Giant Bomb's Game of the Year Thread: Skyrim? Skyrim? Skyrim? Skyrim? Skylanders!

Curufinwe said:
I had a quick look at the guys' Achievements for Batman Arkham City to see how much they played of it, and was shocked to discover that Ryan finished the story without ever unlocking the grapnel boost. Brad didn't either, but he barely played the game at all.

I really can't imagine playing thru the whole game without being able to grapnel boost around the city.
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I'm making my way through the story now that things have slowed down and the game is growing on me a bit--mainly in the instances where it reminds me why Arkham Asylum was so great--but I still don't think it justifies its open world very well.

As for the grapnel, you're probably looking at my PC achievements--I got that thing almost immediately on the Xbox when I started playing it around the time it came out. The way that thing works is one of my big complaints with the open-world traversal, actually. You can't see what you're grappling to mid-flight because you can't control the camera while you're holding down the A button to maintain your glide, but your flight direction changes based on the surface you grapple to, so you can't smoothly maintain your direction as you soar across the city. It just feels clumsy--and after playing stuff like Infamous and Just Cause 2 and Saints Row 3, if anyone should be able to get around an open world as nimbly as you can in those games, it's the goddamn Batman.
 
Surprised to see a site with long time veteran game journalist that are so completely casual & don't really take the time to look deeply into most of the game releases. Jeff on Dark Souls particularly.
 
Curufinwe said:
I had a quick look at the guys' Achievements for Batman Arkham City to see how much they played of it, and was shocked to discover that Ryan finished the story without ever unlocking the grapnel boost. Brad didn't either, but he barely played the game at all.

I really can't imagine playing thru the whole game without being able to grapnel boost around the city.
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I didn't either. Skipped almost all the side stuff and haven't done the last catwoman bit yet either. So I guess I agree with Brad about the open world, I think AA was better.

See You Next Wednesday said:
Surprised to see a site with long time veteran game journalist that are so completely casual & don't really take the time to look deeply into most of the game releases. Jeff on Dark Souls particularly.
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Come on dude. "Completely casual"?? Unless you have nothing to do with your life I'm pretty sure they have all looked "deeply" into more games than you this year. And they have a staff of more than one so they don't have to play every game to get multiple perspectives.
 
See You Next Wednesday said:
Surprised to see a site with long time veteran game journalist that are so completely casual & don't really take the time to look deeply into most of the game releases. Jeff on Dark Souls particularly.
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They talked about it for three podcasts straight. They did a Rorie quicklook of it that was like, 90 minutes long. Vinny played all of it. They had a live show where Ryan played it for 2 hours. What more do you want?
 
DaBuddaDa said:
They talked about it for three podcasts straight. They did a Rorie quicklook of it that was like, 90 minutes long. Vinny played all of it. They had a live show where Ryan played it for 2 hours. What more do you want?
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He wants it to be on their list. Clearly.

I'll never understand why people get upset over other people's goty lists.
 
SafeinSound said:
He wants it to be on their list. Clearly.

I'll never understand why people get upset over other people's goty lists.
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People feel like it's an implicit commentary on their worth as a human being when others disagree with them? That's my running theory until somebody presents a more convincing one.
 
rudds said:
I'm making my way through the story now that things have slowed down and the game is growing on me a bit--mainly in the instances where it reminds me why Arkham Asylum was so great--but I still don't think it justifies its open world very well.

As for the grapnel, you're probably looking at my PC achievements--I got that thing almost immediately on the Xbox when I started playing it around the time it came out. The way that thing works is one of my big complaints with the open-world traversal, actually. You can't see what you're grappling to mid-flight because you can't control the camera while you're holding down the A button to maintain your glide, but your flight direction changes based on the surface you grapple to, so you can't smoothly maintain your direction as you soar across the city. It just feels clumsy--and after playing stuff like Infamous and Just Cause 2 and Saints Row 3, if anyone should be able to get around an open world as nimbly as you can in those games, it's the goddamn Batman.
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You know what makes it way better? When you learn to do the dive boost glidey-thingy.

I forget the real name, but basically you dive hard toward the ground for a bit and then pull up hard after a couple seconds. You get damn good height and speed, and you can essentially glide around the city without grappling anything. That's where the achievement (or is it riddler challenge) for not touching the ground for X amount of time without the grapnel boost comes from.

There's a story mission later on (which I will not spoil) that teaches you this technique; you won't finish it without it, and it guides you very well.
 
rudds said:
People feel like it's an implicit commentary on their worth as a human being when others disagree with them? That's my running theory until somebody presents a more convincing one.
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I think it's more their feeling of powerlessness, as you have a public soapbox and can (and do) influence opinion and purchases of games and they do not. They want other people to like their pet game as much as they do and they're frustrated when others who have more clout disagree with them.
 
DaBuddaDa said:
I think it's more their feeling of powerlessness, as you have a public soapbox and can (and do) influence opinion and purchases of games and they do not. They want other people to like their pet game as much as they do and they're frustrated when others who have more clout disagree with them.
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Winner.
 
What mostly fixed the grapnel's issues for me was that I just too my left thumb off of the left stick to move the right stick and adjust the camera to see what I grappling to. Glide just should not have been the A button.

Also, commenting on Alex's top ten video, I wish he would have been a bit more serious with it. :/ It seems he and I completely agree on Portal 2 though, so that's cool.
 
Htown said:
Just to follow up, here's a short example video of how the gliding works with boost. This is how I make my way across the city 90% of the time.

http://youtu.be/VRZCHOXBLUY
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Oh man that looks so much better. I actually asked a dev at the last preview demo I went to whether you could gain extra lift from the dive and was told no, so I never bothered to try it.
 
DaBuddaDa said:
I think it's more their feeling of powerlessness, as you have a public soapbox and can (and do) influence opinion and purchases of games and they do not. They want other people to like their pet game as much as they do and they're frustrated when others who have more clout disagree with them.
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These are my basically my sentiments as well, but there's a little more to it, the first thing being how amplified the reaction is when the game people love isn't incredibly successful. In fact, the less financially successful a game is or has the potential to be, the more fervent people are in their frenzy over it because they so want to see it do well, usually so they can have another one.

Also, it's important to note that not every gamer is a 32 year-old with 2.4 kids, a wife and a job that keep them busy. Many gamers are far younger who just don't have the disposable income to buy a lot of stuff, so when they do make a decision to buy two or three games a year, they SOOOO want to feel justified that they made the best choice. They don't want to feel like there are a dozen other games they should've bought instead. This, too, is way crazier when we're talking about hundreds of dollars for a console.

Lastly, some people are just fucking crazy and/or have nothing in their life that matters. I don't say this to be some snob, as I have some really crazy priorities myself. Just... I mean, look at all those kids who were going batshit over Christmas who didn't get a car or an iPad. For some people, making sure that game X is the only thing in the world that gets praised is just that important to them.

But DaBuddaDa's point is still the most common.
 
rudds said:
I'm making my way through the story now that things have slowed down and the game is growing on me a bit--mainly in the instances where it reminds me why Arkham Asylum was so great--but I still don't think it justifies its open world very well.

As for the grapnel, you're probably looking at my PC achievements--I got that thing almost immediately on the Xbox when I started playing it around the time it came out. The way that thing works is one of my big complaints with the open-world traversal, actually. You can't see what you're grappling to mid-flight because you can't control the camera while you're holding down the A button to maintain your glide, but your flight direction changes based on the surface you grapple to, so you can't smoothly maintain your direction as you soar across the city. It just feels clumsy--and after playing stuff like Infamous and Just Cause 2 and Saints Row 3, if anyone should be able to get around an open world as nimbly as you can in those games, it's the goddamn Batman.
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I was totally wrong about the grapnel boost coming with the Achievement. You get the grapnel boost after doing the first four AR challenges (which are easy), but to get the Achievement you need to do four more and they are pretty damn hard.

Your complaint about not being able to use the right stick while grapnel boosting certainly makes sense, but I just can't remember having trouble with it in the game... and I ended up getting all 440 Riddler challenges so I spent a lot of time flying around with it doing tricky stuff. The grapnel was awesome in Just Cause 2, but I actually think I like it better in BAC because it has longer reach.

Hope you enjoy the rest of the game. Just be careful of spoilers until you finish it.

StuBurns said:
Really? Maybe I'm not giving them the attention I should.
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Gamespot did an entire spoilercast about it which I enjoyed even though I never played the game.

http://www.gamespot.com/events/the-hotspot/story.html?sid=6347036
 
rudds said:
Oh man that looks so much better. I actually asked a dev at the last preview demo I went to whether you could gain extra lift from the dive and was told no, so I never bothered to try it.
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That's pretty funny, considering there's a fairly major story mission later on that is ENTIRELY DEPENDENT on that mechanic. You'll know it when you see it.
 
If you haven't used Batman's glide mechanic in conjunction with the grapnel boost, then you pretty much aren't playing the game properly and are unlikely to appreciate it.

Also I feel like Giantbomb have totally undersold Uncharted 3 re: use of Nola North, original music, and visuals.
 
I think they've oversold Uncharted 3. On the podcasts all the discussion seems to be that it's as good as last time, but less exciting because it's so similar. The general reception, at least on GAF is that it's weaker.
 
Kind of old, but I went and purchased Bastion off of Steam last night while listening to yesterday's deliberations. I knew the game got really good praise and I had nearly clicked on the buy button a couple of times before, but after listening to the podcast and seeing how much love the game was getting I was sold.

That's one of the things I love about Giant Bomb. Every once and a while they expose me to a game that I would have never even have thought about picking up. Saints Row The Third, for example, wasn't even on my radar at all, but it's now on my must by list.
 
I really don't think they've oversold Uncharted 3. It's definitely familiar and not as amazing as 2, but it's still one of the best games of the year.

It's a fantastic game from top to bottom.
 
Crap, I have a feeling this year is going to be the third year in a row where, by the end of their GotY podcast, it will come down to a debate between two different games, and they'll go with the one I wouldn't have chosen.

2009 - Uncharted 2 won over Arkham Asylum (I would have gone with Arkham)

2010 - Mass Effect 2 won over Red Dead Redemption (Again, would have gone with RDR)

2011 - *At this point* looks like it'll come down to Saints Row 3 versus Skyrim

Granted, the difference this year is that I actually like both games. I just like Skyrim a little more. Don't get me wrong, for all I know Mafia II to take their GotY (for the lolz?) but given how they've all glowed about SR3 up to this point, it certainly wouldn't surprise me if it took the top spot. I just want one year where I actually agree with their GotY choice, RDR losing last year really bummed me out given how much I despised ME2 at the time (I've warmed up to it a little more since then, but RDR is still one of my favorite games of this gen).
 
Oh my goodness, I was dying laughing during Jeff's stuff! Klep-tok was great as well.
There's no way they top today's videos. NO WAY.

Have to say, I was rather surprised by Alex's list. I've been like way off on pretty much everyone, haha.
Vinny done my heart proud fighting for Witcher 2. So glad to see it win SOMETHING on the site.


Time for your daily helping of GIFS!



DAY THREE

jeff_ladiesdkb0h.gif


jeff_eightnlzhn.gif


jeff_brushzuye9.gif
 
Htown said:
That's pretty funny, considering there's a fairly major story mission later on that is ENTIRELY DEPENDENT on that mechanic. You'll know it when you see it.
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Well, technically I don't think the dev was wrong. You don't gain altitude by diving and gliding, you just maintain it/very slowly lose it.
 
Uncharted 3 had really good visuals, but so did Uncharted 2...

What?

Dead Space 2 has better visuals than UC3. I think I've heard it all now.
 
Was very happy to see Jeff giving Deus Ex the props it deserves :) thought it was going to be completely swept under the rug. I just hope it comes up in their deliberations at some point for something. Just to acknowledge it.
 
sixghost said:
Are you sure? That video really looked like he wasn't losing altitude at all.
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I'm no positive, but I just rewatched the video and I'd say he is definitely higher at the 1 second mark than he is at the 43 second mark. Again, it's a very slow decline, and maybe it's possible to just maintain your beginning altitude if you're really good. That is just my feeling from my own playtime with the game and that video though.

Dany M said:
Gliding then Diving and Gliding does increase your altitude if you do it correctly.
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Are you saying that if a person were to hop off a building that was 20 feet above the ground, and then glide and dive and glide as well as they possibly could, they could climb to the 50 foot mark? Jump from a two story building and end up on a gargoyle on the clock tower?
 
Dany M said:
Gliding then Diving and Gliding does increase your altitude if you do it correctly.
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Yeah, like someone mentioned earlier, one of the later missions has you doing exactly that to pass it. You can't beat it without it. You can glide the entire map using that technique and basically never grappling.
 
I REALLY hope his FMV is just his giant disembodied head.

Also, Jeff loving MK makes me want to import it. I think I just might!
 
Jintor said:
I REALLY hope his FMV is just his giant disembodied head.

Also, Jeff loving MK makes me want to import it. I think I just might!
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I think they've been consistent with the picture that was on the holiday sale page, so Vinny will probably be dressed up as Elvis.

edit:
In hindsight, that probably explains why Patrick was wearing a green screen suit from the neck down.
 
sixghost said:
I think they've been consistent with the picture that was on the holiday sale page, so Vinny will probably be dressed up as Elvis.

edit:
In hindsight, that probably explains why Patrick was wearing a green screen suit from the neck down.
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Yeah, they're all wearing the stuff from the sale page, including Patrick in the green.

I can't tell if Vinny is really Elvis or just some thug or something though.
 
Saints Row 3 is going to win the GOTY. I think it's a great game but making your game referential and stupid (even in the best possible way) shouldn't be the reason to put it on pedestal. It's a mechanically sound game but at it's core, it ain't that different from previous saints row games.

On the other hand, if that kind of thing resonates with them in a way that they can all agree on, they should totally give it game of the year. I'm just a dude on the Internet.
 
snoopeasystreet said:
Saints Row 3 is going to win the GOTY. I think it's a great game but making your game referential and stupid (even in the best possible way) shouldn't be the reason to put it on pedestal. It's a mechanically sound game but at it's core, it ain't that different from previous saints row games.

On the other hand, if that kind of thing resonates with them in a way that they can all agree on, they should totally give it game of the year. I'm just a dude on the Internet.
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What game is all that different from its previous games' core? Uncharted? Gears? Skyrim? Battlefield? Modern Warfare? Batman?
 
Duffyside said:
What game is all that different from its previous games' core? Uncharted? Gears? Skyrim? Battlefield? Modern Warfare? Batman?
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I'd argue portal 2. That does far more with the portal gun than the previous game. The problem with that argument is that the Portal gun is pretty abstract when it comes to world interaction. In those other games, core world interactions comes from putting bullets (or swords) into things. It's difficult to vary it up in anything other than a superficial way.
 
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