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2021 VIDEO GAME CATCH ALL THREAD


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1 hour ago, J.T. said:

Aha!  The news that Cyberpunk 2077 data is being propagated through the web was leaked in part by a CDPR employee.

I believe that about as much as I believe the claims of widespread voter fraud in the last US presidential election or that the Illuminati is run by lizard people.

You mean the Time Keepers? ? 

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Just beat Dark Souls 3. So now since January 1st I’ve done Dark Souls, Bloodborne, Demon’s Souls, Jedi Force Order (Soulslike I guess), and now DS3. It definitely has better combat than the originals, but not as fun as Bloodborne. Especially without Bloodborne’s rally system I never see a need to parry and risk the consequences. It’s partly that I got güd and partly that I know how to make an OP build, but this was definitely the easiest of these games to beat. One shotted many of the bosses and nothing besides the Nameless King took more than 5 tries. Level design also reminds me Bloodborne, much bigger and individualized spaces compared to DS1, but less interconnected, even more so than BB. I love how many different play styles there are tho, will definitely have to go back and try a magic based character.

Picked up Sekiro on sale afterward and have enjoyed the first few hours, tho I still have to internalize the mechanics more. But then the other day I started playing Dark Souls on my switch just to try fucking around with a Pyromancer build and am now fully sucked in again. It just never gets old.

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Got my 219th Platinum trophy with Far Cry Classic on PS3. Compared to COD Classic, it was much easier.

It's amazing that Ubisoft managed to have a six game series from this. It's mostly a linear shooter with a sarcastic sense of humor -- sorta wish Ubisoft did a direct sequel and have you play as someone contacted by Jack Carver and Val to track down the remaining Trigen virus, but oh well.

But gotta climb those towers.

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I wish I had played Far Cry 2 when I was younger because it sounds like they did some really interesting things with it but there is no way I have the patience to put up with its bullshit now.

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I like to start a really gameplay-heavy game whenever I start getting into another game that's predominantly story-based.

I know they just re-released Ninja Gaiden Sigma again, but I haven't caught up that far. I'm finally playing Ninja Gaiden Black on the OG Xbox. Hah. Oh man. I spent ample time with the NES originals back in the day and I'm very comfortable playing 3D action games with this kind of difficultly level but this one is the real deal. I knew what I was getting into. That doesn't mean I'm not getting fuckin' wrecked more often than not, but I'm getting through it. Black is supposed to be even harder than the standard Ninja Gaiden on Xbox, right? Cause I'm gonna beat this thing eventually, even if my means of victory are 10% finesse and 90% beer-fueled attrition.

The really talky game is 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim and if you read a lot of 2020 best-of lists you saw this one get mentioned. It's the culmination of 15 years of Vanillaware refining their multi-layered 2D watercolor anime aesthetic and every screen is absolutely fetching. None of the action of an Odin Sphere, Muramasa, etc., 70% of it is pure side-scrolling visual novel/adventure game, albeit with top-notch voice acting and very little menu or puzzle jank. The other 30% is a solid enough pauseable RTS that might have some real depth if I crank it to Hard Mode (remember that Vanillaware made GrimGrimoire so this isn't their first RTS). I can't tolerate pure "Press X to Read" visual novels but even the talky parts have enough player control to keep my attention. Part of it is the side-scrolling control style, part of it is being able to switch to the RTS whenever you feel like it, but mostly it's the seriously serious amount of branching-pathery they've got going on. The prologue plays linear and is told out of order (I think?), but after that the game opens up and gives you 13 selectable characters with God knows how many scenes and "end-points" that all occur in way-the-fuck media res. Character-specific story chunks are unlocked via game progress but you can chose the characters in any order, and each scene has a crazy twist, sci-fi plot device, or cliffhanger. There's really no spoiling when I say the game involves time travel, alternate realities, frequent amnesia, robots, multiple identities, and casual loops. Nor is it a spoiler to say the game cribs from Evangelion, Godzilla, WALL-E, Terminator, The Matrix, Groundhog Day, Fight Club, or dozens of anime I haven't watched. I'm about 2/3's done and the plot is coming together really well. This is a major work in the canon of video game narratives. No other medium could have supported this story, it provides commentary on the media we consume (film moreso than game) without being to meta about it, and it's a wildly ambitious and unique way to tell a story.

Is this George Kamitani's masterwork? That depends on your opinion of Odin Sphere: Leifthrasir. From my perspective, he's got two already and Vanillaware hasn't put anything out in the States that isn't excellent. I didn't pick up Dragon's Crown when it came out, partly because I didn't know much about the company in 2013 and partly due to the controversy surrounding its release, and I'm probably gonna pick up the next copy I see in the wild. All that bad press and Twitter feuding is looking more and more unfortunate as time goes on - every game I've played of theirs has a well-written female main protagonist (or six) and really grown-up, literary storytelling. Well ahead of the industry standard with no sense of pandering or trying too hard. That's why it stinks that there's these initially shocking bits of fanservice that make you think the game is going to play out stupid and adolescent. All the teenage heroes are naked in their robots, for no reason. There is exactly one character who is ten tons of tits in a 12oz bottle. Nothing else comes close save for some volleyball shorts and the story is not driven by any creepy sexual energy. In fact, Kamitani explicitly stated that the characters were inspired by shojo manga (comics written for a teenage female audience, predominantly romance), as a way to keep things fresh for anyone expecting a standard mecha plot. It's worth keeping in mind if you're starting out.

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On 6/15/2021 at 5:11 PM, A.M.B. said:

Just beat Dark Souls 3. So now since January 1st I’ve done Dark Souls, Bloodborne, Demon’s Souls, Jedi Force Order (Soulslike I guess), and now DS3. It definitely has better combat than the originals, but not as fun as Bloodborne. Especially without Bloodborne’s rally system I never see a need to parry and risk the consequences. It’s partly that I got güd and partly that I know how to make an OP build, but this was definitely the easiest of these games to beat. One shotted many of the bosses and nothing besides the Nameless King took more than 5 tries. Level design also reminds me Bloodborne, much bigger and individualized spaces compared to DS1, but less interconnected, even more so than BB. I love how many different play styles there are tho, will definitely have to go back and try a magic based character.

Picked up Sekiro on sale afterward and have enjoyed the first few hours, tho I still have to internalize the mechanics more. But then the other day I started playing Dark Souls on my switch just to try fucking around with a Pyromancer build and am now fully sucked in again. It just never gets old.

That's an impressive collection of games there.  I've mentioned beating Mortal Shell and making a little progress in Bloodborne this year, but now it's all on hold because I finally found Demon's Souls on sale.  I had a rough start but rolled a new class and am doing quite well for my skill so far as Royalty class.  I've learned to embrace the occasional cheesing of enemies and will hopefully wrap this game up before trying to dive back into Bloodborne. I should probably jump back into Returnal too but I'm having too much fun with the Soulslike games right now.

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Xbox Games Showcase Extended was very interesting.  Deep dives into many of the games shown Sunday, plus developer interviews.  Didn't expect it to be my thing, but most of the developers did a great job selling their games.  

 

 

Only new game announcement was PS5/Xbox Series versions of A Plague Tale: Innocence.  Release date is July 6.  Very excited about this.  Almost replayed the game a few weeks ago, but glad I waited.  Upgrade is free to current owners (though i'm going to rebuy the game for Xbox instead of PlayStation).  

Xbox Design Lab reopened (design your own controller, basically). 

 

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On 6/16/2021 at 11:26 AM, Zimbra said:

I wish I had played Far Cry 2 when I was younger because it sounds like they did some really interesting things with it but there is no way I have the patience to put up with its bullshit now.

There was some good things about the game but having to do stuff like completing a mission and then having to go all the way across the map dealing with respawning enemies so you can make a phone call to actually "finish" the mission got real old.

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On 6/16/2021 at 3:33 PM, John E. Dynamite said:

Ninja Gaiden. I spent ample time with the NES originals back in the day

did you beat the NES games? if so, much props. i was working on NG1 last year but never was able to overcome it.

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For all one or two of you that care, Rockstar Games announced that Max Payne 3 and LA Noire will see their servers shut down on September 16, 2021 and Grand Theft Auto V on PS3 / Xbox 360 will see theirs shut down on December 16, 2021.

I guess I need to get the online trophies done on GTA V now.

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Bought Metro Exodus since it's like $20 and the PS5 upgrade launched today (and by all accounts, it's pretty fucking good - especially as it relates to weapons, with both the haptics and triggers). But I didn't want to go into the story confused, so I also bought Metro Redux as well (2033 + Last Light).

I'm already trying to juggle playing Mass Effect 3, the Telltale Batman games, and Hellblade. Fuck.

I have a problem. ?

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Taking a break from longer games to knock out some shorter titles.

Mushihimesama.   Great port of a classic Cave shmup.  Expected the port to have been farmed out to a third-party studio, but, nope, Cave did it themselves.  Not a huge shmup fan, but do dig the classic Cave and Treasure stuff.  Nuts to think that, by the end of the year, Espgaluda II, DoDonPachi Resurrection, and both Deathsmiles games should also be available on the Switch.

Mr. Driller: Drill Land.  Kinda average port but the game is still fun.  I bought a Japanese GameCube back in the day for Drill Land and a couple other titles, so I'm all for bringing this to the West for the first time.  I've enjoyed every minute with this (well, except for all the cutely-animated-but-grisly-in-concept deaths).

Horace.  Wish I had played this sooner.  Heard this talked up quite a bit since it's been released, but was still surprised at how good it is.  Basically, it's a pixel-art platformer about a robot trying to find its purpose it life.  Surprisingly heartfelt with some inventive gameplay mechanics.  Developed by a two-man team whose passion for the game really comes through.  

Guwange.  Another Cave shooter.  Xbox 360 title, but somehow I had never played it.  Not my favorite Cave shooter but still a quality shmup I'd recommend.  Backwards-compatible and inexpensive.

Ghosts 'n Goblins Resurrection.  Was originally a Switch exclusive.  I played it when it came to Xbox a few weeks ago.  Fun update, but with some frustratingly dated mechanics and a high level of difficulty made even worse gameplay issues (lack of diagonal shooting is killer in some areas).   Better than average but a little forgettable.  Still glad to to see the franchise revived.

Ninja Gaiden Master Collection.  Didn't finish any of the games.  Just played enough to see how they compare to the originals.  Meh.  The Sigma edition of Ninja Gaiden is fine, but I still prefer Ninja Gaiden Black.  Sigma 2 is very different from the 360 version of NG II and not in a good way.  The Master Collection restores most of the blood and gore, but Sigma is very different in terms of balance and gameplay.  And the added content - which lets you play as other characters - doesn't do much for me.  If you're on PlayStation, I'd recommend Master Collection.  Switch version supposedly has technical issues, so i dunno.  Master Collection is fine for Xbox owners, but all three games are already available via backwards compatibility, and all three already run at 60 fps with a substantial resolution boost, so you're basically paying for 4k and that makes the Master Collection seem kinda inessential.  I mostly bought the Master Collection in the hopes it sells well and Team Ninja makes NH 4. 

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Late pass on the 2016 Ratchet & Clank but it rules and I'm a few trophies away from the Platinum, and of course just HAD to buy A Rift Apart to play while the mechanics were fresh in mind.

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On 6/18/2021 at 8:12 PM, twiztor said:

did you beat the NES games? if so, much props. i was working on NG1 last year but never was able to overcome it.

Jesus no, not without saves. There's a handful of old NES games I can legit take down and I used to be able to get pretty far in Contra without the code, but I don't think I ever sniffed having a chance with Ninja Gaiden. I actually had to look this up because I was curious - the only well-known NES games that are considered more difficult by GameFAQs old user ratings are Ghosts 'n Goblins and Battletoads. I don't know if this is a controversial opinion but I think the NES Ninja Gaiden 2 smokes the other two games in the trilogy.

Ok, so. I beat 13 Sentinels. Nobody else cares about this thing, it won every "Best Game Nobody Played in 2020" award, it comes off niche, so I'm gonna harp on this one until I die.
81lVA9vWmKS._SX342_.jpg

THIS ONE. THIS IS THE GAME. I know it looks like it's an high-school anime ensemble silly thing. It isn't, it doesn't approach the doofy tropeyness of even a Persona 5. I know the reviews use words like "visual novel" but it hits a lot more like a puzzle-free Telltale or Lucasarts adventure game. The RTS part is actually good, and if you hate RTS like me, don't worry cause it feels much more turn-based in practice. The important part is that 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim reached way, way out there and tried to tell one of the most ambitious, high-concept stories you'll ever encounter in gaming and it pulls it off superbly.

I would tell somebody with more Western-centric tastes that keeping track of 20+ Japanese names might get overwhelming, but I'm posting on a board where half the people who would read this know the difference between Michiyoshi Ohara and Masao Orihara.

Edited by John E. Dynamite
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I got an email invite from PlayStation to order a PS5 but, uh, I've already got one. I don't know if this means that Sony Direct is restocked for a day or what, but the sale starts at noon, Pacific Time this coming Wednesday. If anybody's still looking, check into that. 

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I’ve been playing Breath of Fire II on my Switch. Good game, but it’s pretty bad for failing to give you any clear directions, so you just wander the world and hope you encounter the story.

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42 minutes ago, Control said:

I’ve been playing Breath of Fire II on my Switch. Good game, but it’s pretty bad for failing to give you any clear directions, so you just wander the world and hope you encounter the story.

Yeah the BoF franchise was pretty bad at giving you any sort of direction.  There are a couple of good walkthroughs out there that can give you some hints without spoiling the story.

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56 minutes ago, Control said:

I’ve been playing Breath of Fire II on my Switch. Good game, but it’s pretty bad for failing to give you any clear directions, so you just wander the world and hope you encounter the story.

I feel this way about a lot of pre-PS3 era games, especially RPGs.  If I quit playing for more than a couple of days I forget what I was doing and the game certainly isn't going to tell me.

I got Watch Dogs:Legion when it was on sale and it's feeling kinda like a slog already.  The recruitment mechanic is really not working for me.

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1 hour ago, J.T. said:

Yeah the BoF franchise was pretty bad at giving you any sort of direction.  There are a couple of good walkthroughs out there that can give you some hints without spoiling the story.

Yeah, I’ve been relying on a Gamfaqs walk through every time I’m lost.

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I played a little last night when it dropped since GX was doing a livestream to do the online stuff.

having barely learned the controls, speed golf and battle golf are fun and a little frantic. 

not tried story mode yet. 
 

id say a tentative thumbs up after only playing for a half hour or so. 

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