[TeamSwish]

Let's say that I don't have any of the EA games...

Any must haves? Any to avoid? Should i assume the NBA game is crap and not worth $4?

[chriscolbert]

Let's say that I don't have any of the EA games...

Any must haves? Any to avoid? Should i assume the NBA game is crap and not worth $4?

The NBA game is fantastic and a steal at that price assuming you enjoy basketball to even a small degree.

[hostyl1]

The NBA game is fantastic and a steal at that price assuming you enjoy basketball to even a small degree.

Seconded. I dont normally play the 'create a character' modes in sports games, but I really enjoy Live's "The One" mode. I think it controls well, looks good, and is just 'arcade-y' enough to more fun than sim, while keeping a challenge. I'm having more fun playing it than Madden as as someone who *vastly* prefers the NFL to the NBA, that's saying something.

[runthejewels]

I'm starting to get tempted on the basketball game too. I love watching and playing basketball but I hate playing video game basketball nowadays.

[Aldogg]

Live is worth it at 4 bucks. Unlike 2k you don't need money to upgrade your guy and the career mode is pretty fun and the online team play if you have a full team can be fun as well.

[runthejewels]

I got a better question, would Live be worth it at 30 bucks if it wasn't on sale? Saying a game is worth 4 bucks isn't a recommendation to me.

It's also $12 for me since I don't have Plus anymore.

[FriskyTanuki]

Let's say that I don't have any of the EA games...

Any must haves? Any to avoid? Should i assume the NBA game is crap and not worth $4?

NBA Live 18 is better than 2K, so it's worth $4.49.

[chriscolbert]

I got a better question, would Live be worth it at 30 bucks if it wasn't on sale? Saying a game is worth 4 bucks isn't a recommendation to me.

It's also $12 for me since I don't have Plus anymore.

I don't think any sports game is worth $30 after the all-star break, but having both games since launch I would say Live is worth it more than 2K if you want to play career mode or a season. 2K has classic teams and mods for NCAA teams that are pretty sweet that gives it an edge in those areas only.

[darthbster31]

Yea, that's true, but you could also play Triple Triad and refine a ton of stuff without drawing. And you can typically use high magic or spirit (I forget which) to draw, so you're always drawing 9 instead of 1. So it ends up significantly faster.

And it's really only the first disc that had a good story. I'm in the camp that thinks it makes more sense if

Spoiler

Squall actually died at the end of disc 1.

Then it actually kinda makes sense.

I agree with your take. I loved triple triad and made it a point to hunt down and synthesize materials to get level 3 tier weapons on the first disc. Junction/draw system was just mindless grind to me. I really liked how it started, but as the discs went on, it just got worse. It got too convulated for it's own good by the end...that whole orphanage nonsense made me want to roll my eyes through the back of my head. That Squall theory makes a lot more sense, and really lends a great tragic angle to the story. It's not the worst FF I've played, I'd probably rank it in the middle tier.

[TeamSwish]

Ok. NBA is a buy. Any of the FPS? I've never played any of the Battlefield's before. Dragon Age? Dare I say it, Battlefront II?

[FriskyTanuki]

The EA sale doesn't end until next Tuesday, so there's no need to rush to get those games.

[jms209]

Hoping for a good sale tomorrow. My 20% coupon expires the 28th.

[Zenax]

I tend to do everything too - I'm on chap 3, and am like level 50, already got the trophy for 40 quests [probably at 50], and have barely touched the story.

Interesting note about that is there is way more content than the trophies even represent. There are a lot of post-game dungeons with various gimmicks with quests tied to them that are easy to miss if you just follow your progress along with trophies. I did every quest in the game and I got the last trophy related to them long before I even got into the weird/cool stuff.

 

Oh also the thing I always mention when someone is getting into FF15 is don't forget your other attacks with each weapon. The game does a poor (basically non-existent) job of explaining it but each weapon has different actions based on what direction you are holding the analog stick in when you attack. A lot of the attacks are worthless but I think the most practical (and my personal favorite to play) is with daggers. The forward input lets you skip the lengthy finisher on your combo and essentially infinitely loop the main part, backwards lets you move back while still attacking (and when you get far enough away you can do a special drop kick warp strike), and by far the most useful is the left/right action that lets you quickly strafe around your lock-on target and gives hyper armor during the animation. You also get a special attack by releasing the circle button and tapping it again as Noctis flips his hand backwards right when the weapon is disappearing. Most weapons just let you skip to the last part of their normal combo but with Greatswords you do a massive whirlwind attack. Once you're good at it you can do silly stuff like one shotting every soldier that comes out of those imperial drop ships before they even attack. 

 

Anyway, game had problems but I still really liked it as well despite that stuff. If you get around to any of the DLC Comrades is really fun if you don't mind a Monster Hunter/PSO style gameplay loop. There is no wait mode but they redesigned every moveset of every weapon and gave a wider breadth of customization options while adding in more traditional magic. I spent almost as much time with Comrades as I did the base game and it's getting a free content update next month so I imagine that time might actually pass the main story. 

[Ibacai]

Ok. NBA is a buy. Any of the FPS? I've never played any of the Battlefield's before. Dragon Age? Dare I say it, Battlefront II?

I’ll throw out my two cents here and say both DA:I and BF2 are definitely worth the price. Feel free to pm me if you’d like more in-depth reviews.

[sp0rklez]

I'm still semi tempted to go digital with DA:I and get the GOTY version. I have the game on disc but I don't own any of the DLC. I'm also not sure when I'd get around to playing it so I'm sorta undecided. Luckily as Frisky pointed out, that EA sale lasts until next week. Should be enough time to make up my mind.

I'm still kicking myself for not just buying the DLC bundle that was on sale by itself a couple months back for $6.

[twztid13]

I didn't care for FF15. The first half of the game was definitely better, and the side quests had a mild monster hunter feeling to them. But the combat is too weird and easy (just hold Circle basically) and the story and gameplay get a lot worse in the second half I thought.

Well darn. I was hoping it got better, because it has not grabbed my undying attention yet, though I wasnt too far in (chapter 4 maybe? So 1/3 of the way through, chapter wise, but I played the carnivals a lot, too). I like the world, but that's about it.

As you mentioned, the combat is too easy & it has the unlimited anytime dodge move (L1 on layout B, I believe), so it's basically been impossible to lose. I came across a Coerl over 20 levels higher...yawn. I came across a huge mech in the plains that was like 50+ levels higher, & the only reason I didn't heat it was because I couldn't damage it. I spent about 3 hours (didn't realize it had been that long) just healing & building up my technique levels when I realized he couldn't finish me off. It could kill a couple of my guys, but I had so many healing items & the regroup technique, that I just eventually gave up when i saw hiw little damage I had done to it's limbs, which I tore up the entire time.

In the past, the strategic turn based gameplay was the redeeming quality that kept me returning when I got bored with any of the FF games, which was a lot because I always tried for 100% of gear, boss fights, etc, so lots of grinding. Speaking of grinding...

Spoiler

Either FF 1 or 3 conditioned me for that when I was a wee lad. I remember GRINDING until I found the adamantite. A tiny square room that served no other purpose was home to a rare monster, of which you had a 1 in 255 chance of fighting. The battles were random, so I walked in a circle for days, going on weeks & weeks hoping to fight this rare enemy (& beat it. I think they ran or were really strong, I can't recall that part). I ran from enemies that weren't rare for a few days. I tried fighting the enemies that weren't rare for a few days, & everything in between (was there anything in between?) until I finally found a rare pink fluff (or something like that). Once you finally fought & beat that rare enemy, you only had a 1 in 255 chance of that material dropping, so the joy of finding one & beating it was quickly crushed. Once you got that material, you could only use it to fashion 1 weapon or 1 armor. You had to get it again if you wanted all your gear decked out.

[twztid13]

40 hours to get a chocobo would burn you out, though. I probably took 15 hours to do it, and THAT was slow. You can get to the chocobos super fast if you want to [a couple hours, probably], and once you have chocobos general exploration is far more fun. Like, you spent 40 hours walking and sprinting. Yuck! Chocobo is so much faster, than once you have them, you can do all the rest of the exploration in half the time.

I tend to do everything too - I'm on chap 3, and am like level 50, already got the trophy for 40 quests [probably at 50], and have barely touched the story.

The story makes more sense that xiii in my opinion. I'm okay with the music - and i love that you can buy albums from the other, earlier games, and switch them on.

I do that with every FF, though is the thing. GTA, FF are games where I just have to look at every book on the shelf of every home, see what the environment reacts to, etc. I just really go through & appreciate every ounce of effort the artists & devs put into those franchises. Im anal about every franchise I love in that way (I have to see how each weapon interacts with each environment type in Halo games & other FPS's I play. I have to see if water splashes uo when shooting into puddles, lakes, etc.

Also, about 10 hours was spent in the carnivals, so i got every upgrade item that people say were hard to find without looking online. My issue is more that I do this with every FF, but this one just makes me geel like I'm forcing myself to play it, which means I can't be having fun with it. This is a new feeling for me in regards to Final Fantasy. It sucks, because it has all these DLC chapters, also, which I would have loved FFX to have.

It's there for me to enjoy with open arms, but I feel preoccupied when i play it...like I just can't care about it. I wish the gameplay were closer to traditional FF games, cuz I thibk that's what causing me to dissociate it with the FF games I have loved so much in the past. It's not too far from XIII gameplay (in a way), but for whatever reason, I'll be playing other games hoping that one day I can come back to it and all of these negative feelings will be gone, which will allow me to enjoy it.

[Althax]

Is there a square Enix sale that I didn’t notice going on? Where did all this final fantasy talk come from?

[affa]

Also, about 10 hours was spent in the carnivals, so i got every upgrade item that people say were hard to find without looking online. My issue is more that I do this with every FF, but this one just makes me geel like I'm forcing myself to play it, which means I can't be having fun with it. This is a new feeling for me in regards to Final Fantasy. It sucks, because it has all these DLC chapters, also, which I would have loved FFX to have.

 

i'm confused... I have chocobos and i haven't gotten to the carnivals yet [still].  You get chocobos as soon as you enter chap 3 if you want. right near the first outpost... prompto even says he wants to go there first.

[Not Eric]

The EA sale doesn't end until next Tuesday, so there's no need to rush to get those games.

And here I was ready to start looking for things to put in the cart now that it's past midnight.

[RandomHabit]

Found a great deal on a base VR system. Going to pick it up this week. What are some of the best games to pick up? And which of those require the move controller

[AoA]

i'm confused... I have chocobos and i haven't gotten to the carnivals yet [still].  You get chocobos as soon as you enter chap 3 if you want. right near the first outpost... prompto even says he wants to go there first.

The Carnivals are time limited optional areas, maybe accessible from the Main Menu underl Special or something but whatever prize you win can be carried over to the main game.  There's a Moogle/Chocobo one and an Assassin's Creed one.

[BeaGolden]

Found a great deal on a base VR system. Going to pick it up this week. What are some of the best games to pick up? And which of those require the move controller

You may want to check out the VR game deals thread for some better info.  there is a lot of great discussions about games along with pricing.  This week (ends this morning) has some really great deals and its 5x Sony rewards with the VR PS+ page on the store.

[WNYX585AM]

Just to clarify, we can now spend towards the $15 back and it will count even on the deals expiring today?  I'm on the fence on a lot of these weekly deals and the spend $100 will push me over the edge I guess.

[Soma_Cruz]

I remember when it was spend $50 get $10 back, we had a whole month, and it could be stacked(spend $100 get $20, spend $150 get $30, etc). Those were the days.

[CrepeNuts]

I just want a decent sale today. The past couple weeks have been pretty lackluster.

[thedragon]

I remember when it was spend $50 get $10 back, we had a whole month, and it could be stacked(spend $100 get $20, spend $150 get $30, etc). Those were the days.

Now, to take the ferry cost a nickel, and in those days, nickels had pictures of bumblebees on 'em. Give me five bees for a quarter, you'd say.

[SpraykwoN]

I just want a decent sale today. The past couple weeks have been pretty lackluster.

Yea i have a 20% off coupon I need to use.  Have shit in my cart already, just hoping there is more lol

[themidgardknight]

Just to clarify, we can now spend towards the $15 back and it will count even on the deals expiring today? I'm on the fence on a lot of these weekly deals and the spend $100 will push me over the edge I guess.

I looked at the fine print of when the $100 promo started at 12:01am today, where the other deals ended about 8 hours later, so it seemed like it probably all does count! I'm hoping so because I just bought $100 in new VR games haha.

[Thespyder314]

Looks like a Critics Choice Sale incoming