djou

+1 on getting a PS Plus membership. You get a nice sampling of first party games and other interesting oddities. Little Big Planet, Borderlands 1, and KoF13 are all free now. Great deal with cloud storage and auto software updates. I was skeptical at first but it won me over. However, its works best if you have decent bandwidth since you're downloading huge files.

PSN is running a promo now where if you spend $100 bucks you get $20, so if you buy the membership and a few games you get the credit.

If you looking for collections I would recommend the Rockstar collection when it comes out and definitely the ICO/Shadow of the Colossus collection.

I think this game is coming out at a bad time. There way to many games that are more appealing. I was initially excited to play US because the game mechanics look awesome, but there are a bunch of AAA release coming soon or out already and a selection of PSN games that I still have to work through. Am I really going to play an experimental fps that last 2.5 hours after I just spent 40 hours blasting through Borderlands 2 and want to play XCOM and Retro City Rampage? For $15 with no Plus discount, I'm willing to wait to see if its free later on or they discount it.

I bought Journey during the early access period and enjoyed it, but when the game was discounted I remember thinking "this game is closer to $11.99 than $15." I get the same gut feeling from Unfinished Swan, its in the queue as a curiosity but Quick Look didn't leave me impressed.

Agree with the other comments that this is more of the same game with incremental improvements to the game play.

I had a similar experience with you regarding BL1. One huge improvement that has let me plow through two playthroughs of BL2 is the improved online functionality.

In BL1 I found it cumbersome to invite friends into the same game. Took a lot of coordination to figure out where people were at so it didn't mess up the mission branches, etc. BL2 streamlines this, the start screen shows which of your friends are playing and what mission they are on. You can drop in or out at any point. You never need to replay a mission you do in coop if you don't want in your main game but still get credit. They make it easier and less of a commitment to play with the same group. If you have two players that are ten levels apart you can jump into each others games even though the lower level player will have a tough time.

They also added a map to the onscreen HUD. I was constantly getting lost in BL1 but it happens less in the sequel.

I'm playing on PS3, no issues so far. I get a few bugs where my skill tree resets, sometimes I get bumped from games (although they added a nice option where you can view the quality of the connection to the game you are joining) and a few times things have been really laggy.

I played 3/4 of BL1 and thought it was totally worth it, even if you don't make it to the end, the sequel is way more fun.

I think this is a common bug.

I've had my skill tree wiped out multiple times when I jump into someone else's game.

Your right its not the end of the world, if anything its a free respec. I've tried a few builds because of it.

@WiqidBritt: Yeah I noticed. I guess that's why I mention it, can you repeatedly open the chest if you have a golden key or does it randomly work?

I have 5 and for some irrational reason I keep saving them for level 50.

LTTP with this game, but I just saw that is going on sale on the PSN store for $3.75.

At that price I'm definitely picking it up since I thought it always looked awesome.

Any takers on a coop campaign?

Send me a request, PSN ID: jou321.

@WiqidBritt: Wow, good tip, thanks. I hope they don't patch this. I noticed when I jump into someone's game my skill tree gets reset and I don't need to pay to respec. I wondered if there were other exploits like this when you coop.

-Playing True Vault Hunter mode I've run into an excessive amount of Loot Marauders (three in a row that were level 50). They are not easy to bring down but seem extra susceptible to fire elemental weapons. Fire element rocket launchers work best (but their rare) if you can't find one break out your best weapon and aim for their inflated head. I always keep one equipped for a fast second wind.

I don't think this counts as a credible source regarding a firm release date, but I guess GTA5 is the December Game Informer cover. I imagine Rockstar has some multi-pronged marketing plan to tease the shit out of this game before the release. I wouldn't be surprised if they showed some gameplay around Christmas to boost preorders during the holidays.

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2012/10/11/grand-theft-auto-v.aspx

Definitely. I bought a copy for $20 and its worth that price. I was also inclined based on all the reviews and recommendations. One thing I noticed that was not mentioned in any press is that the game has an unusual pace. There is a whiplash between slow sections (the dating sim parts) with frustrating rage quits (the puzzle pyramid parts.) I totally didn't anticipate this and never ended up finishing the game because of it (although I found it satisfying and engaging and plan to go back and see how the story ends.) Worst case scenario if its not for you is that you can trade it in for a small loss.