16. In which Squeem suppresses the urge to start this entry a la A Christmas Carol.
For 
magistrate! What is your favorite game of ones you've played recently?
I've been sitting on this entry for a couple of days, partially because it's been a busy couple of days, and partially because I, uh, haven't played that many games recently. You may think that would make it easier, but that's not how I roll.
Anyway! Games that I, personally, have recently played:
1) Shadowrun Returns
2) Dishonored
3) Don't Starve
4) Deus Ex: Human Revolution
I have only finished one of these, but Don't Starve isn't exactly the kind of game you finish, at least when you play it like I do. It's a fun game, and I'm happy to have put as much time into it as I did, but I haven't touched it since July. Dishonored was… well, the plot of it sounded right up my alley, but the game play was too annoying for me to continue. Shadowrun Returns was a lot of fun, and they did a good job of capturing the atmosphere, but it lacked the open sandbox feel that I so loved about the Sega version.
Which leaves us with Deus Ex. I've only played it for 16 hours, and I believe that time includes the, uh, two games I currently have going (what, I had to start a new one to show Baco). I have only just finished my first mission, but it is still by far my favoritest game of the year. It satisfies my dystopian cyberpunk future kink (hnnnngh, the atmosphere is so pretty! THE SOUNDTRACK), I get to hack into computers, there is definitely an open sandbox feel to the environments in that they provide you with a lot of different offices to get into, and just… I don't know why, exactly, it feels so reminiscent of my Shadowrun, but it does. The characters have all been lovingly created, you can poke into their offices (at least two of their offices?) and get an idea about what they're like (the main character has a very cluttered office with a Roomba, I may have screamed in delight when I discovered that). The game rewards you for exploring (yesssss, I have such an exploration kink), AND! AND! It gives you different response choices and actually follows the script for them. I don't know how many games I've played where they give you the choices and you pick one and the character suddenly says something completely different than what you're expecting and suddenly everyone you're talking to hates your guts.
Anyway. Uh. I am really enjoying Deus Ex so far. Like. A lot. :D
A couple of days ago, I finally realized that I for me to really get into a game, I need the main character to actually be a character in their own right. When I make them up from scratch - like, say, in Dragon Age - I just don't care enough about the plot or the game to keep at it.
* Man, I am getting really annoyed with Google's tendency to add a bunch of crap to links when I try to do a "Copy link address" from their results page.
magistrate! What is your favorite game of ones you've played recently?
I've been sitting on this entry for a couple of days, partially because it's been a busy couple of days, and partially because I, uh, haven't played that many games recently. You may think that would make it easier, but that's not how I roll.
Anyway! Games that I, personally, have recently played:
1) Shadowrun Returns
2) Dishonored
3) Don't Starve
4) Deus Ex: Human Revolution
I have only finished one of these, but Don't Starve isn't exactly the kind of game you finish, at least when you play it like I do. It's a fun game, and I'm happy to have put as much time into it as I did, but I haven't touched it since July. Dishonored was… well, the plot of it sounded right up my alley, but the game play was too annoying for me to continue. Shadowrun Returns was a lot of fun, and they did a good job of capturing the atmosphere, but it lacked the open sandbox feel that I so loved about the Sega version.
Which leaves us with Deus Ex. I've only played it for 16 hours, and I believe that time includes the, uh, two games I currently have going (what, I had to start a new one to show Baco). I have only just finished my first mission, but it is still by far my favoritest game of the year. It satisfies my dystopian cyberpunk future kink (hnnnngh, the atmosphere is so pretty! THE SOUNDTRACK), I get to hack into computers, there is definitely an open sandbox feel to the environments in that they provide you with a lot of different offices to get into, and just… I don't know why, exactly, it feels so reminiscent of my Shadowrun, but it does. The characters have all been lovingly created, you can poke into their offices (at least two of their offices?) and get an idea about what they're like (the main character has a very cluttered office with a Roomba, I may have screamed in delight when I discovered that). The game rewards you for exploring (yesssss, I have such an exploration kink), AND! AND! It gives you different response choices and actually follows the script for them. I don't know how many games I've played where they give you the choices and you pick one and the character suddenly says something completely different than what you're expecting and suddenly everyone you're talking to hates your guts.
Anyway. Uh. I am really enjoying Deus Ex so far. Like. A lot. :D
A couple of days ago, I finally realized that I for me to really get into a game, I need the main character to actually be a character in their own right. When I make them up from scratch - like, say, in Dragon Age - I just don't care enough about the plot or the game to keep at it.
* Man, I am getting really annoyed with Google's tendency to add a bunch of crap to links when I try to do a "Copy link address" from their results page.