Raising the stakes.
Telltale has chosen to make a statement with its second episode of Season Two. Through some great character moments and some really tough choices, I reached points of happiness and distress during “A House Divided”. Whereas Episode 1 was great on its own, Episode 2 reminded me why Telltale’s storytelling ability is to be reckoned with.
Only YOU can prevent mediocrity.
The only thing worse than knowing about an import game you’ll never get to play is receiving the inferior sequel that you do get to play. Such is the case with The Firemen 2: Pete & Danny. Originally released in Japan in 1995 on the PlayStation, the game was recently re-released as an import download on PSN, courtesy of MonkeyPaw Games. In a nutshell, the game is more or less an overhead shoot ‘em up that focuses on fighting fires instead blowing up aliens. It’s a novel idea to be sure, but one that wasn’t executed nearly as well as it was in the previous game on the Super Famicom (aka: Super Nintendo).
Clementine definitely needs a hug.
Season Two of Telltale’s the Walking Dead pulls no punches with its first episode. Within minutes, I was reminded that the universe of The Walking Dead is no joke. I was happy that the narrative is strong: an extremely gripping tale filled with a lot of memorable moments and even more memorable characters. The gameplay is also much improved, though technically, the experience leaves something to be desired on Xbox 360.
Can't get enough of these fights.
Argue all you want about which RPG has the best characters and story, but neither of those things matter nearly as much as a game’s battle system. Since we typically spend upwards of forty hours in an RPG, the bulk of that time is spent fighting foes within the rule set the designers created, so it has to be compelling enough to keep pulling us along. Sometimes, a combat system is formulated with just the right amount of intricacy, a satisfying splash of spectacle, and exactly what was needed to get in our heads and keep us plugging away until we save the world on the brink of decimation. We’ve picked our favorite RPG battle systems and wanted to explain why we love them so dearly. Maybe you’ll gain an appreciation for a combat system you felt was a drag or you’ll decide to dig into a game you never tried before. Maybe you’ll think we’re daft and forgot the real greatest system around. We’re bound to have a big assortment of faves, so read through our picks and tell us what yours is too.
