Gamespot has a lot of demos. Are they a safe site?

Any opinions on Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love for the PS2/Wii?

I didn't mind managing S.Links in Persona 3, which I've seen Sakura Wars' relationship mechanics compared to, but P3 also had a ton of great combat backing it up. Is combat very frequent in Sakura Wars?

How does NHL 2K compared to NHL?

Safe as it gets

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0RA9ALOJFs. Always interesting to listen to!

Is it worth spending money on lost planet 2?

Yes, its cheap now. Its a good game to play with friends.

Lost Planet 2 is an incredibly fun game, and it was worth the sixty I paid for it on release. There is so much stuff to unlock, and the plot/voice actors are just ace. Definitely buy it.

How's BioShock... or rather how much content is in BioShock (the first one)? It's $20 at my local Best Buy and I want to buy the PS3 version. I've still never played a first-person shooter, before, but as far as settings go, I think this would be the perfect one. I love the setting and I've played the demo, which I thought was fun and smooth (performance was top-notch, graphics and art style are nice). It also seems as though it may have a decent story. However, I'm concerned about how long it may last me. Yes, it's only $20, but I've always been picky about game length. I'd prefer to buy games on a dollar per hour rule. For every dollar paid, I would like to get at least an hour of gameplay. Can BioShock offer at least 20 hours of pure gameplay (not trophy-getting and repeating, but a single playthrough)? Is it all pretty much linear or is there a bit of exploration involved? I'd love to explore Rapture. Again, I absolutely love the setting and it would be a shame to waste such a setting by making a linear corridor shooter without exploration, in my opinion. Are there any "settlements" (really safe areas with a few sane people that don't want me dead) in the game? What about stores? Any RPG mechanics of any kind? My two largest fears are that it will be too short and/or repetitive.

It's been a while but I think I averaged around 17 hours in my three times through the game (twice on Easy, one on Hard). It depends on difficulty, how many Little Sisters you deal with and if you hunt down every audio log (which offer a lot of neat info, definitely worth getting 'em for more than silly achievements).

Rapture being an underwater city, there aren't a ton of giant areas. Quite a few medium size rooms, hallways, etc. Still, environments are unique and vary quite a bit. A number of events throughout the game prevent you from revisiting certain areas, but there isn't much of a reason to backtrack anyway. There are vending machines throughout Rapture where ammo, components and health packs can be bought, and there are usually plenty of places catch your breath without fear of enemies (such as the Bathysphere dock or the beginning of just about any level).

You gain ADAM from dealing with Little Sisters which can be spent on Plasmids and other upgrades, which is about the extent of RPG-like mechanics.

It's been a while, but 20 hours seems fairly accurate. I've gotten some varied results (some say 30-40 hours if you go out of your way to search every corner and find everything), and it could easily be speedrun'ed in under 10. If you've never played an FPS, though, I would say inexperience (which always slows a playthrough) would give you over 20 hours. Note that Bioshock, whatever its exact length, is longer than the average FPS. It is pretty linear, like most FPS games, but just enough freedom that exploration is beneficial; there are plenty of rooms you don't HAVE to enter, corners you could miss, secret panels with loot behind them, and so on. There are no settlements, there are vending-machine-style shops. As for RPG mechanics, you have some choices in character-building as far as what plasmid upgrades you choose to get. As I recall, you don't find enough ADAM to get all of the upgrades in one playthrough, but you can get most of them. I would be unsurprised to learn that with some advanced knowledge you can get them all. The game does suffer some from repetition, despite the attack combinations available to you. You usually stick to some favorite gun/plasmid combos and stay with that, and between Big Daddies and splicers, there is very little variation in enemies. Part of that may have been exacerbated for me by the game being very easy (which may well be a pro for a newcomer to the genre), but I've read that the PS3 version includes a harder mode that encourages more plasmid variety/creativity.

Is Dungeon Siege any good?

Just found it on steam, not sure I want to purchase it without hearing some opinions first.

Not really. Diablo style roleplaying game with fairly awful/nonexistant story and characters. The expansion, Legends of Aranna, was a little better, and Dungeon Siege 2 was a lot of fun. Can't say I'd recommend the original though.

It's okay, but I never played through it more than once. I'm currently playing Dungeon Siege: Throne of Agony for the PSP - it's quite a lot different from the first DS. For the first dungeon siege, you have a few attributes and your "skills" are just Melee, Ranged, and Magic. In Throne of Agony, it's a lot more like usual RPGs, with character classes, real skills (passive and active), that sort of thing.

You might want to read up a bit on DS1. No dialog choices, weak story, very few NPCs worth talking to. Long stretches where you just slog through dungeons/caves with little purpose other than trying to get somewhere new. Inventory system is grid-based. You find spells and put them in your spellbook, and you get better at a spell the more you use it (if I remember correctly). Character customization: human only, male or female, skin tone, face, hair, hair color. Seamless world, so no loading times. An interesting variety of landscapes, plenty of nooks and crannies off the beaten path. Leveling is XP based. Equipped gear is shown on the character model. No special moves, just keep clicking to kill the enemy. Up to 5 or so followers, I don't remember the exact number. I don't remember the ending of the game, so either it was unmemorable or I stopped playing at some point out of boredom. :shrug:

I would suggest looking at some youtube videos of gameplay, it might help you get a sense of what the game is like. I don't have the expansion, and I haven't played DS2. I have my copy of DS1 up for trade on Switchgames. If you can trade or buy the game for cheap, it might be fun for one or so play through. I didn't think there was much replay value because I can play all the character types (pure melee, pure ranged, pure magic, or a mix) by taking control of your followers - and there are no branching quests or anything either.

So, there I was looking at the price list for The Witcher 2, which I'm not asking your opinions on given that none of you have played it. Despite the questionable and somewhat confusing price changes affecting my local distribution, I have concluded that gog.com has the best deal going. Part of that deal is one of the following games (or pair of games):

Beyond Divinity
Divine Divinity
Gothic 2
Realms of Arkania 1 & 2
Realms of Arkania 3

So, does anybody have opinions or thoughts on these games? I have only a passing familiarity with them myself, and would appreciate any recommendations.

Gothic 2 is pretty good. Haven't played those others.

Warhawx, I saw it at the nearest Gamestop for 5 bucks, is it worth it?

Is lost planet 2 worth $20? (about 10-14 US$)

Divine Divinity is a hack-n-slash RPG. I have it, but haven't played it. Haven't found any mods for it, either.

Gothic 2 has a modding community. Unofficial patches, mods, texture replacers, etc. World of Gothic Forums are moderately active, so if you have questions you can ask or search for previous threads. I got pretty far in it, but I dislike the changes to the leveling system made by the expansion pack Night of the Raven. I plan on using a mod that edits leveling to make it easier for me - because I found the game to be a tad on the brutal side at low levels. Then again, I'm impatient and forget to baby my characters.

Haven't played any of the other games on that list. Personally, I'd recommend G2, especially if it comes with NotR, since this adds new quests within the main game and outside of the main quest. While the graphics might look a bit old, I think the voice overs for the dialog are really good. There's branching dialog, choices with consequences, hand-placed loot, plenty of places to explore, and plenty of side quests. I have not finished G2, so I can't speak to the entire game. As it is, it ought to be entertaining if you are looking for an RPG that has, well, RPG elements. Note: there is no character customization (appearance, race, gender), but your choices of character class (which is linked to what faction you join) does alter your character's appearance slightly.

I played "Divine Divinity" for a while, a few years ago, but didn't finish it. The graphics are primitive by today's standards but the game's reputation is better than you'd think. Kind of a Diablo clone I guess. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divine_Divinity

I've played some of Gothic 2, maybe halfway or less. Feels similar to Bethesda games but with shallower lore. The combat was challenging to me, too challenging by the time I was fighting dragons, and I uninstalled it. Every combat at first, even with orcs, is a major single-combat, or so it seemed. It had its moments though. If you liked the combat in The Witcher, maybe this is what you're looking for.

• Arcania Gothic IV-Played the demo seemed bland but still interested me.
  
• The Saboteur-WWII games always catch my attention and this one seems unique.
  
• Risen-I'm trying to find some good RPG's and this one looks the most promising.

I have a sealed copy of Battlefield 1942 in my desk. Is it worth giving it a go?

This is probably in here about 12 times but .. uh.. laziness, sorry.

Assassins Creed Brotherhood? I'd like to start with that one because of the time period, but I don't know exactly if I should start with the first of the franchise or not. I also don't know if it's particularly good either, since I lack the urge to google and gaming friends.

Making Brotherhood your first Assassin's Creed game is a terrible idea. You can do without the first Assassin's Creed, but I would strongly advise against playing Brotherhood without playing II, first.

You should definitely play the first two, you might be able to do away with just playing ACII however.