My thoughts on Destiny (from the Beta)

The art, graphics, and sound (VO, sound effects, music, etc) is all stellar.  This is to be expected as the considering the pedigree and budget behind the game.  The shell of this game is incredibly enticing and production values are top notch.

The story is unoriginal and has been done to death. How many games are you considered the one, have a floating spherical robot that does things, and you're fighting off a massive universal evil by shooting aliens?

The character progression and systems are mediocre at best with major talents doing things that "proficiencies" do in other games and because there are only 3 classes, the limited talent trees don't offer anywhere near the amount of variety you'd expect from a loot dropping action RPG.

The loot dropping happens too few and far between with bosses rarely if ever dropping loot and the loot that does drop, like the talents, rarely does anything to change things as it focus's solely on the damage or armor and not the actual function of the gun or armor. This means pretty much all guns and armor in the game function the same minus small stats that increase reload speed, make grenade cooldowns shorter, increases melee damage, etc. aka basically stuff that would be done in proficiencies in other games but not things that make getting new weapons and armor feel unique and worthwhile.

The gameplay is painfully basic with not much changing outside of gun types, mostly due to the wishy washy "power" system lacking depth and the item randomization being so poor. This means, don't expect anything groundbreaking because outside of the handful of powers and doublejump/jetpacks, the gameplay is the norm. If you've played any fps's you've seen it and done it already.

The lack of any kind of economy system and trading is confusing. Hey I get you don't want other players to trade gear, which the gear is nothing of note but whatever, but even in Monster Hunter if you want to trade you can still trade other items besides gear. For a game that's being hyped as a MMO, this seems like a huge over site.

Only allowing three players on quests is also very weird and incredibly disappointing. Four players seems standard for a game like this but for whatever reason, they decided to go with 3, which is incredibly annoying when trying to play this game with friends. If anything, you'd expect games to INCREASE the number of teammates not lower it.  To take it a step further, the lack of cross platform play for a game that's supposed to be a MMO, even with systems in the same network (360 with XB1 or PS3 with PS4) seems like a pretty big over site.

That said, the game is fun with a group of friends, like any coop game, and it looks and sounds nice. However there are shortcomings which boggle the mind, especially in a game that has a $500 million budget. There are much better loot based action/rpg's out there, there are much better FPS's out there, and there are much better MMO's out there. I understand it's a blend of the 3 but it's not the first to do this nor is it the best. This is a mediocre game with a lot of polish, the type of game that focus's on graphics over gameplay and depth.

6/10

The List of Rare and Hard to Find Video Games!

This is the list of rare and hard to find games that I know about.  Of course I didn't list any PSP or GBA games because I STILL don't own a PSP  (I need to get one though) or keep up with either PSP or GBA really.  I didn't note games that are really far back because most of those games can be found on digital services usually also because that would take too long.  Of course, I'm sure I'll come across some rare, expensive, hard to find game not too long after making this list or remember one I may have missed but as for now, here's the list that I have come up with.


PS1:
Tactics Ogre (PSP version is cheap)
Breath of Fire III
Tales of Destiny
Lunar Silver Star Story Complete
LUNAR 2: Eternal Blue
Star Ocean: The Second Story (PSP version is cheap)
Legend Of Legaia
Saga Frontier
Saga Frontier 2
Rival Schools
Ehrgeiz
Strider 2
Einhander
Suikoden II
Brave Fencer Musashi
Mega Man Legends
Mega Man Legends 2
The Misadventures of Tron Bonne




PS2:
Xenosaga
Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Böse
Xenosaga Episode III
Suikoden 3
Suikoden IV
Suikoden V
Rogue Galaxy
.hack, Part 1: Infection
.hack, Part 2: Mutation
.hack, Part 3: Outbreak
.hack, Part 4: Quarantine
.hack: G.U., Vol. 1: Rebirth
.hack: G.U., Vol. 2 - Reminisce
.hack: G.U., Vol.3: Redemption
Champions Return to Arms
Shining Force Neo
Dark Cloud 2
Legaia 2: Duel Saga
Unlimited Saga
Romancing SaGa
Radiata Stories




PS3:
Tales of Graces f
Trinity Universe
Hyperdimension Neptunia Mk2
Arcana Heart 3
Cross Edge




GC:
Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem
Luigi's Mansion
Tales of Symphonia
Sonic Adventure DX Director's Cut
Phantasy Star Online, Episode I & II Plus (original version is cheaper and the xbox version is extremely cheap)
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii version is drastically cheaper)
Naruto Gekitou Ninja Taisen 4 (I traded this with Jose T.T)




Wii:
Zero: Tsukihami no Kamen [Japan Import] (aka fatal frame 4)
Metroid Prime Trilogy
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (music CD version and the gold remote cost more)
Xenoblade Chronicles
A Boy and His Blob
Toshinden [Japan Import]
Naruto Shippuden: Gekitou Ninja Taisen Special [Japan Import]
One Piece: Unlimited Adventure
One Piece Unlimited Cruise: Episode 1 - Nami ni Yureru Hihou [Japan Import]
One Piece Unlimited Cruise: Episode 2 - Mezameru Yuusha [Japan Import]
Bleach: Shattered Blade
Agatha Christie: Evil Under the Sun
Animal Crossing: City Folk
Kirby's Return to Dream Land
Super Mario All-Stars: Limited Edition
Super Mario Galaxy 2
Mario Party 8
Mario Sports Mix
WarioWare: Smooth Moves
PokePark Wii: Pikachu's Adventure
PokéPark 2: Wonders Beyond
Pokemon Battle Revolution
Star Trek: Conquest
Pikmin for Wii with new play control
Donkey Kong Country Returns
Godzilla Unleashed
Dokapon Kingdom
Kororinpa: Marble Mania
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn
Arc Rise Fantasia
Skylanders Spyro's Adventure Starter Pack




DS:
Disgaea DS
Super Princess Peach
Yoshi's Island DS
Yoshi Touch and Go
Contact
Advance Wars: Dual Strike
Advance Wars: Days of Ruin
Super Robot Taisen OG Saga: Endless Frontier
Luminous Arc
Luminous Arc 2
Knights in the Nightmare
Front Mission
Age of Empires: Mythologies
Age of Empires: The Age of Kings
One Piece : Gigant Battle 2 New World (Japan Import)
Infinite Space
Sands of Destruction
Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia
Pokemon Ranger
Pokemon - Diamond Version
Pokemon SoulSilver Version
Pokemon Pearl Version
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky
Pokemon HeartGold Version
Pokemon Platinum
Avalon Code
Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey




3DS:
BlazBlue Continuum Shift II
Cave Story 3D
One Piece Unlimited Cruise SP [Japan Import]




Xbox:
Shin Megami Tensei Nine [Japan Import]
Panzer Dragoon Orta
Phantom Dust
Otogi: Myth of Demons
JSRF- Jet Set Radio Future
Shenmue 2




360:
Spectral Force 3
Magna Carta 2
The Lord Of The Rings: Conquest (cheaper on PS3 and PC)
The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-Earth II




DC:
Dead or Alive 2 (PS2 and Xbox versions are cheaper)
Project Justice
Tech Romancer
Cannon Spike
Power Stone (Powerstone Collection on PSP is cheap)
Power Stone 2 (Powerstone Collection on PSP is cheap)
Gundam Side Story 0079: Rise from the Ashes
Plasma Sword: Nightmare Of Bilstein
Grandia II (cheaper on PS2)
Shenmue
Shenmue II [PAL] (cheaper on Xbox)