I've got the original CD that I picked up second hand from somewhere many years ago. Being a big MechWarrior 2/Heavy Gear fan, I thought I'd give it a go, and the stamp of "Looking Glass Studios" on the back of the jewel case certainly didn't harm my hopes for the game (I love Thief almost as much as I love MechWarrior). So, I installed it on my outdated Windows 98 machine (at the time, my only computer, ah, high school) and was not terribly impressed. The FMVs were kind of hokey, and I wasn't really into them at first. But, the mission briefings were really well made, and outlined exactly what needed to be done in each mission. The graphics were really low res, but I was capable of getting past that (been playing DOS games since I was eleven, and while this couldn't hold a candle graphically to say, MechWarrior 4, which had recently come out, it was clear enough visually that I could tell what things were supposed to be almost instantly). However, you can pretty much see forever, and the water reflects the terrain, which definitely impressed me, given the age of the title. But it was the gameplay that blew me away. The jump jets could almost literally hurdle the power suits over mountains. Multiple weapon slots added a lot of varied tactics to fights (though not as much in the early levels, where your tech is still limited). Your suits are tough, but not invincible, so smart, fast, well executed strikes against the enemy are best. The armor partially regenerates, so you can (if you get into trouble) make a run for it and come back if things get too hot. It's not really an FPS, as the controls not that simple (they're kind of clunky in a simulation way), but not as complex as say, MechWarrior 2/3 (3 had worse controls than 2, in my opinion). The missions have a ton of variety, and they're really fun. The hokey FMVs start to gain weight and a certain charm as you fight your way through the story, and I ended up loving them and the characters. I recommend it.
Ah, Sudeki. I remember playing this on the original Xbox, and absolutely hating it. But, after replaying the whole thing (clocked in at about 19 hours. Finished everything but one side quest, and had some unnecessary backtracking that was my fault, and not the game forcing me to), I have to say I rather enjoyed my time with it. The graphics have surprisingly held up well. It has native widescreen support, and the launcher lets you set up higher res textures than it came with on the Xbox (and thank whatever gods you prefer, because Sudeki was hideous on the Xbox). The art style isn't bad, but it's not anything to write home about. The world and characters are colorful though, and I'll take that over drab browns and greys. Voice acting is pretty much all cheese, so it's not a work of art there either. Sudeki's music is... there. It doesn't really make you feel like you're on an epic quest, but it isn't so bad that you have to turn it off. Mostly inoffensive stuff. Wonderfully, the wired Xbox 360 controller works perfectly with Sudeki, so there's that (I played the whole game with mine). Story wise... It's kind of a mess, and the characterization isn't very good either. The characters themselves are kind of bland archetypes, and what depth they do get is mostly through exposition. Mechanically speaking, Sudeki is an action RPG with FPS elements. Two characters have combo melee fighting styles and are controlled in the 3rd person, and the other two basically have guns (Ailish has staff, technically) and are controlled from an FPS perspective. The stats are fairly simple, and the weapon and armor runes allow some customization. I highly recommend the Bat/Vampire runes for the health stealing effect, as it will curb some of the frustration in long fights with enemies who have bloated HP. Overall, it's kind of quirky, kind of linear (there are parts where you can go where you like), and worth a look if you want something that kind of feels like a JRPG, but isn't.
Jade Empire has an interesting setting that I wish had been expanded on. It has an intriguing combat system that I wish had been expanded on. It has an engaging story that I wish had been expanded upon. But unfortunately, it all ends up being somewhat shallow. That's not to say it isn't good, or that you won't have a good time with it, or that it's somehow broken, far from it. Jade Empire's problem is that it doesn't go far enough. The combat is too simple. The Way of the Open Palm/Way of the Closed Fist aren't developed much beyond "pacifistic/good" and "aggressive/evil" (the Way of the Closed Fist isn't quite evil, that's an over simplification, but it's sort of like choosing to be Dark Side in KoTOR 2). I think the most depressing thing about Jade Empire is that it's really hard to replay. The plot twists you already know about just leave you with the feeling that you're going through the motions, and is unsatisfying. The game is fairly linear to boot, so there's not a lot of content to explore once you're done. For all my personal gripes about Dragon Age: Origins, BioWare packed it to the brim with content - and Jade Empire manages to feel anemic compared to KoTOR. Still, I love the music, I love the setting. I love the martial arts action. I love the characters as well. I just wish there was more. If you've never played it, and you're looking for something a little different and need that RPG fix, you likely won't go wrong with Jade Empire.
If I had to recommend NWN1 or NWN2, I'd recommend NWN1 for a variety of reasons. The healthier modding community. The more stable engine. The better expansion campaigns (the original campaigns of both NWN games are garbage), and the fact that despite NWN1's fairly primitive graphics, it has aged better than NWN2. However, the Mask of the Betrayer campaign for NWN2 is almost enough tip the balance. Mask of the Betrayer is legitimately good, and has some incredible moments of brilliance - HOWEVER, if you're at all familiar with the Forgotten Realms, you'll notice that Obsidian has fumbled basic setting elements (in game, all the Rashemi are light skinned, where in the source material they're dark skinned), and worse, the Spirit Eater mechanic is a massive impediment to enjoying the game. With the Spirit Eater mechanic, you have to feed (by killing) or suppress the Spirit Eater, and there's very little explanation of how that works and which is the best way. If you choose the wrong path (not suppressing) you'll quickly find yourself on the verge of death, thanks to the fact that the more spirits you eat, the faster the meter runs out. When I played through, I cheated to disable the Spirit Eater mechanic. The game was much more enjoyable and required less maintenance of a mechanic that doesn't fit into D&D's rules. Speaking of rules, Obsidian fumbles that as well. I was in Myrkul's Temple in MoB, and ran into ancient vampire monks. My character was a level 24+ Cleric imported from the original campaign. Those ancient vampire monks managed to kill my entire party (save my character) with energy drain, and my character couldn't even hit them fully buffed. A few more things that were not kosher was the fact that the vampires could energy drain when using Flurry of Blows - which is impossible if we're following the rules (vampires can only energy drain on their "slam" attacks, which are separate from the Monk's flurry). With NWN2, you take the good with the bad.
I've never beaten Warband. I'm not particularly good at it, and I have something of a short attention span when it comes to playing Warband, but beyond the serviceable graphics is a game that requires skill, daring, and wit to play. While the game's RPG elements initially seem puzzling, they're actually fairly simple (and it's easy to make a character that's not really suited to surviving in Calradia). Still, the RPG elements, the excellent and exhilarating simulationist combat, and the constantly changing alliances, battles, hostages, and trade going on in the background create a living, breathing world at war that hasn't been done until this series. And of them all, Warband is still so far the best example. Some of the most fun I've had is roaming around the coasts of Calradia fighting Sea Reavers (a fairly tough foot enemy) with my small band of heroes, and then trading between the cities before going back at it with the Sea Reavers when I approach the coast. I have something of a fixation on punishing those Norse inspired brigands, since on my early explorations of Calradia they used to kill/capture me quite often. Now that I'm more experienced, they die like anything else. Another tough but fun activity is the tournaments. I used to die a lot in those, and now I win them on a fairly regular basis. Warband is just one of those games where the best teacher is experience, and being able to accept defeat/failure, and learn from it, will be one of your biggest assets to enjoying the game. Warband is tough but fair, and if you can manage to get the feel for the rules of how things work in the politics and overall strategy of waging war in Calradia, you'll be well on your way to carving out your own kingdom. Don't neglect the economy however (this is something I'm still trying to figure out - so definitely look into investing in town and seeing what you have to do in order to be allowed to do that, as money and food are what an army needs).
I had a more in-depth review, but it seems the internet ate it. It's a great turn-based RPG in the mold of yesterday's classics, and although the interface has been improved, it's still really clunky. It's good. It's worth the buy. It isn't perfect, but it's as close as we'll come for a while.
This is the first time I've ever played anything in the Leisure Suit Larry series, and I've got to say I wasn't sure what to expect. The constant, and irritating, mention of Larry's foul breath pretty much ruined whatever goodwill I had for it. Thankfully I used a walkthrough (knowing as I do, the adventure game fondness for ridiculous logic leaps in puzzles), so for the most part it didn't overstay its welcome. But, basically the game leads you through pointless encounters that go nowhere until the last one, which goes well for basically no reason. The keys to a certain door won't appear until you buy an apple (an apple which isn't relevant until the end of the game), the same for a helium canister. The rather disgusting encounter with a cat didn't earn any points in the game's favor either. Irritatingly, after your first "encounter" with a woman, the game leaves you with $5, and you have to build it all up again at the casino. I don't know about you, but the amount of blackjack/blackjack like games used in video games just doesn't endear me to ANOTHER make X number game, whether it's blackjack or pazaak. The backgrounds are fun and colorful, but the stilted animation of the characters falls flat. They don't feel like they belong in the backgrounds. For my part, I found LSL: Reloaded tedious and uninteresting. I may give the others a try at a later date, but it'll be a while. I'd rather go replay King's Quest or the Blackwell games, which are of much higher quality. The worst sin, I think, is that I didn't laugh once. Where was the much vaunted wit? Nowhere, as far as I could tell.
