There is a subtle difference people seem to miss though. In most games, dying is not supposed to happen. In Dark Souls, it's expected. Slight nuances in game design account for this and as such, dying in Dark Souls (or Demon's Souls, arguably better) has never once annoyed me, despite countless other games frustrating the hell out of me. I've always felt as though I deserved the punishment and been motivated to keep pushing forwards with newfound knowledge about what killed me and ideas of how to overcome it. It makes the payoff far more satisfying when you finally defeat a boss/reach a new area, as though you've actually earned something, rather than done something in a game you were supposed to do anyway. It's basically the best solution to the "all modern games are easy as piss" problem I've ever witnessed, but still, I can understand how not everyone will see it that way. If you're a natural born rage quitter it's gonna happen regardless of which particular game you're playing.
I really would like to give Dark Souls a spin. I'm use to dying over and over in Rogue-likes, so that's not a problem. LOL. But I really need to play all of the games I already have first.
Just put in three more hours into Arkham City. I think I'm nearing the end now since I'm about to stop Protocol 10. I'm guessing the end comes soon after that. Sadly, I didn't take the advice to do too many side quests along the way..so I've pretty much beat 90% of the main storyline in under 8 hours, meh. Can I still access every single side-quest the game offers after I've beaten the game? They're not just offered during certain parts of the game and then disappear to make room for other ones right? That would suck. Can't say there's really anything interesting about collecting the trophies..not sure I'll bother doing too much of that. What exactly are the challenge maps? Are they any fun? Catwoman is pretty awesome; the code for her came with the game. Don't play on buying any other DLCs. Edit: The storyline got kind of weird in the later parts. Became and less and less realistic as the game progressed, lol. What's up with all that supernatural stuff..didn't play Arkham Asylum so I have no idea what happened in the first game. Will go finish up another day.
I guess I was lying when I said I was almost done. Played two hours already today, and I still have quite a bit left, lol.. Just played as Catwoman again. I wonder how the game progresses if you don't have the Catwoman DLC. I'm guessing you still get the cutscene with her and Batman near the end even though you don't play the part right before. Lol, I made the "wrong" decision with Catwoman at first, and the game cut to the credits. I was wondering what the hell had happened. Going to try to finish this up today.
Whoa! Spoiler That's what these things are for! Don't worry, all of the side missions, etc. are available after you beat the game. And you've still got the challenge maps, which are hella addictive. And New Game +, which borders on unfair until you get some more XP by completing side missions and finding Riddler trophies.
Haha, I tried to make the post as vague as possible. Just finished the game. I'm actually pretty sad that it's over. Batman is such a memorable character. I'm apparently missing a huge part of the plot though since I don't really understand who those assassin people and their leader are. Guess they're from the first game, which I'll have to go back and play one day. Genuinely one of the best games I've played, not to mention one of the most technically and visually impressive. I think I've spent 15 hours with it so far. Good to hear that the side missions are all available. Will go back and do that when I feel like playing some more Batman. The ending..ugh. Spoiler I don't understand why Batman can't even kill Joker. I know it's part of his virtue since his parents were murdered and all that, but still. When Batman says he'd have spared/saved Joker again..gah. Anyways, really looking forward to The Dark Knight Rises this summer. Still got one Catwoman campaign mission to play. Guess I'll go finish that now. I was actually surprised half of the game turned out to be about sneaking and picking off enemies quietly and creatively instead of straight-up brawling. Was a lot fun. Time to play through AC Revelations next. Only 30 minutes in from when I tried out the game. That should be pretty awesome too since it'll be my console AC game. Edit: One other thing, the voice-overs are freaking amazing.
I agree with everything you said. I can't stress just how fun the "predator" challenge maps are- they're remixed versions of the best stealth sequences from the main campaign. So freaking addictive! Raas al Ghul isn't from the first game, he's apparently the one who trained Batman, but has supernatural powers and leads a group of assassins or something...? He's the character Liam Neeson played in Batman Begins, I think. I read the Wikipedia page about the character after I finished that part of the game, it didn't help much. *Shrug*
Yeah, I'll give the challenge maps a go when I can. Oh, is that who Raas is? Guess I'll check out some character wikis/bios later. The girl must be from the first game though. I also have no idea what Arkham Asylum was and why Arkham City now exists, lol. So yeah, will read up some stuff.
I got my copy of SSX, but promptly fell asleep after the kids were finally in bed, LOL. Hopefully tonight I'll have some time, but that isn't certain. Oh well.
Yeah revolutionary war! I'm pumped! Did you see the leaked pic from bestbuy from kotaku? EDIT: Here's the picture of the main character
Finally got to try out SSX for a little bit last night. I'm not very good at it, but it's definitely fun. LOL.
@Fireball: Just realized you meant the game was taking place during the American Revolution. Holy shit that's cool. Starting AC Revelations today, heheh. Edit: Oh no, XBOX Live Gold membership is expiring in two weeks. First time having to renew it coming up. Just played a tower defense level in ACR. That was pretty cool and a nice mix into the game. Enjoying it so far. Lots of cutscenes and all about the story. Pretty different from the past two games I've beaten: Arkham City and RAGE, which is good. The Renaissance world in ACR is pretty breathtaking. You can interact with just about anything, and yeah, the cities all look amazing. I really wish Ezio had a grappling hook at times though. The map works really well. I like the lock-on feature that it has. Lots of content and depth here. Just spent three hours playing. It's my first console AC game, so there's a lot to love for me because I don't find anything repetitive like I might if I had played the three other games already. Total sync is at 12% now.
Not exactly sure of what to expect, didn't bother picking up AC Revelations as I'm not as hyped up about the series as I used to be, probably because they started pulling a 'Call Of Duty' on this series. Interested in SSX though, looks like it could be a ton of fun but I didn't renew my gold subscription so I'm not sure of how much enjoyment I'd get without the MP features.
I still play my Xbox when I have the time, but that's rare now! At the moment I'm mostly playing Sonic Generations, Duke Nukem Forever and Skyrim. All are great, can barely find the time for Skyrim though! Most looking forward to Silent Hill HD Collection, so I can play SH2 again.
I played more SSX last night. It's a really great game. Only thing I wonder is is there a way to see if a geotag you placed was picked up, by who, and how many credits you earned for it? I don't think there is. It seems like there should be a screen that lists all the geotags you've placed, a map of where they are, how much they've earned so far and/or who found them and the total earnings you got from it.
Playing as Altair now. ACR is getting better and better. I think I'm having more fun with it than Arkham City. I've always been a huge fan of anything set during the Middle Ages/Renaissance time period. The new leaked images of ACIII are pretty cool.
I don't know why but when you said assassins creed is pulling a call of duty I thought the idea of a Call of Duty title set in the american revolution. Lol reloading would take a whole minute
