Hey Man, well this is Babylon

Last night I played 4th Edition Dungeons and Dragons with some folks here in town, getting my very first actual play experience with the new system from Wizards of the Coast. All the guys were spot-on fellas, and I had a lot of fun. Yes, I do look forward to playing again, too. Can ya believe it? Anyway, here are some of my thoughts on 4th Edition so far, and some of my mixed reactions to the game. Yes, there is a good bit of griping ahead, but like I said, I do hope to find out more as the system unfolds. Read more

Some miscellaneous gaming-related tidbits today, about Primal, Resident Evil 5, and yet another game company saying no to 4th Edition.

On Video Games

Last night on a whim I pulled Bethany’s copy of Primal off the shelf and gave it a spin through the PS3. My soon-to-follow reaction: why the hell have I not heard of this game before? The gameplay is pretty fantastic, aside from a handful of control lags here and there, and I really love games with well-implemented buddy mechanics and associated puzzles (especially those of the non-ridiculous type). My favorite part? Getting to hear one of the last performances by the extremely talented, late and lamented Andreas Katsulas, as the game protagonist’s gargoyle companion Skree. Rest in Peace, G’Kar.

I’ll likely post a more in-depth review of it after I give it some more quality play time.

Also, Capcom has leaked that the controls for the new Resident Evil 5 game may actually include side-stepping and shoot-while-moving features. This, of course, excites me. The lack of such features is why I still can’t stand the gameplay of Resident Evil 4, and I’m sure that including them in the new game will ensure that Bethany and I will be playing it co-op for many, many hours. Read more

Edit: Ugh. Yeah. As I said before, this game is obviously not for me. I’m not going to be touching it on here any further past this post. I’ve wasted enough time and front page space on this as it is. You would think I actually care about it, or something… *wink*

I am a failure as a reviewer. I just couldn’t finish my first character, but this hardly surprises me. In the last few years, I’ve reached a point where I can’t even make 3rd Ed. characters anymore. I’ll approach the game with a basic character concept, and by about halfway through the creation process I’ll realize one of two things: either I’ve been completely distracted by all the other character options and the idea has morphed entirely into a different min-maxed character altogether, or I just can’t make the character I want to play now (instead being forced to make the character who will be the character I want to play 10 or so levels from now). When a new 3rd Ed. game pops up - provided I even express a desire to play in it (a rare occasion) - I just ask the GM to make my character for me so I don’t have to worry about those problems. Hell, he can go ahead and plot me out a 20-level build plan while he’s at it, too. Read more

I’ve decided to take some deeper looks into this “4th Edition” thing. The next post or two will involve me looking through the book again, and giving some of my views, opinions, and reactions to its contents. I will also try and make a test character, and showcase how the system works. I’ll start with my reactions to the book’s inside art. The following are just cut-pasted from a running text document I’m keeping for recording the initial reactions, and I’m not going to bother editing them. Read more

…and I have a quick two-line review of it, for your reading pleasure:

If I wanted to play World of Warcraft, then I’d play World of Warcraft. This game is not for me.

- NPC