As I said in my previous blog, almost all my best friends are away at the beach together and I wasn't really invited.
I'm not a beach person and I assumed that's why they didn't invite me but I was mildly irritated to see them all play Soul Caliber IV when I logged into my Xbox.
Oh well.
But at least I can play some vidya gaems.
--
First off, I bought Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012.
I at first, pirated it on the PC but my computer is shit and the game ran like shit.
Plus the FUCKING DOUBLE CLICKING annoyed me as I literally had to mash the left click to choose anything.
Also it was a pain dragging my cards to declare blockers.
So I figured I'd just buy the Xbox 360 version for $10.
It's a really good purchase for any Magic fan.
My only real complaints is deck customization, some of the controls, and some rule inconsistencies.
Deck customization is probably my lesser complaint though.
I'm a huge Magic player already and it's already easy to go through my own cards and build my own decks.
Problem, is compared to pretty much all my friends except one, I have better decks.
Not tooting my own horn here, but I've played for 10 years and my friends have only played after I taught them in the past year.
Some of them have gotten really good, others can hold their own, some just aren't good at all, but either way, I'm usually the best.
But in DotP 2012, most of the decks can play somewhat evenly and the game becomes more about strategy than who has the better cards.
And if I really want major deck customization, I use OCTGN.
So it's not really a complaint, although you can't really change the decks outside of their molds.
Currently my favorite decks are the Blue/Green (I've always been a ramp fan) and Chandra's red (pretty definitive quick win Red deck in the group).
Sorin's has been growing on me a bit since I play a Vampires deck IRL but his deck is much worse than mine.
But the second complaint is interface.
First off, it can be quite hard to read things unless your TV is massive.
I think the TV I've been playing on is 32", which I don't think is bad, but it can be hard to see life totals and stuff like that.
You can zoom in on all the cards though.
Moving around the field to check out all the cards is near impossible at first but once you get a hang of it it's not that bad.
Archenemy also really cramps things up.
Finally the rules are basically standard Magic, but some moves you can't really pull off.
I do things like play activated abilities and instants and what not often during my opponent's end step.
Now you pretty much have to do it in Main Phase 2.
The AI aren't clever enough to really make this significant though.
Still, if you're a Magic fan and you've been wanting something to play Magic solo or even to play online with some friends (of any skill level, too), buy this.
I'm seriously hoping they'll port this to handhelds too.
It'd make a mean local multiplayer game.
Hell, it's actually one of the only games I could seriously see being awesome on the WiiU (make the touchscreen controller your hand).
--
Side note on Archenemy in Magic, it's probably better to play local co-op.
I was playing with the AI and I had the opportunity to win if everyone attacked, but the AI don't get this.
They still only thing in regards to themselves.
They don't think about "Hey, if all my allies attack, we can win", they think of "If I attack alone, I can't win".
I've also seen them pull moves that basically make them lose the game for no reason.
This is max difficulty too so they should be cream of the crop AI.
--
But next game is Devil May Cry 3.
I've had it lying around for a good long time now but almost never touched it.
I beat the first two levels but didn't play it since then.
My friend got the Special Edition (I own the regular version) and saw him play to about the fifth level but never did so myself.
I decided to play it myself and I'm really enjoying it.
It's challenging but not really frustrating for me.
I realize the game isn't meant to be a cakewalk and if I die, I realize I need to change my method.
Plus my friend thinks he's kinda pro at the game although he's playing on I think Easy on the Special Edition.
I'm playing Normal currently on the regular version so I can gloat a little (I'll be rubbing it in his face though if I get a decent Hard run through).
I also have the original DMC to play but I'll wait until after 3.
--
I also bought both Alice: Madness Returns and Dragon Age 2.
I wanted to buy Alice for a while and Amazon had a deal where it was only $40 new (plus free shipping).
So I bought it.
Dragon Age 2 I wanted to play for a while since my friend said it was great and it'll give me some more BioWare goodness.
I know some haters do indeed enjoy hating it but so what, it looks good and I've heard much better things about it than Origins.
--
Oh yeah, so last night, I was gearing up to replay Mass Effect (the first one).
My brother was out with his friends and my mom was sleeping so I had the TV all to myself.
I go rooting through my brother's games (he owns the first one but he really never played it) and it's not there.
Da fuck?
I check my own games and it's not there either.
Ugh...
Mass Effect 2 is also on loan to my friend (along with my own Xbox) so I just kinda sighed.
Then I turned on DotP 2012 and played that until like 1:30 in the morning.
Gosh I love summer.
I'm not a beach person and I assumed that's why they didn't invite me but I was mildly irritated to see them all play Soul Caliber IV when I logged into my Xbox.
Oh well.
But at least I can play some vidya gaems.
--
First off, I bought Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012.
I at first, pirated it on the PC but my computer is shit and the game ran like shit.
Plus the FUCKING DOUBLE CLICKING annoyed me as I literally had to mash the left click to choose anything.
Also it was a pain dragging my cards to declare blockers.
So I figured I'd just buy the Xbox 360 version for $10.
It's a really good purchase for any Magic fan.
My only real complaints is deck customization, some of the controls, and some rule inconsistencies.
Deck customization is probably my lesser complaint though.
I'm a huge Magic player already and it's already easy to go through my own cards and build my own decks.
Problem, is compared to pretty much all my friends except one, I have better decks.
Not tooting my own horn here, but I've played for 10 years and my friends have only played after I taught them in the past year.
Some of them have gotten really good, others can hold their own, some just aren't good at all, but either way, I'm usually the best.
But in DotP 2012, most of the decks can play somewhat evenly and the game becomes more about strategy than who has the better cards.
And if I really want major deck customization, I use OCTGN.
So it's not really a complaint, although you can't really change the decks outside of their molds.
Currently my favorite decks are the Blue/Green (I've always been a ramp fan) and Chandra's red (pretty definitive quick win Red deck in the group).
Sorin's has been growing on me a bit since I play a Vampires deck IRL but his deck is much worse than mine.
But the second complaint is interface.
First off, it can be quite hard to read things unless your TV is massive.
I think the TV I've been playing on is 32", which I don't think is bad, but it can be hard to see life totals and stuff like that.
You can zoom in on all the cards though.
Moving around the field to check out all the cards is near impossible at first but once you get a hang of it it's not that bad.
Archenemy also really cramps things up.
Finally the rules are basically standard Magic, but some moves you can't really pull off.
I do things like play activated abilities and instants and what not often during my opponent's end step.
Now you pretty much have to do it in Main Phase 2.
The AI aren't clever enough to really make this significant though.
Still, if you're a Magic fan and you've been wanting something to play Magic solo or even to play online with some friends (of any skill level, too), buy this.
I'm seriously hoping they'll port this to handhelds too.
It'd make a mean local multiplayer game.
Hell, it's actually one of the only games I could seriously see being awesome on the WiiU (make the touchscreen controller your hand).
--
Side note on Archenemy in Magic, it's probably better to play local co-op.
I was playing with the AI and I had the opportunity to win if everyone attacked, but the AI don't get this.
They still only thing in regards to themselves.
They don't think about "Hey, if all my allies attack, we can win", they think of "If I attack alone, I can't win".
I've also seen them pull moves that basically make them lose the game for no reason.
This is max difficulty too so they should be cream of the crop AI.
--
But next game is Devil May Cry 3.
I've had it lying around for a good long time now but almost never touched it.
I beat the first two levels but didn't play it since then.
My friend got the Special Edition (I own the regular version) and saw him play to about the fifth level but never did so myself.
I decided to play it myself and I'm really enjoying it.
It's challenging but not really frustrating for me.
I realize the game isn't meant to be a cakewalk and if I die, I realize I need to change my method.
Plus my friend thinks he's kinda pro at the game although he's playing on I think Easy on the Special Edition.
I'm playing Normal currently on the regular version so I can gloat a little (I'll be rubbing it in his face though if I get a decent Hard run through).
I also have the original DMC to play but I'll wait until after 3.
--
I also bought both Alice: Madness Returns and Dragon Age 2.
I wanted to buy Alice for a while and Amazon had a deal where it was only $40 new (plus free shipping).
So I bought it.
Dragon Age 2 I wanted to play for a while since my friend said it was great and it'll give me some more BioWare goodness.
I know some haters do indeed enjoy hating it but so what, it looks good and I've heard much better things about it than Origins.
--
Oh yeah, so last night, I was gearing up to replay Mass Effect (the first one).
My brother was out with his friends and my mom was sleeping so I had the TV all to myself.
I go rooting through my brother's games (he owns the first one but he really never played it) and it's not there.
Da fuck?
I check my own games and it's not there either.
Ugh...
Mass Effect 2 is also on loan to my friend (along with my own Xbox) so I just kinda sighed.
Then I turned on DotP 2012 and played that until like 1:30 in the morning.
Gosh I love summer.
