Daily Archives: October 5, 2010

October 2010 is stuffed full of Halloween candy and new RPGs

Just imagine every pumpkin in the picture above represents a new RPG coming out this month. Well, at least that’s how it feels. I mean, this list is kind of staggering in terms of big name games and number of releases in general. I guess November and December are kind of a washout in that many holiday-loving people are asking for games they couldn’t afford to buy in October. I mean, truthfully, I pretty much want all of these games, but with a wedding in eleven days, a honeymoon trip to Florida, and the ongoing stress of moving from one apartment to the next, I doubt I’ll get more than one. And we all know what one that is, right? C’mon, Grinding Down readers. Pay attention. It’s pretty easy to guess what new game would make me, uh, fall out of my seat with excitement.

Moving on, here’s what comes out this very month…

Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light

What it is: It’s not very much a Final Fantasy game at all actually, but rather something more old-school like Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies. Complaints about a limited item capacity and unfriendly battle system only enhance my curiosity more. Plus, if Jeremy Parish praises it so openly and lovingly, I think I need to see why.
Why I want it: Hats determine job classes. That’s good enough for me.
When does it come out: TODAY, PEOPLE!

Arcania: Gothic IV

What it is: An action RPG.
Why I want it: Can’t really say. Never played a Gothic game before, but it sure does look pretty; kind of like Fable, but with a much deeper magic/fighting system. Heard it’s a big open world, too. Love those big worlds.
When does it come out: October 12, 2010

Fallout: New Vegas

What it is: A post-apocalyptic game set years after the events in Fallout 3 and on the other side of the country.
Why I want it: I absolutely love Fallout 3, and this is basically more of that, plus new twists. Companions get better, there’s more guns and mods, and again, player choice is very important. Definitely my purchase of the month.
When does it come out: October 19, 2010 (too bad I won’t be able to get it then though)

Fable III

What it is: Another entry in Peter Molyneux’s favorite action RPG series to hype to Heaven and Hell.
Why I want it: I did enjoy a lot of Fable II, and there’s some great changes happening in this one to keep me hooked. Love the idea of menus disappearing as they were clunky and hard to navigate through before.
When does it come out: October 26, 2010

Those are mostly the big guns of the show. Still, there’s even more RPG goodness throughout the month. Borderlands Game of the Year comes out on October 12 and includes all four DLC packs. Lufia: Curse of the Sinistrals hits the Nintendo DS on the same day, but I’ve yet to ever play a Lufia game. And I believe there’s an XBLA title dropping soon called Costume Quest, which is about kids on Halloween battling other kids in their costumes. Or something like that. Might be a fun one.

Am I missing any from this list? Which one(s) are you getting? What is the secret to having infinite time and money? Please, I really need to know…

Thanks for listening, chiiiiildren!

My third playthrough of Fallout 3 is progressing nicely if a bit slowly. Just hit Level 11 last night thanks to the Here and Now perk, which is basically a hunk of free XP to boost your character up a whole level. Keeping myself neutral-aligned in terms of karma hasn’t been too hard yet as I’ve stuck with the main storyline missions. I’ve only had to balance myself out twice now, once by stealing some items after a small boost of good karma.

The second time I murdered Three Dog with a sledgehammer as he sat snacking on some YumYum Deviled Eggs.

Why? Well, I totally forgot that doing his quest to restore radio power in the D.C. region gains you good karma. Grrr. I wasn’t doing it to be a goody-goody though; I was doing it to find out information about my runaway father, and it was the only way to dig deeper into Three Dog. He forced this good karma into my soul, and that’s just not cool. So when I returned, I was a bit annoyed. And so I sat through his blathering, found out my dad went to Rivet City next, and then it was a-swinging time. I am really enjoying these melee weapons a lot more now that my sneak skill is strong enough to get me close to my victims and give ’em a critical whack from behind. Yup, that sounds totally dirty and badass, and that’s the way Jacob likes it.

On my previous playthroughs, I left Three Dog as is. Yes, interestingly, even during my evil run, I let him do his thing. I guess I did plenty enough evil stuff then that the good karma boost barely made a dent on Samantha. It’ll be odd as I continue exploring the Capital Wasteland without hearing his social commentary on everything happening here and there, as well as my personal decisions on key quests. Now there’s no reason to buy a radio for my Megaton pad…