Whatcha been playing lately?

[Nav]

I think that's where I'm stuck, the one where there are the platforms and you have to jump off, make a portal on the floor to fall into and then reorientate yourself in time to shoot a new portal onto the next platform before you fall. I wasn't able to do it, I never knew where the platform was going to be when I came out of the portal.

[I'm Murrin]

Companion Cube is 14; level 16 is the turret level, Foul. Most of the level is fairly simple, but then you have to get to the button, and it took me a lot of slow crawling with boxes (you have to juggle two of them to keep out of fire) to block each turret's field of vision before I could get near it.

18 is another tough one, yeah. That bit where you have to drop the portals while you're flying never bothered me too much: on normal mode, you can take a bounce or two to orient yourself; after you've played it that way a few times, it gets easier. Advanced version is tough, because you have to get it in one go. Took me a few tries, but you get used to which direction to turn and aim.
Thought the first part of the level was tougher than that bit, though, on Advanced. The very first jump you do, you have to fling yourself and fire a portal on top of a ledge on the way over. Hopping up, you then have to Portal onto an almost invisible little bit of wall sticking out of the side, because it's the only way to get a view of the next ledge over. And then there's the room with turrets, where you have to knock all four off their tiny platforms without energy pellets.

[Worm of Despite]

18 is another tough one, yeah. That bit where you have to drop the portals while you're flying never bothered me too much: on normal mode, you can take a bounce or two to orient yourself; after you've played it that way a few times, it gets easier. Advanced version is tough, because you have to get it in one go. Took me a few tries, but you get used to which direction to turn and aim.

I caved in and looked at a walkthrough, and when I found out, I was surprised at the simplicity of the solution. It was one of those puzzles I over-thought.

And then there's the room with turrets, where you have to knock all four off their tiny platforms without energy pellets.

I'm dealing with those right now. Pretty perplexing!

[I'm Murrin]

Heh. The first turret is the tricky one. The way I came up with for it:

Spoiler

I used the camera. Portal in the "safe" left-hand corner, portal next to the near-right turret: step up to the portal, throw the camera, step back. Move the second Portal so the other turrets can't see you when you start walking around again (I kept forgetting that). You can't avoid taking a couple of shots, both while grabbing that camera and when throwing it. The rest of the turrets just involve getting portals on the walls in the right place, then jumping through--first the two high ones, then the one on the right.

[Nav]

Recently I have not been playing Sensible World of Soccer.

I have been playing Mass Effect and Call of Duty 4 to ease the pain.

[CovenantJr]

Just finished:



All in all, it's an enjoyable game. It can be more complex than you might imagine, too. My only major gripe with it is sometimes a witness testimony contains so many holes that you have to guess blindly at which one you're meant to be pursuing. And there are frequently multiple pieces of evidence to illustrate each 'contradiction' and picking the right one is again a matter of chance. Both of these problems seem to come up at least once in each court session. That can get tiresome.

Still, I now have to invest in the other two games. *sigh*

[Worm of Despite]

I'm leveling up my characters in Final Fantasy VI, in preparation for Kefka's Tower.

[Cagliostro]

Just finished:



All in all, it's an enjoyable game. It can be more complex than you might imagine, too. My only major gripe with it is sometimes a witness testimony contains so many holes that you have to guess blindly at which one you're meant to be pursuing. And there are frequently multiple pieces of evidence to illustrate each 'contradiction' and picking the right one is again a matter of chance. Both of these problems seem to come up at least once in each court session. That can get tiresome.

Still, I now have to invest in the other two games. *sigh*

What a freaky looking game.

I hate to admit it, but I love real-world-made-into-videogame videogames. Some call them sims, I suppose. One of my favorite games on the ol' Super Nintendo was Aerobiz, which put you in the uncomfortable position of being the CEO of an airline. So much fun. For those who have played it, I will never forget the Cave of Sorrowful Promotions (the name an ex of mine came up with)

[CovenantJr]

What a freaky looking game.

OBJECTION!

[CovenantJr]

I spent most of the night last night charging through Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow. It's easily one of the best Castlevanias I've played - possibly the best. Everything is done so well.

Having said that, to this day the otherwise mediocre Castlevania 64 has the best atmosphere I've experienced in the series. Some parts, particularly the pre-castle villa, feel genuinely creepy to me. And fleeing the near-invulnerable, regenerating maniac in the hedge maze always gives me a pleasant, if hair-raising, flashback to Zombies Ate My Neighbours.

[Worm of Despite]

Having said that, to this day the otherwise mediocre Castlevania 64 has the best atmosphere I've experienced in the series. Some parts, particularly the pre-castle villa, feel genuinely creepy to me.

I remember feeling uneasy/vulnerable in certain areas, but I was a kid then. Heck, back then I was scared of Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire.

Actually, the thing that scared me the most was the idea that the A.I. could find me. The concept of enemies being able to hear you (ala GoldenEye 007) was pretty new in the N64 days.

[CovenantJr]

Fair point. My uneasiest playing experience, as far as I remember, was Silent Hill. Running around in the dark with weird sound effects and no way of knowing if I was alone or surrounded by enemies... Intense stuff. Actually, Eternal Darkness was good for that as well; some of the insanity effects are really alarming, particularly the faux-delete of the saved game.

[Worm of Despite]

I'm a fan of psychological horror (though the random monster-in-a-closet will make me jump every now and then). I've always wanted to play Eternal Darkness. That save-delete reminds me of Metal Gear Solid, when Psycho Mantis takes control of your TV screen (and also the part where your controller goes dead).

[CovenantJr]

Ah, Psycho Mantis. Classic. I'll have to break that out for another play sometime. I played Sons of Liberty as well, but that was a bit too self-indulgent for my liking. I recently played the original Metal Gear on an emulator, and it was bloody awful. Guards standing there, randomly saying "I feel asleep" Genius.

Back on topic, since I can't play Castlevania all the time, I'm also playing Final Fantasy Legends III - one of the old black and white Gameboy FFs. I never finished it, and now seems as good an opportunity as any. While I'm with my family for Christmas, all I have is my DS, my GBA (for playing old games) and my little box of tiny cartridges.

[Dagon]

Eternal Darkness...

I had so much fun playing that game.

[Queeaqueg]

Crysis. The game is great, I wasn't too sure but it is really good. It is like Dues Ex and Half-Life because you can interact with everything in the game and the graphics are really good.

[balon!]

Just picked up MGS3: Subsistence. And thank GOD I did. The 360 camera has been overdue since frickin' MGS for god's sake.

[Worm of Despite]

Just picked up MGS3: Subsistence. And thank GOD I did. The 360 camera has been overdue since frickin' MGS for god's sake.

It's awesome, ain't it? It really changes the game. Makes the old camera obsolete.

[Cagliostro]

Playing Okami. Love it! I love original games, and this one certainly is. Restoring nature and all that. Right up my bleeding-heart's alley.

[balon!]

It's awesome, ain't it? It really changes the game. Makes the old camera obsolete.

YES. I had given up on trying to beat the original MGS3, so maybe now I'll actually see the ending under my own prowess.

Playing Okami. Love it! I love original games, and this one certainly is. Restoring nature and all that. Right up my bleeding-heart's alley.

I love Okami! Although it's long as hell, so I've taken a short break for Metal Gear.