a stronger connection with me. Skyrim is not the best RPG ever but it's definitely a good game.

Deus Ex : Human Revolution

It's funny how some games drop the price more than others and there is no significant difference in quality (Yes I'm looking at you L.A. Noire). Before i continue i must say that i was a bit late for the original Deus Ex party, and hence i only have played for like 6-7 hrs or so, so all the comparisons to the original Deus Ex in the mixed reviews out there were kinda meaningless to me, but generally I knew what they were refering to.

With that said I want to point out a few things about this game. First, the game mechanics - It's really nothing new. The missions are resolved basically by a combination of several basic actions - disable guards and hide their bodies, hack computers, and look for air vent ducts. I know it looks limited and repetitive but in reality (okay, game reality) it's very well implemented. The buildings infrastructure is always different so the basic mechanics is complemented with substantial variety in enviroment, which requires quick switching of tactics and approach to the task at hand. Kinda like my first encounter with Tetris. A set of 2 actions resulting in so much fun. Well done.

A few short remarks about the story. I never got the impression that the player makes actual impact on the way things happen. It's like you always get from point A to point B in the story, but which route you take to get there is up to you. So the freedom of choice applies only to the methods but never the world itself (maybe a few different dialogue content but that's basically it). While I'm on the subject, the various dialogs based on person's character type was a fun thing for me. You get different responses by choosing the same dialogue options based on person's character traits (ex. if he's impulsive the chances are bigger that he'll respond with an outburst but then again he might not). So yeah, no walkthrough for these :)

I've heard tons of hate-speech about the boss battles, and though i must agree that they are a strange fit into the picture, for me, they were just the kind of variety I needed to break through all the hiding and sneaking.

All things considered, I enjoyed playing it. And I think so should you.

Ni no Kuni

I can't say that I'm a fan of Studio Ghibli's movies, but I never argue how cute they look. I also think their stories never lack depth, secret meaning, dreamy-like surreal atmosphere - just the perfect ingredients for an epic fairy tale. I just hope they get the recipe right.

Looks beautiful, combat system seems interesting, Ghibli's involvement promises some good storyline, that spells awesomeness for me! 

Mass Effect 2

I totally agree with many of the reviewing sites out there when they say that this is one of the most highly praised titles in the last couple of years, or perhaps of all time.

The storyline is a continuation of the original mass effect saga, which in it's own is not something that stands out: adventures of a space crew, peril to humanity/lifeforms, intergalactic councils, space battles and many of the Sci-Fi cliches , BUT what does stand out is the way these things are presented to the player. The voice acting, the narrative, the personalities attributed to the characters - pure perfection.Sure some of the characters are more bland (especially the ones in the DLC packs..) but there are more than a few that shine. I won't spoil it for you but this could easily be a great movie/book material. Only, a video game offers more interaction than a book/movie so it makes it even more awesome.

As for the game mechanics, it's a rather interesting approach.
First , experience is gained solely from the completion of a certain mission. There is no +XP for play style(stealth/diplomatic/forceful) nor play skill (killing a certain enemy, or headshots). This eliminates (IMHO) one of the most boring parts of a RPG , grinding, at the cost of not rewarding , or at least not rewarding enough the skill of a player. The only reward for playing good is that you'll be able to finish the mission easier/quicker. Certainly an interesting approach.
Second, no reusability of the weapons that enemies drops. The crew has it's own weapons and through upgrades improves their performance. There are several weapons grouped by type and that's it.
Third, the character improvement is very simple. A few skill talents and assigning skill points gained through leveling up. Personally I preferred the Mass Effect 1 leveling system.

The combat is third person action, and is pretty dynamic. The AI routines for your teammates are up to the task, and in the later stages of the game can even turn the tide of the battle. The enemies are also great and they use the environment to their advantage well, so basically the variety in combat benefits from the level design, and also from the play style. There are some occasional bugs on the PS3 version but nothing dramatic.

Also, this is one of the games that makes playing a "bad boy" as equally rewarding as playing the good guy (if not more) unlike most of the RPGs. It's no Witcher, but the morality system is pretty good. Maybe it could use a bit from the Star Wars : KOTOR/Dragon Age , especially the part where the teammates disagree with the choices you make because of their own beliefs , but maybe ME 3 ...

Anyways, a MUST play.

9.9

Red Dead Redemption

I rarely find a RPG game that has a western setting.. as a matter a fact I never recall playing one. Maybe that (among other things) is the reason that Red Dead Redemption got several Game Of The Year Awards in 2010.

Anyways, the game starts by presenting John Marston - the lead protagonist, ans he first contacts the western USA, in search for his ex-partners in crime (not THAT big of a spoiler, you get this in the first hour of the game or so :). His quest moves him through various parts of the world encountering some interesting characters, which in my opinion describes the era after colonization pretty well. The storyline is more or less ok, but on several occasion i got the impression that the lead character is being tossed around and even manipulated. I mean, for a man who used to kill and rob for the sake of money he's unusually well mannered and patient for a man with a lot more at stake (instead of threatening people in order to get the info/help that he wants, he performs numerous chores for them).

The world is relatively big and interesting, but with an interest-span of one playthrough, (After you finish the game, you get to free roam) so if I wasn't achievement whore-ish, I wouldn't roam it. With 60% of the game completed, I was able to see almost all of the random encounters, and encountered almost all the wild animals.

The action is pretty well done - there are a variety of weapons and a bunch of people to kill, what more do you need :) The AI greatly varies, sometimes I kill a gang without a scratch, other times the kick my ass. All in all, combat is a great challenge.

To sum it up, this is a great game and it really adds something new to the western setting.

8.5

On RPG's : Open worlds and multiple choices

Open world, free roam and shit like that.
Many of the latest titles boast with this kind of stuff, but is it really worth it ? Does it impact the gameplay and overall improve the game?

IMHO, No. I get that there's plenty of stuff to do in an open world, but most of it due to unrelated-ness to the storyline or the lack of player motivation are deemed meaningless and kinda stupid. Let me elaborate, explaining some of the features of an open world.

1. You can go to any place in the map. I'm not even gonna elaborate the stupidness of this one . Yay, i climbed the mountain/ i reached top floor of that building / swam to that isle ... Bitch please.

2. You can kill random citizens. Yes you can. I can go on a killing spree and after 10 minutes of repeated massacres, I start to lose interest. Okay, it's very much possible, but it lacks purpose. I can kill enemies and get XP, or i can do that without the XP/get significantly less XP. What's the reasonable choice here?

3. Various mini-games. There are examples mostly present in rpg's . Poker Dice in Witcher , Quazi-blackjack in Mass Effect 2 , and many more. With these you can get monetary reward in terms on in-game currency , but due to the repetitive nature of the mini-games i never spend more than 30 mins AT BEST. The monetary reward was insignificant.

4. You can collect various in-game resources and afterwards sell them. That sounds awfully familiar. Farmville anyone ?

Not to be hater and all, but IMHO the openness of the world has 2 real benefits:

1. The possibility of making an error (Kill the wrong enemy , go to the wrong place, etc..) which is inherent ability of broadening the number of player choices. But due to the map navigation and automatic checkpoint marking that most games have, this possibility is effectively suppressed thus eliminating the purpose of the open game world.

2. The reward for exploring the unknown. Yes I'm talking about the Super-sword you get after going off the map and defeating/solving the puzzle of Demi-God X. Many of the old games had these moments, but nowadays, almost every game rewards the player with the best sword of the game after dealing with problems along the main storyline , so basically you don't need to waste time exploring, since you know that you'll get the real deal "by default". So the only real benefit from this is achieving it faster/easier. That's probably the best motivator when it comes to RPGs but i often feel cheated when i spend hour and a half for a piece of shit gear.


So for me at least , the open world implementations of modern games don't bring much to the table. I'm not into completely eliminating the open world option, just some adjustments need to be made here. Some other time ...

Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes

"The simpler the game, the greater the danger you can get hooked."
When it comes to puzzle games i find this to be true. Of course there is other stuff but for myself I prefer it as simple as possible. Might and Magic is kind of a RPG flavored bejeweled-based puzzle game, and it still doesn't describe it well.

The rules of the game are simple : you connect 3 same-color tiles(soldiers) to activate formations . There are specific types of creatures that take different conditions for activating, and there is more. Some of the advanced creatures have special abilities which can more than come in handy, they can even decide the battle. It also helps knowing the abilities of the enemy in order to plan the defense well.

The goals can vary. Attack specific tile (in specific order or random), plain defeat of the enemy, or maybe present some situation with a specific goal to overcome it - similar to chess problems. The first ones can be fun especially when the tiles are moving so you have to take the timing into consideration.

The RPG elements are all over this game. The units you use gain levels and hence improve their abilities, the player can use various artefacts which give various bonuses and benefits, each hero has a special ability which is unique and much more. The gameplay is on a board-like layout with various encounters and objects on it, which motivates the players to exploring.

The storyline is decent, though it does not offer something spectacular it does not distract the player or damage the gameplay. I also liked the art : hand drawn scenery with manga-based characters make for an interesting world to explore.

8.0

Way of the samurai 3

It started with a random youtube search for gameplay videos of a samurai game. I wasn't impressed much, but i was aching for a decent beat'em-up so i put it on the list.

But this game is so much more. Way of the samurai 3 is truly a game about being a samurai, about the uncertainty of life, about self-improvement ( grinding comes to mind, but in a good way ) and last but not least - about skill. I've read all sorts of reviews on the net and most of them highly polarised. I can only speak for myself and for me it was truly captivating since I'm a fan of the samurai lore and I've got tons of anime and movies to prove it. My guess is the game appeals only to a certain group of people who share my interests.

Since the very beginning, i was plunged into a game with no commands list and didn't even know where to go, so I read the entire game manual (okay , only the english section). But the manual does not cover all of it, it just gives you a glance just enough to make you curious. There's a classic RPG vibe to the game progress, better weapons and more skills used in combos, weapon parts for customizing weapons and also a pleasant surprise - The difficulty. It is a great challenge if you're a no-walkthrough kinda player like myself and this game really offered a rejuvenation to my gamer self. The commands are relatively easy to get used to and you'll be having fun in no time.

Another thing that impressed me was the variety of endings. Truly an open perspective to the part of the world described in the storyline with all of the key figures having an influence in the overall outcome. I've rarely felt that I have that kind of impact of the things to come in any game. Ever. And yeah, the number is 21. 21 different endings.


If you're into swords and warrior codes and are up for a challenge, I strongly recommend Way of the samurai 3.

8.5

Fate: The Traitor Soul

This is the game that made me realize what a “loot whore” means :) Or maybe it’s just my girly point of view, instead of fighting the monsters, I enjoyed better having lots of shining gems, a couple charms in my pocket and of course one big battle axe that can do fire and electrical damage simultaneously and chop everyone heads off in one move :)

This is an action rpg, a second expansion of the original Fate game, and the gameplay is mostly the same, crawling deep into dungeons of a couple cities and finishing quests, the option to select from different characters (Human, Ork, Cogger and Shadow Elf) and five different kinds of pets.

The graphics is fine, which is not a small thing for a 400mb game with 2.1 billion dungeons to go in. And there is a nice increase in difficulty as you go down, so if you upgrade your weapons and magic often there is no risk of making a mission too easy or too hard. This helps of not loosing interest of the game for some time, what on the other hand can easily happen for many because all in all it’s a mouse-clicking game with no real strategy other than kill, loot and sell and then buy more.

Speaking of the loot, here comes the first problem, as you go deeper and find better (and bigger items) if you want to sell them (because it’s rare to find and item that’s better than the ones you can buy) you have to send your pet to the town in every 5 min, or just buy lots of town portals and go for yourself.
And the second thing that really made me turn off this game, is when I finished the master quest in one town, then going to another town and starting from the beginning, it was just too easy. I can just walk around and let my minions to do all the fight while I collect new fancy clothing and jewels :) (just like a princess) and that's not fun at all :P

All in all it’s a sweet, addictive, never-ending game :)

7.5

The "Space" RPG

http://www.halolz.com/2011/01/10/game-super-pstw-action-rpg/

Since you put it this way ... iPhone games have a bright future :).
Also , the comments are priceless.

Game Dev Story

I usually don't spend money on iPhone games , mostly cause their playtime is significantly smaller that Ps3 / PC game titles , but this one got me hooked , with all it's old-school jRPG characters , and the theme that was covered by the game - game development. The RPG core mechanics of the game was a bonus.

The game offers decent tutorial to explain the basic actions , and afterwards it leaves you to you own. Too bad the options are limited , and there is no real escape of the usual stuff you can make (either accept contract job , or develop independent game). One playthrough is enough to get you well-acquainted . The next one , you're almost bound to succeed.
The game mechanics itself is quite well made. Different attributes contribute to different skills/success in developing the game , and there's also the money factor to be wary of . But once you get the cash machine running, you'll get more funds and upgrade the team's abilities , and that leads to monotonous top titles producing , and eventually boredom.

Still , i think that you pretty much get solid bang for the buck with this one.
Too bad it's (relatively) short , and has practically no replay value . Still , i'd recommend it to anyone.

8.0

Freedom Force

The lack of expectations when you do "blind shopping", can give birth to big surprsises. I bought this one just for the cover ( it seemed old-school comic style ) and since i'm fan of the latter it spoke to me . All the usual comic references are here , great world threat, superheros , superpowers , superb voice acting , and comic sans :)

Plenty of characters offer a true strategic management before/after battle , and the RPG elements in enhancing their abilities is perfectly done. The boss/henchmen battles are well done but after a while , when you learn of the characters weaknesses and strengths they'll be no match for you.
Also , the possibility to create and customize your own hero - Priceless.

The storyline matches the comic-style storytelling , and maybe the twists are more or less predictable , but still , the fun you'll get out of this one surely outweights it's price.

8.5

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

It's logical with me being a fan of SW saga , to influence my gamer preferences, and game choices. Sadly , most of the stuff i encountered in the video game industry was .. uninspiring to say the least.

Star Wars Kotor , was the game that changed my star wars **** Maybe it was because i expected it to fail , my surprise was even bigger. Truly a great RPG , I was already sucked in by the world , the storyline was a big plus. With solid voice acting , and plausable quests , it gt me hooked up in no time. though of course there are exceptions concerning the quests. The pause-continue battle mechanics are always a WIN in RPG's (Ever since i encountered them in Baldur's Gate 2).

The difficulty got a lot easier , as game progresses , but still , it's far from disapointing , au contraire , it just becomes more awesome kicking ass of multiple opponents.

9.5

Betrayal at Krondor

I remember the days when i first got this game. It came free, in a magazine, so i was like "let's give it a shot". It kinda was the only way to go, since I realised later that the magazine was all in German :) It was my first encounter with a text-based RPG. Hell it was one of the several games i played on my 486 PC. I remember having pretty decent English language skills, but some of the words used in the game were yet unknown to me. So kept an English dictionary handy :)

The storyline was marvelous, with well-constructed characters each with their own distinguishable manners and stereotypes. But due to the variety of situations they're placed, you never get that feeling of boredom, or the "I know what he's gonna do next" kind. And my it was captivating. I never went out for a week .
As for the technical side, it was not much, rough images, blocks, low res.. But it could still visualize the narrative well. I didn't need much more. I had my own imagination there to help me :)
The sound was just some midi tunes, which got well with the ambient. Well, to say the truth, I don't give much to a good sound, I just need it not to be a distraction.

This game got my love for RPGs burning, and you always remember and appreciate your first love :)

9.5