Things you love/like and dislike/hate about the games you are currently playing...

[Neurotic Void Melody]

Pretty self-explanatory. Surely we must all experience this ambivalence while journeying through our digital distractions. So let's dissect and distinguish!

Fallout 4
Love: I have a single button in conversations assigned to answer every NPC's question with another question instead of answering them straight. It's like an incessantly curious child that bothers a busy adult with "but whyyyyy do these people care so much?" And "but whoooo even is that anyway?" And the good old "but tell me more about why we are doing this again?" When they clearly just want you to shut up and do their tasks for them. I get endless enjoyment out of spamming that button for every expecting NPC.

Hate: Convincing people to do all kinds of nefarious deeds requires no challenge, just an arbitrary number you need to be higher in, then press a button...boom! Congratulations, you convinced somebody to eat their mother's ashes for a laugh...have a showering of gifts! I want to be challenging with my psychological manipulation, dammit! Deus Ex: Human Revolution probably had the most interesting, if underutilized method of persuasive challenge.

Gravity Rush
Love: It has a very specific Zelda-like charm with music, presentation, a weird mythical, hypnotic innocence in the world and characters that draws me in.

Hate: Cosmic vertigo with the main power, only a recent personal problem am trying but failing to find any information on how to combat it. Perhaps the term is wrong, but I'm unsure what else it goes by. Eh, maybe I just have to get accustomed to it. It crops up in space games too, where the mind is trying to account for things it cannot comprehend.

Love and hate are just emotional hyperbole there, for dramatic effect of course! Feel free to ride the turbulent waves of emotional hyperbole or barren plains of clinical analysis to suit your own tastes.

 

[Saelune]

Terraria
Love all the stuff you can do, the way you get more powerful, and all the neat items, and that you can build a ton of stuff. Even after basically completing the game, I still have tons to do.

Hate that my friends don't play it with me, and that controller for PC isn't as good as it is on console. And fishing quests. Took me forever to get that infinite water bucket.

Mount & Blade: Fire and Steel
Love that well, its M&B, and the guns are cool, and the addition of actual plot. Love raising my own army, and combat is a lot of fun. And unlike Warband, is set in history, cause I'm a history nerd.

Hate how glitchy it is. Had a quest to talk to the Tsar of Russia, but he disappeared from the game for some reason.

 

[Xprimentyl]

Saints Row IV: Gat out of Hell:

LOVE the sense of freedom and dumb fun, feeling WAY overpowered, flying and the orb collecting (those thing are like crack!)

HATE some of the design decisions. I'm so overpowered, I can't run down the street without killing someone on accident and picking up a wanted level, so even menial, non-violent tasks become chores as I'm constantly getting attacked for the crime of "being alive."

Inside:

LOVE everything. The art style, the themes, the atmosphere, the implicit narrative and the friggin' sound design which has got to be the best of any game ever, IMHO.

HATE that I've completed it (about a dozen times now.) Wish I could wipe my brain of it and experience it or the first time again.

 

[JUMBO PALACE]

Total War: Warhammer

Love: The entire setting and aesthetic is great. I'm a big fantasy fan but haven't spent much time with Warhammer. Its unique mix of brutal violence and quirky silliness is something really fun to me. The unit variety is really cool and each race feels totally distinct and interesting.

Dislike: I don't get into the multiplayer in Total War games so I when I'm playing campaign I'm a little limited on who I Fight. For example, as the Dwarves you start the game mostly dealing with the Greenskins and then by the time Chaos rolls around the Empire and Vampire Counts have beaten the crap out of one another and it's not much of a fight. So each campaign you end up fighting one main enemy instead of having a variety of different factions to deal with. I started an Empire Campaign because I hadn't had much of a chance fighting the Vampire Counts yet but my allies have essentially wiped them out already. MY Dwarf campaign was essentially Me vs Greenskins then Chaos. My Greenskin campaign was Me vs Dwarves then Chaos. Empire campaign so far is Me vs other humans and Chaos fell on its face.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Love the Ghibli aesthetic (animation, art design, score) of Ni no Kuni; the hybrid combat and the token puzzles not so much.

 

[ShoobieDoobie]

Samurai Warriors 4

Love:
-Being able to control 2 officers. This feature absolutely must be in every future warriors game.

Hate:
-Chronicle mode is way too damn boring and I'll probably never finish it. Every battle has completely random objectives with completely random officers and you want to just rush the commander to get it over with but noooo you have to complete these stupid objectives before the commander shows up!

-The gem weapon system just really sucks!

-Lack of English voices really kills immersion and forces me to always divide my sight between the subtitles at the bottom and the action

-Kenshin Uesugi's stupid Burger King hat.

-In story mode there's really only one way to go through a stage. A lot of the stage is blocked off by closed gates (X's on the minimap) and it stinks!

-Nobunaga Oda should've been crazier and more evil! He's hands down the best character in the game but it seems like he was barely there!

 

[sageoftruth]

Witcher 3
Like:
- How well it meshes story with game mechanics
- Believable characters with real relationships with the main character
- So many main quest events actually make me feel things other than, "welp, that quest is over. What's next?"

Dislike:
- Sign skills are pretty OP if you choose to invest skill points in them
- The game has a bunch of annoying bugs
- Loading times can be a nuisance
- Geralt's scene with Whoreson Junior. Poor acting on Whoreson Junior's part, as well as it being a scene that just feels like it is missing essential voice bits and character animations makes this event completely fail to capture the drama it was going for. With every other scene in the game being excellent, this one sticks out as a real eyesore.
- I wish the game would stop showing me where all the points of interest are

Super Metroid
Like:
- Indulging my completionist desires
- The speed boost ability
- Playing the game more efficiently, now that I'm no longer hoarding my missiles and power bombs.
- The emphasis on clever use of equipment and weapons

Dislike:
- All the necessary backtracking
- Combat and enemy designs are pretty basic
- How long it takes to equip or un-equip the freeze beam or the high-jump boots
- Not being able to pause when I'm selecting or de-selecting missiles

Streets of Rage 2
Like:
- The addition of desperation attacks and rush attacks
- Axel is far more fun to play with his new moves, especially his forward desperation
- The enemies have gotten much tougher compared to Street of Rage. Some are really hard to figure out
- Max is an excellent addition to the game. Always nice to have a wrestler in the group
- It really rewards you for using every single move in your repertoire
- In many cases, rush attacks and desperation attacks can be comboed into from your basic combo to great effect.

Dislike:
- Friendly grappling is still in the game. Every now and then, my teammate and I end up walking into each other and end up holding each other, unable to break free, while enemies keep attacking us. Annoying.
- Aside from the first level, most stage music isn't quite as catchy as it was in the first one.
- Some enemy attacks seem impossible to avoid if you haven't played the level before.
- That damn boxer
- Those damn ninjas
- Some bosses have ridiculous invincibility frames

 

[Bawsto]

Mass Effect 2

Love the art design for the environments and the skyboxes are phenomenal.

But?

I struggle to understand how this game is so well regarded outside of its decent writing and world building. The combat reaches its zenith about a quarter of the way through, and it becomes mind-numbingly dull to fight your way through the formulaic corridors with the one-note enemies and unsatisfying hit detection/reactions. I can count on my finger the number of weapons in each category, and the biotics don?t enhance the combat in any meaningful and strategic way.

The RPG element in the first game was incredibly flawed, but here they?ve gone in the complete opposite direction, from broken to bare-boned. I don?t know which I dislike more.

It?s made worse by the fact that there?s absolutely no momentum to the story. The sense of urgency from the first game is completely gone, replaced with recruiting missions and side missions for each of your squad members that take up the majority of the game. At some point it becomes rote and you just want to power through these ?important for backstory? missions to get to the damn final mission. It?s just frustrating to be so late in the game, after having endured thousands of lines of dialogue, to have a squad member stop 3 or so times for their mission and give you an expository dump about herself. Over a damn drone. I can just skip over it, sure, but it?s fundamental to its design for me to engage in its story and understand it in full. But then, the game has tried my patience that it makes me feel like returning the favor with a middle finger. It?s so grossly mechanical when every character in the game is a soundbox for stiff exposition.

 

[meiam]

Mass Effect 2


I struggle to understand how this game is so well regarded outside of its decent writing and world building. The combat reaches its zenith about a quarter of the way through, and it becomes mind-numbingly dull to fight your way through the formulaic corridors with the one-note enemies and unsatisfying hit detection/reactions. I can count on my finger the number of weapons in each category, and the biotics don?t enhance the combat in any meaningful and strategic way.

The RPG element in the first game was incredibly flawed, but here they?ve gone in the complete opposite direction, from broken to bare-boned. I don?t know which I dislike more.

If you're not, play the game in insanity mode, the gameplay is bland outside of it, but it really come together in insanity.

Currently playing last remnant, I though about making a list for it, but the list of things I love for that game is really long and, sadly the list of things I hate is even longer, so I'll pass.

Instead I'll do paragon which I tried a few round of:

Like:
Simple item system that doesn't require learning five millions items
Can pick up gold from minion if they weren't killed by last hit (although its lower)
Looks good
Some 3D aspect so jumping is important
All hero free for the moment

Dislike:
Last hitting enemy is a thing
All hero are very vanilla and feel like they've been done before
Item system could be pretty P2W
New F2P game, so the player base is full of quitter and people who don't understand mechanic and refuse to learn

 

[Fox12]

Sunless Sea

Pros-
Amazing art and sound design
Addictive gameplay
Phenomenal writing
Unique ideas
A living, breathing world
Awesome exploration
A cool cast of characters you can recruit

Cons-
Permadeath. The game has a collection of short stories that unfold slowly, over a long period of time. It's not like FTL, where you have to take everything one step at a time. It takes a lot of time and investment to play a good run of Sunless Sea. I don't mind this at first. You have to start the whole game over again, but it doesn't take long to catch up to where you were. After you've been playing a while, though? It's nearly game breaking. One small mistake can end your whole play through. You'll be doing fine, and then in a few moments it's over. The game tries to remedy this by allowing you to leave your money or supplies to your children. The problem is that the game forces you to start every single short story over from the beginning. I can only watch Hunters Keep burn so many times. They should have allowed you to leave a journal so that you could keep your story progress. I cared more about the writing then I did the money.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE
Love - This game.

Hate - The title of the game is freaking stupid.

Shin Megami Tensei IV
Love - I really like the gameplay here but I love how I can essentially populate my party with demons from the fucking Goetia.

Hate - If I don't get a preemptive strike, there's a good chance that an enemy of ANY level can potentially get a good enough combo going to murder my whole party.

Nintendo Badge Arcade
Like - I like crane games and I like how what I win can be used to decorate my 3DS's bottom screen.

Dislike - I can't back out if I get a daily free play. I want to be able to get a free daily play and stack it with the free plays I might win from the daily practice game. I also really hate how NONE of the Pokemon badges are large.

Demon's Souls
Like - That feeling of Power I get when I find new equipment and level up

Dislike - How easy it is to be killed by my own stupidity

Pokemon Green
Like - I can use physical attacks on Electric Pokemon without worrying about the Static ability screwing me over

Dislike - Some attacks hurt my eyes...also the Pokedex is really limited so I wind up fighting the same Pokemon ump-teen times. Grinding is going to get difficult too because you can only fight each trainer once (not counting Elite Four)

 

[FalloutJack]

Fallout 4

Hate: Convincing people to do all kinds of nefarious deeds requires no challenge, just an arbitrary number you need to be higher in, then press a button...boom! Congratulations, you convinced somebody to eat their mother's ashes for a laugh...have a showering of gifts! I want to be challenging with my psychological manipulation, dammit! Deus Ex: Human Revolution probably had the most interesting, if underutilized method of persuasive challenge.

Given the system for making all of your physical/mental/social graces better in the game, I would like to ask...is there any way of actually doing that in a manner that isn't just higher level manipulation? It's alot of work to build a conversation that makes use of logic and evidence, rather than something about the way you look and sound, which may be why it doesn't happen as often (Like, say, in the Shadowrun Returns games).

Saints Row IV: Gat out of Hell:
HATE some of the design decisions. I'm so overpowered, I can't run down the street without killing someone on accident and picking up a wanted level, so even menial, non-violent tasks become chores as I'm constantly getting attacked for the crime of "being alive."

I feel like the fact that you're in hell has something to do with this.

OT: Right, I've had a couple comments, now it's my turn.


I like Doom, always have. I have Doom 3's BFG Edition because it has Doom 3, Doom 2, and Doom...Doom. Doom 4 - the current wicked-awesome Doom - is good doomy fun. It's not absolute perfection, but it IS a kick to play.

WHAT'S GOOD: Alot, but this is suppose to be about my personal thingies. Doomguy is fast and deadly, so weak enemies are down easy for quick health and graphic takedowns. It's the proper marriage of the old world of Doom with the nuance of Brutal Doom placed in today's gaming engine. Fine blood wine, glorious violent pleasure, hellish art form. I like finding secrets, because secrets mean more weapons and ammo, which is good because sometimes my aim sucks. I mean, it's easy to hit a BIG target, but you get moments where an Imp dodges a shotgun blast, and that's a problem if you're unawary. I like that there's checkpoints right about the time that something important's about to happen, so you don't have to do EVERYTHING over again. I hate losing progress, and checkpoints SEEM to happen often enough so as not to worry that much. The controls are very good, the map REALLY helps, the monster designs are mostly great, and Chainsaw Good. It's Doom at its rip-roaring best.

WHAT'S BAD: It's not perfect, of course. If Id made an absolutely perfect game of Doom, they could never make another one again, because all the Doom enthusiasts would buy it and then they'd have to retire the franchise. But that's just talk there. Let me tell you about a few of the gripes that I have. Starting ammo count, to begin with. And by this, I mean starting maximum. Old Doom's Shotgun, Chaingun, and Plasma Rifle have - without backpack - a max ammo count of 50, 200, and 300. Now, we can't expect that, in a game where you can upgrade your ammo count, that it necessarily be THIS high, but 20 for Shotgun, 80 for Heavy Assault Rifle, and 150 for Plasma Rifle may be lacking in a game like this. Shotgun ammo is everywhere, but I can't pick it all up, even though I use it. I'd bring that up to a max of 30, 100, and 200, respectively. There is also the problem that checkpoints can also leave you in a bad health/ammo situation too, which may leave you wishing for a normal save option. And finally, there's ONE monster design we could've done without: Those Summoners...

Great game, wonderful game. A few minor issues.

 

[Evonisia]

Dark Souls
Like:
Reading lore information from items I found by chance.
Most of the characters are likeable to me, particularly the two merchants in the Undead Burg.
A select few of the boss fights.
Variety of locales that blend seamlessly (with some exceptions) which adds a lot to the immersion.
Combat feels more balanced than "Demon's Souls".
Mimics are probably at their least annoying in this game. In fact I found some joy in accidentally getting the first one killed with a certain device nearby.

Dislike:
The zones are very hit and miss (Undead Parish, Anor Londo are fantastic whereas the Catacombs, Sen's Fortress and especially Lost Izalith are just obnoxious bores), and the game falls apart after you get the Lordvessel.
Most of the boss fights are either dull roadblocks or are just terrible experiences.
Combat feels limp when using anything other than heavy weaponry.
The game feels padded in parts, which on one hand adds to this withdrawn, entropic atmosphere but after going over the same area over and over the atmosphere is lost.
Various minor, nitpicky things I feel were improved in the other games. I vastly prefer the bells/cancel gun from "Bloodborne" and the embers from "Dark Souls III" to the way you use humanity in this game.

 

[Bawsto]

Dark Souls
Like:
Reading lore information from items I found by chance.
Most of the characters are likeable to me, particularly the two merchants in the Undead Burg.
A select few of the boss fights.
Variety of locales that blend seamlessly (with some exceptions) which adds a lot to the immersion.
Combat feels more balanced than "Demon's Souls".
Mimics are probably at their least annoying in this game. In fact I found some joy in accidentally getting the first one killed with a certain device nearby.

Dislike:
The zones are very hit and miss (Undead Parish, Anor Londo are fantastic whereas the Catacombs, Sen's Fortress and especially Lost Izalith are just obnoxious bores), and the game falls apart after you get the Lordvessel.
Most of the boss fights are either dull roadblocks or are just terrible experiences.
Combat feels limp when using anything other than heavy weaponry.
The game feels padded in parts, which on one hand adds to this withdrawn, entropic atmosphere but after going over the same area over and over the atmosphere is lost.
Various minor, nitpicky things I feel were improved in the other games. I vastly prefer the bells/cancel gun from "Bloodborne" and the embers from "Dark Souls III" to the way you use humanity in this game.

Sen?s Fortress is representative of what makes the design of Undead Parish and others areas so great.

 

[Rangaman]

Skyrim/Fallout 4
I love the sense of exploration in these games, as well the world and interesting characters. I think that the dialogue tree in the latter could have been a major improvement to the franchise. However...

I hate that the dialogue tree is limited to four samey options and that the Karma system is gone. I mean the The Witcher 3 had a functional dialogue tree with more than four options, why can't Fallout 4 have one of those? Also, as someone who plays games in third-person when there is the option (especially on the console version of Fallout 4), the third person should really have a lock-on mode. It's playable without lock-on, but it is annoying to have to spin around like a bellend trying to figure out where nice Mr (or Mrs.) Draugr is punching me from.

 

[Igor-Rowan]

Pok?mon Uranium
Pros: Love the presentation, the aesthetics and the sheer amount of fan-service in this game.

Cons: These designs are horrible, from somebody who has shown interest on even some of Pok?mon's most controversials designs, I really don't like these, the startes all have bodies of cats and the color scheme is badly distributed.
The grinding.

Hyper Light Drifter
Pros: This game is so rich of details and worldbuilding, and the combat, while takes some time to get used to, has a balance of melee and shooting.

Cons: I'm playing with keyboard and mouse because my control wasn't comfortable to play this one, and because of that I want to attack and quickly retreat, only to go in the opposite direction.

Chibi-Robo: Park Patrol
Pros: I just love the charm of everything, from the Toy Story like world to the resource management/reforestation.

Cons: It has a plot whose cutscenes trigger at seemingly random times, or fail to give a proper indication, because I spend too much time waiting for something to happen, to when it does I'm caught off-guard.

 

[FakeSympathy]

Salt and Sanctuary
Pros: This 2d sidescroll advanture game is s brain child between Dark Souls and metroidvania. The leveling, combat, gear upgrade and etc are similar to Dark Souls, but the exploration element is more like metroidvania where you'll meet endless dead ends, gaps, and forks in the road. The game looks beautiful! The dark aesthetic of the game really sets up the mood.

Cons: There are no minimaps so players will get lost. There are many times you need to take a leap of faith to access next area. Also, the game is almost as hard as Dark Souls series, so it is not for casual gamers.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Been playing a lot of MechCommander 2. Its a great game, but has problems. For one the campaign is too short. And while I think the salvage system is better than in 1(in the first one you salvaged all viable mechs automatically, in 2 you pay money to salvage what mechs you want), the damaged mech system is a little too easy. In MC1 you spent money to both repair mech parts and to replace destroyed weapons, and if you didn't have the standard weapons in stock you had to replace it with something. In MC2 your mechs are repaired automatically.

Its okay, but makes spamming Atlas and Zeus pretty easy. Oh! And that's another thing. You get an Atlas for free with a new mechwarrior in like the 4th mission! Makes almost everything afterwards too easy.