The video game topic

[DanielofRedwall]

Bought myself "Portal 2" for $50 for the Xbox today. Can't wait to get started on it!

[eualaia]

who's played evony?

[Bragoon]

Since most people play video games nowadays, I was curious as to which ones were everyone's favorites, or which ones changed a person's outlook on a genre or the way games are made. 


I tend to enjoy brighter palettes, like Pikmin and Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker.  Cave Story is also one of my favorite games, and I find Animal Crossing is a lot of fun too.

I tend not to like First-Person Shooter games very much, because most of them seem to be very much the same under the surface, but I enjoy playing multiplayer with my brothers sometimes. 

[Melody]

eh, wii

[Lily]

I bought Half Life 2 on sale and played it quite a lot over the Christmas break. I haven't played it since I got back from holidays, though. It's downright creepy in some parts! I can't believe I missed it when it first came out.

[eualaia]

right now im playing total miner on xbox live

[Bragoon]

I'm playing Fire Emblem: Sacred Stones for the fourth time now.  :B

Though it's the first time I've played it on my 3DS.  Before I played my GBA copy, but I pre-ordered my 3DS, so I got the free games from the price drop.  Totally worth it.

[Dawnwing]

I just got Portal 2 and am loving it.  I think I'll finish it within the next couple days - I'm on Chapter 9: The Part Where He Kills You.  This is my main current obsession. ?
@DanielofRedwall: Did you know that the official Portal 2 soundtrack is available for free on the official site?  Here it is.

Getting close to the end of Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword - I'm on the third part of the Song of the Hero.

Also playing Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones on my 3DS.  Never played a Fire Emblem game before, but I'm loving it - I think I'm starting to like turn-based strategy games, I'd never really heard of them before getting this ipod game called Highborn.  It's taking me forever to finish, because I don't want any character to die - their death quotes make me feel like a bad person for letting them die. :<

[DanielofRedwall]

Thanks for the link, Dawnwing, I just downloaded it! Now to figure out how to get it on iTunes...

[Bragoon]

I also have the Portal 2 soundtrack on my computer.  I need to figure out how to convert it into a format that will allow me to import it to iTunes, but I think I need an rar. file program, which are either expensive, or Eset says are buggy, so I'm kind of stuck.  :I
I can put them on my 3DS SD card and play them in the music app though, so I still benefit.  One of my favorites is the Turret Wife Serenade.

I've played both Portal and Portal 2, but my enthusiasm always seems to peter out before I finish.  ;_;


I suggest you try Advance Wars.  It's a bit different, since it's not an RPG, but I find it takes more forward-thinking than Fire Emblem.  In my opinion, Advance Wars 2 is the best incarnation if you can get ahold of a copy and still have one of the earlier generations of the DS or a GBA.

[eualaia]

 think zelda skyward sword best thing i have ever played the graphics are epic
the storyline is great like in all zelda games the bosses are hard perfect game for a gamer like me

[Bragoon]

I'm finding Skyward Sword rather boring, actually.  It's still a fun game, but nothing makes it stand out against other LoZ games.  For the record, Wind Waker is my favorite in the series, followed by Twilight Princess, then Minish Cap, then OoT. 

[Nightfire]

My favorite is Twilight Princess, followed closely by WindWaker and Majora's Mask. I love being a Zora in Marjora's Mask. It's so fun to swim around!

[DanielofRedwall]

I've finished "Portal 2" just then, now for my complete analysis! I'll compare it to the original:
WARNING: SPOILERS!

GAMEPLAY
In terms of gameplay, "Portal 2" gets the cake here (see what I did there?). "Portal" was much shorter (you could complete it in an hour if you remember all the combinations) and there aren't as many hazards. "Portal 2" has much better gameplay. It's stacks longer and the new hazards and things to help you makes it a lot more fun.

STORYLINE
Again, "Portal 2" wins here. "Portal" doesn't really have much of a storyline, you just finish test while being led by a corrupt robot. At the end, you kill her. In "Portal 2", you are led by a personality core, following his instructions while trying to appear like nothing is happening in front of GLaDOS. Then, you put Wheatley in charge and he goes corrupt. You then have to help GLaDOS (who is a potato at the time!) get back in power. Yep, "Portal 2" wins.

CHARACTERS
Well, both games have pretty much the same characters, so it's hard to judge. "Portal 2" does have Wheatley, and I cracked up laughing at the Space Core. I guess "Portal 2" wins here.

Humour
"Portal" was much funnier and all-round quotable, in my opinion. GLaDOS was simply epic in that game. But there were still plenty of funny moments in "Portal 2", like Cave Johnson's ant about life giving you lemons.

CREDIT SONG
"Portal" wins here. "Still Alive" I found much funnier then "Want You Gone". Still, "Want You Gone" was good.

Verdict
While both games were awesome, I think "Portal 2" was the better of the two.

[Folgrimeo]

I've definitely had a lot of favorite videogames over the years. Here's the ones that stood out most for me (plus the systems I played them on), in the order I played them:

Jazz Jackrabbit (DOS) - I'm not much a fan of fast-paced platforming (only reason I tried Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was because Tails was in it), but I made an exception here because of Jazz, the green Rambo-like rabbit. Its enemies and worlds were just more appealing to me than other stuff out there.

Ecco the Dolphin (PC) - I may not be a fan of the hard difficulty (I keep it on Easy), but I love everything else about it. For whatever reason, my mind went wild at the thought of controlling a dolphin underwater. The visuals are good, the music is absolutely stunning, the cutscenes were awesome for the time. I've routinely called the Ecco soundtrack my favorite videogame soundtrack, it really is the kind of music I like best.

Wario Land II (Game Boy) - I love the Wario Land series for having diverse gameplay, but starting with the 2nd game I really came to appreciate the level design. Really, each level is more like a puzzle. That Wario can't die lends itself to the puzzle aspect. Every time I'd try to do something unexpected like leap left when it wants me to go right, I'd bump into a wall juuust tall enough. The level design forces me to get through the levels properly. Multiple paths through the game too. The 3rd game added the trick of giving you new abilities along the way so you can return to previous levels to get at a treasure chest that used to be out of reach. Still, the 2nd game is when I saw the potential the Wario Land series can have. Wario now seems synonymous with accessible, crazy, and addicting gameplay. I'd rather go with that than a Mario game, Wario just has more personality.

Secret of Mana (SNES) - My pick for favorite game overall. It's easy to just jump into with its unique battle system, I love the environments (because I really like forest areas), the music is soothing. What attracted me most of all was the dragon Flammie. Using a dragon as transportation (a cute one at that) just can't be beat. I'll admit that Chrono Trigger has a lot more to offer and I found that to be a better game, but my loyalty lies with SoM.

Star Fox (SNES) - It'd be several years before I became good enough at this game to get anywhere in it... and once I did, I welcomed the challenge. I always felt the first Star Fox had the best atmosphere, and I can appreciate the high challenge as being preferable to the easy challenge of Star Fox 64.

Pilotwings 64 (N64) - Everyone remembers their first time playing the first hang glider mission ("Albatross Nest"). It may be the only flight game I've played, but I can't imagine anything else topping it.

Wave Race 64 (N64) - Honestly I only play this for Dolphin Park. I could race alongside that dolphin for hours. That's the closest I remember ever being to gaming nirvana.

Star Fox Adventures (GameCube) - Some people don't care for it, but I loved it. Yeah, I bought it because of Fox McCloud. But the graphics are beautiful even today, it has a great soundtrack, has a refreshingly smooth framerate, and it's just fun to play. Has the same sort of feel that Beyond Good & Evil would have, which helps.

Beyond Good & Evil (GameCube) - Mostly it's for that feeling that the game understands how to keep things fun. There's no frustrating instant-death pits, you have unlimited lives, checkpoints are frequent, you can (almost) always go back to get something you missed, the framerate is silky smooth, and the stealth is thankfully not too involved. But this game did one thing extremely well, one thing I wish more games followed: It had a sidekick who would actually congratulate me on the stuff I do, make entertaining banter along the way, and help me accomplish tasks. Yep, I'm talking about Pey'j. It's a small thing to hear him cheering me on when I'm completing a really easy race, but that makes all the difference. Pey'j made the journey worthwhile, and I actually felt lonely when he had to leave for a while. He's the best sidekick I've ever had.

Prince of Persia: Sands of Time (GameCube) - I found this more entertaining than "Beyond Good & Evil" because of the Prince doing acrobatics and just making up a way to get from point A to point B. Had a sense of adventure. I also love seeing the country vista during the rare moments where I'm outside of the palace.

Okami (PS2) - There was a lot of drama near the end of 2006 because two games in the spotlight seemed so superficially similar: Zelda Twilight Princess had Wolf Link, and Okami had Amaterasu (and it can be argued that Okami is a little like Zelda). Well, I had to choose. I think I chose correctly. I had a lot of fun with this one, thanks to the huge areas and great music and variety of stuff to do. I used to just park Ammy somewhere at Taka Pass and listen to the music. When I came back, Ammy would be laid out on the ground sleeping. It's also a REALLY long game, the longest I've ever spent. Took me 70 hours.

Sly Cooper (PS2) - Can't express enough how lucky I feel to have played this game and its sequel (never tried the third though). It's just pure fun from start to finish. Sure, the first game can be completed in a measly 7 hours, but I've come to admire its style of platforming and light amount of stealth. And Sly's tail, which everyone remarks on for being particularly lively. The sequel took a while to get used to, but undoubtedly it's a more entertaining experience, especially when you have all three characters working together in a mission. My favorite thing is that the levels are so large and there's so many ways to get from point A to point B that I always feel like I'm carving my own path. And if I get spotted (which happens a lot since I'm clumsy with stealth), I can find an escape route on the fly. Makes it feel like I have more control.

Solatorobo (Nintendo DS) - This must be the only game where all my love for it is solely because of the main character, Red Savarin. The quests can be fun at times (it makes a lot of difference that the characters thank you when you finish tasks), and everyone agrees that the world is spectacular, but... there is a LOT of dialogue, and almost all battles can be won by slamming A over and over. So it's like an RPG in some ways. While it can get repetitive, I just keep coming back because of Red. I never seem to get tired of those facial expressions of his, or the cute French voice soundbites you sometimes hear over the dialogue. And as the game went on, I cared more about Red. He's a good character, and optimistic that he can accomplish anything. And I feel that too, that bravery of being able to see some huge towering monster and going "eh, I can take him." Although the gameplay could be better, I still liked it and hope there will be another game in the franchise one day.