Malik
(7/2/12)
With my HDMI issues
behind me and no further thought ever needed on Mass Effect 3, I
think I was able to enjoy my first weekend in about a month. At
least I was able to mostly enjoy it.
I put Saints Row The
Third behind me, once again, after beating the game while taking
every choice I didn't take the first time around. It was interesting
to see how some of the choices played out. I mean most of them are
just events that only give something minor like a respect or cash
boost. The only true choice comes down to if you beat the game with
one mission choice or the other. I honestly never tried to ignore
saving Shandi and Viola for revenge on Killbane the first time
around. I feel like I really missed out on something since getting
Killbane opens one pretty epic final mission (instead of a really
silly final mission).
With Saints Row now
behind me, unless I want to be price gouged on DLC or finish some of
the activities (snatch and trafficking missions never were something
I consider fun), I am now playing the latest Penny Arcade Adventures
title. As an old school RPG fan, this is amazing to behold. I mean
for $5 (instead of something closer to $15 that the first two cost)
you get a nice SNES looking RPG with a pretty fun job system and
room for some really cool strategy.
I am on the fifth or
sixth chapter (equal to the fifth or sixth dungeon) now and am
loving the flexibility and fun of the job system that really does
offer some tricky choices. Since jobs will level up and gain new
skills even when not equipped (each character can carry up to two
equipment based jobs and then their base job), you can see some cool
abilities and penalties become balanced or broken over time. For
example, the hobo job eventually offers an immunity to being a hobo
(the same general status effect as poison in most old RPGs), or some
jobs offer a loss of control but will also offer stat bonuses for
just being equipped making them natural secondary selections to buff
you primary job choice.
If I had to find
anything to complain about with this game it's only that the
difficulty can go from too low to too high in a span of a single
battle. As soon as I entered the current chapter, the battles became
something that just didn't mesh with the challenges I faced earlier.
I went from occasionally healing to constantly cranking out the
revive spells, up to ten times in a single battle...a single
non-boss battle. Still, it could just be that I need to rearrange my
job selections and find a new strategy. Since the game doesn't allow
grinding (no enemies ever respawn), I'm hoping it's just a need for
a strategy shift.
Even with that one minor
issue, I'm thinking Penny Arcade Adventures 3 is definitely the best
value I've seen from a $5 MSRP game, possibly ever in my life.
Malik |