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Denver, 4:38 AM
Sat Nov 7
57 posts in the last 24 hours
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Editor-In-Chief:
Brian Crecente
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Deputy Editor:
Stephen Totilo
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Senior Editor:
Michael McWhertor
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Senior Contributing Editor, Japan:
Brian Ashcraft
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Contributing Editor, East Coast:
Michael Fahey
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Contributing Editor, Oceania:
Luke Plunkett
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Contributing Editor, Weekends:
Owen Good
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Correspondent, San Francisco:
AJ Glasser
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Columnist:
Leigh Alexander
Columnist:
Tim Rogers
Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
11/06/09
11/06/09
Therefore, may I ask how the difficulty curve compares to Super Mario Galaxy?
I do not necessarily mind 'easy' games, but I am unsure if the humor and level variety can keep my interest in the face of a lack of challenge.
Oh, one more question: Does the shopping cart and other assorted vehicles handle well?
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I bought a Wii. I never use it. I won't miss it when it's gone. Just try and wrap your head around that. #rabbidsgohome
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Also looking forward to Dragon Quest X. #rabbidsgohome
11/06/09
you obviously dont like the wii, so why go by a wii post to talk about selling it? you like the pc, 360, or ps3? good i have a 360 and ps3 as well.. i dont play pc games, but im not going into a post about pc games to talk about how im glad i dont have a gaming pc..
its pathetic. #rabbidsgohome
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11/06/09
Oddly enough, he didn't rule out the "collections of minigames" that, as we all know, is the only possible thing a Wii could ever be used for. #rabbidsgohome
11/06/09
It's a sword that cuts both ways, though. Personally, I wouldn't like it if someone posted, "i <3 wii!," either. It's neither substantive nor additive. I'm very busy reading and posting about games I'll likely never play over here. Let's keep it moving people! #rabbidsgohome
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Oh well, I have plenty of time to wait and find out which version is best, I can't afford to buy anything for a while now... #drawntolifethenextchapter
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11/05/09
11/05/09
With all the big console games coming out right now plus M&L: BIS to finish up, this game may have to stay on my "To Get" list for a bit :( #drawntolifethenextchapter
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11/05/09
The sprites and animations are awesome, the story has more depth than I would have thought (a lot of plot twists, too), and the gameplay can be fun.
But, I reached a point about halfway through the game where ONE battle configuration could win nearly every battle. There are a handful of points that will trip you up if previous battles in a set are not planned out correctly, but they can be overcome as well.
Also, I am not much of a fan of the main character art used in dialogue sequences. I really wish they had simply blown up his sprite instead of featuring those ugly images.
Overall, though, it was worth the $20 I paid for it.
(P.S. - This gives me a chance to show off the hidden "demo room" from the game. SPOILERS!)
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11/06/09
I've been surprised how much I'm enjoying BIS. I didn't like Partners in Time much, thought Superstar Saga was ok, but Bowser is hilarious and it really is mostly about him. That's its biggest advantage, I think. Mario and Luigi's fake italian is funny, yeah, but playing as them all the time gets boring. Bowser constantly insults everyone he comes across and gloats about how great he is.
Basically, he gives the Mario RPG series what it needed: personality in the protagonist, whereas the rest always focused on the antagonists. #drawntolifethenextchapter
11/06/09
Some of my fav lines in the game are not in the Developer room, but towards the end of the game, and include references to Cthulhu and Gremlins I think... #drawntolifethenextchapter
11/06/09
I did fail to capture it on camera, though, and I forget where it takes place in the game.
And, technically, I did not miss the Chrono Trigger reference seeing as how I have never played the game (but I do own the DS version)! ;)
11/06/09
11/06/09
Bam!
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And some more:
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That fourth picture has at least two game references in it. Bonus points to the person who can point it out.
The fifth picture reminds me of the recent story about Scribblenauts' original name. #drawntolifethenextchapter
11/05/09
Oh and HoN doesn't have a bullshit microtransaction system so that's always a plus.
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11/06/09
Both LoL and DotA are defined in the article as League of Legends and Defense of the Ancients respectively. HoN I define in my second sentence as Heroes of Newerth.
Easier to understand now? #leagueoflegends
11/04/09
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11/04/09
Before you go nuts and flame, I agree with you, to an extent. I was in betas for both, played both a lot, and still play HoN a lot. HoN is much closer to the source material, has much more depth, and much less weird things like runes/unlockable heroes.
LoL isn't for the hardcore DotA community, it's for people who want a F2P game that's probably pretty good if you're into this sort of game but are afraid of the even steeper learning curve and initial cost of HoN or War3/etc...
So, good review. Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I don't think Crecente has a strong history of DotA. If this is true, the game serves its purpose wonderfully. It is a more acessable DotA-lite game where people can more easily jump into and enjoy themselves. The game will probably do well for it's targeted audience. HoN will probably do well to a more hardcore/crazy competitive/ex-DotA audence. #leagueoflegends
11/04/09
League of Legends actually improved upon DOTA by making casters more useful (Spell power allows them to scale, where as in HON they just become crowd control or support characters at best late game). They've also simplified the store and item upgrade system while HON is still a bit of a mess in this regard.
The community for HON is also seriously lame - it hasn't improved from DOTA it's gotten worse - if your team isn't dominating within the first 10 minutes everyone wants to leave.
11/04/09
As far as casters not scaling in DotA/HoN, I agree it's a neat concept with LoL... but DotA was balanced around this fact. In DotA/HoN a caster like Zeus/TB or Lina/Pyro will be phenoms early-mid game. They do much more damage than their LoL counterparts at this point. They do taper off late game, but any well balanced team will try to have a couple nukers because the early game benefits are so huge. They can get more support-based items, like Shivas/Sheepstick to which LoL has nothing close to.
And I played plenty of LoL games with leavers in the first 15-20 minutes too, if the game was going bad. It wasn't the majority of the time, but it happened. I have to say it actually happens LESS in HoN, but I have a pretty high PSR and it's probably skewed due to that. From my experience LoL's community is no better than HoN's, which in turn is no better than DotA's... they're all pretty terrible. #leagueoflegends
11/05/09
Welcome to online play. I've played hardly any game online that doesn't have some kind of elitism. No matter what the game is, the new people and the terrible people will get blamed and attacked for letting your team down. It's the same everywhere. In FPS's, in MMO's et al. LoL is not going to be that different, you're always going to get people that think they're better than everyone else.
Also I wouldn't say that LoL's change to casters is an improvement. A big part of DotA is the early, mid, late game balance. Casters generally carry the early game while late game carries are too weak to do much. Then late game they use the items they've built up to act as team support/disabling.
Changing that just makes it different from DotA, not improved. #leagueoflegends
11/05/09
Also keep in mind that this is the route blizzard went with WoW - while not the same glameplay style, all the casters at 60 didn't have any means to improve upon their spells damage until blizzard introduced spell power. Sure the casters had crowd control and other utility spells but it doesn't matter when melee/ranged heros are 1-2 shotting their opponents. This is still true for DOTA / HON in many ways.
11/06/09
That's how it was created yes but what was a limitation defined one of the core mechanics of DotA. #leagueoflegends
11/04/09
11/04/09
...which nobody bought. I know because I probably picked up half of the set (both Zeldas, Castlevania, Xevious, Dr. Mario, and Ice Climbers) new for $5 or less a game. I think the entire series hit clearance racks, and quickly at that. Even now, they're still dirt cheap.
Nintendo has a long history of repackaging and rereleases, but that's only because they've been around longer than the other companies. Sega did it too (and still does), Sony and Microsoft do it when they can, and so does every company that pumps out retro compilations or has access to WiiWare, PSN, or Xbox Live. It's just part of the industry now, for better or worse.
Not that this justifies defiling the good name of Domo-kun, though.
11/04/09
Oh, and where's your Domo Clock, Nintendo? (Sorry if Nintendo reads this and gets any big ideas.)
I'm glad someone remembers the $20 NES/GBA debacle. At the time Nintendo was hoping that retro-gaming could carry a 400% novelty tax (assuming the reasonable current model). What's surprising is how many gamers thought the price was reasonable (at the time). Maybe it was just the "free market uber alles" folks coming out of the woodwork, but that pricing sucked. #domo
11/04/09
It's a little weird...
also, re: the title of the review--I see what you did there, Totilo!
11/04/09