What are you playing?

[Bebpo]

Also, for people who don't play FF14, this is basically what the Final Fantasy MMO is up to these days with FF4 fights and Greek Gods.

[Bebpo]

Oh and the Rubicante fight has a really nice new version of the FF4 boss theme that's very One-Winged Angel influenced.



Also kinda random, but I was surprised to learn the other week that in Japan rankings, FF14 is currently the #1 ranked most popular FF game in the entire series. I guess that's what happens when you go a decade+ of weak single player entries while having one of the best MMOs on the market during the same timeframe. We will see if FF16 turns that around.

[Himu]

Remember when?!



The lowest form of game, too.

[Bebpo]

Eh, disagree.

Plus the game has plenty of original story and fights. This expansion they toned down the fanservice a lot. Yeah there's some FF4 fights, but the main two raids are all original fights & story

...and they're worse for it imo. Best raid in the game was Omega which was nothing but fanservice fights. Nothing wrong with wanting to fight some classic characters with deeper mechanics, better graphics and new music arrangements. Some of these arrangements are incredible and the best versions of the songs.

[Himu]

Zzz

[paprikastaude]

I guess I'm finishing that Final Fantasy 7 "Remake". I just wanted to get a glimpse of it while I'm on my replay of the original and I still had it in PS+. But I'm kinda hooked now. Obviously, this game has nothing to do with the original. But with that expectation, it's pretty fun. Just a fancy looking cheesy J-scifi game with a FF backdrop.

Though it's really bordering hard on triggering me with its strict linearity, which already made me mad in something like nu God of War. I'm not quite as irritated in FF7r though, because I surprisingly don't hate the storytelling. Which is my biggest shock, since I hate Nomura and whatever happened in other FF7 spinoffs like Crisis Core. I mean, it's still dumb and cheesy, but this time it kinda feels like they were actually aware of it - not sure if intentional or not. Also you can skip much of it, which is good. Because then you can get back quicker to what is overall pretty good action gameplay.

[Himu]

It opens up.

[demi]

I'll play 14 when they finally port it to Xbox, anytime now

[Bebpo]

I'll play 14 when they finally port it to Xbox, anytime now

Yeah, idk,

https://www.vg247.com/final-fantasy-14-still-coming-to-xbox

To be honest, it would make sense to time it with the next expansion (spring 2024) which is a reboot of the entire game since the current expansion Endwalker finished the whole story.

[Nintex]

Played more Stranger of Paradise

I've clocked in 16 hours and I'm almost done now I think. It's getting a bit grindy and they're starting to repeat bosses so 20 hours or so would be the perfect length.
Did unlock the first highest level job, which is seriously powerful. I like how your abilities in this game 'stack up' as you climb the job tiers.

[Polident Hive]

There’s a somewhat working Red Dead Revolver prototype out there from when it was a Capcom game. Reading up on the history, there was a cultural barrier between Capcom and the developer. When the studio was brought into Rockstar, it became a regular third person shooter. Left stick moves and right stick aims. How this version plays, a button basically turns it into Wild Guns SNES. Locks the camera and you’re moving a cursor around. The perception back then of Japanese gamers not understanding FPS games, whatever the truth was, those companies were still making games for a single analog stick.

[Joe Molotov]

I played some Yuppie Psycho, it's a pixel horror adventure game, kind of like Corpse Party except you're in a haunted office building instead of a haunted school.

[chronovore]

Lol, who would willingly subject themselves to that shit?

Dunkey said the first half is cinematics, then you play the game for 50 hours and then its more cinematics

It's got so many cinematics, I can't muster the resolve to start the game again. I'm already tired of Kojima wanking his story jizz all over my face when I just wanted to play some vidya. This is seriously ridiculous.

There’s a somewhat working Red Dead Revolver prototype out there from when it was a Capcom game. Reading up on the history, there was a cultural barrier between Capcom and the developer. When the studio was brought into Rockstar, it became a regular third person shooter. Left stick moves and right stick aims. How this version plays, a button basically turns it into Wild Guns SNES. Locks the camera and you’re moving a cursor around. The perception back then of Japanese gamers not understanding FPS games, whatever the truth was, those companies were still making games for a single analog stick.

I played the Capcom prototype at TGS , the year before Angel Studios became Rockstar South. The intro to the game had Red as a boy with his father on the homestead. No joke, the game's introductory tutorial had the player as a child with a gun, shooting adults. It was mind-blowing that Capcom would associate themselves with something that was clearly going to cause massive controversy.

[Coax]

It's weird, I have no recollection of the start of DS being cutscene heavy (or even what the beginning cutscenes were). I do recall the gameplay and ending cutscenes well though.

[Himu]

The opening cutscenes put you to sleep and that's why you have no recollection, right?

[Bebpo]

It's weird, I have no recollection of the start of DS being cutscene heavy (or even what the beginning cutscenes were). I do recall the gameplay and ending cutscenes well though.

The intro is like 1-2 hours of pure cutscenes.

[Himu]

Gears of War 2 is fantastic. It lacks the horror of GoW1 but honestly it doesn't matter. It is its own extremely well-paced vibe. Almost done I think. Should be done with it tomorrow.

Day of the Tentacle Remastered reminds me why I just don't like playing adventure games much anymore. I haven't played this in so long so I'm playing it with the equivalent of playing blind and some of the puzzles are

Started a new game of Resident Evil 4 on my Xbox 360 for the first time in over ten years. This game is what I consider the best 3d game of all time. I actually do think a remake could help with things like the shooting so I'm looking forward to the remake even more. I forgot how high the skill ceiling in this game is and how challenging it can surprisingly be. I don't have the skills I used to have but I'm getting better. Took out the chainsaw guy at the opening and survived with success. I used to be able to just kick ass with the knife. Knife -> knee -> qte (kick or suplex) is OP but I forgot how to do it or if I need to shoot first. Then there's shoot -> knock villager to ground -> knife them to death. I'll get used to it I guess as the game forces you to git gud. Being able to re-experience this game for the first time in a decade is bringing so many memories.

Once I beat it I plan on getting an Xbox Series X and playing REmake 2, REmake 3, RE7, and RE8 all to prepare for RE4ake. It'll be cool playing games like Gears of War 3 on my Series X.

[HardcoreRetro]

You have to keep going chronovore. You have to get to the Mario and Princess Beach scene.

[chronovore]

You have to keep going chronovore. You have to get to the Mario and Princess Beach scene.

 
No, I'm probably just going to cut my $20 loss and move on. I think I just don't like Kojima's tendency to story-wank and expect me to deal with the bukkake.

[HardcoreRetro]

I imagine this is how you would have reacted. Great scene.

[Himu]

Beat Gears of War 2. Fantastic game but too many vehicle sections replacing dope cover shooting. Easily the best cover shooter franchise I've played and I am falling head over heels with this franchise. Surprisingly solid story here too. Doesn't have the horror of the original but that's okay. I liken the original to Alien and Gears 2 to Aliens. The quartet really works and I love the characters! The ending kind of sucked, though. Again a vehicle section and not even an actual final boss which is kind of wack. I think overall I prefer the original game but the sequel is banger.

More shoot shoot and pew pew. Going to go through Bioshock which I've never really beaten beyond dabbling. Thankfully I have it and Bioshock 2 on Steam.

[Svejk]

You have to keep going chronovore. You have to get to the Mario and Princess Beach scene.

 
No, I'm probably just going to cut my $20 loss and move on. I think I just don't like Kojima's tendency to story-wank and expect me to deal with the bukkake.

Just skip the cutscenes?  The traversal gameplay and literal world/traversal building is where it's at, as odd as it sounds.  Boss fights are dull, even though they're visual spectacles.

[Himu]

Reaident Evil 4 still the GOAT.

I forgot the order is headshot/knee shot -> enemy reacts -> run up -> kick -> knock down -> knife knife knife knife. Even knowing this the game is a challenge because I've completely forgotten how enemies are arrange on any particular map when I used to know their numbers and order down to the last detail.

The game is also genius in its encounter design. First you do head shots. It works. Then you start aiming for the head and villagers start to weave and duck. Then you finally get the Los Plagas parasites that come out if you head shot, completely disrupting your early game plan. Game is just and since I haven't played it in so long I'm able to appreciate all of it as if playing it for the first time.

[Potato]

I imagine this is how you would have reacted. Great scene.

...and people argue with me over the quality of the writing in video games

 

[Polident Hive]

There’s a somewhat working Red Dead Revolver prototype out there from when it was a Capcom game. Reading up on the history, there was a cultural barrier between Capcom and the developer. When the studio was brought into Rockstar, it became a regular third person shooter. Left stick moves and right stick aims. How this version plays, a button basically turns it into Wild Guns SNES. Locks the camera and you’re moving a cursor around. The perception back then of Japanese gamers not understanding FPS games, whatever the truth was, those companies were still making games for a single analog stick.

I played the Capcom prototype at TGS , the year before Angel Studios became Rockstar South. The intro to the game had Red as a boy with his father on the homestead. No joke, the game's introductory tutorial had the player as a child with a gun, shooting adults. It was mind-blowing that Capcom would associate themselves with something that was clearly going to cause massive controversy.

This leaked beta has you playing as a kid, too. Very barebones where you’re selecting a stage and there’s no scripting or anything of the sort.

I never entirely understood the stigma of Japanese audiences and shooters back then. Something about motion sickness? Was also briefly playing Lost Planet. By default, the crosshair moves in a bounding box before turning the screen. The bumpers snap the camera 90 degrees to either direction.

Lost Planet is still pretty good. Found myself playing longer than the typical “testing on steam deck” period. Will keep going. Back then I wanted a regular sequel. Never got into LP2 that turned into a Monster Hunter multiplayer thing.

[Bebpo]

You have to keep going chronovore. You have to get to the Mario and Princess Beach scene.

 
No, I'm probably just going to cut my $20 loss and move on. I think I just don't like Kojima's tendency to story-wank and expect me to deal with the bukkake.

Just skip the cutscenes. You'd probably enjoy the open world chill gameplay.

The story is very secondary in DS. It's just front-loaded with cutscenes.

[Svejk]

Reaident Evil 4 still the GOAT.

I forgot the order is headshot/knee shot -> enemy reacts -> run up -> kick -> knock down -> knife knife knife knife. Even knowing this the game is a challenge because I've completely forgotten how enemies are arrange on any particular map when I used to know their numbers and order down to the last detail.

The game is also genius in its encounter design. First you do head shots. It works. Then you start aiming for the head and villagers start to weave and duck. Then you finally get the Los Plagas parasites that come out if you head shot, completely disrupting your early game plan. Game is just and since I haven't played it in so long I'm able to appreciate all of it as if playing it for the first time.

Do you plan on jumping on the remake when it releases?

[Himu]

Reaident Evil 4 still the GOAT.

I forgot the order is headshot/knee shot -> enemy reacts -> run up -> kick -> knock down -> knife knife knife knife. Even knowing this the game is a challenge because I've completely forgotten how enemies are arrange on any particular map when I used to know their numbers and order down to the last detail.

The game is also genius in its encounter design. First you do head shots. It works. Then you start aiming for the head and villagers start to weave and duck. Then you finally get the Los Plagas parasites that come out if you head shot, completely disrupting your early game plan. Game is just and since I haven't played it in so long I'm able to appreciate all of it as if playing it for the first time.

Do you plan on jumping on the remake when it releases?

Yeah, it's why I'm replaying it now

[Svejk]

Reaident Evil 4 still the GOAT.

I forgot the order is headshot/knee shot -> enemy reacts -> run up -> kick -> knock down -> knife knife knife knife. Even knowing this the game is a challenge because I've completely forgotten how enemies are arrange on any particular map when I used to know their numbers and order down to the last detail.

The game is also genius in its encounter design. First you do head shots. It works. Then you start aiming for the head and villagers start to weave and duck. Then you finally get the Los Plagas parasites that come out if you head shot, completely disrupting your early game plan. Game is just and since I haven't played it in so long I'm able to appreciate all of it as if playing it for the first time.

Do you plan on jumping on the remake when it releases?

Yeah, it's why I'm replaying it now

Nice.  Yeah, I haven't played it since the GC launch version (and only once), so it'll practically be all new to me.  Hearing constantly how well it still holds up makes the hype even greater.

[Himu]

I've played RE4 over 20 times. I consider it the best 3d game ever made. I bought it for gc, wii, x360 and every system I end up playing it like 5 times in a row. Easily the GOAT. Pacing, variety, challenge, skill ceiling, modes, replay value, play style, comedy, graphics, atmosphere, and delicious cheese. It has it all. GOAT.

I'm playing BioShock now and reminded why I've never been able to beat it. It's so boring to play. Game is straight up on rails. Just makes me want to play RE4 instead which I think I will.

[Himu]

Replaying RE4 has me taking a trip back to early YouTube lmao






GOAT

[demi]

Callisto Protocol is Callisto Dogshit

[Svejk]

About 3/4 the way through Metro: Last Light.  It's more of the same, but it's more of the same.  I'd say it's a hair short of giving that same claustrophobic sense as 2033 did.  Plus, in terms of AI, animations and level design, it doesn't feel improved in anyway... Which isn't a bad thing, I just expected more than just a story progression and some new set pieces.  The "relationship" with Anna is awkward and too forced. (At least there's jiggle physics ) As mentioned before, I'm sure the books character build much better, because the diary segments are too far and few between and is cumbersome to read in order.  Still, having fun with it and loving the linearity of it too. 

Finally beat Castlevania IV.  It was impressive in how big the game is.  I never had a chance to get far back in the day from not having a SNES, but it has some bullshit challenges and clunky parts like the lack of jumping from stairs  .  But it was still fun overall.  Music improved near the end, bringing classic tracks back.  Will Probably try and finally beat Bloodlines next.

[Bebpo]

Callisto Protocol is Callisto Dogshit

One.Hundred.And.Sixty.Million.Dollars

[Nintex]

Fire Emblem Engage

Woah, this is the first console Fire Emblem that looks really great. The colors are pretty on OLED screens. 10/10
Is it Anime, yes it is very anime, as you play as a 1000+ year old dragon waifu named Toothpaste Chan that wakes up after a 1000 year coma to go and visit her 10 000(?) year old dragon waifu mother but then shittu happens.
Thankfully Marth was watching me sleep all this time, not creepy at all. Also a 10(?) year old girl is telling me how Shiny I am when I sweat. GOOD LUCK LOCALIZERS!

In other news the combat triangle returns. Swords are strong against lances or was it the other way around. I dunno, I just marry Marth and slay.
On hard this is actually difficult, right from the start challenging, Wow.

From the menu's it seems like you can adopt CATS. You can adopt CATS.
Now I go to war with my dragon waifu and her simps wish me luck.

[Himu]

RE4 is still the GOAT!!!!!

I did the house defense chapter, the two paths (gigante, Bella sisters), took out the chief, and reached the castle pretty much all in one sitting last night and it was incredible.

I forgot how effing LEGIT the first run on a new game always is. The resource management, weighing which weapon to use with limited ammo, and taking advantage of every resource. It's all here. The game even after 20+ playthroughs still scared me. Like when I got to the house part I actually said,"oh man, this part. Fuck me" and took the biggest gulp. After reaching the castle I'm almost terrified to play it. I need rifle ammo so, so bad for this part and I'm running low. Then I'm going to get to the inner reaches of the castle and fight off the robes dudes. "Morir es vivir...." "MUERETE!!!!" I'm lacking ammo so I'm going to have to crowd control with red9 -> kick and slash my way. Also the game is so damn smart you have to literally choose whether a fight is worth engaging. True fight or flight especially the part in the castle where you and Ashley are managing those levers. This game STILL makes my chest pump and I'm not sure if that's good for my age!

OH. MY. GOD. This game still makes me passionate after so long.

I've never been able to take the "RE4 isn't horror" people seriously. Who in their right mind doesn't get spooked playing it?

[Nintex]

MORIR ES VIVIR .... MORIR ES VIVIR MUHHEHEHAHAHHEEHHAHAHA

WEDEM WEDEM WEDEM...

GO GET LO

most scary motherfuckers in any video game. Especially when they show up with rocket launchers and you can't run and shoot for reasons.

[Himu]

MORIR ES VIVIR .... MORIR ES VIVIR MUHHEHEHAHAHHEEHHAHAHA

WEDEM WEDEM WEDEM...

GO GET LO

most scary motherfuckers in any video game. Especially when they show up with rocket launchers and you can't run and shoot for reasons.

My favorite part is when you can hear them whispering so you know they're near but you don't know exactly where they are and have to wait for them to come to you. The build up is always intense.

[Himu]

I knew it. The opening castle sections are as oppressive as I remember. Those cultists make me shiver but I made it and with lots of ammo to spare! 

[Joe Molotov]

https://twitter.com/JoeMolotov/status/1616954032337346562

You can’t pet the cats in Fire Emblem. IS, fix your shit game.

[Nintex]

Cat looks judgmental.

they know what the 1000 year old dragon has been up to 

[Himu]

My fear of the castle was reasonable. The entrances are total baller with so many enemies while having to protect Ash. But I conquered because I'm a vet and I demolished that section 1, 2, 3 POW as if on autopilot. The instincts kicked in. Time for the sewers.

[Polident Hive]

DMCV is on ps gamepass. Couple levels in, not a fan of timothy chalamet’s combat style. Really fun when switching back to Nero. Cutscenes are amazingly stupid, and even better, they include the pre viz for them. Half the time it’s a Dante action figure on a stick spinning around.

Game is very dark. This is likely a TV issue. It’s not the first or only game in HDR I’ve had this problem with. My OLED TV model is approaching six years and had some glitch with gaming hdr mode to begin with. Messing with in game settings, it’s a touch washed out but at least I can mostly see what’s happening now.

[HardcoreRetro]

DMCV is on ps gamepass. Couple levels in, not a fan of timothy chalamet’s combat style. Really fun when switching back to Nero. Cutscenes are amazingly stupid, and even better, they include the pre viz for them. Half the time it’s a Dante action figure on a stick spinning around.

Itsuno explained his thought process behind V in an interview on Bokeh Game Studio's youtube channel. (It's Keiichiro Toyama's new game studio. The guy that made Silent Hill, Siren and Gravity Rush.)



He talks about V from 17:24 on.

[Himu]

Do enemies just stand around and sit there waiting to be combod in DMCV?

(Can you tell I prefer NG)

[Svejk]

Finished Metro: Last Light.  The climactic ending was more fun with it’s hold-the-line shootout, but I didn’t care much for the less grounded, supernatural focus of this entry.  Still a fun, linear romp.  Side by side, I enjoyed 2033 a bit more.  Read that Exodus scales back on the supernatural stuff and is much more grounded again, so I’m looking forward to it.  Of course, Dumb Delivery got me...  thought I had Exodus downloaded, but it was the PS4 one, so I had to download the PS5 upgrade, but it was too late for me to start it. 

[HardcoreRetro]

If you played the Redux you also didn't get the real Metro 2033 experience. The gameplay used to be more clunky which I felt sold the run down nature of the metro system way better. Redux basically transposed the more generic shooter feel of Last Light on the original. The graphics overhaul also ruined the atmosphere.

You should play some Exodus in the original variant and then play the one with raytracing. One of the only games that really sold me on what raytracing can do for a game.

[Svejk]

If you played the Redux you also didn't get the real Metro 2033 experience. The gameplay used to be more clunky which I felt sold the run down nature of the metro system way better. Redux basically transposed the more generic shooter feel of Last Light on the original. The graphics overhaul also ruined the atmosphere.

You should play some Exodus in the original variant and then play the one with raytracing. One of the only games that really sold me on what raytracing can do for a game.

Yeah, it was the Redux versions in the bundle I got.  Would've been nice if the Redux version let you swap between the original/redux versions or something.  When reading up on these, I did actually like the orginal graphic style of 2033 in comparison videos.  Even clunkier gamplay, I dunno..  With the enemy AI and already context sensitive issues in Redux, it already had several moments of annoyance.

[Joe Molotov]

Spent most of the day yesterday playing Inscryption. Pretty cool game. I did have to rage quit once after having a great run get completely blown up because I'm bad at math and thinking, but I finally made it to

spoiler (click to show/hide)

New Game.

[close]

[HardcoreRetro]

Even clunkier gamplay, I dunno..  With the enemy AI and already context sensitive issues in Redux, it already had several moments of annoyance.

I'm so sick of everything in the mainstream game space playing the same, I'm fine with games carving their own identity. Guns that were slapped together by a pair of russian drunks in a dilapidated metro system should not feel like I'm basically just playing COD: Apocalypse Edition.

I can't wait for devs to drop the "perfected" gameplay systems.

[Svejk]

Even clunkier gamplay, I dunno..  With the enemy AI and already context sensitive issues in Redux, it already had several moments of annoyance.

I'm so sick of everything in the mainstream game space playing the same, I'm fine with games carving their own identity. Guns that were slapped together by a pair of russian drunks in a dilapidated metro system should not feel like I'm basically just playing COD: Apocalypse Edition.

I can't wait for devs to drop the "perfected" gameplay systems.

I don't play fps games much at all, but I kwym.  On a side note of slapped together, modded guns, I did like that several times while unloading in the heat of a shootout, I had various guns jam up (in 2033).  The frantic cocking and hitting the gun to unstick itself was entertaining.  The animation took much longer than what I was expecting and built up a realistic tension.  It never happened in Last Light.  But yeah, the first 2 Metro's don't need such fast acting reloads and such... they're just not that type of game, imo. Probably wanted it revamped for potential MP. 

[Himu]

Where do I start with the Metro series?

[Himu]

Even clunkier gamplay, I dunno..  With the enemy AI and already context sensitive issues in Redux, it already had several moments of annoyance.

I'm so sick of everything in the mainstream game space playing the same, I'm fine with games carving their own identity. Guns that were slapped together by a pair of russian drunks in a dilapidated metro system should not feel like I'm basically just playing COD: Apocalypse Edition.

I can't wait for devs to drop the "perfected" gameplay systems.

Gamers asked for this..RE5 came out and people asked why you can't walk and shoot because of Dead Space. People wanted RE5 to play like Dead Space. Then RE6 comes out and blows chunks. Western gamers asked for gamers to have homogenized controls and bitched about games feeling "clunky".

[Svejk]

Where do I start with the Metro series?

2033 -> Last Light -> Exodus

Afaik, they go along (inspired by) with the book series; 2033, 2034 and 2035 respectively.

[demi]

I dont think RE6 was cheeks due to controls, It was the everything else part - personally

[Himu]

I dont think RE6 was cheeks due to controls, It was the everything else part - personally

I'm not saying that it was doo doo because of the controls, but it felt like it was done by a team that didn't know what kind of vision they wanted and making RE copy trends from other franchises and buckle to player pressure to conform to their wants was a part of that.

[Nintex]

RE6 is a lousy Resident Evil game but a great action game.
With enough skill you can turn it into a John Wick simulator.

[Polident Hive]

I’ve considered returning to RE6 after finishing a third (or fourth?) of it. Played Leon’s story. People said it was the best. Doesn’t bode well for the other two or three.

DMCV is on ps gamepass. Couple levels in, not a fan of timothy chalamet’s combat style. Really fun when switching back to Nero. Cutscenes are amazingly stupid, and even better, they include the pre viz for them. Half the time it’s a Dante action figure on a stick spinning around.

Itsuno explained his thought process behind V in an interview on Bokeh Game Studio's youtube channel. (It's Keiichiro Toyama's new game studio. The guy that made Silent Hill, Siren and Gravity Rush.)



He talks about V from 17:24 on.

Interesting channel. Will finish before watching this specific one about DMCV, where I’m assuming justified V as a bone to Chaos Legion fans. But yeah, a couple of those I’ll need to watch.

From him forming a new studio, I take it Gravity Rush is dead. Shame.

[Hamarr]

I'm completely burnt out on the new style of Assassin's Creed games again. I finished the main storylines for Odyssey and the first expansion before getting burnt out in the second chapter of Fate of Atlantis. They missed something in the gameplay loop there that broke it for me for now.

I saw something Mad Max and installed it again. At the time, I hated it, but am having a blast right now. There's a lot of those Ubi things that are annoying about most open world games, but the combat is fun. There are also nowhere near as many things to go clear like in the Ubi games and maybe more variety of gameplay?  Resource scarcity makes it a little more interesting, too. 

Did the same devs do Rage 2?  I liked certain things about that game, but a lot of them feel like they were done better here. Aside from Rage 2 being much more gun heavy. Shooting in that game was a blast.

[Bebpo]

Not sure who did Rage 2. Mad Max was done by the Just Cause 1/2 devs. Just Cause 3 was made by another team while they did Mad Max IIRC.

And yeah, Mad Max is a fun game. Not sure why it got panned so hard at the time. Maybe people were just tired of Sandbox games. The game is more repetitive than normal for a sandbox game after a while and the melee combat is boring, but driving around the landscape exploring is very cool and atmospheric.