What is the last video game you played?

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

There's always that moment in the Elder Scroll games where you're busy selling potatoes for 20 coins and your immersion breaks and all you can think is "I could be making real money right now."

The illusion is shattered and you're left cold.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

I've never had that issue with a game.

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

My immersion breaks all the time. At least once, every game I've ever played.

That moment where your metacognition kicks in, and you realize you're just playing in a well designed rat maze. I just have to get up and walk away and probably just leave the game for a while. If I try to go on I'm just going from A-to-B fulfilling goals to get story, without actually enjoying the intervening process.

[King Mark 3,631]

The Dark Souls series is some of the rare games where the immersion never breaks

that's why I like it so much

[Wojo 2,453]

I know what you mean, Blume. I'll cite an example from Fallout: New Vegas because it's the one I remember most clearly, but the scenario applies to FO3 and the other Elder Scrolls. There's a junkyard where I'm supposed to take ED-E to be scrapped, which is also where he can hear one of his trigger words, Helios Prime, I believe it is. The old lady has empty bottles and tin cans and junk scattered all over the junkyard, but they're not tagged as "red." They're now "owned" by the game's logic. Bullshit, they're just garbage laying on the ground, in her junkyard, and she's the only person around for hundreds of yards in any direction. But I can pick them all up and sell them back to her and she'll buy them, no questions asked.

Did she wake up today, knowing she needed to buy junk that looked exactly what she already had, never suspecting this honest-looking traveler wearing a red beret who just spent twenty minutes poking around her junkyard, would be the one to sell her what she needed? No. But the game doesn't know the difference between tin cans from this side of the map or that side of the map and the ones she should have taken better care of by painting red. Silly stupid stupid game.

You're right about Dark Souls, that game is so fun! It's like the time I'm driving to work, and I drive my car really fast headfirst into another dumb stoned prick, and I die, and I get reincarnated with half of my health, but I remember the incident, and I go back to the same spot, and hit him again, and I come back, and I do it again, and again, that's like, just like real life, and it's something real I can latch onto, and the immersion is never broken.

[Quintus 5,399]

Almost all games have immersion issues these days. Tomb Raider reboot was horrendous for it, and so is Assassin's Creed (please rate this mission!)

If a game is laden with collectibles and regular XP rewards which splash up on the screen constantly during campaign play it's not much interested in holding your potentially captured imagination.

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

https://www.unrealengine.com/blog/the-future-of-unreal-tournament-begins-today

[RedBard 71]

Anybody else besides me looking forward to the release of Watch Dogs?

[King Mark 3,631]

Chipping away to finish Final FantasyX-2. Maybe it was a bit too much to play the 2 games back to back

[Muad'Dib 1,802]

This is one of the greatest things ever, and the series itself is hilarious:

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Anybody else besides me looking forward to the release of Watch Dogs?

I am!

I got a PS Vita earlier this month, and while I haven't played much on it besides Plants vs. Zombies, it's a neat little device. I played a bit of Uncharted: Golden Abyss and Black Ops: Declassified, and the dual stick maneuvering is kinda awful. I appreciate what Sony tried to do with this, to bring those AAA console games to a handheld, but it just doesn't work. It's infinitely more suited for 2D sidescrollers. The configuration doesn't fit comfortably in the hand. In that regard it's a pretty big disappointment, but there seems to be a wealth of other stuff on there that's great.

[King Mark 3,631]

Finally finished the Final fantasy X package

Deciding on my next one

[Jay 37,369]

In your opinion, was it worth your time?

[King Mark 3,631]

Seems like I've been playing this forever. X had a compelling story and some memorable moments but I struggled to finish X-2

There's a lot grinding involved in both games , but it seemed more annoying than other JRPG's I've played. In X-2 leveling up a set of abilities means you can't use previous ones you learned so it feels like your playing to grind only.

Rare weapons and accessories are so hard to find I gave up in some cases. Both games also have too many mini games (such as a FIFA like soccer game) you don't want to take the time to master (also required to get the best armor bits)

X-2 had too many "missable events" required to get the "good" ending and complete missions by the end of the last chapter. Even by loosely following a guide it was confusing because you always end up missing something anyways ( I found out I had to randomly press X during a CUT SCENE in one of the chapters to trigger an ending flag, but there was never any prompt on the screen and it could have been any controller button)

I'd say just do the minimum to get through the stories. If you want to do the secret bosses and stuff your in for a while

[Jay 37,369]

Did you like the storyline of the games?

[King Mark 3,631]

I liked the storyline of X but X-2 didn't add anything really worthwhile

[King Mark 3,631]

I'm not finished the FFX box after all. There was another bonus game galled "Last Mission" and it's actually pretty cool. Basically you have to make it to the top of an 80 floor, randomly generated dungeon, but it's not easy and you lose a lot of progress if you die

I thought it would take a few hours but I only made it to floor 15 so far playing a whole night

[Quintus 5,399]

Thought I'd have a crack at making a BF4 montage using SHAREfactory on PS4:

First attempt!

[Jay 37,369]

Anybody excited for Mortal Kombat 10?

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Tearaway

I've always thought to myself that if Media Molecule was able to get away from LittleBigPlanet they would have great potential. Tearaway is that potential realized and it's one of the best gaming experiences I've ever had. It single-handedly made the Vita a worthwhile purchase, utilizing all of its capabilities and making it a truly unique experience that cannot have happened on any other console. On the surface it's a simple 3D platformer, but the gorgeous construction paper art style, intuitive motion and visual controls, and heartwarming story all raise it to a higher level. The character is Iota, an envelope with a body and you are You, a mysterious force in their world that is trying to help him deliver his messsage to yourself. You navigate through the world by literally inserting your fingers into the game using the rear touchpad. The front touch screen is also used for swiping and pushing other environmental elements, as well as drawing and cutting out your own creations that are subsequently implemented into the gameplay. I was most surprised by how well they used the Vita's camera. In the beginning it asks for a picture of you, so I took a quick one of me lying in bed, not knowing how much it would be plastered throughout the world and altered in hilarious ways. It's a very self-aware game that does wonders to bridge the immersive gap, and continues Media Molecule's "Play. Create. Share." mantra.

[Wojo 2,453]

Anybody excited for Mortal Kombat 10?

Mortal Kombat Komplete Edition is on sale for $5 at Steam (for PC) until June 6.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/237110/

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

In an Elder Scrolls mood so will likely break out the 360 this evening. Not sure yet if I'll continue my Skyrim wanderings or move onto Tribunal with the new Morrowind character I made last month.

[King Mark 3,631]

Dark Souls 2 DLC's announced!!

[King Mark 3,631]

Started Tales of Symphonia chronicles HD re-master. Should take as long as FF-X to get through

No party healing in between battles or at save points. . I have 3 dead people after venturing a bit outside the first town and have to start over. They made it tough back then

[Quintus 5,399]

Interesting trailer, especially if you stay right till the end:

I'll be getting it.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

What kind of gameplay?

[Quintus 5,399]

I don't no. I presume it'll be first person detective work, something along those lines.

[King Mark 3,631]

Well E3 is here

I hope for some interesting announcement, but I'll probably be about FIFA, Madden and Call of Duty

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Those big 3rd party ones usually end up at the Microsoft conference. I'm really looking forward to what Sony will announce for the PS4. The Boston trip made me completely forget about E3 so I'm excited for tonight.

[King Mark 3,631]

This is the game that will make me buy my PS4

http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/06/09/dragon-age-inquisition-is-athe-biggest-gamea-bioware-has-ever-made

Wow the next "Dark souls":

http://kotaku.com/dark-souls-successor-is-coming-to-the-ps4-1588412673

[Quintus 5,399]

I think both Sony and Microsoft had a fairly solid E3. There's exclusive games on both systems which i fancy, and so if I've got the spare cash later this year I'll pick an Xbone up. I know I'm not going to be able to resist Halo 5.

If anything I'm disappointed more by Sony. Was really hoping to see them showcase Project Morpheus.

[Luke Skywalker 1,795]

battlefront III

[King Mark 3,631]

I hope it's interesting as a game and not just to get the few missing cues from RotS

A true open world single player Star Wars game would be cool

[Quintus 5,399]

It's great the way the music is used to such rousing effect in the trailer. John's music really sells DICE's passion for the project!

You won't like the game KM. It's multiplayer centric.

[Not Mr. Big 4,639]

Meh. I've never been a big fan of the Battlefront series and I doubt this will do anything to change my mind. Wake me up when they announce KOTOR 3 or another entry in the Jedi Academy series.

On an unrelated note I've just started Dragon Age 2. So far it's nothing but hacking and slashing with little to no strategy and non-existent character interaction. At least the hacking and slashing is relatively fun. I'm pumped for DA: Inquisition though. It looks like it will bring the franchise back in line.

[Luke Skywalker 1,795]

i also started DA:2.

The character creation tool is atrocious compared to DA:O and Mass effect.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

I think both Sony and Microsoft had a fairly solid E3. There's exclusive games on both systems which i fancy, and so if I've got the spare cash later this year I'll pick an Xbone up. I know I'm not going to be able to resist Halo 5.

If anything I'm disappointed more by Sony. Was really hoping to see them showcase Project Morpheus.

Yeah I thought Sony's went fairly well, but I personally think a lot of the new IPs look uninteresting. None of the stuff we didn't know was already coming stood out to me. Moreover, the Uncharted 4: A Thief's End teaser completely restored my faith in the project. Looks like it's going to be stellar. The Last Of Us: Remastered is coming out on my birthday!

[King Mark 3,631]

I did Dragon Age 2 and it kind of sucked. I don't even remember what the story was about now. I remember a few battles were hard, but I think they were optional sidequests

Apart from Witcher 3, DA:Inquisition and that eventual Dark Souls successor, it looks like pretty slim pickings for RPG's on next gen consoles. Most sequels announced for known franchises are still for PS3/xbox360

[Not Mr. Big 4,639]

Dragon Age 2 has a story?

[King Mark 3,631]

I dunno,maybe that's why I don;t remember much of that game.

[Not Mr. Big 4,639]

After playing the game for 6 hours it seems like nothing more than a haphazardly slapped together series of side quests with very little plot or character development.

[King Mark 3,631]

I think the combat is better adapted to consoles than DA:origins, but my main problem with it is the small world it takes place in...you keep revisiting the same areas all the time for sidequests, which are all kind of linear and boring looking

Even the expedition in the Dwarven tunnels was boring and felt constrained (I just remembered the first part of the game is setting up that expedition)

[Quintus 5,399]

I'd rather play Witcher 3. Dragons Age is a very stodgy rpg.

[King Mark 3,631]

I wasn't crazy about Witcher 2 both storywise and gameplay , but 3 is supposed to be true open world

[Quintus 5,399]

Yeah that's why I fancy it. Looks like it's gonna dump all over Skyrim, just for its fight system alone.

[Not Mr. Big 4,639]

I can't get into Skyrim. This is due in part to it's incredibly bland color palette and confusing level up system.

[King Mark 3,631]

It's true about the bland color palette. Also the setting is not enough "high fantasy" enough for me...it's just regular forests and mountains and lots of snow

here's my dream, a true open world Dark Souls

[Quintus 5,399]

On pc the colour palette is only limited by a modder's own imagination.

[King Mark 3,631]

Mods don't count to me

[Quintus 5,399]

Of course; you're on console.