I finished my post-apocalyptic tour of Wasteland 2.

We almost didn't talk of anything else in the last few days, so I suppose tha everyone by now has an idea about the game basics and that explaining them would be unnecessary.
I can offer you my opinion: this game was able to keep me glued to the screen like no other RPG since the second Fallout!
First things first: even if I mentioned Fallout, I think that this is definitely not, as many claim, "what Fallout 3 should have been": it is a true sequel to the 1988 masterpiece, with its own charm and dignity. Besides, it gives more value to the "social" aspect, being heavly based on your team of specialist rangers, their companions and the organization behind them, rather than the more individualist Fallout with its single, versatile playable character.
The interactions with both characters and environment are copious and all tied to a specific skill, so in the beginning you must pay great attention to the character creaton, maybe restarting one or two times to find a good balance that can sustain you trough the rest of the game. In any case, no team will ever be perfect: there are always alternative solutions, but your limits will often prevent you to find the optimal way to solve every problem, adding a bit of spice to what could have been a simple chain of skill checks.
The choice&consequence aspect of the game is really well-finished, crafting a living world with believable factions (I especially loved the Church of Salvation: it is so distrurbingly credible!): imo, the better part of the game (again, just like in Fallout 2) was building relations and solve -or cause- the problems of every minor community, each one influencing the others in a complex framework.
It feels like the developers knew that, and put more effort in this than in the main storyline wich -while well written and interesting- does not feel particularly special.
The tactical combat system is also really good, though imo better experienced in "Ranger" difficulty: the easier levels are too forgiving, while the "Supreme Jerk" setting is imo a bit too hard for those who want to retain their sanity! (Read: not me, even if I will seriosuly play trough it at a later date) ;)
Another critique many have moved against Wasteland 2 is that said combat is repetitive: well... yes, it is. But frankly, what RPG is not? I played tens and tens of them, and I think ALL were repetitve. Isn't doing the same thing over and over while improving your tactics and facing an always increasing level of menace a characteristic of the genere?
Also, do not expect Jagged Alliance 2: while it is indeed very good, demanding that from a kickstarted RPG (and I repeat, RPG, not TBS) would be excessive.

There is only one real downside, imo: the bugs. The first part in Arizona is fine, as I encountered only two or three minor bugs, but the second part in Los Angeles is still full of them. Again, most of them are minor, but so numeorus to quickly become VERY annoying. The only area in bad shape, where bugs can ruin your mission, is the Hollywood/Griffith Park zone: inXile should address those broken qusts as soon as possible.
That said, I recommend this game to every old-school RPG lover... AFTER the next patch.

Beatbuddy: Tale of the Guardians

The game I got from ALH. Thanks again!

Rather short (4.5h) but entertaining game. The gameplay is linear, you either swim around and solve simple puzzles (nothing to get stuck but sometimes doing everything within a time limit is a bit tricky) or navigate a submarine with intentionally awkward controls (it doesn't move smoothly but "with the beat"). Definitely not a masterpiece but I can recommend to anybody who wants to try something different.

Full list

Legend of Grimrock

Legend of Grimrock is a dungeon crawler like Might and Magic, Paper Sorcerer and Wizardry. Like those games, you create a party of adventurers and you explore the game's big prison, which consists of many floors. The character creation system doesn't offer a large variety with only 3 classes and 4 races to select from and the customization options (attributes, portraits and skills) being a bit meager. Still, this makes it significantly faster to build a character and get into the game, which isn't necessarily a bad idea, but I would just wish for some more options. The game contains combat, exploration and puzzles and it is great, though not without its problems. Presentation-wise, it's really great looking (though its samey floors could use some more variety) and very heavy on atmosphere, something which is achieved by both the complete lack of music (the only audio part of the game are the sounds generated by the environment, the enemies and your party) and the darkness that mostly permeates through the floors. So atmospheric in fact that, quite a few times, while standing still and pondering where to proceed, I was startled by an enemy attack that came from the side or from behind. Seriously, why do you need scripted jump scares when a game can deliver them randomly? XD

Unlike the aforementioned games, Legend of Grimrock is real-time. That means that it ends up playing noticeably differently to them and resembling more of a typical FPS, complete with WASD controls. Standing in one place will do you no good and can be a very quick way to death, thus you must master the game's (somewhat tricky controls) and learn when it's a good time to strife, move backwards or turn around. Unlike a FPS, you can't constantly attack (thanks to a weapon cooldown) and both you and your enemies move in a tile-based way and can't move diagonally. The above limitations can make the game very tense, especially when one wrong move can end up trapping you in a corner, unable to defend yourself from side attacks or falling into a pit while trying to dodge a projectile (or just miscalculating the number of steps needed. Grrrr....). The game also features timed puzzles, which thanks to the game's tricky controls and tile-based movement, can be annoying and might require persistence, but are utterly doable.

While I liked the game's combat, there are times I wish it was implemented a bit better. The first complaint is when you are fighting a single enemy with a lot of hp and going constantly in circles in an attempt to both damage it and avoid damage yourself. The second complaint is that, with the exception of spells, you can't use skills at will and instead you must hope that luck will activate them, while you are attacking an enemy. It would surely be useful to activate them whenever you wish, as it would help with my first complaint and make some of the battles shorter. Inventory management is also another area that needed a bit of improvement. Not so much for its limited slots, but mostly for the fact that even with my strongest characters, it was pretty easy to reach the encumbrance limit and I had to toss items every once in a while to lighten the load.

Overall, I am very satisfied with Legend of Grimrock (especially from it being a 1st game by such a small team) and I'm eager to see what they do with the sequel. Till then, I will just update my list and bide my time.

Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines. This is just one of many times I've finished it, and it won't be the last time either. Perhaps the best game I've ever played and certainly the best roleplaying game, it's a nearly flawless game and it has a ton of depth which means you'll be noticing new things...on your tenth playthrough. I really can't recommend this game enough, if you've never played it you're definitely missing out.

It's not flawless. But good game. I own it somewhere.. I must check out where. Last time I hated to be that purple jacket guy.

It does have its flaws, but to me the flaws are mostly engine related (weird physics bugs, etc) and of course some classic Troika bugs haha. The unofficial patches fix most of those issues though. the guy with the purple shirt is of the Toreador clan, I've tried playing with them and didn't like it much either, I seem to recall it being way too easy to lose Humanity with them.

Edit: For some interesting reading, read up on the history of Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines, it seems that Valve played a part in the mess that was Bloodlines at release.

Valve hasn't made a game in years and why? because they suck at it, how hard is it to make some half-life and portal, well best thing about those are credit songs.

I played in ps1 blood omen legacy of kain and they never got better, there was soul reaver and some mediocre kain third persons. so Kain forever but Bloodlines was pretty good. Even though some moustache dude tries to help you in the beginning. Which looks like danny trejo.

I honestly can't talk about their game quality because I've never played a Valve game (to my knowledge) but the Source Engine games I've played have all been kinda buggy in the exact same way(s), either all of those developers are bad at the exact same things or the Source Engine isn't the best ever haha.

How did you like Soul Reaver?

Man it is a good thing the mustached guy (Nines) helps you at the beginning, otherwise that would be the quickest game ever. It has a couple of voice actors from Futurama (one being one of the main characters in Bloodlines) if you like playing "guess the voice actor". Eh, Bloodlines isn't perfect, beyond the engine flaws some the hubs are poorly laid out among other flaws, but it's my favorite PC game haha.

Well it's a different game all together (than original blood omen) and that's I guess the name change. I played first also in ps1 second one in ps2 if I remember right.

Soul reaver was and is a good game if you like climb walls and impale people with pointy stuff. also that soul reaver was some actual sword what you use and gain power.

It also had pretty good music and voice acting and movies. Nowadays that walking/running is inaccurate and hard. Not bad games but Blood omen was really different, it almost seemed like an actual rpg well action rpg.

Interesting, I'll have to pick both them up sometime in the near future, thank you!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DOKzTHaPfM

Memoria

An extremely good point & click adventure game. Sad about some parts of the ending(s) :(

You have to play Chains of Satinav first in order to get the most out of it.
You mean Valve hasn't made any game in years. All the games they have made are good.

No, they games are overrated. Only good thing in portal was 2 puzzles and ending credits.

*their games

and only good half life was episode 2 which was fast and good and we didn't have to see that engine loading screens so much.

You're forgetting about the whole GLADOS aspect.

I guess you would find nothing good in any DoubleFine game, since the characters & interactions are the highlights of those as well.

I've seen good things but we were talking about valve games. and double fine games are adventures which have not surpassed Broken sword 1 and that broken age is still in the making and long lost