Blog Comments

Would be interesting if the final boss of a game grew in strength as you beat more optional bosses. Thematically, I kinda hate when a final boss isn't the strongest, but it would be lame if you needed exceptional mastery of the game (through grinding or practice) in order to finish it. That said, I do find many of the bonus bosses to be rather gimmicky or simply requiring being of the highest levels, which I think is a symptom of uncreative AI development.

For the Eraqus comment, I think that one would be easily explained.
In the first place, that was only added to the Final Mix version of the game (Same with Xemnas to KH1) but secondly, in all cases thus far of an enemy that was an "Absent Silhouette" or similar enemy (Absent Silhouettes being fights against people who are actually already [I]dead[/I], similar to Terra's armor that you have pictured there from KH2FM) they seemed to essentially be bound to a specific spot.

If you'll pay attention, where you fight Armor of the Master is the same place where Eraqus "died". Same with the fight against Terra's armor in KH2FM being in the Keyblade Graveyard and so on. Of course, the AS fights for the Org members don't follow this rule since all of those should have been in Castle Oblivion. Seeing as you don't actually [I]go[/I] there in KH2 I'll excuse them for just tossin' them in random spots.

Haha Record Keeper continues to plague the Blue Gartrs!

They're finally shutting down the PS2 and 360 versions of FFXI? Whoa.

Just played FF5 for the first time to almost the end, really enjoyed it and loved the job system. FFRK is an amazing game and restored some hope in mobile games for me, but it might be mainly the nostalgia mixed with Final Fantasy that does it. Also wow @Bryth saying FFXI, I am shocked but that is my pick too!

My mom went above and beyond for my birthday parties. We would always go somewhere or do something super fun but everyone knew what was coming that night. 12 player LAN Halo party all night. She got a modem for us and everything (this is back in the day guys like 2001, this shit was not common) and ran Ethernet cables from the top story to the basement so that all 3 levels of the house had wires near the TVs. We had some of the most fun ever doing that. It was like xbox live before xbox live. Amazing memories. Doing that as a 10/11/12 year old individual was an experience that was so unique to gaming. It completely changed what I wanted out of video games though, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

Good memories. Xbox Live is amazing. Online gaming is incredible, but nothing beats those LAN parties.

I still remember the 16 man LAN parties we used to have with the first Halo. So sad that the new one doesn't allow that.

Good post! Online multiplayer opens several doors to meeting new people and having a lot of fun, but nothing compares to the raw awesomeness that is gathering with your friends in a common spot and play together (be it cooperatively or competitively). Games like Mario Kart, Mario Party, Rocket League and Towerfall:Ascension are great reminders of this.

Agree 100%! I abandoned Destiny shortly before The Dark Below, as the content didn't seem to be worth it to justify the price. Fast forward to TTK and I'm surprised by how much the game has changed, the amount of stuff there is to do and... well, how wonderfully it still plays.

Completionism is good when it's done organically. It's bad when it simply serves as content padding or to incentivize players to play the game in an inherently unsatisfying way. When the player feels excited for that next piece of content and any associated reward with it, that's good. When it just feels like going down a checklist, that's bad (even though it may still be effective in maintaining player interest in the short-term).

I'd separate completionism and achievements as two somewhat overlapping design issues. Achievements may promote completionism through external rewards, but they also rob the player of the imagination/freedom to explore a game on their own terms. My own personal opinion is that many more games from the pre-achievement era fall into that "fun completionism" category while those in the post-achievement era tend to fall into the "checklist" category.

If you have the motivation to do it I would definitely complete a game. Most of the time I just play games until I feel I'm done with them or I've done everything I consider fun. A game has to be very good to get me to do shit like collect all weapons and do all the things.

But also since I'm not a child and can actually afford to play more than 1 game a month I definitely don't delve as deep. No way am I beating FF7 15 times just to see the different dialogue flavours characters had at certain parts of the game or getting to level 9999 and grinding item worlds in Disgaea anymore, but you definitely go as far as the game keeps you interested. Doing things for the sake of doing things is a young man's game, or someone who generally doesn't have a wide collection/variety. Too old for this shit.

Completionism is what keeps me going in all games. From playing all Final Fantasy titles and hitting 100% or damn near close ie: XI and XIV it feels great. I experienced everything and got the most out of my buck. I could grind the smallest mob that drops a .5% item for hours on end just to know that I 'did it'. :D

I feel Horizon: Zero Dawn should be in the Sony Pros

Originally Posted by Kaslo

I love how everyone bashes Destiny, but then we get 2 people giving it game of the year here. Just think if Destiny delivered on the "cinematic storytelling" it would be making people's head's explode.

I still have my XI state-of-mind towards the game. I'm addicted to it, but I hate how buggy the gameplay is and clueless the devs come off as. I would love to see the sales numbers for the DLC to see how much of a drop-off it is compared to units sold at launch.

Echoing Sonomaa about FFXIV. Since I got it in 2013 though, I would probably pick Bayonetta 2 with runners up being Bravely Default and Shadow of Mordor. I just started playing Dragon Age: Inquisition, it seems really good so far though and might supplant the other games.

I love how everyone bashes Destiny, but then we get 2 people giving it game of the year here. Just think if Destiny delivered on the "cinematic storytelling" it would be making people's head's explode.

No one voted for FFVII. This website sucks.

To be fair, Smash 4 has only had a little over a month to dethrone a game that has been the pinnacle of Smash for thirteen years.

Which is sad, because I think WiiU is hella more fun.

Smashfags will never let go of Melee.