Side note: The campaign in Tiberian Dawn hides a surprising number of infantry behind trees! Fun use of graphics-as-mechanics. And it’s the one thing the new graphics ruin; you can see the guys behind the treetips in HD mode.
5 Likes
38 Likes
My main in that regard was the waterfall section in level 3 of Castlevania 4.
5 Likes
Wow Telling Lies (Sam Barlowe follow-up to Her Story) is a mess
Every video in this game is a conversation between two people that you only see one side of. Meaning that at least 50% of the game is spent watching someone staring at a camera, not talking. At least 50% of the game is boring.
Now of course, boredom is not inherently bad. But the fast forward option is there. It’s very tempting. You start using fast forward a little, to skip the sometimes minutes-long no dialogue parts. Then you fast forward anytime someone stops talking. But it’s not very reactive, it’s kinda awkward. You have to fast forward, then rewind a bit when they start talking again. It’s not great. You realize that you can fast forward through the entire video and not miss much, actually. Then you just fast forward through 1 entire video before realizing that Wow, This Sucks. But also you can’t go back to not fast forwarding. It’s over.
I have developed this awful videogame habit in only 15 minutes from the start of the game!
14 Likes
In a retrogaming spree, I am playing Metroid Fusion.
It’s nice, it’s a good game, but… maybe, played today, nothing special?
I have been playing it for a couple of hours, does it get more original at some point? Otherwise, perhaps, I’d better drop it, because I feel like it will not add anything to my Metroidvania experiences (most notable games I played: La Mulana, Metroid Prime, Cave Story, Hollow Knight, AM2R).
I finished the RE3 remake. I knew that certain areas got shortened but I didn’t realize the last area would be 3 rooms and the boss areas.
2 Likes
My only vivid memory of this game is the disastrous camgirl subplot which comes off as a riff on sleazy De Palma movies as presented by someone who is fundamentally incapable of being horny and primarily preoccupied with not being registered as a problematic person – vaguely gesturing towards potentially hazardous materials instead of doing anything with them. Utterly impossible to play through without fast forwarding, it transforms every single evocative cinematic influence it has into static, ugly, dispassionate Content
7 Likes
I’ve been playing Mario 3d World and its mostly a chore?
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mario 3d world shines when two people of different skill levels play co-op and constantly murder each other for different reasons
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the early game is MUCH better co-op, it’s only the late game that’s really fun on your own
it was also the first time nintendo like, wrote a modern shader so there was a bit of novelty at first
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The first run through the game is friendly enough for co-op with player collision. The secret back half upside down castle is the best 3D Mario game.
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Mario is always like going out of the main plane of the level and falling off the stage. Its bewildering.
1 Like
Some old controllers had octagonal gates that helped reinforce this tactily (not a word??) but 3D World only has eight direction movement.
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yeah i am not really loving Mario 3D World either and haven’t even beaten the first (3D) World of the game after owning it for weeks. i assume it would be better with friends, but alas
It is interesting how so much of the subtext in Nintendo game design is “fuck 3d”.
6 Likes
I think the 3D is only sporadically a benefit to the game (it enables some of the really cute level concepts that Tokyo team (Mario Galaxy) excels at) and mostly hinders tight precise platforming. Adding back in New Super Mario Bros.-style co-op makes better use of it because it’s much less crowded than a 2D plane but that’s pretty reliant on easy course design to flatten skill differences, so it breaks down in the harder levels with most partners.
For Mario, yeah – you can watch the sales performance of the 3D games start dipping from Sunshine on. I think Nintendo views Mario as an entry point for new players and a reconnection point for people who played it when it was culturally dominant in the '80s. The 3D games just don’t appeal to that audience and New Super Mario Bros. can try as hard as it can to be repellent but it serves what people think Mario is much better and it sells a lot better than the more expensive 3D games.
3 Likes
3D Land is where it’s actually at, IMO. Breezy first half transformed into the incredibly tight, and engaging without needing co-op, second half.
Plus it’s one of the few 3d games on the system that uses the added depth as a way of getting away with convoluted platforming bullshit that World can scarcely dream of.
But it’s probably not getting ported to anything since the stereoscopic 3d is actually a little important.
6 Likes
I’ll forgive you if you go through and S+ the normal campaign
In thanks I’ll consider destroying my hands and going for gold S+ on campaign+
Maybe I just hate myself
2 Likes
I think it’s better than World, certainly. True 3D gets them more interesting one-off ideas. And it’s their first bite at this format so a lot of their stage concepts are fresher. But it’s got the same slower pace and character controls due to the 3D without much corresponding benefit; I think the general concept of 2.5D platformer with full 3D movement is a dead end. It’s Weather Report and that era of jazz fusion; it’s pleasant but it doesn’t really advance on the original genre or displace the format-native genres.
4 Likes
The game is hard to control and the levels start “easy” so the main ways you die at the beginning are like errant inputs or misreading depth or failing enemy jumps because of the weird momentum which all feel pretty shitty.
The game wants to be really playful and accessible but the way it controls is choppy and awkward. My buddy played through the entirety of New Super Mario Bros. U with his wife, but they bounced off of 3D world almost immediately because his wife kept falling off the level (which is maybe the least fun way to die in a 3D game).
I agree with BustedAstromech – the 3D is largely a hindrance. It enables some pretty clever levels and designs but it’s at way too high a cost.
3 Likes