i like the look of the little hints of an ecosystem/elements interacting independently of the player in that earthblade trailer. that’s something i’ve wanted to see in a search action game since harmony of despair.
also the logo is really cool
2 Likes
only in Japan. it wasn’t as strictly enforced on PS1 (iirc, Metal Gear Solid (US) uses Circle for confirm rather than Cross), but by the PS2 era, i think it was pretty universal for Japanese releases to use Circle as confirm and international releases to use Cross
also i think the change from Circle to Cross being confirm in Japan started with the PS5, not the PS4
3 Likes
Monster Hunter
3 Likes
nintendo’s various decisions aside, i do want to mention that you can remap buttons yourself on the system level on a switch these days
7 Likes
Finished Star Wars: Squadrons last night.
Beautiful game, very cool locations, solid X-Wing/Tie Fighter gameplay, pretty bland plot. Not super challenging, but I had fun with a lot of the surprises in these missions. Would’ve liked more of an intense challenge, but as it was, it was a fun game.
They also did a good job of making the imperials completely evil while also not making you actually have to blow up hospital ships. Usually the truly heinous stuff like destroying civilian ships was optional.
I really like that this is set after the Battle of Endor, with the imps on the back foot, squabbling amongst themselves and doing hit-and-run-style rebel attacks. It’s a good way to move this story forward. I’d like to see more content in this era.
It’s pretty short, and you start getting bored of the mechanics after about the halfway point, so, it’s good that it doesn’t drag it out too long.
Overall, the best part of the game is that CG short they made that isn’t actually in the game itself:
4 Likes
I would really, really like it if they could allow you to set up profiles for these that automatically and only applied to specified games
Can’t believe the NES online emulator thing doesn’t have an option to use Y/B instead of B/A
5 Likes
I remember going to babycastles in 2013 or so and sitting on a wooden extruded triangle (narrow side up), strapping in an Oculus DK2, and jumping into a Unity kart racer with a wobbling 3rd-person orbit camera running anywhere between five and twenty-five FPS
I did not forget about my body for the rest of the day
5 Likes
been playing HROT since the 1.0 version came out recently
it’s a bit of a 7/10 experience for me, which is basically what i expect of the better retro FPS games now. it’s very functional and i do like the obvious Soviet-inspired mood and how it carries through to a lot of things you see in the environment, or your health items, etc. really that’s the most unique thing about it so far - the level design is pretty good but didn’t really blow me away in any spots. obviously it’s inspired by Quake with the extreme brown visuals, but it feels a little more like Duke Nukem 3D to play in terms of the urban environments and little things you can interact with. there is a bit of me that gets the creeping feeling like i could just be playing any given Doom wad or Quake 1 level i’d been meaning to play instead of this whenever i play these games now… and have about an equal (or better) experience, though.
as you might expect, it doesn’t have the range of a game like DUSK so far. it’s a very intentionally sort of monochromatic experience. like DUSK, the later episodes might be better though. i’m only part way through the second one now.
some visual highlights:
15 Likes
the aesthetic is based on the developers childhood in 1980s communist czech republic. every level of the first ep is based on a real place in prague. the second episode is themed around bohemian castle architecture. its like calling chasm the rift russian, he put more effort in than that
8 Likes
I like Celeste quite a bit. It’s the necessary counterpoint to super Meatboy, has great aesthetics, and since I don’t believe every story has to be a brutal tour deforce of allegedly provocative misery, I mostly just thought it could have just had…I dunno…a little more oomph? Hard to say what it’s missing for me but nothing fatal to my enjoyment.
I think it’s imperfect but since it’s beloved by folks just stepping out of comfortable mainstream bubbles into something still mainstream-ish by accident. But a pretty good platformer made by several cool trans people is pretty neat in my book. It’s good Maddy is seeing a payout after laying so much groundwork for other initially more successful indie devs.
(The best critique I saw of it was it was a game about pushing through hardship that kinda let you make the hardship optional and I tend to agree with that take, but not enough to hate thr Game)
Hollow Knight is legit great, such a perfect fusion of movement tech, aesthetics, weird world building, and design. Just an excellent experience. It’s the game I thought symphony of the night was supposed to be instead of the kinda limp but maximalist design it actually is.
Very interested in Rain World, seems like my jam if I’m in the mood for pain.
I suspect I’ll like Tunic too, but I’ve yet to play it,
14 Likes
(The actual intriguing future is Minecraft and undertale are far and away the most important games to folks about 10-15 years younger than me and that’s going to be cool to see the results of in the not so distant future)
14 Likes
the vita shiren (5?) has ENTIRELY TOO MANY FUCKING BONUS DUNGEONS. i talked to this lady who offered me a list of like 20 bonus themed dungeons to do and the first one i pick shes like 'WELL ITS NOT OFTEN THAT PEOPLE JUST WANT TO THROW THEMSELVES INTO A 99 FLOOR DUNGEON" which is like!!! YES YOU’RE RIGHT!!! I JUST GOT BACK FROM DOING 50 SOKOBAN PUZZLES AFTER 25 TUTORIAL DUNGEON PUZZLES (they give you a reward for finishing each one! i couldnt stop!) IM JUST TRYING TO FIND THE REAL DUNGEON. and every time i think im in a real dungeon its some 10 floor tutorial dungeon again! i think now that ive finally made it to THE DUNGEON OF THE PRESENT i can start getting my ass kicked. ive been going wayyyy too long in this game without getting my ass handed to me
19 Likes
fair enough - i just bought the game because it looked interesting. i didn’t know the backstory, was just trying to summarize my own subjective impressions playing the game.
2 Likes
Like, I don’t need American McGee environment art or level design, but I look at HROT and the beige and standard seeming arsenal present to me a hard sell. Maybe the austere aesthetic is the point. I hope if I ever play it that impression is challenged, but the fact that the boomershooter fanbase online will basically swallow anything that is put out, and the quiet praise this game’s got so far, doesn’t make me less cynical about this one. The creator’s background does do a lot to push against this weak first impression though.
3 Likes
Forza Horizon 4 (PC/Steam)
The game doesn’t let you turn the radio off and even the “Streamer Mode” you would have to re-enable each time you run can still end up with copyright claims against its ambient nonsense on YouTube. Fortunately, you can keep the radio off by removing or renaming a single installed file; the path might vary on your system, mine was
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\ForzaHorizon4\media\audio\fmodopus\x64\GLB_Radio.bank
(I renamed mine to zGLB_Radio.bank. Tip found at Turn off radio completley? [see post #53] - #126 by FlashyClamp5213 - FH4 Discussion - Official Forza Community Forums .)
The roads are real cool and the race AI seems much less boring than GT. I do wish your car didn’t just smash right through roadway barriers during a race and go skidding off through the countryside; I mean, in a way that’s cool, but I think usually, for a race, I’d prefer to bounce back onto the road.
Accessing the roads and races is way over-designed and populated exclusively by virtualized corporate hipsters of exactly the same age trying super hard to sell you on car life.
I’m not sure I have the strength to grind through a campaign thing just to have the cars and access to free-roam kinda thing. It’s not even clear when it’s going to let me access the two add-on areas I chumpily bought for twenny friggin dollas each. Hm.
Ooh but driving like a nutbar around the country town in the NE section of the map is mad fun even just with the WRX you get as the second car. That is EXACTLY the kind of city driving I’ve been looking for. Sweet.
OH you’re supposed to use Rewind so you don’t have to re-do a whole race if you miss a checkpoint. Ah er okay I should probably do that.
2 Likes
no such thing
2 Likes
have you finished all of them??? which ones are worth starting with
2 Likes
no sorry i haven’t actually played that one lol
7 Likes
13 Likes
if anyone does know which of these bonus dungeons are worth trying id love to hear about it cuz they all seem like time investments and IM NOT SPENDING TIME ON STUFF I MIGHT HATE!!!
1 Like