The Videogames Tab

I always love this guy's reviews. I don't always agree with him, but he's probably one of the few legitimate "critics" of video games instead of simply another reviewer.

According to UPlay, when I logged in yesterday while playing Watch Dogs, one of their games is South Park: Stick of Truth. I own SOT, yet there is no UPlay option. At least I don't think. Kinda strange. Just an observational thing, but if I'm wrong please tell me.

Criticism, the UK's number one export (Yahtzee was so critical he left the UK entirely, to form some kind of travelling singularity of sarcasm )

But yeah, he's still fun, and mixes valid crit with surreal snark in a great way.

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PS I think I just killed the last giant. Don't look at me, I'm a monster!

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Virtual Reality chatter on a movie site? Got endless amounts of it here. Reviews over here

Downloaded Dark Souls, but no time to play it tonight unfortunately. Might fire it up tomorrow night. Still thoroughly daunted though.

Sleezy, don't be. Sure you'll die...a lot...to the point of tossing your controller. But it's the kind of frustrating that doesn't make you stop playing, but rather the kind where you say to yourself "that was my fault, I need to do it differently." The Souls series is the greatest example of difficult gameplay done right. I just made a little movement in Dark Souls II, and it's the most satisfying feeling ever after getting repeatedly mauled by even the lowliest of baddies.

You're not wrong. But it kinda makes sense. After THQ, the original makers of the game, went under, Ubisoft came in and bought all of the assets. I assume that due to the timing of the acquisition, they didn't have the time to integrate UPlay perks into the game itself. Maybe they'll offer DLC at some point, but for the moment there are no online features for that game specifically.

Yahtzee was one of the first to nail the format - He saw what Angry Videogame Nerd was doing and distilled it down to pure cynicism. Been feeling that he's maybe getting a bit bored with the format recently - If you follow his 'Let's Drown Out ... ' series, there's an awful lot more to the guy.

I don't listen to him as religiously as I did a few years ago and that's mainly because there are a number of great options.


Totalbiscuit - The master (get well soon, John)
Jim Sterling - The crusader
Extra Credits - The thinker
Super Bunnyhop - The ... other thinker

My go-to for a while, though, has been Giant Bomb, aka Jeff Gerstmann and his old Gamespot editors.

I was subbed to REV3 Games for a while but after Adam Sessler died the place has no direction. They should rename it Tara & The Interns.

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"Critics are like eunuchs in a harem; they know how the Tatty 100 is done, they've seen it done every day, but they're unable to do it themselves." - Brendan Behan

I'd just got meself feeling all human, with some shiny new kit, when I ran into The Pursuer. I'm not sure I've stopped running yet

Got some lovely Old Knight armour drops at the Flame Towers thankfully . Might have a chance once I bump my vitality and lose these fat rolls . I'm just happily soul-farming the Forest now, watching the early mooks bounce off my new duds. (Altho of course I got cocky in a confined room and 3 of em owned me...). Survived my first serious invasion too - either thanks to my tools or him being a bit foolish. I'm just gonna call it masterful dual-swordery

For some reason the Falconer helm is still better than the third tier of kit at the hub, in both base stats and elemental. I'm cool with that tho as I like the look. Happy to take the hit on elemental for the OK armour too, as I think Mr Pursue is mainly about the smacks, with just some Cursing thrown in.



Seds when you said you've been to 25+ areas, did you mean bonfires? Or complete zones?? (Would love it if it was zones )

I'm currently stumped by the 3rd Forest bonfire being a dead end. Tried goading the tortoises into smacking the wooden gate, but no go. I know they can take out some of the masonry so I'm eyeing up some walls they might take a swing at, but generally a bit perplexed. Will keep faffing with it.

Once you've finally offed The Pursuer, there is some great armour near by, but it's not in plain sight...

Have you called for help yet with any of the big guys? I spent a couple of hours yesterday camped at Heide's Tower helping peeps with Dragon Rider and the Old Knight - Not a bad way to farm souls.

EDIT - I've been to maybe 10 zones with a couple of bonfires in each, and I'm nowhere near as far along as Seds.

Nah I'm pursuing the Seds approach of do-or-die. (This may change if I keep doing the dying tho )

Will prob mess around with online aspects more as time progresses. Helping out is def the most appealing, if I ever feel I've got a proper bead on a tricky boss. Seems all your usables get replenished if you win too, which is cool. The turf war stuff might be fun n'all, if I ever finish the main game

And cool on the secret armour, as I've just realised the OK kit degrades like butter - although I didn't see any warnings while I was using it. Shame there isn't a way to shore up the degradation side.

The helping hand I took was in the Old Wharf because, without spoilers, an npc you meet there only has their story advanced (apparently) if you summon her phantom before the boss fight. There's also another very useful npc in the Old Wharf.

Yeah that's kinda weird. Since culling the simple giant I've learned that I could have summoned an NPC (didn't realise the summon signs could be for NPC - assumed they were player-placed) - and if you win he'd give you replications of his kit. Seems very odd - to offer help for such an easy boss, and to reward you for calling extra help. Guess it's nice to have the option, but I kinda feel you should be docked souls or summat for doing it.

Yeah, I didn't realise about Pate until later .... then again, I did happen to ever-so-slightly kill him before I even got to the boss. I've also killed the gruff Scottish (is there any other kind?) bloke you meet because he had a really cool sword. Bad move, I think.

You can buy the gear from the npcs you kill (at least you can with Pate and Gruff Scots Bloke, I've decided to leave the rest in peace) from the old hag who moves from the tower to Majula.

The hag seemed to be hankering after that fella's sword, but it didn't seem to create any more dialogue for him. Maybe once the door's open?

And on accents, yeah, where's the obligatory Drunken Irish Rogue?

He's level 73 and running around Huntsman's Copse, scared.

Playing Murdered: Soul Suspect right now. Interesting game. You're a detective turned ghost solving your own murder in a detective type game. You have a great deal of movement, and crime solving is fairly tricky. You don't need to have all the clues, but rather must determine which ones are the most relevant to the crime. You can also assist other apparitions move on as sort of side quests. The story and atmosphere are both well crafted and intriguing, given the Salem, Massachusetts setting. I wish the current gen version was better optimized visually, as the animations are a bit choppy and a bit jagged. It's far from ugly, but it could have been worked on. Definitely liking it though

Aha! I love that big stone sword you snapped a pic on up there, Gol! I take it you ran into the Pursuer when you climbed a small ladder near Pate? I didn't get a chance to fight him there, as I ran like a scared little lass when I saw him appear. I couldn't get him to reappaer there, but he emerges after a fog door, and of course, you can't run from that encounter...

RE: CoOp - I definitely try to stop and help people after I clear a boss. Just after the boss goes down, I port back and spend my souls etc, turn back to human if needed, then hustle back to get my white sign down in front of the boss door. This is how my covenant collects medals, so i tend to run the fight 5-7 more times, or until I get locked out by soul memory level - whichever comes first!

I never buy gear, btw...I tend to wear what I cobble together, and I carry several kits in case i need a bunch of poison resist for a zone (this happens, keep that in mind).

Also: Yes, 25 or so full zones with multiple bonfires in each, and some have big King's Seal doors I haven't opened yet. I presume there are 35 or so, since I seem to be getting at least somewhat towards the end at this point. This game is big! I just wish it all fit together in the brilliant way DS1 did. Alas, it is still great!

Sleezy: The tutorial/starting area of DS1 is a tad bland and can be little frustrating until you get the hang of the move timing etc. Just keep trying and remember that once you get to Firelink shrine, there will be several ways to go, with a couple of them being pretty much instant death. Explore around Firelink a bit, and then try one of the paths that goes up - any paths that head down will be way too tough at first. I would avoid heading too deep into the cemetery at first, as well.

I do recall thinking just briefly that I might not pass the damn tutorial dungeon on my first play session...don't get discouraged, and practice that dodge roll. Starting with Bandit, Warrior, or Wanderer will make things a bit easier at first, too...

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Im quite fancying this game, It looks pretty damn sweet.

Im also hoping to get my hands on Watchdogs pretty soon that looks phenomenal. I havent really been playing games recently the last game I played was GTAV and that was a while back. Both the kids are now into the 360 so Ive moved down the list of people who can go in the computer

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~In the event of a Zombie Uprising, remember to sever the head or destroy the brain!~

I didn't get the optional Pursuer for some reason, although I've seen him there in a vid. Think you might have to do the dirty on the giant first?

He's spanked me a few times now, but I'm hopeful of getting revenge tonight . I can see that he's got a relatively predictable three-stroke, and reckon I might be able to get a ballista shot in before he smashes em. He's just pretty damn fast, and after the clanky Knights n Giants it's a proper change of gear!

Yeah I've been carrying spare armour with poison/elemental resist for the most part, but have had to stash for now due to weight limit. I got a poison ore in exchange for a smooth thing so tempted to give poison resist to my shield perhaps.

Woo, zones and zones and zones (Now, I must... resist.... researching around the edges of stuff while at work )

Hard to do!

You can carry gear and it doesn't affect your weight at all unless equipped. I haven't played since the weekend...must play soon!