GamesTM Issue 114

[Guts]

Dark souls a 9, They need a new scoring method this should be a hardcore 9, and a five for everybody else, as 95% of the people that play this will never see the end. its hardly a near perfect game now is it, I picked the first one and was anialated after about an hours a few times and never went back. most people don't have this sort of time to waste on progress these days, for the single, childless hardcore few I can see how rewarding this game could be (my 14 year old self would of loved this) but for the rest its a pointless exercise in self torture.

It's not the game's fault if the player hasn't got the time to develop his skills to play it. I don't have the time or patience to become a professional (or even good) Street Fighter 3 player, but that doesn't mean it isn't a great fighting game.

[Lebowski]

It's not the game's fault if the player hasn't got the time to develop his skills to play it. I don't have the time or patience to become a professional (or even good) Street Fighter 3 player, but that doesn't mean it isn't a great fighting game.

But even with a basic understanding of street fighter enjoyment can be gained and your average player can play online and with friends and will never get to the skill of what your talking about which is a professional gamer.

dark souls/demon souls falls more into the category of being a game designed with no compromises and squarely aimed at one set of people. I would quite like to sample the world and the story of these games but am barred from doing so via a steep learning curve and a lack of time and skill on my part, there is no middle ground with this game hence my comments on why this shouldn't be a nine.

[rmoxon]

But even with a basic understanding of street fighter enjoyment can be gained and your average player can play online and with friends and will never get to the skill of what your talking about which is a professional gamer.

dark souls/demon souls falls more into the category of being a game designed with no compromises and squarely aimed at one set of people. I would quite like to sample the world and the story of these games but am barred from doing so via a steep learning curve and a lack of time and skill on my part, there is no middle ground with this game hence my comments on why this shouldn't be a nine.

Demons Souls wasnt really that hard though, the only hard bit is the Bosses and once you know what to do to them they can actualy killed very easily, with a few exceptions.

The difficultty in Demons Souls was very overblown upon its release, I have played much harder games.

I'm actualy glad that they are saying the new game is alot harder.

[fuse]

Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike Online Edition - 360/PS3 - 9

Are they serious?
Did they even play it? If they had they'd know it was so buggy it was pretty much unplayable. I think I've managed to get into about 10 games total in ranked since it released, and half of them were unplayable due to unbelieveable lag. You can't even search for sessions while playing arcade - SF4 has that feature already!!! I've been unable to upload a replay, I've had game breaking bugs in lobbies that have required me to leave the session.

These problems were so bad they've had to force a patch out already!

Yea, that deserves a 9 - all day.

Third Strike is probably my favourite game of all time, but yep, I would be very interested to read the justification for this given that an 'online component review' will presumably be talking about the online performance only. I know the PS3 version is running a little smoother, but on 360 I've not been able to upload a single thing to Youtube or the match server, and it takes an absolute age to get ranked matches, even after patching.

[Jebus]

Dark souls a 9, They need a new scoring method this should be a hardcore 9, and a five for everybody else, as 95% of the people that play this will never see the end. its hardly a near perfect game now is it, I picked the first one and was anialated after about an hours a few times and never went back.

You're assuming that GamesTM's 10/10 means perfect, which I'd bet it doesn't.

Imho though, the game is incredible, and design wise - top notch. It's not From Software's fault that people are more interested in playing the next big thing than getting into a huge RPG which requires patience.

[Brad]

Yeah the ninja gaidens are way harder than demons souls. Once you understand that you are supposed to die a lot then you atop worrying about it and just learn how to kill things rather than being told how to - which is what most modern games do.

[rmoxon]

Yeah, I think these days alot of people dont realise that dying in games is actualy part of the experience, Ive had people watch me play games and when I die once they point it out to me like I'm rubbish or somthing. It annoys me actualy, its like these days people think youre suppose to be able to get through games without ever dying and if you actualy do die then the game is too hard.

I'm supprised Demon's souls was actualy as popular as it was really becuase lets face it, most people are pussies when it comes to gaming now.

As for the actual difficulty of the game, I was just reading the games TM review for dark souls and somthing they said hit the nail on the head really, Its not about trying to beat the A.I. fair and square as much as its about tricking the A.I. into a corner, this is especially true of the boss fights but works on all the other enemies too, like those rolling ones in the 4th world of Demons Souls, they can be easily lead off a cliff if you know how.

[Daragon]

Actually, the NG games aren't tougher than Dark Souls/Demon Souls - one of the very reasons the Sigma games were created was to pander to the markets of gamers which found their originals too exhausting and even then the originals featured Ninja Dog mode which made the games considerably easier.

From Software really do need to take note. As with Lebowski, I'm another who would love to give these titles a go, especially Demon's Souls given I absolutely love dark fantasy and its unique sounding online mode, but I'm held back by their sheer difficulty.

Video games should be pleasurable experiences, not lessons in self harm and those two titles are not for the faint of heart or those with very small patience thresholds (like me). When your producer tries to promote a game stating that "It will make you cry out and want to hurl your controller at the screen" it's time to look for a new producer! Who the **** wants to play a video game that turns you into that kind of person?

[Flabio]

It's not the difficulty that put me off it per se, it's more that I never felt like I was making much progress. You get better *so* much more slowly than something like Oblivion, and it's simply not what I enjoy in my videogames. I can tell it's not a *rubbish* game, I just don't like it.

I know plenty of people love it, and that's cool, but it's just not for me.

[noobish hat]

What was said about Aliens: Infestation? I was looking forward to that.

[rmoxon]

It's not the difficulty that put me off it per se, it's more that I never felt like I was making much progress. You get better *so* much more slowly than something like Oblivion, and it's simply not what I enjoy in my videogames. I can tell it's not a *rubbish* game, I just don't like it.

I know plenty of people love it, and that's cool, but it's just not for me.

Thats weird, one of the things I love about Demons Souls is that even if you are dying alot it still always feels like youre making progress. Its also one of the most rewarding gaming experiences ever, its so satisfying whenever you do actualy complete a level.

[egparadigm]

The discussion makes me think about Halo: CE. I used to deliberately reload certain sections of the game because the simple scenario (such as the bridge section in Assault on the Control Room) were entertaining in and of themselves.

[Jebus]

Video games should be pleasurable experiences, not lessons in self harm and those two titles are not for the faint of heart or those with very small patience thresholds (like me). When your producer tries to promote a game stating that "It will make you cry out and want to hurl your controller at the screen" it's time to look for a new producer! Who the **** wants to play a video game that turns you into that kind of person?

Both Demon's Souls and Dark Souls are a pleasurable experience. The satisfaction when you finally take down something that has been killing you, there's little in gaming as satisfying. Equally, the sense of progression in the Souls games is amazing. Each time you take on a section you'll get a little bit further, and see a little bit more - it's very rewarding.

Appros-po of nothing, but I do think gamers are becoming pussies, just wanting an easy experience. The problem imho is patience. Gamers today want everything right away. They get annoyed if they have to unlock something, they don't want to have to work for anything.

Can't imagine some of today's gamers playing POD on C64 back in the day and not snapping the keyboard then throwing faeces at the wall. The Souls games are about patience, and learning the mechanics. If you run through, you'll die a million times. If you have patience, they reward you.

[prinnysquad]

Whos ****? Their own? The **** of a loved one? Cat otts? I think we need to be clear about this, before I start.

[Jebus]

The **** from their own anus Prinny. I'm appalled you needed to ask.