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THE ENEMY. (Gaming)

by uberfoop @, Seattle-ish, Sunday, September 15, 2013, 00:39 (3847 days ago) @ SonofMacPhisto

Since March of 2002, we've been an entirely Microsoft console household. That original Xbox was welcomed into our house alongside a copy of Halo 1. In September 2007, I purchased a Halo 3 SE Xbox 360 alongside, you guessed it, Halo 3.

Anyway, as of ~3 weeks ago,

[image]

Well, now I have a PS3 on a wine glass box (you wouldn't believe how perfectly-sized that box is for carrying an Xbox 360 and a few games).

So, what do I think?

Well, I've been acclimating to the controller somewhat easier than I expected. And although I think I prefer the overall ergonomic design of the 360 controller, the DS3 seems to have some advantages. It's more feature-rich, and has astronomically superior build quality.

Anyway, my initial weird impulse buy library:

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I got a Gran Turismo 5 bundle because I felt obligated to try a racing sim at some point. After trying GT5... well, let's just say I've had to cleanse my pallete by firing up the oXbox and playing some Rallisport Challenge. Why anyone wants to play this lethargic realism is beyond me. It's not that there's nothing to playing it, or that it's too easy, because that's totally not the case. It's just... it just doesn't feel good at all.

Infamous 2? Also came with the console, haven't tried it yet.

In the ICO/SOTV collection, all I've done is a brief splash of SOTC. First impression is that the controls are awful, although I was fine with the horse controls that apparantly infuriate some people. I'm going to keep my mind open here and give it some more chances, because I feel like I'm just not "getting it" yet.

Ah, the Journey Collector's Edition. I haven't played Flow yet, but Journey was a beautiful and weirdly uplifting spot of interestingness. And THE ADVENTURES OF ANGRY PETAL SNAKE is... well, I'm not going to call it the best thing ever, but it's substantially more fun than it has any right to be.

The Last of Us. Ah, it didn't feel right buying a PS3 without buying this. I'm not terribly far into it, and my first impressions are... it's okay. Production values are through the roof, but the gameplay simply isn't doing a very good job of drawing me in yet, even if it's clearly very carefully-designed. It feels like it might go in good directions, but it certainly hasn't opened its wings yet.

Final Fantasy: Fanbase Firestorm Edition. My first FF game, and something I bought in an odd decision-making process. I'd watched a Let's Play of it on Youtube, and been intrigued by all the NeoGAF rage. It was a curiosity buy where I didn't expect to actually like playing the game all that much.
But... against my expectations, I'm having quite a good time, and it's engaged me the most out of my new games. It's got issues, including weirdnesses with how/when gameplay mechanics are introduced, and some systems could use streamlining (or elimination; I'm looking at you, "item upgrading"). But the combat system can be diverse and upbeat if you try engage with it, the storytelling is a lot more interesting than people give it credit for (even if it feels like it's been struck by some weirdness and development hell), and it's easily among the most gorgeous games I've ever played.
Thought I'd dislike it, am currently quite liking it despite some rough edges.


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