The Escapist Staff's Five Faves of 2009: Susan

[veloper]

I can't help wondering if Tropico 3 was even considered by the staff. Neither Russ nor Susan have mentioned this game yet.
As the third Tropico the game may not be revolutionary, but it's still a great game on it's own. In a gaming drought like this year, I find this a bit odd. DOes nobody know about this game?

Definitely one of the games that I wanted to play this year, but never quite got a chance to. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it, if you'd care to share them.

Oh, and for the record, duchaked, we on The Escapist staff are huge nerds, and you should play both Dragon Age and Mass Effect. (You'll want to play it before you play ME2, truuuuuust me.)

Well I did a review of T3 here and Skarin did an even better review with screenies, but nobody noticed. Both are pieces are still here though.
I already bought DA:O out of WRPG desperation and I'm actually enjoying it (mostly), and I intend to get ME some day.

 

[Ophiuchus]

Major kudos for including The Path. I somehow suspect it won't be making many such lists, which is a shame.

 

[Aedes]

OMG, Susan we love you!!!! //fanboyism

*Aham*

I must say that The Path is the only one I gave a weird look at. I played it a couple times and it was just weird. I find it hard to see as a game actually. Just too weird...

 

[SantoUno]

DA: O hits number 1 again. Fuck I really need to get that game.

 

[Lemon Of Life]

Nice, like how you didn't only choose mainstream titles, and included a couple that were off the beaten track.

 

[BehattedWanderer]

Awesome list, Susan. Haven't gotten around to Uncharted 2 yet, but everything else is solid. Schweet.

Spoiler: Why did you remind me of this?!

Nice list.

*sigh* And now it's in my head again. P-) not like that's a bad thing though--some days I wake up with it as my first thought upon waking. Such a lovely song.

 

[Rascarin]

... what is that thing you yell, right at the end? I can't work it out.

You mean the "happy holidays"?

Yes, that'd be it.

I have poor hearing.

I am intrigued by this "Emerald City Confidential" though, might give that one a go.

 

[Angron]

never got into Uncharted 2, it was good and I tried to like it, but it was hard to find something to keep me going

but wow Dragon Age again? not sure if that makes the Escapist staff huge nerds or the game is something I really really need to try...maybe both =P
I never got Mass Effect (might get the sequel) so this could be my first BioWare game since KOTOR

same with uncharte, i dunno what it was, it was good but i just found it hard to play and enjoy...

also, they are probably nerds but dragon age is an epic game, easily one of the best ever and ive not long started it

 

[Mr.Squishy]

Awesome favorites list, I can see myself itching to try these games already now, epecially Dragon Age. Heh, I must say, most of the staff members on the escapist have very pleasant voices, i mean, take yahtzee, russ, susan, graham and paul, john funk and jordan deam and the people from TWBB (there will be brawl). I just kind of noticed *shrugs*

 

[Jamface]

I didnt know any of those 'part from DA: Origins, and Uncharted 2. I'm gonna check out the path looks awesome. Can someone elaborate what it is?

 

[Slycne]

I didnt know any of those 'part from DA: Origins, and Uncharted 2. I'm gonna check out the path looks awesome. Can someone elaborate what it is?

If you are looking to learn more, we reviewed the game earlier in the year. Here is the link. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/reviews/5928-Review-The-Path]

 

[Jamface]

I didnt know any of those 'part from DA: Origins, and Uncharted 2. I'm gonna check out the path looks awesome. Can someone elaborate what it is?

If you are looking to learn more, we reviewed the game earlier in the year. Here is the link. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/reviews/5928-Review-The-Path]

Cheers, i'll check it out.

 

[LTK_70]

Tell me, did anyone here buy The Path after trying the demo? Because I did - try it, not buy it - and I didn't get it. Any of it. Not even not getting it in a good way, one that sparks your curiosity and imagination like Zeno Clash did, which easily ranks as the best game ever for me personally, if I may say so. I read about the game, installed the demo, and walked the path to Grandmother's house. The End. Then I remembered, the point was to go off of the path. So I walked away from the path. And walked. And walked. And came back to the same path. Looked around in a few more different directions, but there was nothing there. Did I just not stumble upon whatever was lurking in that forest, or was there really nothing?

Another thing: Thank you for making me remember why I was excited about Dragon Age in the first place, and now not having to regret buying it on a whim when the reasons for that were not readily available in my head. Now I just have to wait until a time comes when I can squander a part of my life away at that game without much consequence.

 

[Susan Arendt]

Tell me, did anyone here buy The Path after trying the demo? Because I did - try it, not buy it - and I didn't get it. Any of it. Not even not getting it in a good way, one that sparks your curiosity and imagination like Zeno Clash did, which easily ranks as the best game ever for me personally, if I may say so. I read about the game, installed the demo, and walked the path to Grandmother's house. The End. Then I remembered, the point was to go off of the path. So I walked away from the path. And walked. And walked. And came back to the same path. Looked around in a few more different directions, but there was nothing there. Did I just not stumble upon whatever was lurking in that forest, or was there really nothing?

Another thing: Thank you for making me remember why I was excited about Dragon Age in the first place, and now not having to regret buying it on a whim when the reasons for that were not readily available in my head. Now I just have to wait until a time comes when I can squander a part of my life away at that game without much consequence.

Sounds like you just never found the bits of the Path that you needed to find. Which, admittedly, is a fairly easy thing to do. Read the review, see if any of that piques your interest and if so, take another crack at it. Don't go in expecting a good "game," though, because it isn't. But it is a very intriguing experience. Or can be.

 

[Avatar Roku]

WOW! Glad to see props for The Path, even though I also didn't have much fun with it... although I didn't have a memorable experience with it either. Maybe I should give it a fair shot and finish more than the first walk.

And HEY, when you're playing cool games like "Emerald City Confidential", which is in quotes because I've never heard of it before, you need to have a place on the site where you can mention what cool games you are playing at the moment so we can all check them out as well. That would also give us a little heads up as to what reviews to expect and maybe what you'll talk about in your columns. I'm sure this is all buried on the staff twitter accounts, which I'll start following now, but whenever I look at the watercooler all I see is little back and forth stuff like '@JohnFunk OMG No Way! So what did he say?', and '@SusanArendt It's in the safe next to the chicken dinners.' (not real examples)

Tell me, did anyone here buy The Path after trying the demo? Because I did - try it, not buy it - and I didn't get it. Any of it. Not even not getting it in a good way, one that sparks your curiosity and imagination like Zeno Clash did, which easily ranks as the best game ever for me personally, if I may say so. I read about the game, installed the demo, and walked the path to Grandmother's house. The End. Then I remembered, the point was to go off of the path. So I walked away from the path. And walked. And walked. And came back to the same path. Looked around in a few more different directions, but there was nothing there. Did I just not stumble upon whatever was lurking in that forest, or was there really nothing?

Another thing: Thank you for making me remember why I was excited about Dragon Age in the first place, and now not having to regret buying it on a whim when the reasons for that were not readily available in my head. Now I just have to wait until a time comes when I can squander a part of my life away at that game without much consequence.

To both of you: people tend not to like The Path at first. It seems weird and boring, but by the time you get to the third girl (or so), it just begins to affect you. Impossible to describe and I'm told it's different for each person. For me, it was this intense feeling of dread and fatalism. I knew what was going to happen, and I knew it would be awful, but I couldn't not do it any more than I could actually want to do it. Very hard to describe, but suffice it to say that I definitely agree with Susan on this one.

 

[LTK_70]

No, I was talking about the demo. All I found in the demo was a telephone that said something I can't remember. Was there a point in the demo?

 

[Fortesque]

I should REALLY get around to buying Dragon Age: Origins... Stupid moving and cant afford to even eat, but still have great internet and cable tv

 

[Casual Shinji]

I have to say, I've kind of cooled down on Uncharted 2. It was a fantastic game, but a tinsy bit shallow in terms of gameplay and also characters.

Then again, maybe I cooled down because I finished the game four times back to back.

 

[300lb. Samoan]

To both of you: people tend not to like The Path at first. It seems weird and boring, but by the time you get to the third girl (or so), it just begins to affect you. Impossible to describe and I'm told it's different for each person. For me, it was this intense feeling of dread and fatalism. I knew what was going to happen, and I knew it would be awful, but I couldn't not do it any more than I could actually want to do it. Very hard to describe, but suffice it to say that I definitely agree with Susan on this one.

Very interesting to see a game/interactive experience that people respond to like that. I'm almost positive I have the complete game, from Valve's Indie Sale. I'm going to have to give it an honest effort.

Maybe this is inconsequential, but... I'm a 24 year old male. Will that affect what I take away from the game?

 

[Avatar Roku]

No, I was talking about the demo. All I found in the demo was a telephone that said something I can't remember. Was there a point in the demo?

The demo was apparently actually a section that wasn't in the full game, I can't really say what was in it.

To both of you: people tend not to like The Path at first. It seems weird and boring, but by the time you get to the third girl (or so), it just begins to affect you. Impossible to describe and I'm told it's different for each person. For me, it was this intense feeling of dread and fatalism. I knew what was going to happen, and I knew it would be awful, but I couldn't not do it any more than I could actually want to do it. Very hard to describe, but suffice it to say that I definitely agree with Susan on this one.

Very interesting to see a game/interactive experience that people respond to like that. I'm almost positive I have the complete game, from Valve's Indie Sale. I'm going to have to give it an honest effort.

Maybe this is inconsequential, but... I'm a 24 year old male. Will that affect what I take away from the game?

It's not for everyone, I'll say that. As for the effect, well, I've already told you the effect it has on a 17 year old male, but like I said, it's different per person. One thing that most people agree on, however: Tale of Tales wasn't joking when they said it was a horror game, it's just incredibly subtle about it.