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2018 VIDEO GAME CATCH-ALL THREAD


SirSmUgly

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The physics in bowling and pool are super weird.  I could never get pool to work for me and it took me forever to bowl a turkey which is super important to do (but only after they tell you that you can win a prize)

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I am dumb.  Battle Chasers has forced me to don my old school RPG hat and remember the important things like grinding experience and doing all available side mission near the new town you discover so that you can level up properly before taking on the boss in the region.

Fighting spiders is so much easier when you bother to get your healer character up to the level where he can cast venom cures at will.  Urgh.

Immediate gratification Action RPGs have made me soft.

Level grinding is important because you can earn skill bonuses for all of your characters by a certain number of monsters from a particular class. 

For example, killing fifty cave bats unlocks a bonus that improves party initiative (ie. My turn comes before the monster's does.) since bats can buff themselves with Haste.

So far, I've only got Gully, Garrison, and Calibretto in my party.  Knolan and Red Monika are out there somewhere and I have no idea who this masked chain whip wielding demon hunter is or how he fits into the storyline.

The game has piqued my OCD since I discovered that you can earn bonus XP through things like using AOE attacks to kill all of your enemies at once (Double Kill or Triple Kill) or by winning fights by only using surplus mana (the Overcharge system).  A very distinctive break from the usual Turn Based RPG combat systems where you usually pound on one enemy at a time.

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I never played any Sega back in the day.  Literally.  Never owned a Sega system, never played a Sonic the Hedgehog game until this year.  I was wrong.  Terribly, terribly wrong.  Really digging the Sega systems.  Not so much Genesis, but Saturn and especially Dreamcast have deep. wacky catalogs.  

Not sure how people enjoyed either console without modding their console or just buying a Japanese console, though.  So many great imports.

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You didn't need to mod either the Saturn or the Dreamcast to play imports.  I'm pretty sure for the Saturn you just needed a PAR or something in that neighborhood.  For the DC, you just needed a boot disc.

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1 hour ago, Raziel said:

You didn't need to mod either the Saturn or the Dreamcast to play imports.  I'm pretty sure for the Saturn you just needed a PAR or something in that neighborhood.  For the DC, you just needed a boot disc.

True.  I kinda misspoke.  Dreamcast is very easy to mod.  I do own a couple boot discs to play PAL games (Shenmue II) but I also own a Japanese Dreamcast.  Lol, and I still haven't looked to see how to mod a Saturn.  I bought a Japanese Saturn before a NTSC-U/C Saturn.

Point was, both consoles have import-heavy catalogs, so if you just relied on the games released to Gamestop or whatever, the catalogs probably didn't seem that great.  

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True, but by the time Gen 5 rolled around, Importing was becoming a thing (at least in the Philadelphia and NYC metro markets) and you could find stores that sold import games, at least much easier than previous generations.  

 

That said, Dreamcast was more balanced across NA/JP than Saturn was.  Saturn was pretty thin in their US lineup, and anything that did come out that wasn't console exclusive was better on other platforms, save for Capcom Fighting games.

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Yeah, I can't remember the name of the chain (it's long since gone), but it had several locations in the Philly Metro area, one owned by Stevie Richards, where my friend and I got all our imports from.  I actually played Six Man Scramble with Stevie at one of the stores in the Demo Saturn.

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2 hours ago, Player One said:

True.  I kinda misspoke.  Dreamcast is very easy to mod.  I do own a couple boot discs to play PAL games (Shenmue II) but I also own a Japanese Dreamcast.  Lol, and I still haven't looked to see how to mod a Saturn.  I bought a Japanese Saturn before a NTSC-U/C Saturn.

Point was, both consoles have import-heavy catalogs, so if you just relied on the games released to Gamestop or whatever, the catalogs probably didn't seem that great.  

 

They used to release Saturn imports directly to a pre-Gamestop EB Games.  You could walk in there and just straight up buy Fire Pro Wrestling 6 Man Scramble and shit.

It was a couple years after everyone already had it though.  Like 99-2000ish.

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1 hour ago, Tromatagon said:

 

They used to release Saturn imports directly to a pre-Gamestop EB Games.  You could walk in there and just straight up buy Fire Pro Wrestling 6 Man Scramble and shit.

It was a couple years after everyone already had it though.  Like 99-2000ish.

I really wasn't into gaming in the late 90's and when I did pick up a PS2 a few years later, it was strictly "buy whatever EB Games has on the shelf."  Wasn't really aware of imports outside of FPR and KOC II until sometime in the past 5-7 years.  Someone mentioned on a retro games podcast I listened to recently that you could walk into EB Games and buy a PAL copy of Shenmue II (for the Dreamcast) and a boot disc.  That blew my mind.  I assume that, if you walk into a chain store in 2018 and ask about a boot disc, they have security escort you to the Microsoft dungeon.

BTW, anyone collect hardware?  I've got plenty of games that need played, so, for a bit I'm mostly picking up hardware and accessories for retro systems.  I'll still grab a system if I see something at a great price or something rare (generally a rare import that's gonna cost me at least $100), but my interest right now is consoles - especially import consoles.  Grabbed several import PS2's because they were from limited Japan-exclusive series (the metallic PS2's they released in Japan when the console passed 50 mil in sales, for example) and a few import launch consoles.  Paid way too much for one of the rare white original Xbox's that was released in Japan to celebrate the Xbox's second anniversary in Japan.  I'm probably lucky that variant consoles didn't really become that bif of a thing till after the PS2.  Most of the limited editions and color variants released before the PS2 strike me as ugly and uninteresting.  The Nintendo 64, for example, put out a lot of variant colors but most of them are astoundingly hideous.  I do have a gold import N64 (exclusive to Toy R US in Japan and the US).

 

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7 hours ago, Raziel said:

You didn't need to mod either the Saturn or the Dreamcast to play imports.  I'm pretty sure for the Saturn you just needed a PAR or something in that neighborhood.  For the DC, you just needed a boot disc.

I had one of those 4 meg RAM expansions + battery backup deals and that was all you needed to play imports.  

I loved my Saturn.  Should never have sold it.

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6 hours ago, Tabe said:

I had one of those 4 meg RAM expansions + battery backup deals and that was all you needed to play imports.  

I loved my Saturn.  Should never have sold it.

Well, you can buy the console at a retro store or eBay for about $50 - aka roughly the price of one PS4 game.

I'm a much bigger fan of the Dreamcast than the Saturn.  Saturn has a deep catalog, but I also look at it and see mistakes Sega made on the business side.  Not giving the Saturn a proper Sonic platformer or three really hurt it.  And I personally like the catalog, but the Saturn's best games don't stack up well to the n64's top 10 (Zelda's, Mario 64, etc.).  The N64 had a lot fewer games - and a lot fewer very good-great games - than the Saturn but the N64 had killer app-level games to drive sales.

The problem with the Saturn, imo, is that the hardware and catalog were tied to closely to arcade ports.  The catalog is a lot more appealing if you're into 2D shooters and fighting games.  Arcades were starting to become obsolete and console games were beginning to become more complex.  With the Playstation One, Sony did a lot better job judging the changing marketplace.  They offered a wider variety of games and put more emphasis on complex, long-term playability.  If you were even slightly into RPG's back then, the PSOne had a bunch of triple-AAA titles.

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Bought a VITA and immediately want to murder the Sony execs that shunned it. Never mind that I waited this long to pick one up (from the always lovely videogamesnewyork in NoHo) and am therefore part of the problem. I got Tearaway, a very silly visual novel and a hell of a lot of my downloaded PS3/4 games, really didn't think my Super Meat Boy save would work on both consoles but hell yeah it does.

So now it's Code: Realize when I just want to play a book, finally figuring out why everybody loved Everyday Shooter, whoopin' some old-school ass in Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon and wondering what else I need to buff up the library. Also about 2/3's in on the first Xenosaga game - which I dig man, really, I do - somehow wound up with a copy of Way of the Samurai 3 (which is much more engaging than good) and am absolutely ashamed of myself for not being able to get through my DS library. I'm playing on a Gen 1 3DS since my XL turned glitchy and I think it could just be that I hate the hardware.

 

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God of war.

This game, this glorious game. One moment It's DOOM rip and tear, then it's a beautiful love letter to watching your child grow, understand their place in the world, and releasing the reins of parenthood a bit. But with draugr. and tattoos on rocks.

Found my first valkyrie and got utterly destroyed, in a hot minute. One second she screamed, the next mimir was asking if that was it.

but my favourite moments have nothing to do with the action, plot or anything major. what i love most is the incidental stuff. When Kratos rows, and Mimir just chats shit. utter bollocks lore stories. I can row all the way around the central platform for a good 20 minutes and he'll still be yammering on about thor.

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15 hours ago, Player One said:

Well, you can buy the console at a retro store or eBay for about $50 - aka roughly the price of one PS4 game.

I'm a much bigger fan of the Dreamcast than the Saturn.  Saturn has a deep catalog, but I also look at it and see mistakes Sega made on the business side.  Not giving the Saturn a proper Sonic platformer or three really hurt it.  And I personally like the catalog, but the Saturn's best games don't stack up well to the n64's top 10 (Zelda's, Mario 64, etc.).  The N64 had a lot fewer games - and a lot fewer very good-great games - than the Saturn but the N64 had killer app-level games to drive sales.

The problem with the Saturn, imo, is that the hardware and catalog were tied to closely to arcade ports.  The catalog is a lot more appealing if you're into 2D shooters and fighting games.  Arcades were starting to become obsolete and console games were beginning to become more complex.  With the Playstation One, Sony did a lot better job judging the changing marketplace.  They offered a wider variety of games and put more emphasis on complex, long-term playability.  If you were even slightly into RPG's back then, the PSOne had a bunch of triple-AAA titles.

All fair points. Sega definitely misjudged the market but we still got a great console with a wonderful personality. 

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On 7/24/2018 at 12:58 PM, Tromatagon said:

 

They used to release Saturn imports directly to a pre-Gamestop EB Games.  You could walk in there and just straight up buy Fire Pro Wrestling 6 Man Scramble and shit.

It was a couple years after everyone already had it though.  Like 99-2000ish.

It was just before I started working there, which was in 2000. I remember asking the manager then what happened with the Saturn games and imports and they basically never sold. Plus, with the Dreamcast coming out, they didn't want to dedicate shelf space that could go towards other stuff. Other stuff like, you know, real hot tech like the NGage.

I didn't have a Saturn, but my friend did and I always thought about buying some of the Saturn games at Electronics Boutique in case I could buy my friend's Saturn. One of the games I thought about buying was Panzer Dragoon Saga, which I know was priced at less than $100, but definitely more than $50. And now that thing sells for a shitload of money.

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8 hours ago, Red is Dead said:

God of war.

This game, this glorious game. One moment It's DOOM rip and tear, then it's a beautiful love letter to watching your child grow, understand their place in the world, and releasing the reins of parenthood a bit. But with draugr. and tattoos on rocks.

Found my first valkyrie and got utterly destroyed, in a hot minute. One second she screamed, the next mimir was asking if that was it.

but my favourite moments have nothing to do with the action, plot or anything major. what i love most is the incidental stuff. When Kratos rows, and Mimir just chats shit. utter bollocks lore stories. I can row all the way around the central platform for a good 20 minutes and he'll still be yammering on about thor.

I 100% agree with this.  It's my pick for best game of the generation so far.

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8 hours ago, Tabe said:

All fair points. Sega definitely misjudged the market but we still got a great console with a wonderful personality. 

True.  And I'm just starting to dig into the Saturn catalog, but it definitely had a lot of fun games, so I may appreciate it more when I have a more Saturn games and a better handle of how much of the catalog is on my wish list.  I miss Sega.  They took risks and released some truly creative stuff that they couldn't possibly have thought would sell well (Seaman?  Segagaga?  The bus driver tourist game.

One mistake which was probably  fatal for them was basically pulling the plug on the Saturn a full year before the Dreamcast launched.  That's a long time to give up shelf space and market presence to N64 and PSOne.

Sega wasn't alone in misjudging what consumers would want out of hardware in the early 2000's.  I like Nintendo's IP's a lot, and thus like the GameCube, but Nintendo made some terrible decisions about hardware.  The mini-discs, which made using the console as a DVD player impossible, no USB support.  It was way too hard to figure out how to transfer saves from my PC to the Dreamcast.  Micro SD card?  Really.  And try to find a micro SD card under 4GB in 2018, lol.

It's weird.  Ps2 is probably my favorite console by a wide margin, but Sony is a distant third behind Sega and Nintendo.

Ok, talking about Sega has weakened my resolve.  I am off to eBay to throw down some decent cash for expensive rare Saturn games.  And maybe Shenmue.  Oh, hell, definitely Shenmue.

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I don't love everything about God of War, but I will say this. It's a AAA title that was developed for 5 years, and it actually *feels* like what a AAA title that was developed for 5 years *should* feel like in 2018. Every single thing in the game had due attention and care. Some of the sound design and mixing in particular is worlds above most of the work done in video games. Nothing in the game is left to chance for the gamers to fill in the blanks of what could have been. The developers actually took the time to do everything they wanted to do, and do it correctly.

I also think God of War was really important to demonstrate to major studios that there is still tremendous value in long-term investment into this kind of single-player focused massive experience, at a time when there has never been more free-to-access content, more "infinite content"/roguelike, or more multiplayer options on the table. Are there things I don't love in God of War? Sure. But it's a game that made a gigantic statement about what a $60 US AAA singleplayer experience can, and should be, at this point.

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I'm torturing myself now not wanting to let Arkham Knight be the only Arkham game I didn't 100%, so now that I grinded everything else (including the Season of Infamy) stuff, I'm working on the Riddler Trophies.  Some of these are beyond "challenging" and into "too much of a pain in the ass", especially the "hit the switch then race in the Batmobile to the other side of the map" ones.  I do dig the quick Arkham Stories DLC stuff with the side characters, and am using them to split up the trophy hunting monotiny.  I'm not sure if I'll Platnium grind as it doesn't seem as rough to do the AR stuff as it was in previous games.

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Man, Mario Kart 8 is really great. I thought that I had just sort of stopped liking Mario Kart that much. I busted out Mario Kart 64 a couple years ago, and that was good, but limited. I played some of the original on my SNES Classic, and it was alright, but I didn't have the desire to play it that I did when I was ten.

I played Mario Kart Wii a year or so ago and got bored super-quickly. 

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has its hooks in me, though. I can't quite tell why - maybe it's the mixing of different systems from different Mario Kart games together in an effective way that works for me. Maybe it's the choice of tracks because I think putting the main Excitebike track in this game and letting me race it with Rosalina on a motorcycle is a genius idea. Also, I love Baby Park. What a madhouse that level is when it really gets going. Maybe it's the OST (yeah, it's definitely partly the OST). Whatever it is, I've rediscovered my love of Mario Kart. 

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I didn't like God of War at all and actually re-sold it after logging five hours of bland, shitty gameplay and mediocre father-son relationship development, but I appreciate Sony's commitment to long, interesting SP games with high production values. Horizon was one of my four favorite games last year.

Now that Bethesda has taken a beating sales-wise on every non-Elder Scrolls, non-Fallout SP game with high production values, they seem to be focusing more on MP games (like this Fallout game that I have zero interest in playing because it's PvP and online-connected continuously, or at least, that's what it appears to be). That leaves really only Nintendo and Sony as the companies with a commitment to making SP games with great production and intricacy. SEGA does this with Yakuza, but they're obviously still trying to find their footing almost two decades after the Dreamcast died. 

One of the reasons that I haven't even bothered getting an XB1 is that Microsoft isn't interested in greenlighting any SP-focused games these days. I would certainly play Crackdown 3 in single-player mode, but otherwise, I don't see what there is to draw me to the console, even for the dirt-cheap prices that you can find XB1S models at here in 2018. Funny enough, if they had universal OG Xbox backwards compatibility, which would allow me to play all of my old OG Xbox games with dope SP modes (like Def Jam: Fight For New York, Jet Set Radio Future, Panzer Dragoon Orta [yeah, I know that's playable now], Breakdown, GunValkyrie, etc.), I'd totally buy one. 

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1 hour ago, Smelly McUgly said:

I didn't like God of War at all and actually re-sold it after logging five hours of bland, shitty gameplay and mediocre father-son relationship development, but I appreciate Sony's commitment to long, interesting SP games with high production values. Horizon was one of my four favorite games last year.

What exactly did you not like about the gameplay? That game handled like a dream and it is one of the few games where the difficulty ramped up from beginning to end where it never felt easy but didn't unfairly difficult either.  It is a game that felt like I was 100% in control of whether I won or lost for every moment in the game.  There were battles I had to retry 5-10 times, but I never grew frustrated like I didn't understand how I could adjust...even when I got to the end and went valkyrie hunting.  The combat system starts off pretty simple, but just grows deeper and deeper as you upgrade your gear, trust your son, and get new weapons.  If you only played 5 hours, I can't take your opinion seriously about the father/son stuff, because you didn't actually see any of the development.  

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