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[Trio of 9999]

None of us are PC gamers really, so those 'casts with Rez and Mahoney were our chances for exposure to those titles. Feel free to post more in the Podcast thread to let us know about the ones we missed that are worthy.

I'm currently into Metroid Fusion, Dissidia, Beatles Rockband, and Batman:AA.

[Jakanden]

I was actually a hardcore PC gamer until the current console generation. That is when I petty much stopped playing PC games as I now only have a laptop.

[DR EGG]

Okay, thank you very much. I'm not too far right now, but I'll let you know if I need anything explained. Quick question: Is this one of those games that gets really good as it progresses on? I'm not saying I don't like it, but I'm really looking forward to having some huge boss fights. Most of the fights I've had so far have been ridiculously easy, but I'm only in Bledavik at this point.

Xenogears was extremely enjoyable to me - except for three pivotal weaknesses in the gameplay. The battles get repetitive quick, and even though there's a combo system, I found myself using the same combos over and over again regardless of enemy or environment. My second gripe has already been mentioned - the last area is extremely tougher than the rest of the game. I had to grind levels a few times during the game, but nothing prepared me for the final area. Lastly, I really liked using certain characters, but you're not going to get through certain battles / areas unless you have 3 specific characters in your party. It's the same with humans or giant robots - I wouldn't have beaten the game if I had stuck with my original choices - I was pretty much forced to use the characters with the best stats and abilities. Example - only one guy has an ability that heals your entire party, so guess who's going to be in your party forever?

The story makes up for these weaknesses, but it made me never want to play through again.

[Reznor]

I totally blanked on mentioning Baulder's Gate series on PC for the podcast. x.x

Just finished up Crusader: No Regret, and now I'm starting on Sam and Max: Episode 1.

[Jakanden]

Just finished up Crusader: No Regret, and now I'm starting on Sam and Max: Episode 1.

That entire season is great, but episode 5 is my personal favorite.

[Voctor]

Example - only one guy has an ability that heals your entire party, so guess who's going to be in your party forever?

Citan can also heal the whole party, he just has to cast a prep spell first. In my experience this was enough for anything in the game so I never felt like I was forced to use the character you're talking about. I actually cycle my characters quite a bit while playing through the game to avoid the repetetiveness you mentioned. I guess I'm a bit of a Xenogears fanboy though, so I should probably just shut up and stop assuming that everythig about it is common knowledge.

[Jakanden]

The story makes up for these weaknesses, but it made me never want to play through again.

I couldn't get more than 20 hours into it the four times I have tried over the years as that game just doesn't click with me. While the story seemed cool the first time I tried it, this most recent time (about 2 years ago) it felt like an overwrought, overly-verbose, psuedo-intellectual & psuedo-philisophical peice of angtsy crap.

I know I am not the only one who feels that way though as many people over at the Talking Time forums (which I used to post on a ton) were pretty much in the same boat. There were quite a few of us who couldn't finish it and of those that did, most have no desire to go back and do it again. I finally gave up this last time and accepted that I just don't like this game.

[Ekkebus]

Please blame Rez for all oversights in the PC RPG centered podcast.

Xenogears would make a better book than an anything else. Way too much (uninteresting) story, and not enough actual gameplay. This game has the dubious honor of being the only game ever that made me fall asleep while playing. Its just so damn boring.

[DrJonAngus]

Well, I heard Xenogears was a really awesome game with really good story, so I decided to pick it up. I guess the game has a bit more mixed opinion than I thought, however. I think it has been good so far, but I haven't had enough time lately to play it, nor enough progression to pass judgment. I'm not blown away right now, but I have some feeling the game will get really good. Still, I'm not too hard to please and I've had times where I didn't like a game at first, but went back to it later and enjoyed the hell out of it (example: When I first played DQIV, I fell asleep out of boredom, but I gave it a second chance many months later and now it is one of my favorite RPGs).

One thing for me to note: I'm not very keen on fighting with the gears to be honest. I don't know if it is the fuel system or what, but I don't find it that fun.

[Trio of 9999]

Methinks Tim is referring to the cut scenes in Xenogears, not the gameplay.

When it comes to boredom, nothing beats Xenosaga.

[Voctor]

I think the reason it would seem to be so popular is that the people like me who like the game tend to REALLY like it, and be rather vocal about it. For me it's largely due to the uniqueness of the game. I've played a lot of RPGs, so when I find one that has a setting, story, and gameplay that is different than what I've seen before I tend to really enjoy it. I agree that the gear combat takes some getting used to. I wasn't a big fan of it until I realized that some character equipment like ether doublers and speed shoes will effect the gear that character is piloting, giving you 3 more equipment slots to play with. There's a lot of strategy to fighting in them that isn't available in the early portions of the game, but in my opinion they become a lot of fun later.

It's funny that you mentioned DQIV, because that's a game that did bore me into not playing it. I might have really enjoyed it if I owned it on the NES as a kid, but now it's just so much standard RPG fare that I just stopped careing. I was in the middle of a fetch quest involving collecting the pieces of a suit of legendary armor when I put it down.

[DrJonAngus]

I pretty much figure once I get a bit further into the game, I won't be able to stop playing. It just sucks I got assigned to read a bunch of Huckleberry Finn, so it will interfere with my video game playing a bit. The setting of the game kind of reminds of Trigun for some weird reason though and that happens to be one of the few animes I actually enjoy. On top of that, I like the music as well. The story, well I'm not far into it at all, but I see major stuff occurring. I think the characters are all right, but I foresee Fei definitely under going some big personal changes along the way. Also, I really dig the game play, but as DR EGG said, you end up using the same combos over and over again.

@Voctor
As for DQIV, I thought the part where you collect the armor was just important to the storyline, so I didn't really care. I'm talking after playing a little bit of the prologue I fell asleep though. I eventually gave it a second chance and bought it after my friend mentioned how good DQVIII was. Much to my delight, I couldn't put it down either. Games are different for everybody, so it is understandable why somebody puts down a game. When I got really far into Metal Gear Solid 2, I just stopped out of absolute boredom. I was close to beating it, but I just wanted to really play Snake Eater and didn't think I'd miss anything.

[Ekkebus]

You didn't.

[Butterscotch]

I'm currently playing the free flash game Xenotactic. It's a Tower Defense game, but I have a sneaking feeling that it may be impossible to beat without cheating. After developing some tricks, I managed to get to level 83. Anyone ever get higher without cheating? Has anyone played this game?

[DrJonAngus]

You didn't.

Excellent.