oh wow i’ll check out sor4, i didn’t realize it was like… a real game? embarrassed to try to explain what i thought it was (hint: Sonic the Hedgehog 4 is a thing that technically exists)
shadow over mystara … thank you… i remembered there was one of the capcom high fantasy themed beat-them-ups (bumps) that seemed more interesting than the others but played king of dragons accidentally and got bored & scared
the others all also seem interesting but these 2 are the most promising
re: dragon’s dogma - i actually own this and it appeals to me greatly conceptually but i have a delicate constitution and 3d 3rd person games almost always make me nauseous now… i played it for like 20 minutes and thought i was going to barf. “skill issue” as the youth say. my undying commitment to the legend of zelda franchise made me realize if i play in like 5-10 minute increments with breaks i can eventually regain my ‘sea legs’ and deal with these things for longer spans of time, so maybe i should revisit it one day. but honestly even thinking about it makes me sick to my stomach so probably not. hence the return to simpler 2 dimensional times…
I want to recommend the IGS Collection because it’s Taiwanese, but the beat 'em ups there might be a bit too technical bullshitty (lots of fighting game style moves and the easy-to-execute A+B moves drain your health) and the emulation’s not the best.
Demo is up for Marvel Cosmic Invasion. It seems alright? Feels like Tribute’s TMNT game, but infused with some MVC tag/assist mechanics.
So far I’ve only really used She Hulk, Venom and Wolverine. They all play pretty differently, though I find She Hulk’s air grab pretty handy given how many flying enemies you run into. Those assist moves feel essential, too - enemies are a little spongey so any extra hits you can get help.
Kinda dig the interactive background elements, hopefully there are more than just what’s in the demo (the second stage’s Shield Helicarrier has some mounted machine guns you can punch repeatedly to shoot the very tank-y AIM guys).
I gotta try it. I have some leftover $$ from Playstation Stars rewards, thinking of using it. because i’m kind of an asshole, i’m a little turned off by how much it directly takes from the Souls series, and that it has so, so much dialogue and exposition.
ok so I picked up Absolum and i’m enjoying it. the combos feel a little shallow, but i’m wondering how that will change as I get better at deflecting. I don’t love that you have to unlock characters, but I managed to unlock both of them in two runs, so it’s pretty straightforward. the online works well and I like that there’s no in-game voice chat.
took a break after the two runs, so next time i’ll try to play with Cider, the character i’d probably have started with if given the chance. the hidden paths definitely have that Capcom feel to them, so i’m liking what they’ve done with it here. satisfying game to play, but hard to say how long i’ll play it in the long run. I paired up with someone pretty good on my first run ever, so we got a lot further than I think the game intends for you, initially. even the training character takes at least one run to appear in the hub.
Trying to figure out the best way to play this with a stick. The original mapping had me changing rows w/ my right hand a lot, but I think I’m inching towards a better way. By row:
Jump, Light, Heavy, Arcane 1
Dash, Inspect, Inventory, Arcane 2
My thumb is always on Dash, and I’ve got 3 fingers on the main buttons. I’m not positive about the other 4. Because Inspect was used more I had it in the top right, but Arcane 1 and 2 in the bottom row felt weird especially for Ultimates. I kinda do a hand chop now to do Ultimates which is funny and maybe that makes it OK for how weird it is to deal w/ a fourth row regularly.
I wonder if there’s a way to make Jump + Light = Arcane 1, Light + Heavy = Arcane 2, and Jump + Light + Heavy = Ultimate?
that new Magical Drop game had the same issue. how can I successfully play a MD game without a stick?
what is with these games that don’t actually utilize the PS5 controller in a meaningful way requiring a PS5 controller? I assume it’s an oversight/a programming annoyance they choose to ignore.
The PC version recognizes my Direct Input HRAP3 sticks, so my conspiracy mind is thinking “Sony locks that shit down unless it’s a high profile developer like Capcom”.
Double Dragon Revive is out and I preordered it and just played through the first three levels.
I feel like it’s better than it looked in previews, but it’s hard to say whether I recommend it, yet. it’s fully 3D (but 2D playfield), so in some ways it reminds me of something like Fighting Force, but it seems more competent than that. it has some weight to it, so it doesn’t feel like a Capcom beat’em up, and I can accept this game as playing more like a Double Dragon game in terms of how it lets you freestyle the way you play. I don’t feel like I quite get how to completely dominate the game, yet, but it does seem like once you understand all the game’s tricks and moves, it could be fairly fun and easy to counter enemies and annihilate them before they do real damage to you.
not super hard, but not a breeze, either. the game is basically a reboot of DD1, again, but it has a lot of nods to the series as a whole. at the moment, i’m tempted to say “skip it” unless you’re a hardcore DD fan, but at the least, I like it more than what i’ve seen of DD Gaiden. it feels kind of like a game that would have been released during the PS2 era, if that means anything to anyone
