What are you playing?

[The Legend of Sunblade]

Get the DLC for Muramasa. They're bite-sized stories that you can burn through in no time and each character has a radically different playstyle than the others, some of which I prefer even to the original duo. They pretty much took the "Momohime and Kisuke play the same way" complaint that everyone had to heart.

My favorite time with the core Muramasa Rebirth content was doing Shura (one-hit kill) mode. It plays like Legend mode rather than Chaos, but you only ever have a max of 1 HP. Unlike Odin Sphere before it, the game is really well tuned towards giving you all the tools and abilities to never get hit, plus it forces you to actually learn and explore all the different varieties of sword arts. Sometimes I'd stick around with a weaker sword just bcause it had an OP ability (lot of hits/invulnerability period) versus a stronger-sword stat-wise having a garbage one. You really learn to appreciate the items that restore weapon durability/give you infinite use for a while.

So you found it to be pretty balanced?  I was gonna avoid this mode since it seemed like there were so many ways to get nicked by enemies.  And unless I'm doing it wrong, blocking seems useless since it takes tons of frames to even start blocking and blades break so fast.  I guess part of that mode would also involve abusing the roll and that meal that gives you temporary invincibility?   

i guess i'd have to git gud

Blocking in Shura mode uses Legend mode as its base, where you generally "block" at the same time you're attacking rather than have to actually hold the button down. Chaos has the swords break faster too, AFAIK. Death in Muramasa means restarting from the same screen where you died, so you pretty much get to try again immediately.

You'll often find that you use your weapon durability on arts more than blocking. If your sword actually breaks, you take damage which means death. You also learn neat little tricks, like how l if you can't get killed of you get hit out of an air dash. Didn't even have to invincibility food because the late game Cyclone-type swords are seriously OP.

[kick51]

ah, that change to blocking makes it seem a lot more doable. 

[Hock]

I just beat Castlevania Aria of Sorrow, which I've been playing on my phone on and off for a long time actually.  I played on normal so it wasn't very hard but real enjoyable all the way through, and actually really good looking for a gba game. I heard some of the enemies and areas(?) are recycled but the only other metroidvania I played was SOTN years ago so I didn't really notice. I kinda feel like doing the new game+ but after spending hours flying though the castle with all the abilities you get late in the game, going back to normal movement is actually painful. I think I'll let that sit for a while and play some other things.

[kick51]

i've gotta play aria. prob get the wii u version one of these days.

Been playing No More Heroes PS3.  All the negativity about it made me think it would be much worse than it is.  It's just NMH with a controller.  I guess shaking to charge is annoying, but that's it.  I did notice screen tearing, but that doesn't bother me.  whatever, game ran like shit on the Wii too except that was "charming" and "oh suda, you joker" for some reason. 

just beat Shinobu 

[Purple Filth]

i've gotta play aria. prob get the wii u version one of these days.

Been playing No More Heroes PS3.  All the negativity about it made me think it would be much worse than it is.  It's just NMH with a controller.  I guess shaking to charge is annoying, but that's it.  I did notice screen tearing, but that doesn't bother me.  whatever, game ran like shit on the Wii too except that was "charming" and "oh suda, you joker" for some reason. 

just beat Shinobu 

it was a exclusive for a while, of course its gonna get a pass, especially if that version is still seen as "superior" 

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

I've spent some time this week playing Puyo Puyo Tetris for PS4.  I was aware the game existed but I saw that it came out for PS4 and the Bone in December.  I liked both series so fuck it, why not?  Fortunately it appears to be a baka gaijin favorite so translations of the menus and options are easily available.  The game is uguu as fuck of course but the game is fun.  Seems like a lot of content and I find that I do better against the AI playing Tetris instead of Puyo Puyo.  Mostly because I always go for the simple Puyo Puyo combos instead of some three in a row type thing.  I'll get better.

I remember back in the day when I'd occasionally import games through Play Asia, I'd get the game within a week or two.  This time it took nearly a month and last time I imported a game, Samurai Warriors 3Z for PS3, I remember the same thing happening.  Oh well, if I import a game once every three years, that's not too bad.  So I got a $5 off code to use if anyone is interested.  It's KB-YSK-STQ.  Expires on March 23rd.

Played some more Captain Toad and eh, it's alright.  It really should have been a $20 digital download but it's Nintendo so what can you expect.

[kick51]

i've gotta play aria. prob get the wii u version one of these days.

Been playing No More Heroes PS3.  All the negativity about it made me think it would be much worse than it is.  It's just NMH with a controller.  I guess shaking to charge is annoying, but that's it.  I did notice screen tearing, but that doesn't bother me.  whatever, game ran like shit on the Wii too except that was "charming" and "oh suda, you joker" for some reason. 

just beat Shinobu 

it was a exclusive for a while, of course its gonna get a pass, especially if that version is still seen as "superior" 

not sure how it's superior, it plays like a normal, moderately janky video game now and not some weird waggle fest.  The jobs are actually doable without motion controls and fuck, it's got like half of NMH2's bosses in there too.

Feels like a case where console warriors/nerds read about a few imperfections and blew them up.

[Fifstar]

Finally got a 360 pad for my pc, playing RE 5 right now. I've lowered my expectations due to what I've heard and am enjoying it so far.

[kick51]

nothing gets the salt flowing like missing bayonetta qtes

[Bebpo]

Finished Banner Saga ep1, right before the final battles I fucking lost my best Varl attacker for the SECOND GODDAMN TIME IN THE GAME.  It actually left my team so crippled for the last 2 battles that I had to drop the difficulty to easy just to be able to finish the game.

I liked the game a lot, but you can get so fucked if you aren't save reloading and have a terrible party with a mainly dead caravan by the end if you have bad luck (which is like 78% of the choices in the game).  And the battle interface seriously needs work for the sequel.  It's probably one of the most backwards ass dated interfaces in terms of presenting information so you can plan your moves correctly.  I lost so many character turns due to characters getting stuck behind other characters or moving to a spot and not being able to reach with an certain attack.  Really, all they need is a UNDO for movement so if you move and then realize you moved to the wrong spot, you can hit back and move to the spot you actually wanted to move to. 

Otherwise I liked the art, lore, battle system, music, writing and unique identity of the game.  Will play the next chapter, but I don't even want to import my save because my party is so shit.  Will just go with whatever the default one is!

[fistfulofmetal]

Played some of Apotheon.

First and foremost, it's super pretty and has a great style to it. It's rather surprising this art style hasn't been done yet (at least to my knowledge). The entire Greek silhouette  painting deal works really well. I didn't notice it at first but they actually have shaders on the background as if you are playing on a stone wall or tablet. Super cool.

The game is about how the Zeus decides to stop helping humanity, so you have to go to Mount Olympus and see if we can get back in Zeus's good graces.

Gameplay wise, it's kind of a light Metroidvania style thing where you have a large open 2D world to run around in and explore. You can go and tackle different objectives in any order. The first big objective I had was to obtain Artemis Bow and to get that I have to: Kill a Direwolf, Kill a Chimaera, and deal with the Saytr's who are running amok. That's one of three objectives in the first town and there's like 5 or 6 total. Seems like it could be a game with a decent length if that's consistent through all the towns.

It's more combat-focused that I normally prefer but the combat works pretty well and is fun. If anyone has ever played Unepic, it feels like that but more fleshed out. You get tons of weapons and can upgrade you skills at vendors. Swords, maces, pikes, bows, javelins etcetc.

It's pretty fun.

[Rufus]

So, I finished Shenmue 2. What an incredibly disappointing ending. People, this is why you don't count on making several sequels. Holy hell. You finally find out where the fuck the name Shenmue comes from, you see what amounts to magic, get a hint at your destiny and what everything is about and... - to be continued. Fucking hell.
Going to rural China was nice, though I did not expect a conversation with and walk to a girl's house to take up 90% of disc 4. It's all exposition and padding, so much so that I think the game should have ended after the final showdown on disc 3.

[Joe Molotov]

So, I finished Shenmue 2. What an incredibly disappointing ending. People, this is why you don't count on making several sequels. Holy hell. You finally find out where the fuck the name Shenmue comes from, you see what amounts to magic, get a hint at your destiny and what everything is about and... - to be continued. Fucking hell.
Going to rural China was nice, though I did not expect a conversation with and walk to a girl's house to take up 90% of disc 4. It's all exposition and padding, so much so that I think the game should have ended after the final showdown on disc 3.

Yep.

[cool breeze]

So, I finished Shenmue 2. What an incredibly disappointing ending. People, this is why you don't count on making several sequels. Holy hell. You finally find out where the fuck the name Shenmue comes from, you see what amounts to magic, get a hint at your destiny and what everything is about and... - to be continued. Fucking hell.
Going to rural China was nice, though I did not expect a conversation with and walk to a girl's house to take up 90% of disc 4. It's all exposition and padding, so much so that I think the game should have ended after the final showdown on disc 3.

now imagine you saw that 13 years ago when it wasn't yet certifiable to believe Shenmue 3 could happen.

[Rufus]

It's fucking insanity!

[Himu]

Disc 4 of Shenmue II is one of the greatest things in a game.  Don't even care.



Incredible.

The differences between modern, urban living and the stark beauty of Langhuishan and Guilin's majestic natural rurality create a beautiful duality that I think Yu Suzuki was trying to express here. Spirit and nature vs speed, anger, and urban living. It's done to represent Ryo's state of mind, I feel. In both Hong Kong and Kowloon, Ryo does dangerous, self destructive, foolish things all in the name of finding vengeance. And then Guilin comes, and he starts to embrace the more spiritual side of martial arts, with the Tai Chi he learned from Guixiang and Jianmin. It's a beautiful way of touching on urban vs rural living, and I don't think any other game has perfectly encapsulated this nearly as well as Shenmue II. I don't think the game would resonate nearly as well if it had just ended at the rooftop, because then Ryo has learned nothing from his travels. In Guilin he truly learns here are other ways to live and it expands his world view. Starting the game angry and ending it with a sense of calm, questioning his revenge, is much more fitting I think. The fact that before you go to Guilin, you're coming from Kowloon - the very definition of urban decay - is no coincidence.





to




Ryo's transformation throughout the game, is incredible, natural character development. I don't think any game I've played has nearly topped the characterization of Ryo and his complexities nor his journey as a person. Ryo goes from rash boy, whose own ethics are starting to crumble and decay like the infrastructure of Kowloon, to a man who has saved himself through embracing sheer spirit and realizing the true nature of things. This isn't shown in full, but the end game definitely hints at it. The line between spirituality is not a thin in Shenmue 1 or II. The games - particularly II - are thick with Taoism, which I think is lost on the average western player. Xiuyin even quotes Daoism, expressing the will to see the "true nature of things".



Ryo goes from this:



To this:



And his character is transformed, continously, from I to the end of II.

I always get something different every time I play Shenmue II, and most particularly disc 4.

Disc 3 has so many highs itself.

Virtua Figthter RPG fully realized:



Practice, determination, and willpower: kung fu movie in game form fully realized:



Thank you for drinking Yu Suzuki's full cup of tea, Rufus. Most people haven't played Shenmue II nor given it a chance.

The only kung fu game

My favorite game ever.

[Fifstar]

Halfway through RE5. Good game so far, although the level design is lacking compared to RE4.

Also picked up Valkyria Chronicles on Steam over the weekend. Played the first 3 missions, again good game from what I've played so far, although I haven't finished the few SRPG's I've played so far, we'll see if it's different with this one...

[kick51]

i hit a wall with a certain tank boss in that game.  total gatekeeper that requires a lot of RNG to line up right.  it was awesome and charming up until then and I thought i'd blaze right through it.  oh well.

edit: with VC, not re5. 

[cool breeze]

Tomb Raider 2.  I'm enjoying it in a way I never managed to when I was younger.  when it's platforming and puzzles, the game is really fun.  combat is the big stinker, it's bad and too frequent.  I don't have the context to know if people enjoyed the combat and it aged poorly or what. 

[Himu]

Halfway through RE5. Good game so far, although the level design is lacking compared to RE4.

Also picked up Valkyria Chronicles on Steam over the weekend. Played the first 3 missions, again good game from what I've played so far, although I haven't finished the few SRPG's I've played so far, we'll see if it's different with this one...

RE5 is a great game and probably the funnest Resident Evil. I wouldn't say it's the best, but in terms of content, goodies, and general fun, it just hits the right spot. It doesn't hit RE4's highs but the thing is, not many games do, so comparing RE5 to 4 doesn't seem fair in any sense of the word. But, for what it is, RE5 still has some of the better levels of last generation. If you need any tips, regarding AI, whatever, just ask. Beat that game to hell and back.

[Positive Touch]

Tomb Raider 2.  I'm enjoying it in a way I never managed to when I was younger.  when it's platforming and puzzles, the game is really fun.  combat is the big stinker, it's bad and too frequent.  I don't have the context to know if people enjoyed the combat and it aged poorly or what. 

the combat was shit back then too, and the fact that there was too much of it was noted in reviews iirc. still a mostly fun game from what I remember altho it didn't have the creepy atmosphere of the first.

[Freyj]

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. Woah I didn't expect this game to be as shitty as it was. I mean, it was sort of enjoyable for 45 minutes or so until the shooting started...and never stopped.

There's basically zero exploration / platforming after that first 45 minutes. Just endless waves of the same dudes over and over and the worst use of QTEs I've ever seen. Completely at odds with its theme.

[tiesto]

Nearing the end of Emerald Dragon... beat who I thought was the big baddie, but there's a few more things left to do to wrap stuff up...

I think I'd like the game a LOT more if the encounter rate was cut back by a third. Still worth playing if you can handle a ton of random encounters... the story and characters are fairly charming, the game has good music and decent graphics, and an Ultima-esque combat system. I hear the PC Engine version is better than the SFC version (what I'm playing) but there's no fan translation for that one, yet.

[Beezy]

Halfway through RE5. Good game so far, although the level design is lacking compared to RE4.

Also picked up Valkyria Chronicles on Steam over the weekend. Played the first 3 missions, again good game from what I've played so far, although I haven't finished the few SRPG's I've played so far, we'll see if it's different with this one...

RE5 is a great game and probably the funnest Resident Evil. I wouldn't say it's the best, but in terms of content, goodies, and general fun, it just hits the right spot. It doesn't hit RE4's highs but the thing is, not many games do, so comparing RE5 to 4 doesn't seem fair in any sense of the word. But, for what it is, RE5 still has some of the better levels of last generation. If you need any tips, regarding AI, whatever, just ask. Beat that game to hell and back.

Agreed. It's one of the few games that I played through on multiple times on every difficulty. Plus the Mercenaries mode.

[Bebpo]

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. Woah I didn't expect this game to be as shitty as it was. I mean, it was sort of enjoyable for 45 minutes or so until the shooting started...and never stopped.

There's basically zero exploration / platforming after that first 45 minutes. Just endless waves of the same dudes over and over and the worst use of QTEs I've ever seen. Completely at odds with its theme.

You've got to enjoy the combat and its nuances to like the game.  The Uncharted combat is actually fairly good and has some decent depth and strategy to its gunplay, 2/3 add stealth to make the gameplay even more solid and more adventure to the game, but 1 is 90% pure shooting gallery; it either clicks with you or it doesn't. 

[Bebpo]

Hexcells Infinite

Cool Minesweeper meets Sudoku puzzle game.  I used to play the shit out of Minesweeper so this was good times although the stages get crazy about halfway and I still don't believe you can solve some of these without some guessing at parts.  I caved eventually and would trial & error until I could clear out about 10% of the tiles and then that'd give me enough information to work through the rest while it still being a good brain twister math twister challenge. 

Escape Goat 2

Getting around to playing this.  Liking it for sure, though a few areas in it feels pretty much a re-tread of the first game with smoothing filters instead of pixels and nicer animation.  But the first game was one of my favorite puzzle platformers in the last decade so it's still good fun and I'm sure it'll introduce a lot of new ideas pretty soon since I'm still early on and they probably figured that no one played the original so the first 30% is probably re-introducing EG1 ideas.

Tales of Zesteria

Haven't gotten a chance to play time intensive console games lately because of work so only get through about 1 dungeon every 2-3 days.  But definitely still enjoying it.

Trails of the Zero/Zero no Kiseki Evolution

Good stuff.  I thought the Trails in the Sky games were good (FC < SC < 3rd) but this is even better (although the combat is a step back since 3rd is endgame FC/SC combat systems and Zero the starting levels of a new combat system).  So basically the series keeps getting better and that's awesome.  The biggest jump to the Zero/Ao series is the music got 1,000x better.  Hope Sen no Kiseki I/II continues to improve on the series.

[Rufus]

Himu, your love is strong, but I don't understand it. I mean, the story is nice for what it is, but I can't appreciate the telling of it at all.

Tomb Raider 2.  I'm enjoying it in a way I never managed to when I was younger.  when it's platforming and puzzles, the game is really fun.  combat is the big stinker, it's bad and too frequent.  I don't have the context to know if people enjoyed the combat and it aged poorly or what.

You too? I don't get why they decided to add more combat when it was so bad even against animals. Only relentless save-scumming obviates what would otherwise be an incredible source of frustration. I'm in Tibet now and the AI for both the monks and the enemies that pour in every now and then makes me wonder why their pathing is so shit, too. It looks like they just re-used the animal AI. I don't know whether that's a technical limitation, to make them move in more interesting ways or if it's to nerf them. Becuase if the shotgun guys for instance came straight at you all the time you'd be toast, since you can't always out-range them, even if you know where and when they come in.

[Himu]

Himu, your love is strong, but I don't understand it. I mean, the story is nice for what it is, but I can't appreciate the telling of it at all.

Before, you even admitted you have no love for martial arts romanticism, so I wouldn't expect you to find full appreciation for what Suzuki was doing. So I get that. Someone like me who drinks up wuxia flicks and Asian history would find it more appealing.

[Rufus]

What's exactly wrong with the way it's told? It's definitely slow, but that ties to the kung fu movie influence. I said in the gaf thread that comparing Shenmue to Yakuza is moronic because in Shenmue 1, there are maybe ten fights throughout the entire game. Meanwhile, Yakuza is a beat em up action adventure where you get in random fights and fight about 500+ times the entire game, and search for weapons to see cool death animations. Shenmue without slow build is no longer Shenmue.

The 36th Chamber of Shaolin is a great example if we are comparing Shenmue to the wuxia  stories that inspired it. For one, both are revenge stories - a common wuxia trope. And two, both stories have almost nothing in the way of action. 36th Chamber has one or two fight scenes in the whole movie: one at the beginning and one at the end. The first is like 15 seconds. The last one is maybe a minute long. The rest of the movie is training that goes into that one battle and the toil it took to reach it. Which, after playing Shenmue II, should sound familiar.

Shenmue is similar. It's a story more about the journey than the end, and the journey is full of development to make the finale that much sweeter, which is something I think a lot of games lack. It also helps to enjoy slow stories. I enjoy stories that are slow and full of details a lot, and I will never stop respecting Shenmue for having the balls to only have action for when the story required it and not making it a central focus like every other game ever. Definitely not for everyone, but if it clicks, it clicks. Before, you even admitted you have no love for martial arts romanticism, so I wouldn't expect you to find full appreciation for what Suzuki was doing.

The structure and the tropes might work for me with better dialogue and characters (outside of Ren and Lishao Tao maybe), but not this one and maybe not as a dozen hour video game, or not as this dozen hour video game.

I do appreciate the restraint with the combat (I love SotC after all), but forcing players to practice the thing that can stop their progress would have been a good idea, given how deep it is. So either have more mandatory fighting or abandon the idea that it has to be Virtua Fighter on top of everything else. Cut it down to something that you can practice by airing out books, for example. Something that's more reactive and interesting than QTEs, but which can still be abstracted to fit all manner of things you might do in the game.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

M-motion controls?

[close]

Really, a major part of my issue with Shenmue is that they attempted to construct a 'real' environment in the first place. They should have extended their approach to fighting/action to the entire game. It's really kind of pointless to simply scale up a JRPG town the way they did. Without any systems that interact independantly of the player it's just a hollow, pointlessly sprawling facade that had to be broken up with frequent loading screens.
One thing I really liked to do was to approach random pedestrians to ask for the way and to sometimes find someone who was headed the same way as I and have them lead me to my destination. That was a small people simulation! More of that, less empty drawers that open for no reason other than to open.

Himu, your love is strong, but I don't understand it. I mean, the story is nice for what it is, but I can't appreciate the telling of it at all.

Before, you even admitted you have no love for martial arts romanticism, so I wouldn't expect you to find full appreciation for what Suzuki was doing. So I get that. Someone like me who drinks up wuxia flicks and Asian history would find it more appealing.

Oh no you don't. You will care-post with me, woman. Thankfully I left that tab open, no backing down.

[Himu]

Shenmue II DOES allow you to practice fighting. You can practice with Jianmin. Also, you kind of skipped the games hardest fight which is optional. I do think that the fighting system is at its best against certain opponents like the aforementioned optional boss fight and the boss fight with the masked guy in the yellow head building.

Also, II doesn't have the detail of I. So exploring drawers and stuff has no meaning. In I, exploring actually is a part of the game because you find things crucial to the game, much like in a point and click adventure game. II isn't like that. It's much more linear rather than exploring ones surroundings, and there's a reason for that.

Also, you DO fight when airing out books. You go to the park and have a big fight when looking for stuff. I wouldn't honestly want fighting to be a reward for the book airing because a crucial detail in it is patience, and the first time I played it I thought the game was speaking to the player as much as it was speaking to Ryo when they talk about gaining calm and being patient. It felt like it was going beyond the fourth wall without ever bringing up the fourth wall. The fact that Ryo is stoic and doesn't talk much helped sync me as a player where it felt like Ryo was really just an avatar for me. Which, when you're lacking patience, and the game tells you specifically to just shut the fuck up and be patient, creates an amazing and unique feeling of immersion and character building. I like that that part challenges the player, not on a skill level, but on some weird deeper level. It shows ways games can achieve different emotions and feelings.

The book airing having fighting as a reward also goes against wuxia tropes.

See:



The main character joins the shaolin temple to defend himself. Ryo finds Lishao Tao to learn to fight Lan Di and find Yuanda Zhu. They're both given an immediate obstacle. Ryo has to air out books; the character in 36th Chamber has to to jump over slippery logs just to eat food. If he doesn't learn how to balance himself, he will starve. Patience and overcoming adversity in front of an obstacle is wuxia 101. Which again, I feel is lost on the average western player. Other games would make this a cutscene. In Shenmue II, you actually DO IT.

[Rufus]

Shenmue II DOES allow you to practice fighting.

Yes, but what I'm saying is it should force you to. I ended up cheesing my way through with mashing and throws, making a mockery of the whole martial arts expert angle.

[Himu]

Huh. Well Shenmue isn't terribly complex. Suzuki made it so that most people could get through the games. There's not a game over screen for a reason. also, I'm not sure about being forced to fight daily as Shenmue is a game about choice. And personally, I have a methodical style where I weave in and out with evade button, and throw one or two kicks at a time, then go for a throw if I've got the room.

[Rufus]

One-on-one encounters were fine, but group fights could be a coin toss for me, especially those where you start surrounded. I never had to re-try too many times, so it didn't annoy me much, but it was just - eh.
Choice? The only choice you have is when to continue the main story line. Or am I missing something here?

Finished Tomb Raider 2. The last area takes place in a surreal jade temple, the first part of which consists of floating islands reminiscent of Half-Life's Xen. It was about as irritating. There is one jump that had me thinking that I had missed something earlier in the level, but apparently it is just really, really difficult to do it right. I didn't save right after I made it, died and had to try another dozen times more. That was just weird. The level is also filled with beefy jade warriors that come to life. They are bullet sponges (takes three grenades to kill them) and the ones wielding spears are faster than you, so they're difficult to evade. I was glad I saved up my medipacks for these guys. The last boss on the other hand was surprisingly easy. His turn speed is really slow, so you can just run around him to evade all of his attacks. Kind of disappointing.
After that you get a kind of epilogue in the form of a home invasion. A bunch of dragon cult mafiosi storm your mansion at night and you have to fight them off with only a shotgun. Once it's done Lara starts a shower, but shoots the screen before she takes her robe off, which I thought was a nice touch. If you ignore that her entire wardrobe is esentially fan-service, anyway.

The total save count this time exceeded 500, up from about 250 in the first game. I think I'm gonna start TR3 right away.

[Fifstar]

Halfway through RE5. Good game so far, although the level design is lacking compared to RE4.

Also picked up Valkyria Chronicles on Steam over the weekend. Played the first 3 missions, again good game from what I've played so far, although I haven't finished the few SRPG's I've played so far, we'll see if it's different with this one...

RE5 is a great game and probably the funnest Resident Evil. I wouldn't say it's the best, but in terms of content, goodies, and general fun, it just hits the right spot. It doesn't hit RE4's highs but the thing is, not many games do, so comparing RE5 to 4 doesn't seem fair in any sense of the word. But, for what it is, RE5 still has some of the better levels of last generation. If you need any tips, regarding AI, whatever, just ask. Beat that game to hell and back.

Well my comment regarding the level design was mostly about the linearity of the levels, especially early on. RE4 was also a linear game, but it did a good job at masking that. Like you said, it's no shame to be worse than RE 4, but comparisons envitable when you're playing the successor to it. I also haven't played much of last gens action games, so I don't have much of a comparison.

[Himu]

Choice? The only choice you have is when to continue the main story line. Or am I missing something here?

Well, it's a game that allows you to fuck around. Not really a sandbox, but forcing you to fight everyday goes against the spirit of it, I think.

[chronovore]

Finished Remember Me without going for the collectibles. The DONTNOD messieurs really know their visual arts. Game was gorgeous from start-to-finish. The UI for the Combo Construction Desk, or whatever it was, could have been fixed by adding a frame around the active section, as there are two discrete ones; additionally increasing the highlight of the active Pressen in each section would make things more clear. Moving the timing-based combo HUD to the middle of the screen would allow users to appreciate the combat animations while getting their button-presses in correctly.

I’m torn on picking up Life Is Strange at full price, but if I want original content, that’s the best way to encourage these guys.

Starting Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise. The original was overwhelmingly addictive for me, so I may be getting in way over my head, or maybe it will just horribly disappoint me.

[Mr. Gundam]

Finished Remember Me without going for the collectibles. The DONTNOD messieurs really know their visual arts. Game was gorgeous from start-to-finish. The UI for the Combo Construction Desk, or whatever it was, could have been fixed by adding a frame around the active section, as there are two discrete ones; additionally increasing the highlight of the active Pressen in each section would make things more clear. Moving the timing-based combo HUD to the middle of the screen would allow users to appreciate the combat animations while getting their button-presses in correctly.

How long did it take you? I've got this in my backlog thanks to a super cheap Gamefly sale and I'd love to play it.

[BobFromPikeCreek]

Starting Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise. The original was overwhelmingly addictive for me, so I may be getting in way over my head, or maybe it will just horribly disappoint me.

I should totally do this. I buried countless hours in the first when it came out and as a result just couldn't bring myself to even look at TiP at the time of its release.

[demi]

Well they did give it away for free on GWG, so go nuts

[kick51]

fuck, no more heroes is kinda meaty.  up to 20 hours, with a couple hours afk.  all because of that lame overworld and some grindan.  and bad girl.

[Trent Dole]

Man I don't even know how many times I killed the CEO of Pizza Butt or whatever during my endless grind for money to do the next assassination mission in that fucking game.

[Mr. Nobody]

Playing around with this mednafen emulator...it's pretty damn good for PC Engine CD and PSX games.

Finally playing the original Castlevania: Rondo of Blood for the first time. Axe is still the GOAT subweapon and the soundtrack is awesome.

Probably gonna replay Persona 2: Innocent Sin after abandoning it on the PSP like 2-3 years ago.

And for the past 2 weeks, I've been giving a little bit of time to Earthbound since I've never played it before. I've only reached Twoson but I'm loving the hell out of it so far. World's facing impending doom but the game still finds time to crack wise every chance it gets. I like how talking to NPCs actually matter moreso than your standard JRPG and I can't praise enough how if you reach a certain level, you'll automatically kill enemies weaker than you so you won't waste time. Some of them actually run away from you  . Really good stuff.

[chronovore]

Finished Remember Me without going for the collectibles. The DONTNOD messieurs really know their visual arts. Game was gorgeous from start-to-finish. The UI for the Combo Construction Desk, or whatever it was, could have been fixed by adding a frame around the active section, as there are two discrete ones; additionally increasing the highlight of the active Pressen in each section would make things more clear. Moving the timing-based combo HUD to the middle of the screen would allow users to appreciate the combat animations while getting their button-presses in correctly.

How long did it take you? I've got this in my backlog thanks to a super cheap Gamefly sale and I'd love to play it.

Depending on your style of play, it could run as short at 8 hours. I wrapped up the main game in probably 12 hours, with another 3 mopping up battle- or scenario-based Achievements.

I liked the game enough that I decided to quit before ruining it by searching all over for the collectibles, which usually ends with me failing to find the last one, and getting really frustrated.

Starting Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise. The original was overwhelmingly addictive for me, so I may be getting in way over my head, or maybe it will just horribly disappoint me.

I should totally do this. I buried countless hours in the first when it came out and as a result just couldn't bring myself to even look at TiP at the time of its release.

I’m actually pretty terrified to play this. So many evenings that I played this, it’d be 10PM, and I’d think “just plant this, and water that, sell those, and then I’ll call it...” and then suddenly it was past 2AM and I’m wondering what the hell happened. Rare did not make a good kids’ game, but they did make something pretty compelling.

[kick51]

Man I don't even know how many times I killed the CEO of Pizza Butt or whatever during my endless grind for money to do the next assassination mission in that fucking game.

yeah, on my wii playthrough I was poverty the whole time.  jobs and action are easier with a normal controller, so it's easy to get loaded early on in the ps3 version.  it wasn't until that 999999 accessory popped up that I really needed to grind, but luckily there's an assassin mission at the end that nabs 100k+ each time. 

Just finished the game, yay!   Now I need to hack my wii u and get Nintendon't on there so I can play Killer 7.

[Trent Dole]

I have a PS2 copy of Killer 7 that I have yet to play.

[kick51]

I have a PS2 copy of Killer 7 that I have yet to play.

Gamecube is a bit superior if you care about that sort of thing, but you'll still get the full experience on ps2 as well.

[Trent Dole]

So I've heard, but I stumbled across the version I stumbled across.

[fistfulofmetal]

Grow Home is a super simple game but the mechanics are fun and it looks really nice. The game feels like it was made by someone who only ever played 3D platformers from early PS1 days but just KNEW how to do it better. That's a weird compliment, but somehow it works.

[kick51]

been trying out a few games

Killer7 - looks good with the widescreen + progressive hack on wiiu.  i get sick of playing the beginning since I've gone through it a couple times already.  plays better with the classic controller pro than the wii u pro, surprisingly enough.  The CCP is closer to the tight gamecube analog. 

Baroque - really cool dungeon crawler!  dying a lot reveals more of the story and advice from npcs + some other bonuses, or you can just reload your last save and grind till the end, I guess.  No defensive options makes the combat kinda lame, offense has lame melee attacks you mash for the most part, but with a weird system of throwing items at enemies for various effects.  very strange post-apocalyptic shit...NPCs are like Souls NPCs, but a lot weirder.  It would probably have a much better reception today, as it came out just before Souls/Roguelike revival.  grimdark as all fuck. 

Monster Hunter 3U - played a little Unite on my pstv and decided to upgrade if I'm gonna play on a big screen.  only played a little, but I think I get the basic gist and I can see myself getting hooked.  The fucking NPCs don't shut up though.  They might relay a sentence worth of useful information, but wrapped up in about 10 paragraphs of "quirk."  Also, it's pretty apparent this is a 3DS game--textures are horrendous, control reminds me of remapped PSP controls for the game on Vita, text is tiny.  that stuff aside, it seems great.

[Take My Breh Away]

I backed Carmageddon Reincarnation on KS and they launched the "Pubic Beta" today, so I thought I would give it a shot.

Currently it runs like severe butthole (Had to settle with a fluctuating framerate around the 30FPS and medium settings to have it playable) but there's a really fun game in it. It's super crunchy and satisfying more than the originals were. Just that performance is absolute dogshit at the minute. They were up front that it was a proper beta ass beta where they were content complete but the game was completely unoptimized. I guess the recent industry termology of a Beta being a "Glorified demo" gets peoples hopes up.   

[Purple Filth]

Warframe

....

[Bebpo]

Tried out a couple of games:

Vanguard Princess - 2d anime fighter that was in some bundle for $1.  Damn, the sprite animation in this is insane for an indie game made by one guy.  Read up and he was an ex-Capcom sprite artist which makes a lot of sense.  Unfortunately it's a pain to get controllers working right in this so played it with a keyboard and it's not that fun.  Watched some tournament vids and read up on it and it seems ok but the most impressive thing is the sprite animation. 

Abyss Odyssey - Finally got around to playing the new game by Chilean Devs ACE team (Zeno Clash, Rock of Ages).  Guardian Heroes x Roguelike, it's neat but I wish the combat was more like Guardian Heroes.  The combat is too technical with short combos and pokes and dodging.  It's got some real depth, but it doesn't have that fun feel of attacking and combo-ing that GH has.  I still call it similar to GH though because every enemy has a full movelist and you can capture and play as every enemy in the game while 2d beat em up-ing down a randomly generated roguelike dungeon.  I respect this game and I might put in some more time, but it's not that "fun" so probably not gonna stick with it.  Neat idea though and I'm glad the devs keep trying something different.  I haven't played Zeno Clash II, but of ZC/RoA/AO I definitely liked Rock of Ages the best.

I backed Carmageddon Reincarnation on KS and they launched the "Pubic Beta" today, so I thought I would give it a shot.

Currently it runs like severe butthole (Had to settle with a fluctuating framerate around the 30FPS and medium settings to have it playable) but there's a really fun game in it. It's super crunchy and satisfying more than the originals were. Just that performance is absolute dogshit at the minute. They were up front that it was a proper beta ass beta where they were content complete but the game was completely unoptimized. I guess the recent industry termology of a Beta being a "Glorified demo" gets peoples hopes up.   

Good to hear!  I really liked the old games as a kid and was hoping this would be good fun.  After hearing Road Redemption ended up a whole lot of suck and CR looking like ass in the screenshots I didn't have a lot of hope.  But if they've got the core gameplay and fun down and just need to optimize, then it should be a cool game once it is optimized.

[I'm a Puppy!]

Played about a dozen or so hours of Fantasy Life. Love the content but god, do they ever shut up in this game?
Actually my son has hijacked it and is have way more fun with it than I have. So I'll let me play it a while.
I downloaded SMT IV. We'll see how that goes.

[archie4208]

Tried out a couple of games:

Vanguard Princess - 2d anime fighter that was in some bundle for $1.  Damn, the sprite animation in this is insane for an indie game made by one guy.  Read up and he was an ex-Capcom sprite artist which makes a lot of sense.  Unfortunately it's a pain to get controllers working right in this so played it with a keyboard and it's not that fun.  Watched some tournament vids and read up on it and it seems ok but the most impressive thing is the sprite animation. 

Abyss Odyssey - Finally got around to playing the new game by Chilean Devs ACE team (Zeno Clash, Rock of Ages).  Guardian Heroes x Roguelike, it's neat but I wish the combat was more like Guardian Heroes.  The combat is too technical with short combos and pokes and dodging.  It's got some real depth, but it doesn't have that fun feel of attacking and combo-ing that GH has.  I still call it similar to GH though because every enemy has a full movelist and you can capture and play as every enemy in the game while 2d beat em up-ing down a randomly generated roguelike dungeon.  I respect this game and I might put in some more time, but it's not that "fun" so probably not gonna stick with it.  Neat idea though and I'm glad the devs keep trying something different.  I haven't played Zeno Clash II, but of ZC/RoA/AO I definitely liked Rock of Ages the best.

I backed Carmageddon Reincarnation on KS and they launched the "Pubic Beta" today, so I thought I would give it a shot.

Currently it runs like severe butthole (Had to settle with a fluctuating framerate around the 30FPS and medium settings to have it playable) but there's a really fun game in it. It's super crunchy and satisfying more than the originals were. Just that performance is absolute dogshit at the minute. They were up front that it was a proper beta ass beta where they were content complete but the game was completely unoptimized. I guess the recent industry termology of a Beta being a "Glorified demo" gets peoples hopes up.   

Good to hear!  I really liked the old games as a kid and was hoping this would be good fun.  After hearing Road Redemption ended up a whole lot of suck and CR looking like ass in the screenshots I didn't have a lot of hope.  But if they've got the core gameplay and fun down and just need to optimize, then it should be a cool game once it is optimized.

Abyss Odyssey was pretty jank.  The itemization sucked and the controls were too stiff.  I dropped it after finishing 1 run.

Loved the aesthetic though.

[Stoney Mason]

Playing Mirror's Edge for the first time. By "first time", I mean I've started the game at least a half dozen times before but it never really hooked me enough to play past the first level or 2.

This time, I'm enjoying myself. I think it took dying light to make me understand this game a bit more. I'm not saying the parkour is better than mirror's edge just saying that doing it in dying light made me want to experience it some more and might as well play the game that influenced dying light.

I always intellectually understood why people liked it but I didn't really enjoy it myself when playing it, but now I am. It's honestly a really pure game design-wise which you don't see often. The problem is I think that's also why it struggled to sell and whatever they do next will also struggle to sell.

Dying light is zombie survival game that has parkour. Titanfall is a shooter that has parkour in it. But Mirror's Edge is strictly a parkour game. And I think that's a much tougher sell than the other way around where you just sprinkle it into an already existing genre.

[kick51]

put a bunch of hours in Baroque this weekend.  i've literally never seen a post or heard anyone talk about it online or irl, aside from the clerk at the gamestop where I bought it, who said it's the worst game ever.  it's actually kind of awesome! 

[chronovore]

put a bunch of hours in Baroque this weekend.  i've literally never seen a post or heard anyone talk about it online or irl, aside from the clerk at the gamestop where I bought it, who said it's the worst game ever.  it's actually kind of awesome!

GameStop dweebs gonna dweeb.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Sorry, former GameStop dweebs.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Not sorry.

[close]

[close]

[kick51]

put a bunch of hours in Baroque this weekend.  i've literally never seen a post or heard anyone talk about it online or irl, aside from the clerk at the gamestop where I bought it, who said it's the worst game ever.  it's actually kind of awesome!

GameStop dweebs gonna dweeb.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Sorry, former GameStop dweebs.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Not sorry.

[close]

[close]

i can see someone butting their head up against this one and thinking that it's obtuse.  it's just a dungeon crawler/sort of roguelike that teaches you slowly.  The fun comes from figuring it out through dying and experimenting, not from stringing you along with stark indicators of progress. 

[The Legend of Sunblade]

Got taught how to break region locks on Android by SpeedStats so I've been putting some time into Final Fantasy Record Keeper. This is seriously the game that All the Bravest should have been. It's really fun, has tons to do and is really lenient on its stamina bar despite being a F2P game. Only barrier is that I don't know Japanese, but its been smooth sailing after i smack myself on some small language barriers here and there (plus speedstats has helped with what little I truly can't figure out).

[Bebpo]

put a bunch of hours in Baroque this weekend.  i've literally never seen a post or heard anyone talk about it online or irl, aside from the clerk at the gamestop where I bought it, who said it's the worst game ever.  it's actually kind of awesome!

I played a little of the original PS1? (or was it Saturn or something) but it was pretty brutal and ugly and didn't play more than a couple hours at most.  Saw Wii version was an updated one but wasn't interested in it after the original.