2024 VIDEO GAMES CATCH ALL THREAD

[SirSmUgly]

This Alarmo is neat, but it was really constructed for single people. 

No regrets, though. I do think the sleep data is VERY cool. 

[COLETTI]

Dead Space Remake - never played the originals but DAMN what a cool game. I'm definitely very bad at conserving ammo. Those freaky things show up and I'm practically Mac from Predator except with attempted knee shots. 

[DragonZombie]

Analogue's own take on the N64

https://www.analogue.co/3D

[Tabe]

17 hours ago, dragonzombie said:

Analogue's own take on the N64

https://www.analogue.co/3D

I absolutely do not understand the nostalgia for the N64. 90% of the games are a blurry mess and the controller is awful. And, yeah, I thought that at the time. 

[SirSmUgly]

1 hour ago, Tabe said:

I absolutely do not understand the nostalgia for the N64. 90% of the games are a blurry mess and the controller is awful. And, yeah, I thought that at the time. 

It might be the high rate of good-to-great games on the console. That's what keeps me coming back to my N64.

The controller does stink for most games, though (except maybe for StarFox 64, which is the one game that the controller was made for). Then again, it's not even the worst controller for a mainline Nintendo console, so there's that. It's work-around-able. 

[DragonZombie]

I never had problems with some of the anti-aliasing methods or the controllers. PS1 had pixilated floors in some games and weird wobble in rooms.

Best to sit not so close to the tv when using the N64. Looks better that way.

The controllers were meant to be gripped differently if the analog stick was the way of to make characters walk in a game. You can buy third party N64 controllers that are shaped different.

The expansion pack helped made many games looked more nicer with better resolutions or have better frame rates and improvements.  Majora's Mask was the best looking game

https://nintendo.fandom.com/wiki/Nintendo_64_Expansion_Pak

I liked the no load times for most games, and using carts back then. I didn't care about FMV at the time like lot of the PS1 games had. Most of the N64 games used in-engine cutscenes and are not pre-rendered ones. 

 

[Kevin Wilson]

4 hours ago, Tabe said:

I absolutely do not understand the nostalgia for the N64. 90% of the games are a blurry mess and the controller is awful. And, yeah, I thought that at the time. 

I've always thought N64 and PS1 (to a lesser extent but still an issue) are both fine for nostalgic purposes but visually are the worst consoles since the Atari. It was just a weird period where developers and console makers figured out "3D" which was a huge step but the systems weren't strong enough to make it not look shitty. Some games like Mario 64 and Zelda were so fun you can look past it but most of the games I played as a teenager (Goldeneye, Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire, etc) are just unplayable to me now. Which isn't true of SNES games for me, even though it was less powerful the graphics are more pleasing on the eyes.

[Tabe]

5 hours ago, dragonzombie said:

I never had problems with some of the anti-aliasing methods or the controllers. PS1 had pixilated floors in some games and weird wobble in rooms.

Best to sit not so close to the tv when using the N64. Looks better that way.

The controllers were meant to be gripped differently if the analog stick was the way of to make characters walk in a game. You can buy third party N64 controllers that are shaped different.

The expansion pack helped made many games looked more nicer with better resolutions or have better frame rates and improvements.  Majora's Mask was the best looking game

https://nintendo.fandom.com/wiki/Nintendo_64_Expansion_Pak

I liked the no load times for most games, and using carts back then. I didn't care about FMV at the time like lot of the PS1 games had. Most of the N64 games used in-engine cutscenes and are not pre-rendered ones. 

 

The effect of the expansion pack was mostly placebo. Game Sack did a video going over every game that used it and the effect was minimal most of the time. 

[SirSmUgly]

I'm at the end of TLoZ: Echoes of Wisdom. I like top-down Zelda games the most, so I liked this. It's a game with a number of flaws, though. The biggest one is that there is only one dungeon (the Faron Wetlands dungeon) that I will remember fondly out of all of them in this game. 

I also think the menus for choosing your echoes is entirely too long to scroll through, and there were times where I needed a solution for an overworld puzzle that was found in an echo that I had gotten a week and fifteen hours ago, so it felt a little frustrating when I finally found the answer rather than triumphant.

There is an item that you can equip to help you locate might crystals, but there isn't one to help you locate heart pieces, which I think is a mistake.

This game is a mashup between TotK and Link's Awakening, which since those are both top five Zelda games to me (LA is and probably always will be my number one - I think it is a rare perfect game) should have hit better. I think the issue is that when it comes to tagging the map, there aren't enough allowed icons that you are given to fill it up, unlike TotK. Grezzo probably should have taken BotW/TotK's feature where it showed how and where you had walked across the map over the past X number of hours of gameplay, which would have helped in figuring out where some of those last heart pieces or might crystals could be. 

And as usual for the BotW era of Zelda games, the side quests are mostly mediocre. This is a big negative for Zelda games; they're far behind your RDRs, Witchers, Obsidian RPGs, etc., for side quests with interesting structures. I don't necessarily expect Witcher III level stuff from the next Zelda game, but there are too many fetchquests, go here-kill this monster-come back quests, and minigame quests for me. A few are fine - every game has at least a few. But the ratio is a bit too much in favor of them in Zelda games. 

That isn't to say that I didn't like it! I really have enjoyed my time with it (especially when I was able to copy a

Spoiler

Lynel

for my own personal use). And I do think the Faron Wetlands dungeon should be considered one of the best in a Zelda game, straight up. It was also just fun to play the whole game as Zelda. I'll finish off the final boss tomorrow and get ready for Brothership next month (among other games - November is very busy for games that I want to play).

On another note, Asobi is sadly drip-feeding the new speedrun content for Astro Bot, which is almost certainly my GotY this year. I finished getting the bots out of the first (and so far only unlocked) world in the speedrun galaxy. I appreciate the extra content, but part of me just wants them to get right on making Astro Bot 2 so it will come out right in time for the PS6 launch in three-and-a-half years. 

 

[jaedmc]

A few months ago my son decided to play an emulation of the original Silent Hill 2. He said it was one of his favorite game experiences. He recently leveraged his grade card into the new remake, and it has been hilarious to listen to him yelp and scream in terror. Worth every penny.

[DragonZombie]

I finished arcade game Eco Fighters (1994) by Capcom, a horizontally scrolling shooter with "eco-friendly" themes. It has some similarities in gameplay to Forgotten Worlds (1988) by Capcom, some of the Forgotten Worlds staff worked on Eco Fighters.

Edited October 22 by dragonzombie

[Chaos]

Playstation will no longer give star points for Subscriptions starting in March, which is a bummer because I do enjoy cashing out $20 in points every few months, and I fear that going away eventually.

[odessasteps]

7 hours ago, Chaos said:

Playstation will no longer give star points for Subscriptions starting in March, which is a bummer because I do enjoy cashing out $20 in points every few months, and I fear that going away eventually.

Between playing Xbox for like 15 a day and using Bing, I’ve been steadily getting Microsoft points for ECGs for months.

[Chaos]

1 hour ago, odessasteps said:

Between playing Xbox for like 15 a day and using Bing, I’ve been steadily getting Microsoft points for ECGs for months.

I don't interact with that rewards platform that much. I was trying to make a habit of at least interacting with the app and the jewel game. I maybe get a couple of hours of gaming in a week. Many weeks I get zero. My fiancee's kids use my PS5 for Fortnite more than I do.

[odessasteps]

Lately, I play one MLB game and log into Starfield or NMS on my PC when I get home from work before bed. And that covers me for the day if I don't have a chance to play before work. 

I also restarted my Grim Fandango playthrough.  

[DragonZombie]

I finished both Capcom arcade games "The King of Dragons" and "Knights of the Round", both were released in 1991. They're both hack and slashes 'em ups with RPG elements. Knights of the Round has special block button gimmicks and rideable horses. Both games don't have those jump on platforms and climb things like some other beat em ups had.

I might try the higher difficulties later for both some other day. 

[Ramo2653]

10 hours ago, Chaos said:

Playstation will no longer give star points for Subscriptions starting in March, which is a bummer because I do enjoy cashing out $20 in points every few months, and I fear that going away eventually.

Star Points?

[Chaos]

13 hours ago, Ramo2653 said:

Star Points?

It's their rewards program. Some of it's tied to doing things in games they select, but a lot is tied to purchases. 

[DragonZombie]

I finished Magic Sword: Heroic Fantasy (1990) by Capcom. It's similar to Black Tiger from Capcom, minus the RPG elements and shops. Both were spiritual successors to Ghosts and Goblins.

The unique gimmick Magic Sword has is the several AI partners to help you in battle, and obtaining keys and opening their cells with those keys lets you use them and swap around partners. The Ai partners also level up.

You need to obtain keys to advance to the next stages.

I think the gameplay is closer to the Castlevania games.  You just fight in a single giant tower instead, I traversed the 50 floor tower and defeated Drokmar and choose the ending where you become bad and the new Darklord.

It was ported to the SNES, Mobile and the port found in Final Fight: Double Impact has remixed music and optional HD graphics. Other collections have the arcade game emulated.

[JLSigman]

Playing Kingdom Hearts Final Mix, and somehow Squeenix made the bad camera in the first game EVEN WORSE on Steam. It's gotten me killed so many times I've given up trying to beat it.

Next, I try to see how long I last playing Chain of Memories. I bounced off it way back when, because weird shuffling card game things over an exact repeat of the first game does not enthuse.

Also, Diablo 3's new season starts this evening, might go explode some corpses over there a while.

[Cliff Hanger]

8 hours ago, Chaos said:

It's their rewards program. Some of it's tied to doing things in games they select, but a lot is tied to purchases. 

I notice that they also took away the ability to buy PSN credit with reward points, now it can only be used to buy the rotating game choices or the dumb digital collectibles

[Ramo2653]

3 hours ago, JLSigman said:

Playing Kingdom Hearts Final Mix, and somehow Squeenix made the bad camera in the first game EVEN WORSE on Steam. It's gotten me killed so many times I've given up trying to beat it.

Next, I try to see how long I last playing Chain of Memories. I bounced off it way back when, because weird shuffling card game things over an exact repeat of the first game does not enthuse.

Also, Diablo 3's new season starts this evening, might go explode some corpses over there a while.

Ooh, I've been going through the KH games and just finished 2 and I'm starting Birth by Sleep and where the story really gets convoluted. And yeah the KH1 camera is way too zoomed in makes me wonder how we delt with it in the back in the day. 

I did not enjoy Chain of Memories that card system was whack and I gave up on it. 

[JLSigman]

13 hours ago, Ramo2653 said:

Ooh, I've been going through the KH games and just finished 2 and I'm starting Birth by Sleep and where the story really gets convoluted. And yeah the KH1 camera is way too zoomed in makes me wonder how we delt with it in the back in the day. 

I did not enjoy Chain of Memories that card system was whack and I gave up on it. 

I think part of the problem with the camera in KH1 is that it reacts too strong to when you move it now. Like, on PS2 you used the D pad and it didn't not zip around like that at all. I've got a save at the point of no return and may go back to it and fiddle with some settings, but good lord it's bad when you're trying to keep up with a boss and vertigo kicks in because of how the camera is wildly flailing about.

I got past the first town in CoM, and I Do Not Like this system, at all. I think I'll just pass on this.

Apparently they couldn't import the fighting for 358/2, so it's just all the cutscenes. Which is... actually kinda not bad. Saves me having to go look for them on YouTube.

 

And, to the surprise of no-one, Diablo 3 crashed hard about 30 minutes into the new season. LOL my poor computer can't take this.....

[Ramo2653]

3 hours ago, JLSigman said:

I think part of the problem with the camera in KH1 is that it reacts too strong to when you move it now. Like, on PS2 you used the D pad and it didn't not zip around like that at all. I've got a save at the point of no return and may go back to it and fiddle with some settings, but good lord it's bad when you're trying to keep up with a boss and vertigo kicks in because of how the camera is wildly flailing about.

I got past the first town in CoM, and I Do Not Like this system, at all. I think I'll just pass on this.

Apparently they couldn't import the fighting for 358/2, so it's just all the cutscenes. Which is... actually kinda not bad. Saves me having to go look for them on YouTube.

And, to the surprise of no-one, Diablo 3 crashed hard about 30 minutes into the new season. LOL my poor computer can't take this.....

Spent a few hours with Birth By Sleep and I'll stick with it combat is ok. 358/2 and Re:coded are just the cut scenes redone using the KH2 engine. From what some of the folks that have played the games say, you miss some of the story beats since they didn't render certain scenes and for 358/2 and the true monotony of what Roxas is doing without the gameplay. Also the explanation for why Roxas and Xion look the way they do is kinda nuts. Before getting back into this I only played the main line games aside from 30 minutes with the OG Chain of Memories on the GBA that I ended up tossing in a box somewhere and got back to playing Fire Pro.

 

[dogwelder]

I still find it idiotic that Squenix put a bunch of storyline details for the KH series into a frigging gacha mobile game.