What are you playing?

[Joe Molotov]

Made it to Act 3 of Inscryption. First act felt like the strongest tbh, but I'll reserve judgement until I've finished it.

I also picked up A Space for the Unbound, an adventure/feels simulator about growing up in the 90's in Indonesia that I may or may not have watched a Vtuber play earlier today.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

[close]

[chronovore]

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.

The driving isn’t bad, and the progression system for the car, and Max is fine. The various spaces that are encountered are visually unique, but contain all of the same missions over and over again to get them back up to operating normally. There is no major change from one base to another other than location and appearance. That makes it feel like the original assassin’s creed level of repetition.

[HardcoreRetro]

Coolest thing in Mad Max is the dynamic sand storm thing where you can go out in the storm and try and catch debris for upgrade material.

[MMaRsu]

If you guys like Metro and Stalker so much why arent you playing Tarkov with me 😡

[Svejk]

If you guys like Metro and Stalker so much why arent you playing Tarkov with me 😡

I would suck, and plus that whole PC thing.   

[HardcoreRetro]

I like singeplayer games.

[MMaRsu]

I like singeplayer games.

Ill let you shoot at all the bots

[BIONIC]

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.

Chris’ blood campaign is actually the most fun to play (though that’s not saying much…). With that said, never play RE6 unless it’s with someone else to shit on it with in real time. It’s dreadfully boring in single player.

[Hamarr]

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.

Maybe I should check out Just Cause 1 and 2 after this. I never played those, but did try a little of 3. 

[HardcoreRetro]

I'd skip Just Cause 1. It's really rough. They refined basically everything about the game with Just Cause 2.

It's status as a cross gen PS2 to 360 era gaming title is pretty cool though. Seeing that giant map running on PS2 hardware is amazing.

[Joe Molotov]

I finished Inscryption. I did enjoy it, but like I said earlier, the first act really was the strongest. It had a creepy atmosphere, a cool mystery/escape room vibe, and mechanically it was the most solid. Acts 2 & 3 threw a ton of new card mechanics at you, but a lot of them felt half-baked. You either barely got a chance to even interact with them before they got taken away from you, or they weren't even worth the effort to interface with in the first place. The battles in Acts 2 & 3 were so easy (even the boss fights) and the penalty for losing was almost completely removed, so you could breeze through them without ever worrying about gems or conduits or any of that. A few bog standard 2/1 double-strikers was all you need to go ham on basically every enemy. I think I died three times in all of Acts 2 & 3, but at least 8 times in Act 1 when there was actually a penalty for losing.

I don't want to be too harsh though, I did have fun with it and I enjoyed the story. I wasn't using a guide, so I probably missed a lot of secret stuff (apparently there's a secret boss that I didn't fight). And I know there's a challenge mode you unlock after you beat the story if you just want to fiddle around with the card mechanics some more, but if I'm playing the game just for the mechanics, I'd rather just play Slay the Spire.

[Polident Hive]

I'd skip Just Cause 1. It's really rough. They refined basically everything about the game with Just Cause 2.

It's status as a cross gen PS2 to 360 era gaming title is pretty cool though. Seeing that giant map running on PS2 hardware is amazing.

I tried JC1 after playing JC2. Yeah. One of those instances it’s hard to find any element the sequel didn’t improve on.

What I’ve tried of JC3 and JC4, I’d still opt for JC2.

[chronovore]

I played JC1 to 1000/1000 gamerscore and enjoyed it, but I can't imagine enjoying it after playing JC2 or 3. EVERYTHING is better.

[Himu]

Alien: Isolation - via Game pass on Xbox Series X

[Svejk]

Alien: Isolation - via Game pass on Xbox Series X

What fps does that run on there?

[demi]

Alien Isolation should run at 60, it got FPS Boost

[Himu]

I have Resident Evil 4 on 360. I cannot download that version because Capcom are whores that released a Xbox One RE4. That one is BC. The 360 version isn't. Get this though, the 360 version of RE0 *is* BC.  Either my choices are to continue RE4 game on 360 (which I will do) or rebuy it and start all over. I will say that this is absolute horse shit because X360 is really outdated compared to SX.

Alien: Isolation - via Game pass on Xbox Series X

What fps does that run on there?

Butter smooth because fps boost

Anti alias sucks though

[Nintex]

The Resident Evil games are on sale on the Xbox store like every other week.

Played some more Final Fantasy Angst Stranger of Paradise and I think I'm at the final mission now.
The game loses some steam at the end because it starts to lean on the story and the story makes no goddamn sense. 

It is pretty cool to have most jobs fully upgraded though, Jack is an absolute beast.

[Himu]

I bought Resident Evil 2 and 3 physical. I decided to just play them in order again. I'll rebuy RE4 for series X and start over. To make it sting less I started RE2 remake. This is my first time playing remake it's fantastic. I'm in the jail portion and it's everything I love about RE2 but modernized. I actually think it's more difficult than the original game. It's pretty hardcore. Evading zombies is a challenge and most shots need to count. Hell, the zombies are overpowered here. Even the shotgun doesn't do an instant head decap. You'll spend 3 or so shotgun shells on one zombie. It's insane. Even the original isn't as hardcore as this. I cannot even imagine hard mode. Game is baller. Resource management, tone, atmosphere, it's all legit.

Once I'm with 2 remake I'll do 3, then start over 4, then finally play 7 and 8.

[Svejk]

Curious what you'll think of RE3R.  I could only tolerate it with Jill mods.  Other than that, I never played through the OG one because I hated it back then.  It was definitely not the bee's knees like RE2R is.  I still hated dealing with Nemesis and all its bullshittery.. running away like a little bitch most the time.

[Himu]

RE3 was never as good as 2. I still love it but Nemesis is just X. The different ammo types and combing ammo with powder just complicated stuff but funnily it's something I don't mind in REmake2. So my expectations for REmake 3 are basically "it'll be enjoyable but likely won't be a masterpiece because the original isn't a masterpiece."

Still prefer 3 to CV. CV is the game that could really be catapulted because of a remake fixing its issues (bandersnatches, Steve).

[Himu]

This is the first game since maybe Silent Hill 2 where I had to take a bathroom break because 

[paprikastaude]

Dead Space Remake is peak redundancy. It feels almost identical to my replay of the original a couple of years back. It's really mostly a graphical remake - but the graphics just aren't that amazing. It feels at least half a generation behind Callisto Protocol in visuals, while the original Dead Space still looks exceptional for a PS360 title. So there's very little wow-factor there. The "big" new thing is backtracking. Not only does it add very little, it also caused  already 2 softlocks for me in like 3 hours. The asteroid minigame is gone, but the new thing - albeit shorter - is still decidedly unfun. The new flying mechanics are completely whatever too. The fact that Isaac now sometimes talks with his helmet off just highlights the mid graphics.

Just get the old version for a buck on Steam or through XSX BC if you feel like playing Dead Space again.

[Nintex]

Curious what you'll think of RE3R.  I could only tolerate it with Jill mods.  Other than that, I never played through the OG one because I hated it back then.  It was definitely not the bee's knees like RE2R is.  I still hated dealing with Nemesis and all its bullshittery.. running away like a little bitch most the time.

Resident Evil 3 Remake is a nice companion piece to Resident Evil 2. Sort of like an old expansion.
It wasn't really worth $60 at launch but now that it can be had for much less it's a good enough value overall.

[Bebpo]

Dead Space Remake is peak redundancy. It feels almost identical to my replay of the original a couple of years back. It's really mostly a graphical remake - but the graphics just aren't that amazing. It feels at least half a generation behind Callisto Protocol in visuals, while the original Dead Space still looks exceptional for a PS360 title. So there's very little wow-factor there. The "big" new thing is backtracking. Not only does it add very little, it also caused  already 2 softlocks for me in like 3 hours. The asteroid minigame is gone, but the new thing - albeit shorter - is still decidedly unfun. The new flying mechanics are completely whatever too. The fact that Isaac now sometimes talks with his helmet off just highlights the mid graphics.

Just get the old version for a buck on Steam or through XSX BC if you feel like playing Dead Space again.

Yeah, that's kind of how I've felt about it the whole time. I've had zero interest in this even though I like Dead Space. The game just isn't the kind of visual game where there's a major graphical jump to be found like RE2/RE3/SoTC/Demon Souls. The dark corridors and muted colors only add to that.

I don't really understand why they bothered doing a simple graphical lift remake when it was always going to look like the same mostly. Maybe they should've been more ambitious and remade Dead Space 1 AND 2 and connected them into a single game playthrough or something.

That being said, while I had no intention of picking this up, a friend of mine gifted me a copy, so for free, sure I'll give it a run through since I liked the original. Otherwise would've waited until it was on Game Pass or PS+ or in a Humble Bundle in a year or two to play it.

[Bebpo]

It is pretty weird that everyone was talking shit on Last of Us 1 remake as unnecessary, but everyone seemed fine with this.

Sure feels like Last of Us remake is more of a difference from the original than this. Plus Last of Us remake made sense with the TV show. Hell, I may actually play it after the season ends.

[Himu]

Ada section sucks monkey balls holy shit

A game about skill all of a sudden turns into a knowledge game. Jfc.

Holy crap the Leon sewer part is on some Silent Hill 2 desent into madness shit. FUCK YES!!!

[Bebpo]

Ok, played some of the Dead Space remake. Yeah the graphics are pretty lackluster, 30fps feels bad, 60fps looks barely better than the original, but forget the graphics, I haven't played this game since the original release and...uh, this game isn't very fun these days?

Feels stiff and clunky, the story stuff is dated zzz, and idk the main appeal for these games back in the day was uncovering the mystery and already knowing the whole plot it's just not very interesting? Plus it all looks so ugly and brown and bland. And man, I can't remember the last game I played with an FOV so narrow jeez.

Gave it like 30-40 mins and got bored and quit. This isn't really doing anything for me. Don't think I'll bother with it.

[Himu]

Unpopular opinion: Dead Space has always been mid. You're a space janitor going on space janitor missions. It has never been that fun. Back in the day what pushed it ahead of the pack were the graphics and controls/combat (no stop and shoot in a horror game was a novelty). The story has ways been zzz. You've got a mute protagonist the game tries to make into a big deal when the whole point of mute mc's is to bring you further into the game world rather than the mc's story (GTAIII, SOTC, DQ, Megaten);etc.  A mute protagonist in a horror game is mentally defunct idea unless the game world is rich enough to do it (Megaten, Souls, Bioshock, System Shock) but that's not the case when the setting is an abandoned space station limiting your world building opportunities. So much of Dead Space doesn't work, from its pacing to its errand boy bullshit, to its crappy story. Being told what to do in a horror game, a genre where you traditionally already lack agency because of unknown forces? And you take a shit on that by giving the mc errands? Lol

One of the most overrated horror games of all time.

[Bebpo]

Well, apparently there is a bug that is making the PS5 and PC versions look shitty and only XSX looks fine. Has to do with the Variable Rate Shading and DLSS/FSR not playing nice and making things very low res and blurry a lot.

Maybe the game will look better when they fix that. Will give it another spin after they patch it.

[Bebpo]

Unpopular opinion: Dead Space has always been mid. You're a space janitor going on space janitor missions. It has never been that fun. Back in the day what pushed it ahead of the pack were the graphics and controls/combat (no stop and shoot in a horror game was a novelty). The story has ways been zzz. You've got a mute protagonist the game tries to make into a big deal when the whole point of mute mc's is to bring you further into the game world rather than the mc's story (GTAIII, SOTC, DQ, Megaten);etc.  A mute protagonist in a horror game is mentally defunct idea unless the game world is rich enough to do it (Megaten, Souls) but that's not the case when the setting is an abandoned space station limiting your world building opportunities. So much of Dead Space doesn't work, from its pacing to its errand boy bullshit, to its crappy story. Being told what to do in a horror game, a genre where you traditionally already lack agency because of unknown forces? And you take a shit on that by giving the mc errands? Lol

One of the most overrated horror games of all time.

I actually thought the stories were pretty good Event Horizon stuff. They also had good combat at the time, just not sure how well it holds up. I definitely remember it being a lot of survival wave arenas which you either like, dislike, or don't mind. And yeah it looked real nice at the time.

[Bebpo]

Also, actually watching what the original looked like



Yeah, the new one looks a lot better. But the new one still looks pretty last-gen at the same time. Also, only so much you can do with hallways for art direction.

[BIONIC]

Dead Space Remake is peak redundancy. It feels almost identical to my replay of the original a couple of years back. It's really mostly a graphical remake - but the graphics just aren't that amazing. It feels at least half a generation behind Callisto Protocol in visuals, while the original Dead Space still looks exceptional for a PS360 title. So there's very little wow-factor there. The "big" new thing is backtracking. Not only does it add very little, it also caused  already 2 softlocks for me in like 3 hours. The asteroid minigame is gone, but the new thing - albeit shorter - is still decidedly unfun. The new flying mechanics are completely whatever too. The fact that Isaac now sometimes talks with his helmet off just highlights the mid graphics.

Just get the old version for a buck on Steam or through XSX BC if you feel like playing Dead Space again.

Yeah, I love TLOU and I quite like DS1, but there was no way in fucking hell I was buying these shit ass “remakes” for games that still play and look more than fine for more money than what they launched at over a decade ago 

Will get them when they’re like at most 15 bucks a pop in a couple of years for replay purposes.

[HardcoreRetro]

Gonna agree with Paprikastaude. Having played the original just before Callisto Protocol puts even more of a spotlight on it.

There's some things to like about the remake, but it's certainly not worth the 80 euros I paid for it. Get the original and wait for this to go on sale.

The things I liked.
The new 3D audio setting in the menu. Game sounds amazing with a good pair of cans.
The reworked necromorphs. Instead of just the limbs falling off they're now layered where first the skin gives way, followed by the muscles and then bones.
Having the Ishimura being one giant map instead of 12 levels. The tram station now actually functions as transit and not a loading screen.
60 fps on consoles.

If you didn't like the original in the first place? Hard pass.

[Nintex]

80 seemed way to expensive for a Dead Space Remake.

Mass Effect Legendary Edition got my hopes up for more collections. I picked it up for 50 at launch and it had all Mass Effect games and nearly all DLC.
Would've been better to port Dead Space and Dead Space: Extraction to Switch/PC (that was a seriously fun Wii game) and put Dead Space 1 + 2 (maybe 3) in a single package for PC/PS4/5/XBS.
Release them for 60 vanilla with a 100 steelbook collectors thing, that you know the fans will lap up. Bioshock managed quite long legs with the trilogy releases on nearly all platforms.

Now the game drops at 80, peeps find it too expensive and by the time it drops in price the audience has moved on to Hogwarts and Resident Evil 4 Remake.
Only leaving early adapters dissapointed that they paid 80 for a game that is 50% off in a month. EA learns the wrong lessons and think people don't want this type of single player game or remaster anyway.

[MMaRsu]

Dead Space Remake is peak redundancy. It feels almost identical to my replay of the original a couple of years back. It's really mostly a graphical remake - but the graphics just aren't that amazing. It feels at least half a generation behind Callisto Protocol in visuals, while the original Dead Space still looks exceptional for a PS360 title. So there's very little wow-factor there. The "big" new thing is backtracking. Not only does it add very little, it also caused  already 2 softlocks for me in like 3 hours. The asteroid minigame is gone, but the new thing - albeit shorter - is still decidedly unfun. The new flying mechanics are completely whatever too. The fact that Isaac now sometimes talks with his helmet off just highlights the mid graphics.

Just get the old version for a buck on Steam or through XSX BC if you feel like playing Dead Space again.

Not to mention it has that denuvo trash causing performance issues on pc

[paprikastaude]

Also, actually watching what the original looked like



Yeah, the new one looks a lot better. But the new one still looks pretty last-gen at the same time. Also, only so much you can do with hallways for art direction.

Obviously it looks better. But it's more like matching what it looked like in your memory, instead of delivering the quality you'd want from a full priced next gen only remake. Demon's Souls blows this out of the water. Also Callisto blows this out the water graphically, which might be the biggest problem for my reception of this title only a month later.

Since the groundwork is largely the same, mindblowing grafx was like their only job. That and fixing the asteroids, which is also kinda half-assed. And the little new thing they add, backtracking, is causing glitches in my playthrough.

At a cheaper price this will obviously be the definitive choice for Dead Space - a game that was more than fine and easily available anyway, making this pretty much wasted resources all around.

[Bebpo]

After finishing VA-11 Hall-a, I was in the mood for more cyberpunk Sega CD throwbacks, so I'm playing 2064: Read Only Memories



Holy fuck this game is programmed shitty. The whole thing lags, crashes, has bugs. Text advancement is slow and clunky as is menu and interaction usage. Not sure if any of the later console ports were better than the PC version. Hitting up google at least the Vita version was crashing as well. It's so clunky it'll actually be hard to get through this and need to save every scene just in case.

The writing is pretty poor. Especially compared to VA-11 Hall-a which read well. This has way too much unnecessary text and it's just not well written stuff. The VA is also kind of obnoxious. I read the characters are voiced by youtube personalities. I turned VA off.

But the sprite art, like VA-11 Hall-a, is gorgeous and the music is really good. So I'm sticking with it for now. Just hit chapter 2.

After this I think it's finally time to find a decent Sega CD emulator and play Snatcher and then play Policenauts either on my PS3 (PS1 classics) or an emulator. Been meaning to play them forever, it's just every time I get started I get bored quick and bail.

[Nintex]

Beat the final mission of Stranger of Paradise today.

This game should not exist but yet it does, perhaps the least 'modern game' out there right now. It's a 20 hour action romp. It doesn't explain anything just mash buttons and shit explodes.
Fast paced, exciting, there isn't a whole lot of bullshit. But as far as the story goes I don't know what Square Enix is on because it's just fucking crazy how they managed to give Final Fantasy I this convoluted prequel.
The music is great too, it remixes all these Final Fantasy themes into buttrock and orchestra pieces.

My only gripe is that the level design is also from a bygone age. Destroy 3 statues, find 3 orbs, do 3 this, do 3 that. There could've been a bit more variety in that.
Also the loot system is... generous. To the point that you spend discarding or storing tons of items you'll never use again as the new item you find is always better than the previous.

I will probably get the season pass on sale at some point, I hear the DLC is pretty good too.

After that I played some Goldeneye on Xbox.

Fun to play this relic again, I remember playing multiplayer a lot but I never owned an N64 so I didn't see much of the singleplayer.
Some things just can't be beat, like the 90's gun sounds and just mowing down these Russian soldiers as they gang up on you (I do think this remaster ROM spawns more enemies?) But overall you can tell that this game is old. Text instead of voice acting, faces, well you can't really make those out. I don't know why the gaming community at large has to be so 'weird' about this game. It's awesome that we can play Goldeneye again on GamePass after 25 years. It's not going to live up to your expectations if you've never played it before and it'll never be as cool as it was in 1997. But it's good fun to revisit. To me though, GoldenEye was only ever good as a 'console shooter' as my brother was big on PC gaming I had already seen Duke Nukem 3D and just a year after GoldenEye Half Life dropped and that was the big game changer. I think folks underestimate just how far console gaming was behind back then when it came to FPS games. They didn't really catch up until the Xbox 360.

[Himu]

Beat Leon A on Resident Evil 2 Remake

There's some nitpicks, mostly the sewer section, but I'm positive they'll iron out on replays. It sits as a nearly perfect reimagining of a horror classic. The original RE2 is actually pretty easy. It's really, really easy to dodge enemies for example. Here that's not the case. Zombies are sponges and it's far more tactical to shoot them in the head to get a stagger and then run away rather than classical RE zombie dodging or wasting an entire mag of bullets to kill one brain eater. What a package of a game. I'm not sure if it's as good as the original REmake, my litmus test for game remakes, but if it's not there it's damn close.

Now for Claire B.

[Polident Hive]

Messing with DMC3. Not particularly good at these games. If anything, am worse at them than I was in my youth. But I’m breezing through it and I remember it kicking my ass back then. What I’m learning, the original DMC3 on PS2 has Japan’s hard mode as normal. Every release to follow, including the budget rerelease on PS2, corrected it. Sure. Also, the Switch version has an exclusive mode to bring in DMC4/V style switching to DMC3, so some consider it the definitive edition.

[Himu]

More thoughts on Resident Evil 2 Remake:

Note that I have not played VII or VIII but to my knowledge, they are more serious in tone while returning to the series' roots in classical horror as opposed to the more action thriller oriented approach of RE5 and 6. RE2 cribbing from its original game isn't much of a surprise. What is a surprise is the change in tone. Similarly to the original REmake, REmake 2 is more serious, less giggles, less cheese and this impacts the gameplay in a tremendous way by making it more "realistic" if it were by having wooden boards, zombies taking longer to go down, and ammo being more sparse compared to the original.

I noticed that the RE logo is the same for all of the modern titles, including the new RE4 remake.

Why this matters - Because it feels like Resident Evil as a franchise now likes to stick to its brand of serious horror. The franchise is more consistent now in the tone and gameplay style it hopes to achieve. Because of this, I think we can expect REmake 4 to be more serious in tone, less jokey. This is all pretty significant because in the original Leon barely takes anyone seriously and is dropping one-liner after one-liner. The result is a game that is more action-oriented and packed than any of the previous Resident Evil's up to this point. I expect RE4's remake to be a tremendous departure from the original. The trailer we've seen so far hints at that but I think it'll be a shock for many people for sure. This means the game will probably have less suplexes, less "you're small time". The tone and gameplay may transition from being more action-packed to complete horror show and I don't think a lot of people are ready for this. In REmake 2 there's a lot of points where the game "breaks" its rules. Marvin turns into a zombie, and some zombies start to follow you into the Main Hall, a previously safe place. Rule break #1. Later, you encounter Mr. X. You learn he can follow you into Main Hall. Nowhere is safe except a few rooms. Rule break #2. This is all thanks to REmake 2 not having a single load time and the area is interconnected. In RE4 one of the main things that keeps you safe are maps. If you want to avoid a fight you can just dodge some Los Illuminaods and head for the door. They won't be able to follow you. What if in REmake 4...they can?



Combined with more limited ammo, no loading between maps it could probably lead to the entire game having the same tone as when you first visit the village and you're attacked until the bell rings. It could be a total game changer and now REmake 4 is my most anticipated game because of the sheer potential. It's already the best 3d game ever made but there's potential here, if they don't fuck it up, to make it even better.

[Himu]

I checked to see if there was any new RE4 remake footage and...I was right about everything.



Holy shit. I need to play 7 and 8.

[Nintex]

Yeah all that but

And Resi Village was quite cheesy at times although not always intentional.

Still I doubt the President equipped his daughter with ballistics this time around.

[Himu]

"Bill me later for repairs" is just funny. It's not the same thing as "ballistics" "small time" "MIIIIIKE" or being chased by a gigantic statue of a dwarf.

[chronovore]

Dead Space Remake is peak redundancy. It feels almost identical to my replay of the original a couple of years back. It's really mostly a graphical remake - but the graphics just aren't that amazing. It feels at least half a generation behind Callisto Protocol in visuals, while the original Dead Space still looks exceptional for a PS360 title. So there's very little wow-factor there. The "big" new thing is backtracking. Not only does it add very little, it also caused  already 2 softlocks for me in like 3 hours. The asteroid minigame is gone, but the new thing - albeit shorter - is still decidedly unfun. The new flying mechanics are completely whatever too. The fact that Isaac now sometimes talks with his helmet off just highlights the mid graphics.

Just get the old version for a buck on Steam or through XSX BC if you feel like playing Dead Space again.

I still have my 360 disc, and it's backwards-compatible on Xbone, which Sho Nuff gifted me. YAY!

[Himu]

Wow. Claire 2nd run is hard as shit. Just go and take away my convenient ass main hall item box. OMG. Then they make her weaker and shorter because she's a woman and her being shorter makes it harder to aim at heads at times as they tower over you. Good Lord this game is so legit.

Damn you speed through 2nd part in this lmao



Sherry section is fantastic. I'm already at the lab lmao

[Nintex]

Claire has a grenade launcher and a revolver and is easy mode

[HardcoreRetro]

You have to play RE7. It still has that balance between horror and goofy shit like RE4 did. The Baker family are probably my favourite villains from the last gen. They basically took the family from Texas Chainsaw Massacre and made it a game.

The game's second opening literally opens up on this.



If you want to see the goofy shit taken to the extreme, be sure to play the End of Zoe DLC.

[Himu]

Claire has a grenade launcher and a revolver and is easy mode

I've learned that but her 9mm barely gets ammo and she deals with less typewriters at least initially.

Honestly 2nd run lowers the games quality significantly to the point of being redundant to the 1st run. If you're not going to do the two character set up right don't do it all.

It resuses puzzles, reuses bosses. The game also suffers from a lack of enemy variety. No spiders for instance, all replaced by plant zombies, and even thei alligator isn't fought. It's just a Crash Bandicoot run sequence. In the original game scenario B is really, really different and your choices in scenario A really, really impacts what happens to the other character.

So no, it doesn't replace the original. You could even argue the original 2 is better. Still a fantastic game but clearly lacks the love and reverence REmake had for Resident Evil 1.

Doesn't bode well for REmake 3.

[Svejk]

RE7 VR was one of the top 5 most incredible gaming experiences ever.  Absolutely phenomenal.  I have RE8, but refuse to play it until I get my talons in a PSVR2.  Holy shit I can't wait!

[Nintex]

Booted up Skyward Sword HD today, been meaning to for a while after I picked it up when it originally released.

The original was very blurry but the game looks gorgeous on Switch. The normal controls take some time to get used to. I never realized this but this game is both a beta for Breath of the Wild as well as a 'Souls' game.
Parrying is very important and each enemy type drops material that can be used to craft or upgrade items a mechanic I mostly overlooked when I originally played it on Wii. I'm planning to dig more into the optional and sidequest stuff this time around instead of just doing the main story. Also the soundtrack of this game just absolutely slaps. I'm excited to see what the other areas look like. I remember the lava and water stuff already looking good on Wii so I expect a big glow up for those areas in this HD version.

[Nintex]

Played some more Goldeneye

There's an impressive mission variety in this game compared to modern day FPS games. Hostage rescue, rush through a missile silo etc. .
Not many folks seem to be playing though, I'm getting "Rare achievement" awards on mission 7. Guess many couldn't beat Silo? Currently on Surface 2. Which is probably one of the weaker levels overall.

It holds up on Xbox Series X I guess, it's pretty much an emulated port with some glitches and a poor framerate. The XBLA version that never released seemed much superior to this version. 

[Himu]

Beat Resident Evil 2 remake 2nd run. Fantastic game but has flaws mostly in puzzle repetition in B mode, lack of enemy variety, and lack of good bosses and boss variety. Taking out the plant boss, gator boss and more really put a damper on the games quality. Also there was too much Mr. X. I feel like he should only be on B scenario. In the original he's only in B scenario and this makes him more impactful. In the remake you fight him in both runs and that's a problem because....in second run you've already mastered avoiding him and staving him off and stuff. There's also the issue of Leon and Claire barely interacting with each other or running into each other.  As it is, second run really pushes the game quality down from A+ to A- or B+. Second run feels like it has lower stakes and for that I can't say the game is smooth all around. But what it is besides the flaws is a fantastic take on a classic game. Now for the other modes. I'm shocked at no Mercs.

If I had any nitpicks it's that the game doesn't cater to the original ENOUGH. No "RESIDENT EVIL 2" voice at the title, no iconic door animation when you boot it up, no typewriter at load game or beginning of the game that's like,"this was their welcome to survival horror" or something. You just get a generic concept art of the police station with some tutorial hint when they could have taken the opportunity to further establish mood. Another nitpick is the lack of music, often in save rooms. The save room should have tranquility and music in RE traditionally is a part of that. The music here just eventually fades out or isn't there to begin with.

[Svejk]

After finishing VA-11 Hall-a, I was in the mood for more cyberpunk Sega CD throwbacks, so I'm playing 2064: Read Only Memories

(Image removed from quote.)

Holy fuck this game is programmed shitty. The whole thing lags, crashes, has bugs. Text advancement is slow and clunky as is menu and interaction usage. Not sure if any of the later console ports were better than the PC version. Hitting up google at least the Vita version was crashing as well. It's so clunky it'll actually be hard to get through this and need to save every scene just in case.

The writing is pretty poor. Especially compared to VA-11 Hall-a which read well. This has way too much unnecessary text and it's just not well written stuff. The VA is also kind of obnoxious. I read the characters are voiced by youtube personalities. I turned VA off.

But the sprite art, like VA-11 Hall-a, is gorgeous and the music is really good. So I'm sticking with it for now. Just hit chapter 2.

After this I think it's finally time to find a decent Sega CD emulator and play Snatcher and then play Policenauts either on my PS3 (PS1 classics) or an emulator. Been meaning to play them forever, it's just every time I get started I get bored quick and bail.

ROM got real boring, real quick for me.  It's like they're trying to capture a Snatcher vibe, but it didn't feel anywhere as immersive and the story was not pulling me along at all.

[Svejk]

Booted up Skyward Sword HD today, been meaning to for a while after I picked it up when it originally released.

The original was very blurry but the game looks gorgeous on Switch. The normal controls take some time to get used to. I never realized this but this game is both a beta for Breath of the Wild as well as a 'Souls' game.
Parrying is very important and each enemy type drops material that can be used to craft or upgrade items a mechanic I mostly overlooked when I originally played it on Wii. I'm planning to dig more into the optional and sidequest stuff this time around instead of just doing the main story. Also the soundtrack of this game just absolutely slaps. I'm excited to see what the other areas look like. I remember the lava and water stuff already looking good on Wii so I expect a big glow up for those areas in this HD version.

My daughter played the shit out of it and was telling me they changed little things for the worse, like when you're falling, unlike the Wii version, it'll deploy your sailcloth automatically before you hit the ground.  That's just dumb to change such a thing.

[Nintex]

Booted up Skyward Sword HD today, been meaning to for a while after I picked it up when it originally released.

The original was very blurry but the game looks gorgeous on Switch. The normal controls take some time to get used to. I never realized this but this game is both a beta for Breath of the Wild as well as a 'Souls' game.
Parrying is very important and each enemy type drops material that can be used to craft or upgrade items a mechanic I mostly overlooked when I originally played it on Wii. I'm planning to dig more into the optional and sidequest stuff this time around instead of just doing the main story. Also the soundtrack of this game just absolutely slaps. I'm excited to see what the other areas look like. I remember the lava and water stuff already looking good on Wii so I expect a big glow up for those areas in this HD version.

My daughter played the shit out of it and was telling me they changed little things for the worse, like when you're falling, unlike the Wii version, it'll deploy your sailcloth automatically before you hit the ground.  That's just dumb to change such a thing.

So far there seems to be less handholding.

- The first character you talk to no longer explains all the controls and mechanics in depth
- You can fast forward dialogue
- Fi doesn't auto solve puzzles anymore, you'll have to ask for her help
- The Sheikah stone at the start of game is gone
- Free camera control is added
- The game no longer repeats the same item pick-up animations after you load a save

[Svejk]

Metro: Exodus – Definitely a step up in the graphics department.  The controls are a bit more streamlined too.  It has a different vibe but still feels like the prior Metros in a lot of ways.  But there’s one thing that sucks bad though… Most the cutscenes are all completely scripted; There’s zero control when they initiate.  Even in the scripted events in the prior installments, you can at least move the camera around to look… In this one, you can’t even do that.  So far, there’s been zero action scenes that let you play them other than gun firing, climb ladders and opening doors.  There was a runaway train segment and you’re supposed to set a bomb in it and jump onto another moving train.  You just show up to trigger the “realtime” cutscenes.. You can just put the controller down and it’ll all happen by itself.  Why can’t I place the bomb?  Why can’t I make the running jump to the train?  These immersive gameplay mechanics in the prior games, like wiping your visor/mask and such, almost mean nothing in this installment so far. 

However, the scarcity of ammo seems less forgiving in this one, so that builds some tension.  Granted the areas are larger and probably have more stuff littered about, so it may be better to explore more, but I want to just move along.  One thing that feels like a double edged sword is the context sensitive prompt when picking stuff up.  It seems even more cumbersome and is harder to prompt than the prior games… However, it’s like they did it on purpose to have you rummage the screen/area longer only to force you to notice little details that are pretty cool.  I dunno.

So far I’m going to stick with it, but I’m a bit skeptical of when the game’s hubs really open up more.  I’m still suffering spats of open world fatigue.  This may tie me over until Wanted: Dead releases in about 2 weeks.  Can’t wait to fuck shit up in that game.

[BikeJesus]

I decided to pick up the Dead Space remake.

After a couple hours, split between my PC and Steam Deck, I have to say that this feels like a remaster. It feels exactly like the original, which I played through on the Steam Deck a couple months ago. The graphics are nice, and it isn't exactly 1-1, but it feels just like the original.

The original is still great, and the new one is equally great. Not worth full price, and it also has some loading chug on PC.

[Himu]

Dled Signalis on a whim from Game Pass. It's pretty fantastic. It reminds me of a game we would have gotten on Nintendo DS, even down to the pixelated graphics. More than that, it shows me how much charm gaming has lost by transitioning to a mostly voice acted medium. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing inherently bad with voice acting but it does limit one's creativity and immersion because you're relying on a voiced format that has to present to the player a specific mood. But when you're forced to read you're allowed more freedom of interpretation and there's a greater emphasis on the video game side interaction as well as visual story clues. It's a feel that made certain genres, notably RPGs, feel more collaborative and interpretative. All this and more is in Signalis. Without the shackles of voice acting the developer's have their paints primed and can make any type of stroke they please on the canvas they're modeled. I'm not going to say voice acting weakened gaming. But I will say that by making almost every game voiced it did make games a lot less interesting.

Moreover, voices changed the medium from being mostly interactive to being more cinematic. Signalis hits all the right buttons. It's basically 2d Resident Evil in space.