Random Gaming Talk Thread

[Joe Molotov]

Hi are you playing Balatro? You should definitely be playing Balatro

I'm playing Balatro.

[bork]

Contra: Operation Galuga comes out next Tuesday; 03/12. 

Played the shit out of the demo, so I’m all in for this.  Will tie me over just nice till Dragon’s Dogma 2 on the 22nd.

Really?  Wasn't impressed, but I see that the demo got patched several times.  Apparently it's the same team who made Spidersaurs at WF who did Contra- didn't think that game was very good.

[bork]

https://twitter.com/yuzuemu/status/1764733659444064671

[Polident Hive]

It’s my understanding that yuzu can pretty much play everything already? People have already preserved all the files. It’s something to worry about for future games. Uh, Metroid Prime 4? Or the potential Switch 2 emulators.

Citra. Think I’ve done something wrong because it’s never played well on Steam Deck.

Hi are you playing Balatro? You should definitely be playing Balatro

I played the demo for an embarrassing amount of hours. Holding off on buying it for my own sake.

Who knew blending gambling and roguelikes could be somewhat addictive.

[Svejk]

Contra: Operation Galuga comes out next Tuesday; 03/12. 

Played the shit out of the demo, so I’m all in for this.  Will tie me over just nice till Dragon’s Dogma 2 on the 22nd.

Really?  Wasn't impressed, but I see that the demo got patched several times.  Apparently it's the same team who made Spidersaurs at WF who did Contra- didn't think that game was very good.

It's not my favorite art direction, but still good enough.  The gameplay options seem to make the first stage really easy, but I expect the difficulty to ramp up significantly.  Loved the QOL details like weapons stacking (yeah, they've been doing that since Hard Corps) along with overload shots, weapons falling to empty slots automatically, character specific perks, 360 aiming.  I was against that at first, but I kinda liked it the more I played.  I'm stoked for all the content they claim is jammed into it....
...
....
All jammed up in there with meat.

[Bebpo]

Supposedly Virtua Fighter is coming back for real with new characters and a real sequel/reboot.

But...Sega dropped the ball on VF. Unlike Crazy Taxi/JSR, no one outside a few VF fans are going to care about a new VF in 2024 or 2025. You watch this and



No one knows Virtua Fighter anymore. Even among the hardcore fighting game fans. It's depressing as a VF fan (my favorite fighting game series), but this is a grave Sega dug for decades and it's 100% their fault for not even giving half a shit to do a new entry once every decade and keep the IP even minorly relevant. What a joke. The new VF is going to bomb harder than anything else they'll revive.

[Himu]

Sega is fucking distinguished mentally-challenged and ruined a legacy franchise. Let Tekken be the only real 3d fighter for a full decade. What in the fuck.

[bork]

Supposedly Virtua Fighter is coming back for real with new characters and a real sequel/reboot.

But...Sega dropped the ball on VF. Unlike Crazy Taxi/JSR, no one outside a few VF fans are going to care about a new VF in 2024 or 2025. You watch this and



No one knows Virtua Fighter anymore. Even among the hardcore fighting game fans. It's depressing as a VF fan (my favorite fighting game series), but this is a grave Sega dug for decades and it's 100% their fault for not even giving half a shit to do a new entry once every decade and keep the IP even minorly relevant. What a joke. The new VF is going to bomb harder than anything else they'll revive.

That's not a good video to go by.  He's at an anime convention asking mostly youngins' and some of them don't even know who some of the biggest characters are.  Doesn't really mean much since those games were arguably at their height in popularity 20-30 years ago already and even the revival with SF4 was back back in 2008-2009 already.  Most of those people he's talking to were either babies or not born yet.  Hell, they don't even seem to know who he is! 

But do I think a new Virtua Fighter would do well?  Depends on how they do it, I think.  If it's just like "heeeeey here's another version of VF5 with a character or two thrown in" then yeah, dead on arrival.  But maybe it will be a new team behind it and frankly I think that would be a good thing.

[Svejk]

Sounds like they're wanting to basically reboot the series as a whole...

The supposed insider leak...

Virtua Fighter
• It is online and esports focused and has online and offline modes including customization modes.
• There are new characters with a modern art style and character artist.
• It is a game concept that changed many times since 2021 up to now.
Streaming and spectating implementation is an important part of this title and Super Game concept.
• It is a reboot of the Virtua Fighter series in development by current Virtua Fighter staff.
• It is a title releasing on all major platforms with crossplay and rollback.
This is a Virtua Fighter title that is developed to be a modern competitor to Street Fighter and Tekken with esports concepts and mechanics that are similar to current Street Fighter and other fighting games. It is a concept that evolved a lot.
And there is all new main story and side stories with brand new characters.
And there is an evolution of ranked matches that is similar to modern fighting games. This is a title that is focusing on scaling with the player and their play styles when they play online.

Someone also asked "Quest Mode from VF4 coming back?" Which they replied "Yes. And in a new way."

Haven't loved a VF since VF2 (not big on fighters anymore), but they already lost me at "a modern art style".  That immediately sets off a flag for me.

On top of other Sega news, this does not bring me further hope for them....
https://www.gematsu.com/2024/02/sega-appoints-former-disney-and-scopely-executive-justin-scarpone-to-lead-global-transmedia-strategy

Seeing Disney in the same sentence as Sega is another flag, as they still want to bring the other masses of products, movies and stuff that aren't videogames to the table... Not holding my breath for this revival...

I may be jumping the gun, but sorry Sega...

[Svejk]

https://twitter.com/yuzuemu/status/1764733659444064671

Yuzu Nintendo Switch Emulator Lives On With The Nuzu, Suyu Projects

https://wccftech.com/yuzu-lives-on/

[MMaRsu]

Dragons dogma.2 30fps

The game has an uncapped framerate," Itsuno tells me through a translator. "We're aiming to go at around or higher than 30 FPS. That is for consoles as well. There are some functions that you can turn on and off, but there aren't multiple sets of options that you can change at once [likely alluding to visual presets seen in the options of other games on consoles today]. But yeah, the frame rate will come uncapped for all consoles"

[Svejk]

Apparently Sony has snagged the FF7 Remake Trilogy as Console (and eventually PC) exclusive. Sorry boners and Switcheroo 2's.

[Svejk]

[MMaRsu]

Holy shit at the Sweet Baby Inc fallout. Resetera clowns are calling it Gamergate 2.0

While I call it trash

I don't care that much, I will buy games that SBI consulted for.

What I do care about is their employees spouting racist shit on Twitter, and then Kotaku's senior editor pretending that never happened and

"you cant be racist against white people"

And then you see tons of other journalists doing the same.
I saw a guy who in his bio said he was a professor at some college, saying you cannot be racist against white people because they arent an oppressed group or marginalized. What in the actual fuck???

What's wrong with these people?

If your going to fling shit across a fence, don't act like your shit doesnt stink. So stuck in a bubble and blocking everyone who even asks the polite question of 'are you even correct in your assesment of the situation?'

If you don't want intelligent discourse, why even create articles. Why even ramble on Twitter if your just going to block anyone who disagrees with your notions?

Came across this shit too, pretty on point.



The CEO of SBI tried to get his followers to mass report the guy's steam account who made the group on Steam, and is trying to doxx the guy as well.

Like what in the actual fuck? At what point do they go

[Svejk]

Holy shit at the Sweet Baby Inc fallout. Resetera clowns are calling it Gamergate 2.0

While I call it trash

I don't care that much, I will buy games that SBI consulted for.

What I do care about is their employees spouting racist shit on Twitter, and then Kotaku's senior editor pretending that never happened and

"you cant be racist against white people"

And then you see tons of other journalists doing the same.
I saw a guy who in his bio said he was a professor at some college, saying you cannot be racist against white people because they arent an oppressed group or marginalized. What in the actual fuck???

What's wrong with these people?

If your going to fling shit across a fence, don't act like your shit doesnt stink. So stuck in a bubble and blocking everyone who even asks the polite question of 'are you even correct in your assesment of the situation?'

If you don't want intelligent discourse, why even create articles. Why even ramble on Twitter if your just going to block anyone who disagrees with your notions?

Came across this shit too, pretty on point.

(Image removed from quote.)

The CEO of SBI tried to get his followers to mass report the guy's steam account who made the group on Steam, and is trying to doxx the guy as well.

Like what in the actual fuck? At what point do they go

(Image removed from quote.)

It's staggering how shrouded their perspective on shit is.  I could say alot, but I won't.  But I will say that I pre-ordered the shit out of Stellar Blade, Deluxe Edition.    The REEEEEEtards thread on it is comedy gold.  The popcorn has never tasted so good with their salty tears.

And how in the hell is Kotaku still functioning?
 

[Svejk]

Akira Toriyama had passed away.  He was 68.

[MMaRsu]

https://twitter.com/diegoarguello66/status/1766104428673708501

You cant make this shit up 

[bork]

Holy shit at the Sweet Baby Inc fallout. Resetera clowns are calling it Gamergate 2.0

They're not the only ones calling it that- people on both sides like to say it's GG 2.0.  I made the mistake of clicking on a suggested YT video about Sweet Baby and now I keep getting video recs from some dude who can't stop talking about them

[Svejk]

Contra: Operation Galuga is getting OK reviews.  Seems the typical journos that get it, and those that don't.  But the ones that get it seem to all say that it starts off pretty strong, but gets questionable near the end with their design choices.  Still gonna get it, but not for the $40 price tag for an hour long game.  Would most definitely get Tomb Raider Remaster for $10 less than this if I were to choose.  Konami gonna Konami I guess.

[chronovore]

Contra: Operation Galuga is getting OK reviews.  Seems the typical journos that get it, and those that don't.  But the ones that get it seem to all say that it starts off pretty strong, but gets questionable near the end with their design choices.  Still gonna get it, but not for the $40 price tag for an hour long game.  Would most definitely get Tomb Raider Remaster for $10 less than this if I were to choose.  Konami gonna Konami I guess.

Are there any replay options, like HADES' Pact of Punishment?

[D3RANG3D]

[bork]

Contra: Operation Galuga is getting OK reviews.  Seems the typical journos that get it, and those that don't.  But the ones that get it seem to all say that it starts off pretty strong, but gets questionable near the end with their design choices.  Still gonna get it, but not for the $40 price tag for an hour long game.  Would most definitely get Tomb Raider Remaster for $10 less than this if I were to choose.  Konami gonna Konami I guess.

Are there any replay options, like HADES' Pact of Punishment?

The game has a story mode, arcade mode (up to 4P co-op and bosses have more attacks), and a challenge mode (which Konami says is 30 missions long).

Steam reviews are pretty positive but there's a heavy dose of "I finished this in two hours and the price is way too high" going on.  In fairness...what do they expect?  This type of game isn't going to be very long.

Someone on the discussion for it recommended Huntdown as a cheaper alternative.  That game is half the price and it's an awesome 2D shooter.

[bork]

It's $28 on Green Man Gaming.  Eight bucks more than I'd like, but what the hey I'll splurge.

[demi]

Grandia coming to Xbox! Times are changing

Also I'm buying Grandia for a third time

[Svejk]

It's $28 on Green Man Gaming.  Eight bucks more than I'd like, but what the hey I'll splurge.

Contra is $35 on PSN.. Probably gonna bite.  Watched some playthrough segments and it has a ton of throw back weapons and perks from Hard Corps and Contra 4, like the grapple hook.

Annnnnd Huntdown is on sale for $4 on PSN.  Just got boffum for $40.
 

[bork]

It's $28 on Green Man Gaming.  Eight bucks more than I'd like, but what the hey I'll splurge.

Contra is $35 on PSN.. Probably gonna bite.  Watched some playthrough segments and it has a ton of throw back weapons and perks from Hard Corps and Contra 4, like the grapple hook.

Annnnnd Huntdown is on sale for $4 on PSN.  Just got boffum for $40.
 

I think you'll like Huntdown- there's a boss who talks like Macho Man in there too!

Would also recommend Death Wish Enforcers- it's like Sunset Riders.

[bork]

[benjipwns]

I didn't know there was a licensing deal going on:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2398170/BORE_BLASTERS/

[Joe Molotov]

Demi sold the forum for 7 Million Venezuelan Bolívares.

[Himu]

:damn

We ate so well. Spoiled, really.

[Polident Hive]

After however much rigmarole around new computers, I ended up buying an updated version of the same lenovo legion laptop I’ve been using 

Pretty good price. Still too big to actually use as a laptop. But what’s nice is PC stagnation means it can play most games comfortably in quiet mode at 1440p 60fps. Enough headroom that sacrificing 10-20% performance for less heat and fan noise is viable.

[D3RANG3D]

[Polident Hive]

https://twitter.com/wario64/status/1769848177291862186

[Svejk]

Famitsu gave Rise of the Ronin 37/40, compared to 36/40, which Nioh, Nioh 2 and Wo Long all received.
 

[bork]

Famitsu gave Rise of the Ronin 37/40, compared to 36/40, which Nioh, Nioh 2 and Wo Long all received.
 

But it's also Famitsu, so none of it matters.
 

Check Youtube.  There was a preview version sent out to a number of folks/outlets and you can get some decent impressions from those videos.  A lot of people thought it was just OK with generally unimpressive visuals for the platform.  Some have also gotten it early (mainly from Walmart) and you can find impressions on Reddit.

I'm still pretty interested in it and plan on picking it up.

[Svejk]

Famitsu gave Rise of the Ronin 37/40, compared to 36/40, which Nioh, Nioh 2 and Wo Long all received.
 

But it's also Famitsu, so none of it matters.
 

Check Youtube.  There was a preview version sent out to a number of folks/outlets and you can get some decent impressions from those videos.  A lot of people thought it was just OK with generally unimpressive visuals for the platform.  Some have also gotten it early (mainly from Walmart) and you can find impressions on Reddit.

I'm still pretty interested in it and plan on picking it up.

I thought people praise Famitsu for some reason...    I may pick it up next year during a drought.. Too many other *gulp open world games I got lined up for this year.

But whogas what they think, because Dragon's Dogma 2 is pre-loaded and ready to drop reviews, so no other game matters. 

[Himu]

at one point in time, famitsu reviews used to be coveted but they lost prestige. I haven't heard anything about famitsu in years.

[bork]

at one point in time, famitsu reviews used to be coveted but they lost prestige. I haven't heard anything about famitsu in years.

They got exposed for moneyhatting a long time ago and just generally having shitty review blurbs.

In fact IIRC, a past member of this forum exposed them after they gave that shitty Dirge of Cerberus PS2 game a decent score  Note that the Japanese version was worse than the international release for reasons I can't remember (might have been forced mobile or required Internet stuff?)

Here's a classic parody post on it:

https://www.neogaf.com/threads/famitsu-897-scores.85022/#post-2744553

FAMITSU CROSS REVIEW: DIRGE OF CERBERUS

7 - "It was hard to choose a score, as I've never played an FPS before. Then again, I've never played any of the games I review."

7 - "This game should appeal to fans of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, as well as anyone else skilled at the art of incredible self-deception."

7 - "So the levels are lackluster and the controls are completely ass-backwards--did you see Yuffie's creamy thighs?"

7 - "Rest assured, I write all of my reviews with the same careful attention to detail that Square Enix brings to each of their A-list titles."

[bork]

[Himu]

at one point in time, famitsu reviews used to be coveted but they lost prestige. I haven't heard anything about famitsu in years.

They got exposed for moneyhatting a long time ago and just generally having shitty review blurbs.

In fact IIRC, a past member of this forum exposed them after they gave that shitty Dirge of Cerberus PS2 game a decent score  Note that the Japanese version was worse than the international release for reasons I can't remember (might have been forced mobile or required Internet stuff?)

Here's a classic parody post on it:

https://www.neogaf.com/threads/famitsu-897-scores.85022/#post-2744553

FAMITSU CROSS REVIEW: DIRGE OF CERBERUS

7 - "It was hard to choose a score, as I've never played an FPS before. Then again, I've never played any of the games I review."

7 - "This game should appeal to fans of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, as well as anyone else skilled at the art of incredible self-deception."

7 - "So the levels are lackluster and the controls are completely ass-backwards--did you see Yuffie's creamy thighs?"

7 - "Rest assured, I write all of my reviews with the same careful attention to detail that Square Enix brings to each of their A-list titles."

Yeah this is when I stopped taking them seriously.

But weekly fami scans were still a thing. Major games were revealed in Famitsu. I don’t recall the last time a major game was revealed in famitsu or when I saw that pirate dude. It has been literally years. Granted I don’t pay attention as much as I used to so maybe there’s that factor.

[chronovore]

https://twitter.com/wario64/status/1769848177291862186

I shouldn't judge by screenshots in 2024, but it looks like one of those old zero-effort, branded, Bandai titles that came out in the PS1 era.

[Svejk]

https://x.com/Wario64/status/1770955302222832021

[Joe Molotov]

I shouldn't judge by screenshots in 2024, but it looks like one of those old zero-effort, branded, Bandai titles that came out in the PS1 era.

Well Bandai is still putting out zero-effort branded titles in the PS5 era.

[bork]

Got Rise Of The Ronin- the physical copy comes with a voucher for the pre-order bonus stuff, which is nice.  Get to start off with Ninja Gaiden play styles available.

It's taking so long to install the game and download the update.  Dunno if I'll be able to play it tonight.  Steam download speed this is not.

[Svejk]

Apparently Inon Zur did the soundtrack for Rise of the Ronin... 
Why in the hell did they hire his ass to do an Eastern style score?!? Absolutely disgusting, folks.       

[bork]

I wish Rise Of The Ronin were level-based.  Something more like Ninja Gaiden than open-world.  The beginning of the game is like this and I liked the first two areas more than how things opened up once the game really gets going.

It's still fun, but I can see how it might start feeling repetitive.  I also still can't quite get the parry timing down.  It feels off in comparison to say, Wo Long.

[Bebpo]

If Rise of Ronin's open-world is as good as at least like Ghostwire Tokyo or Mad Max level of ubisoft checklist I'll probably like it and play it eventually.

Still need to play Ghost of Tsushima, will play that before this.

[Himu]

I wish Rise Of The Ronin were level-based.  Something more like Ninja Gaiden than open-world.  The beginning of the game is like this and I liked the first two areas more than how things opened up once the game really gets going.

It's still fun, but I can see how it might start feeling repetitive.  I also still can't quite get the parry timing down.  It feels off in comparison to say, Wo Long.

To be fair NG1 sort has an open world. It has levels but parts of the levels once you get to the main area connect.

[Polident Hive]

If Rise of Ronin's open-world is as good as at least like Ghostwire Tokyo or Mad Max level of ubisoft checklist I'll probably like it and play it eventually.

Still need to play Ghost of Tsushima, will play that before this.

Ghost of Tsushima is great. I saw it’s coming to PC soon and I might replay it with the Japanese dub. It has lip sync now. That’s the big new feature of the native PS5 and PC director’s cut release.

[bork]

If Rise of Ronin's open-world is as good as at least like Ghostwire Tokyo or Mad Max level of ubisoft checklist I'll probably like it and play it eventually.

So far, I've just encountered various small gangs of thugs (killing them will liberate the area and populate it with NPCs) and fetch quests.  Typical open-world I guess.

One thing about this game is that you start off creating two characters (siblings- you can make them brother/sister or brother/brother or sister/sister) and can switch between them during game play, but you are quickly asked to then select which of the two will be your main character and the other "dies."  I'm not spoiling this because the game literally spoils this for you with its intro, which shows a bunch of stuff that happens later on including your sibling up and running around.


So I assume at some point the other character will reunite with you since there's abilities related to both characters.

Still need to play Ghost of Tsushima, will play that before this.

I'll probably give that another try on PC.  I like the way Rise Of The Ronin plays a lot more in comparison.  Ghost certainly looks nicer and runs better, however.

[Svejk]

Ghost of Tsushima is pretty and polished and has great swordplay, but it's held back by them playing it safe on many aspects.  Story was ok.  I'm probably the only one that feels they need to not make a sequel for it though.  Feel it would be completely unnecessary; Even moreso now with Rise of the Ronin being a PS exclusive currently.

[bork]

Ghost of Tsushima is pretty and polished and has great swordplay, but it's held back by them playing it safe on many aspects.  Story was ok.  I'm probably the only one that feels they need to not make a sequel for it though.  Feel it would be completely unnecessary; Even moreso now with Rise of the Ronin being a PS exclusive currently.

This is like saying that Metal Gear Solid 2 shouldn't have gotten a sequel because Splinter Cell came out.


Also on the subject, I put Rise Of The Ronin's dialogue in Japanese.  The foreigners in it speak Japanese when you do this- why not have the option for them to speak English especially with a dub already available?

Finally, your mentor in the game is an old woman who is pretty badass- I kept thinking this is ninja Judy Dench based on her design, though.

[Svejk]

Ghost of Tsushima is pretty and polished and has great swordplay, but it's held back by them playing it safe on many aspects.  Story was ok.  I'm probably the only one that feels they need to not make a sequel for it though.  Feel it would be completely unnecessary; Even moreso now with Rise of the Ronin being a PS exclusive currently.

This is like saying that Metal Gear Solid 2 shouldn't have gotten a sequel because Splinter Cell came out.

I dunno about that... The story for GoT is pretty barebones, simple and is up and told in one go.  Milking such a history would seem a bit distasteful, imo.
But sony will sony, so there's that.

[bork]

Ghost of Tsushima is pretty and polished and has great swordplay, but it's held back by them playing it safe on many aspects.  Story was ok.  I'm probably the only one that feels they need to not make a sequel for it though.  Feel it would be completely unnecessary; Even moreso now with Rise of the Ronin being a PS exclusive currently.

This is like saying that Metal Gear Solid 2 shouldn't have gotten a sequel because Splinter Cell came out.

I dunno about that... The story for GoT is pretty barebones, simple and is up and told in one go.  Milking such a history would seem a bit distasteful, imo.
But sony will sony, so there's that.

Easy enough for them to deviate from anything historical and do their own thing.

[Polident Hive]

Ghost of Tsushima is pretty and polished and has great swordplay, but it's held back by them playing it safe on many aspects.  Story was ok.  I'm probably the only one that feels they need to not make a sequel for it though.  Feel it would be completely unnecessary; Even moreso now with Rise of the Ronin being a PS exclusive currently.

I see where that’s coming from and as much I prefer games to be somewhat jank, for its type and aims, it’s one of the better AAA(A?) games. Assassin’s Creed is the obvious comparison, but the level of polish and quality reminded me of the Batman Arkham games.

For a sequel, following the main character and cast again would be a misstep. Not terribly difficult to make another story and setting in Japan. I’m not opposed to aping the AC thing and using different settings under “Ghost of” branding. Ubisoft doesn’t seem interested in exploring Chinese history for AC.

[chronovore]

https://x.com/Wario64/status/1770955302222832021

Just to be clear, is the guy who left Capcom to found his own studio, then left that studio to found a new one, now also leaving that studio to found a new one?

[chronovore]

Ghost of Tsushima is pretty and polished and has great swordplay, but it's held back by them playing it safe on many aspects.  Story was ok.  I'm probably the only one that feels they need to not make a sequel for it though.  Feel it would be completely unnecessary; Even moreso now with Rise of the Ronin being a PS exclusive currently.

The first game was good but overstayed its welcome. I'm for "no sequel," but the marketing people recognize free money and an easier win when they see it, so there will be one — and it will be even more of the same thing.

It's the reason I didn't buy the Horizon Zero Dawn DLC or sequel. I'd already had enough of that ice cream sundae.

Ghost of Tsushima is pretty and polished and has great swordplay, but it's held back by them playing it safe on many aspects.  Story was ok.  I'm probably the only one that feels they need to not make a sequel for it though.  Feel it would be completely unnecessary; Even moreso now with Rise of the Ronin being a PS exclusive currently.

This is like saying that Metal Gear Solid 2 shouldn't have gotten a sequel because Splinter Cell came out.


Also on the subject, I put Rise Of The Ronin's dialogue in Japanese.  The foreigners in it speak Japanese when you do this- why not have the option for them to speak English especially with a dub already available?

Finally, your mentor in the game is an old woman who is pretty badass- I kept thinking this is ninja Judy Dench based on her design, though.

There are a number of logistical problems which would be difficult to test for.

[bork]

https://x.com/Wario64/status/1770955302222832021

Just to be clear, is the guy who left Capcom to found his own studio, then left that studio to found a new one, now also leaving that studio to found a new one?

Yup.

[bork]

Afterburner/Super scaler style SHMUP!

[MMaRsu]

That looks pretty cool