[Dr Lancer-X]

Exophase, on 27 September 2016 - 04:55 PM, said:

Hyper Light Drifter: Talked about this earlier, but yeah, this game is really good. Highly recommend it.

I feel like this game was misnamed. It's a name highly evocative of a genre that this game has nothing to do with and I think it may have missed some people who would really like it because of that.

[Exophase]

Dr Lancer-X, on 27 September 2016 - 04:39 AM, said:

I feel like this game was misnamed. It's a name highly evocative of a genre that this game has nothing to do with and I think it may have missed some people who would really like it because of that.

What genre are you thinking? Shmup?

The game's steam spy numbers look pretty healthy for an indie title. One thing I noticed is that it had a very strong initial surge of reviews/ratings, meaning that they probably pulled off a good pre-game campaign. Being crowd funded can be a big source for that. Getting out the gate with a good rating with high confidence factor is a really big asset in building strong long term sales. It's sad how many decent indie titles I see that had to launch starting at zero and never accumulated any buzz. Stories of Bethem is still critically overlooked nearly a year later.

[Terryn]

Did you play Half-Minute Hero in classic mode? The alt game modes with different characters are pretty much tiny rehashes of Hero 30 if you don't, and are quite different things if you do.

[Dr Lancer-X]

Exophase, on 28 September 2016 - 02:41 AM, said:

What genre are you thinking? Shmup?

Yeah, especially some kind of RES- or Ikaruga-inspired one, or perhaps something more like Tempest. The game looks great but I had entirely the wrong impression of it at first.

[Exophase]

Terryn, on 27 September 2016 - 12:44 PM, said:

Did you play Half-Minute Hero in classic mode? The alt game modes with different characters are pretty much tiny rehashes of Hero 30 if you don't, and are quite different things if you do.

I haven't played anything past Hero 30 yet, but it sounds like I need to play classic mode.

[CJA]

I just finished Beyond Good and Evil HD, which meant I used an Xbox One emulating an XBox 360 remaster of a first-gen XBox game.

I really enjoyed it, actually. Let me break this shit down, because I think this game is deserving of a bit of duplication. It surprised me at how good it was, actually.

First of all, the WORLD. This game returned me of that era of Ubisoft/Naughty Dog where they would make these insane-ass worlds and, get this, they wouldn't throw their world building down your throat. The world of BG&E is actually pretty neato, mixing a little bit of fantasy, sci-fi, and industrial dystopia. If there were ever a "Shadowrun Junior," it'd take place in this world (and I'd probably enjoy it a lot more than the edgefest that is the Shadowrun universe). But you don't NEED to know anything about the world to progress, and they don't go out of their way to tell you everything about the world. The thing is that the world is really good and I'm sure it was some team's job to come up with the whole world, document it, and make a style guide. But they were just like "let the player PLAY the world," and they showed restraint and didn't demand that the player have access to everything about the world. Hell, we don't even know how politics, religion or magic really works. It is just there. You actually have a side-quest active throughout the game to take pictures of the different animal species in the game: some familiars like Canis canis, and some weird ones like Macropodia omnivora. That gets sort of close to what games nowadays would put in a "codex," but BG&E does it while still being fun and not breaking the flow of gameplay at all. (GLARES AT THE ASSASSIN'S CREED SERIES) Show, don't tell. You know how to do this, Ubisoft. Or at least, Ubisoft Shanghai knows.

Second, I thought that the pacing of this game was super good. You alternate between exploring the city and the smallish world map for little activities to do, then going on missions. In some ways, even if you weren't really directly having fun doing what you were doing, you were looking forward to the next period when you'd be exploring the world or exploring a mission level. The game is relatively short; I finished it in around 15 hours. But it is somehow perfect. It gets into things very quickly with minimal intrusion and explanation, does a brilliant job of getting things started and keeps you going pretty well. I only got stuck on a couple puzzles. The puzzles are brilliant, by the way. The game does so well with throwing variety of you. You'll never have too much puzzle stuff, combat stuff, stealth stuff, or grinding stuff; everything is there in just the right amounts and is very well mixed. The game world is just open enough to allow for the story to remain in control, but you do have plenty of sidequests to go on. I say "plenty" but I mean "just enough." There are two handfuls of sidequests, exactly enough as anyone can handle, and they're by no means necessary. I just think that this game did a super great job of keeping you engaged by keeping things mixed up and fresh.

The only bone I have to pick is the storytelling near the end. Remember how I said that the worldbuilding was perfect because it didn't explain a lot? Well, it suddenly starts explaining a totally different element that explains some origins and forces that have never been present in the game. Basically, in the last ten minutes of the game a critical thing is revealed that is just so weird that I felt like it should have just been left out. They do try and explain what's up with it, but not well enough, and it falls flat on its face, and the first time it's foreshadows or discussed is... the first scene of the first cinema in the game.

Anyway, wow this is good, play it if you manage to get it in some bundle which is very likely as it's just Some Old Ubisoft Game.

[djtiesto]

Suikoden V is pretty cool, albeit the graphics are very plain. Game also takes a bit of time to get going, it reminds me in a lot of ways of the Trails games. Which isn't a bad thing, by any means. What does suck though, is a fairly steep encounter rate and easy-to-miss recruitable characters. I just got my Castle and am now off recruiting again.

[Dr Lancer-X]

Just beat Strange Journey. Good game. Mem Aleph wasn't as tough as people said she was.

[Goshi]

Tactics Ogre, the PSP version specifically since I've palyed the PS1/SFC version like 10 million times now; whereas I've only played the PSP version like... once. The PSP version is alright, its a lot slower than the the original game though and the AI is really braindead. Also yes, FF14 is the blame for this.

Also 7th Dragon 2020, since well, might as well dig into it with VFD around. Its alright for what it is.

[CJA]

Defense Grid 2. It's Defense Grid! Unfortunately the narration has gone from cheeky to annoying, and the Boost towers (platforms you build to increase tower height) are just compulsion aggravators.

[djtiesto]

Up to the final dungeon in Suikoden 5 and I have to split into 3 groups. Which means I need to arm the hell out of 2 other groups since I've mostly focused on building the same 6 characters the whole game. Oh well, time to do a bit of grinding so I can afford to arm 'em.

Also played a whole bunch of Dragon Quest Builders. Very fun game, I never had any interest in Minecraft, but improve the graphics, give it an actual point and objective, and coat the whole thing in oldskool DQ nostalgia and I'm all over it.

Started the DQ7 remake but I didn't even make it past the first area yet. The original is one of my all time favorites and so far the remake seems great.

This post has been edited by djtiesto: 26 October 2016 - 03:25 AM

[Dr Lancer-X]

Infinite Space.

This is pretty cool! Could possibly use a bit more depth, but its breadth is quite amazing for a DS game. Starts out pretty straightforward but then explodes.

[Exophase]

I think I'm going to put down Half Minute Hero: Second Coming now. It's the first game where I've actually completed all the achievements. Usually there's at least something that's just too unreasonable for me to bother with.

Still missing some artwork and music items in its gallery, though...

[Goshi]

Skyrim Special Edition reminded me that I can't even bear to play Skyrim without mods anymore. That said, game runs smooth for me although I hear other people are having issues getting it to work.

Also Bioshock 2, I've been streaming it as well. Can't really add much else since I haven't gotten that far into it yet, other than the fact I die a lot because its me playing FPS games lol.

[djtiesto]

Tengai Makyou: Ziria, Manjimaru, and Zero.

Good series, Manjimaru being the highlight, some really impressive video clips, voice acting, and production values for a game of its era. It's a shame that Victor Ireland never got around to translating it and publishing it in the west. (or that the only Tengai Makyou game we saw in the west was a fighting game spinoff on Neo Geo).

[djtiesto]

Playing a bunch of Exist Archive, which is basically Valkyrie Profile with bratz-looking Japanese schoolkid characters and a RIDICULOUS amount of asset reuse. Like, we're talking 5 backgrounds, 10 different monsters, but palette swapped to oblivion. With a Sakuraba soundtrack that sounds like every other Sakuraba soundtrack. It's a shame since combat is really fun (like I said, it's Valkyrie Profile) but it could really have done with budget more than $100 and a few free McDonalds lunches for the dev team. Still better than Star Ocean 5.

[Dr Lancer-X]

djtiesto, on 26 November 2016 - 04:13 PM, said:

Playing a bunch of Exist Archive, which is basically Valkyrie Profile with bratz-looking Japanese schoolkid characters and a RIDICULOUS amount of asset reuse. Like, we're talking 5 backgrounds, 10 different monsters, but palette swapped to oblivion. With a Sakuraba soundtrack that sounds like every other Sakuraba soundtrack. It's a shame since combat is really fun (like I said, it's Valkyrie Profile) but it could really have done with budget more than $100 and a few free McDonalds lunches for the dev team. Still better than Star Ocean 5.

If they're able to sell something like that maybe I have a chance after all! I mean red was pretty much '10 different monsters palette swapped to oblivion' =P

Anyway, I'm playing Dragon Quest IX now. I know I skipped a few titles but they were on funny consoles that are slightly less convenient for me to play on the go. I've also started playing the 3DS ver of Ocarina of Time. I'll probably play the megaten games available for that console next (DS:SH, 4, 4A), but that's probably a good way off. There's a pretty staggering range of RPGs available for the 3DS so I'll have to assess what's out there.

I've got a new computer now and am ready to play some Witcher III. Thankfully I got up to speed on the previous two games last year.

[djtiesto]

Some obscure, virtually unknown game called Final Fantasy 15.

[Dr Lancer-X]

djtiesto, on 03 December 2016 - 09:30 AM, said:

Some obscure, virtually unknown game called Final Fantasy 15.

bet squeenix is thanking the stars they don't have to compete with Persona 5 in either market anymore. Going by that survey they put out they were clearly worried about it!

[CJA]

Pokemon Sun. I've felt like later Pokemon games have felt sort of watered down and stuff, but when I replayed Yellow I sort of realized that the value and charm of the game was all the different little stuff that was added. Ice puzzles, Safari Zone, gambling, filling out the Pokedex... distracting the protagonist has sort of been the MO of the game the whole time. And honestly it works with such a rock-paper-scissors combat system.

[Dr Lancer-X]

I'm kind of glad to hear Sun+Moon are switching up the formula a bit, since Pokemon has kept to a pretty consistent mold for the best 20 years. Jury seems to be out on whether the new formula is actually good, though; I've heard opinions on both sides. Might wait until that's settled before I consider getting it.

[GetDizzy]

Been playing a lot of Fallout 4, just screwing around with different mods and having fun with that. I love games with a vibrant modding scene.

[CJA]

Look, the thing I just said about Pokemon Sun being distracting... It's really good. They've essentially added a sort of social side-game (Festival Plaza) that's ... sort of cool, if you can read the stilted robot-translated English. There's also a Farmville style thing, Poke Pelago, where you can grow berries, train, find random pokemon and items on your downtime using the Pokemon in your Box. That's pretty neat.

Also playing: Overwatch, Overwatch, Overwatch

[djtiesto]

Still playing FFXV. I got my Lagrange Point vinyl in the mail so I might finally start that game next, or The Last Guardian.

[Goshi]

Got around to finishing Might & Magic X Legacy today. Its a piece of crap, marred with horrible game design choices and numerous bugs. Its a trainwreck of game that somehow manages to be less refined than the earlier games in the series.

On more positive note, I also recently finished Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition. That game on the other hand is amazing. I'm eager to see how the sequel plays out.

[Baby Bonnie Hood]

As far as I'm concerned, there were only 5 mainline Might & Magic games. It ended after Xeen.

[Lachesis]

Goshi, on 27 December 2016 - 01:01 AM, said:

On more positive note, I also recently finished Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition. That game on the other hand is amazing. I'm eager to see how the sequel plays out.

What did they actually "enhance"? I played it through most of the first map and all I noticed that was different was that they replaced some of the goofy voices with even worse voices. Did they fix the... most of the plot?

I bought early access to D:OS II, but I've yet to try it. Looking forward to that...

[Goshi]

Lachesis, on 28 December 2016 - 05:22 AM, said:

What did they actually "enhance"? I played it through most of the first map and all I noticed that was different was that they replaced some of the goofy voices with even worse voices. Did they fix the... most of the plot?

I bought early access to D:OS II, but I've yet to try it. Looking forward to that...

The plot is mostly the same, just with a few minor changes. Ahru and Leandra are a bit more fleshed out and the climax at the Garden is entirely different until the end boss, there's also an expanded ending.

Most of the changes seem to be from gameplay. There's a few changed skills and a new Tactician mode which serves as the game's "hard" mode, though it seems to mostly affect Act 1. Grenades and wands are new too. Grenades are little OP during early game, and they're especially annoying when enemies use them, or drop them upon death (Attacking them detonates them, ugh). Wands are a ranged weapon, they do crap damage but they do come with spells. Its nice way to get stuff like Hail Attack early on.

This post has been edited by Goshi: 30 December 2016 - 02:00 PM

[Dr Lancer-X]

Watch_Dogs 2

I never played the original, but this is pretty great stuff. It ticks many of the same boxes the Saints Row series does, without going quite as far.

[KKairos]

Spelunky (Steam version) - mechanically it's the same old goodness, and still super-hard, and still "screw the jungle". The main difference is that now the soundtrack sounds like it's almost entirely made up of songs that were also used in 90s MZX games or any-era DoZ games. Got this one from someone in an impromptu digital gift exchange.
Sims 3 - shame me all you want--I deserve it--but this game is actually pretty well done and the aesthetic of discovery is solid
Salt and Sanctuary - closest thing you'll truly see to Dark Souls in 2D, with a simplified covenant system and some nods to Bloodborne as well. I lost all my "salt" once to a trap I never saw coming, and the game was well-designed and the moment humorous enough that I wasn't even mad. Okay, maybe a little mad, but more impressed.
Dust: An Elysian Tail - fun so far, but I'm only past boss 1 at this point. Also from the same impromptu gift exchange.