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Enebias:
Ah, memories. Admittedly, was also the result of lack of games to play way back then, but I played QfG2 so many times... Got to 1 quite some time later, then of course had to replay 2 to take that character completely to 3. Then sadly 4 wouldn't import my fully maxed character from 3 for some reason, so I was already disheartened when I started with a new one, and then the changes just made me say nope, not doing this. 3 had plenty of changes too, but those seemed to me to work quite fine, but 4 somehow didn't fly. And 5 I never even considered really. Recall when I read the review in a gaming magazine from here and the moment I saw something about other adventurers racing for the same goals and needing to hurry and make choices (that true?) I didn't even spare it a 2nd thought.
As for the ability to make a character good at everything, I consider it a big plus, and did mine like that. Make a thief, which as I recall only lacks 3 traits, spend 45 of the 50 points to get 5 in each of them, considering the 10 point penalty to get something in a skill that starts at 0, and then train like crazy. And really liked the training through use thing (how many other games have that besides QfG and TES?), so basically was sitting there and practicing climbing a rope up and down and up and down, or looking for monsters to practice fighting, or going into that maze of streets at night to practice spells, and hope guards won't see me.
Yeah, memories... For the first 3 at least, like I said.
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Enebias: Quest for Glory (Series)

Legendary series that will have you interpret a nameless hero from the East, Quest for Glory is an epic saga composed by five chapters that will see you rise from the position of “average guy” to that of an hero renowned in all the world.

The most peculiar trait of those games stays in the hybridation between the adventure and RPG genres: your protagonist will have in fact to be chosen among the classes of Fighter, Wizards or Thief (and later, if you satisfy certain requisites, Paladin), each one mastering a specific set of abilities, like weapon use, parry and throwing for a Fighter, Magic with all its many spells for a Wizard and lockpicking, climbing, acrobatics and sneak for a Thief.
It is actually possible to play a hybrid character with all the abilities of every class, but in my opinion that leaves all the role playing fun out of the equation, providing you always an easy solution without the challenge to think like a determined character would (and forcing you to grind for hours, if you want any kind of mastery in any discipline).
All the five installments have been programmed to respond differently to what you choose, presenting many alternate solution to each riddle based on your class specialties, so even considering the basics alone a great replayability us already guaranteed. I have especially appreciated the fact that, after finishing an episode, you can transfer your character to the next, maintaining your stats and -some-of your items.

The strong points of the series are not only its hybrid nature, but also the great and always present sense of humor (with maybe a bit too many puns), the strong personalities of every character, from the main antagonists to the average farmer, and the huge amount of different cultural folklore themes the developers included.
Each chapter has in fact a main setting and a main theme, starting from classic among the classic Medieval Germany to the Middle East, Africa, Transylvania and Greece, everyone bearing more or less known traditional elements, both visually, mythologically and humorously wise.
Another aspect that really impressed me with the series as a whole is that each game shows also the growth of the young hero, initially facing relatively small challenges and aided by many friends and lately left alone in unknown lands fighting against some of the greatest menaces the world could ever face.

As far as mechanics go, there is little to say you already don't know: the first two episodes use a text parser input method (something I struggled a bit with in the beginning but learned to appreciate more later, even arriving to hope some new game can take that road again) while the first episode remake and the others are your classic point and click adventure goodness.
All puzzles are very well studied and will require cleverness and effort to be solved with only a minimal amount of grinding to hone your skills enough to make them effective in the most hostile environments, and completing each quest is extremely satisfying and could really make you feel a bit like an hero for a day.
Moreover, in addition to the diversity given by the three classes, it is noticeable to see that even for a single one the puzzles have multiple solutions more often than not and will rarely let you feel stuck; speaking of which, I have to move a criticism.
There are no illogical puzzles, and with a bit of effort everything can fall into place... the real problem, though, is FINDING what you have to do. The rudimentary “copy protection system” pushed the developers to craft very large, maze-like confusing maps that you can easily navigate only when looking the manual, and while this is annoying only in the beginning (after that, you'll either recognize the paths or you will be allowed to quick-travel) it is the most displeasing and painfully time consuming present feature.
The combat is also a nice addition, keeping things simple (hit, parry, dodge, cast, each game has it sown way of dealing with them) and fun and showing you the ample display of monsters a true hero should have to face. By the way, Beware the Antwerp!
Another criticism I have to move is the number of forced combat encounters for every class (my Thief was especially hurt by this) in QfG5: that game was heavier on the RPG side than on the adventure one, increasing the number of combat gadgets but also sometimes requiring forced physical engagement over more elaborate and peaceful solutions -solution that usually proved to be the most enjoyable way for non-fighter characters. Still, it remains a great game and a very fitting conclusion to the series.

I recommend Quest for Glory to everyone, not only to fan of then genres; it is a real classic and the perfect definition for good old game, and it will probably remain immortal in the Olympus of gaming awesomeness, along with titles of the caliber of Ultima Underworld, Deus Ex and others.
Playing trough it was a real joy, and I admit that I will miss the series now that it is over. Few games could make me say the same.
Missing it would be a real injustice, so I warmly invite you to play it: you won't regret a second of it!
If you like this series I recommend the freeware game Heroine's Quest. It is basically what Quest for glory would be like with a heroine instead in a Norse mythological setting.

Quest for Infamy is another Quest for glory "clone" which is a good adventure game but I feel didn't do enough of what separated Quest for Glory from other adventure titles.

Oh, BTW there is also a Quest for glory II VGa free fan remake. which does help avoid the annoying typing and has an option of a easier city layout BUT at the same time makes the combat annoying and makes it harder to grind stats.
Post edited January 28, 2016 by marcusmaximus
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silversuriv: Life Is Strange
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toxicTom: If there was a DRM-free version available...
I'm really surprised they didn't choose to drop the DRM for the Limited Edition. It was released, seemingly, as a thank you for fans towards the end of it's peak (popularity-wise). I'm sure that many of the buyers are purchasing it for the second time after owning it on Steam, so not having a DRM-free version is a huge deal breaker; to be fair this is a problem for all repacks in general. I'm glad I didn't put any more thought into purchasing the LE myself.
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marcusmaximus: If you like this series I recommend the freeware game Heroine's Quest. It is basically what Quest for glory would be like with a heroine instead in a Norse mythological setting.
On that note... For what it's worth, though they actually turned this one down. Admittedly, nothing in it for them, but still...
Deus Ex Human Revolution (Xbox One)

360 version run on Xbone using emulation. Ran perfectly with no tech issues or crashes at all and the faster file system of the Xbone seems to speed up the load times a bit, which i understand was a problem on 360.
The graphics are starting to look a bit dated now, but at least it all ran smooth and has a distinctive look all of its own.

I've never quite seen why others held Deus Ex in such high regard- it's an average shooter and no more for me. Given that so many die hard DX fans hate HR so much, it's no surprise that i actually liked Human Revolution far more. Actually i think HR is one of the finest examples of a shooter/RPG hybrid ever made- so i liked it.
It's been some time since i was driven to play a game because i wanted to actually see where the story was going and what was going on. Story in games is an overrated aspect IMO, i play plenty of games with crap story that i enjoy. But in HR i actually was driven by the story...it's actually a logical conspiracy theme extrapolated from where todays real world tech could go and leading to possible/believable future world issues. The factions also have believable fears and agendas. In comparison, original Deus Ex was "la la land" stuff compared to HR.

Character progression is almost entirely covered by upgrading your augmentations and, given the games overall theme, that's exactly how it should be. The small amount of weapon upgrading pales in comparison. If you explore heavily like i did, then you will be a powerful ass kicking machine in the end...which kind of drives home the games story even further when you think about it.

I played stealth/hacking because the game really rewarded that approach. It's not a true stealth game though, neither was Deus Ex, neither is any game where stealth is only an option IMO. Stealth games are games where stealth is actually compulsory or close to it, and there are not many of those really.
I couldn't help myself, i felt driven to read every email on every computer and read every ebook i could find. But that's how i am.

Best part of the game- the quests and how you can mess things up and effect your game through bad decisions by changing how things played out later, something i just accepted as role playing and lived with the results. Examples SPOILERS: early in the game i was dicking around in Sarif offices looting and reading peoples emails, despite the boss stressing that there was a hostage situation that needed resolving, i just thought that this is a video game and games wait for the player right? Well the hostages all died and it was my fault! They could have been saved and everyone in the game took great pleasure in telling me. I decided not to reload and try again, it was my own fault after all- i just played it out. Several other similar things happen...guess who upgraded to the new chip and had to fight one of the bosses without augs as a result? You can even miss quests by not doing well enough at some things. That stuff was good game design to me. The side missions were also some great examples of how to do such things...i don't think there was a single escort mission or fetch quest among them.

The only issue i had was that the finicky cover system sometimes drove me insane...when all you wanted to do was sneak along a low wall for example and the game would sometimes insist on making you pop up into a firing position instead- blowing all your stealth in the process.

Overall i thought it was an awesome game, one i intend to play again in a different style- not just because the devs made it possible, but because i actually want to.
Post edited January 28, 2016 by CMOT70
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Cavalary: And 5 I never even considered really. Recall when I read the review in a gaming magazine from here and the moment I saw something about other adventurers racing for the same goals and needing to hurry and make choices (that true?) I didn't even spare it a 2nd thought.
No, that is not true. You can take your time, even if there are indeed other adventurers working to the same goal. Also, there are just three minor choices that really do not affect the storyline in a significant way.
WHat I liked less about QfG5 is it going 3D, thus losing the charm of sprites. It was still fairly well done though, especially when compared with other early 3D games.

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Cavalary: And really liked the training through use thing (how many other games have that besides QfG and TES?)
There are a few, even if right now I recall only S2: Silent Storm and Xenonauts.
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Enebias: You can take your time, even if there are indeed other adventurers working to the same goal. Also, there are just three minor choices that really do not affect the storyline in a significant way.
So if you just wander around and mainly slowly max your skills or poke at things here and there, those other adventurers don't advance, they just stay there at your level or just behind story-wise, and you won't need to miss out on stuff due to the need to hurry ahead? Hm, that review sure made it seem different...
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Enebias: You can take your time, even if there are indeed other adventurers working to the same goal. Also, there are just three minor choices that really do not affect the storyline in a significant way.
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Cavalary: So if you just wander around and mainly slowly max your skills or poke at things here and there, those other adventurers don't advance, they just stay there at your level or just behind story-wise, and you won't need to miss out on stuff due to the need to hurry ahead? Hm, that review sure made it seem different...
Well, I don't know about the review, but my skills in QfG V increased several times faster than in the other episodes, and I had almost all maxed out without doing anything but following the storyline. If you want to train all your abilities to the maximum, aside from climbing (which I have no idea of how to increase), if you always sneak, train in the adventurer's guild and throw daggers on the target outside town, you'll need nearly an hour to raise everything to 500.

I said "you can take your time", but it would be more correct to say: "there is no need to rush". If you do what you are supposed to do and check around in the mantime, you'll do everything before the others. I don't even think it is possible for one of the others to beat you unless you explicitly allow so in a particular case. The game wants to give a feeling of urgency, but in truth you are already "destined" to win.
Post edited January 28, 2016 by Enebias
4th game finished in one month: I'm both proud and scared. Proud because I'm finally tackling that damn backlog and scared because I obviously spend waaaaaay too much time in front of my PC and I need to rebuild a social life...

Anyway, just finished Life is Strange.

Very conflicted. Looked like exactly the kind of game I'd like, plus I heard only good things about the scenario.

Well, Visually and technically, it's almost flawless, even if sometimes I think the faces are a little limited in the way of expressing emotions, which is a pity in such a game.

But a big no-no on the scenario, for me. Bear with me, it's only my opinion, but I found it so full of holes that it could be nominated an honorary swiss cheese! Plus, setting up a scenario in a realist universe and having your heroine act in soooo many unrealistic ways is a deal breaker for me. Max does things that would put her immediatly in jail or worse and no, everything goes. Okay, I know her ability, but still...

I'm infuriated because I can't give examples of what is wrong with that game's scenario without major spoilers, which I obviously don't want to do since other people might play it and even might like - love - it.

Let's just say that no, it didn't click with me and the final chapter really dragged along. I was happy the game was finished, something I should not be if I thought it was a good game...

Disappointed. Very, very disappointed.

So far in 2016: https://www.gog.com/forum/general/games_finished_in_2016/post46

Also 4th star! Yay me! ^_^
Post edited January 28, 2016 by xa_chan
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xa_chan: Also 4th star! Yay me! ^_^
Yay! +1 so it's not so tenuous. :)

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On the home front, I'm getting close to finishing Game of Thrones. I've only read the first book and only watched the first season and the game is similar so far - love the setting and the story just gets more and more frustrating with disappointment (not the writing, the actual plot developments) the farther you go. :)

Been playing lots of Port Royale and Medal of Honor as well. Not much drive to quickly finish some of the bundle crap on the harddrive quite yet.
Post edited January 28, 2016 by budejovice
Retro Game Challenge (DS)

First of all I would like to thank Nintendo for not putting region locking on the DS.

Now onto the game, Retro Game Challenge is a game about a virutal Shinya Arino (presenter of the show the game is based on 'Retro Game Master') who is tired of getting constantly beaten at games, so he sets you a series of video game challenges, with the arena being, the 1980's. Here you become trapped in time unable to escape, being forced to play NES games, it could be worse. You have 8 games to get through which look just like they were made in the 80's based on classics such as Galaxian, Dragon Quest and Shinobi. What happens when you get stuck, you couldn't use the world wide web back then, no you had to ask your friends for advice or buy gaming magazines filled with hints and cheats, 2 things you may have to rely on if you get stuck.

As someone who wasn't alive in the 80's I was curious about what to expect, I was never any good at Galaga or Ultima, in fact the only game from that period I can say I'm good at is probably Minesweeper. But fortunately the games aren't too difficult (Cheats helped) and from this experience I'm hoping to now add Dragon Quest to this list (If I can find what consoles it's on) by the end of the year, and that Shinobi probably won't appear on this list by the end of the year. My favourite game was Guardia Quest (based on Dragon Quest) which actually took a fair amount of time to complete compared to the rest of them.
Finished Tomb Raider. I wanted to play it again before playing its sequel. I greatly enjoyed the game for a second time :)

Full list here.
Phantasmagoria

They don't come more cheesy than this. Luckily that's what i felt like and i loved every minute of it, well except for that stupid chase sequence. Good old FMV adventure game greatness, they don't make them like that anymore.
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magejake50: Retro Game Challenge (DS)
As a fan of the show, I really liked this, but I would like it even more if they released it in the West in its original form; i.e., with Arino's voice and the show's regulars making appearances.
Fallout 4

What a massive disappointment, not going to lie, unlike some people i enjoyed Fallout 3 (since it was the first time that i played something like that) and Fallout NV (even with the massive loadings on the console) but this one? No, pure garbage, fuck Bethesda and their games, i should have learned my lesson with that piece of shit that was Skyrim...

Where to begin? I really enjoyed the beggining and i was willing to forgive the awful textures (especially the characters models) since it had a moment of "HOLY SHIT" and when i step outside it was beautiful but feeling wears of when you go into the settlements/city and it's all the same...

The quests are pure GARBAGE, you have some different quests here and there but the rest of the game will be the same shit over and over again, go to x, kill everyone, do whatever you were suppose to and go back to the starting point to get the reward. EVERY TIME with EVERY FACTION!!!
At one point i actually had to google if my version of the game was bugged since i was getting the same quests for the same faction and the settlers that were asking for help didn't recognize me... i mean, yeah, the wasteland is huge and there's a lot of people BUT HOW COME YOU FORGET THE PERSON THAT SAVED YOUR SHITTY SETTLEMENT OVER AND OVER AGAIN.

The settlement crafting is neat but it wears off when you realize how limited it is and how it seems something that was put in the game in the last minute, it's a mess to build a house do to the size of the objects, some of the stuff will be floating or out of place, it becomes pointless because it's a gimmick and it didn't really helps in anything. At least the weapon crafting is really cool, problem is that you will need to level up to put some points in the skills that you want, some of that stuff is tied to a level (ex, upgrade weapons you require guns 4 but for that you need level 44) so you will have to do the shitty repetitive missions over and over again.

The main quest is short and had some potential but at some point you just don't care about anything, all the characters are bland and boring, i could care less about them since the game is based on shooting and not with diversity, the dialogues end in the same way, hacking stuff is pointless (why not hack the turrets to attack the enemies?), lockpicking is dumb (a novice chest locked has the same content than a master chest), and so on...

TLDR: The best description of Fallout 4 is this image.