2024 VIDEO GAMES CATCH ALL THREAD

[Stefanie Sparkleface]

9 hours ago, Death From Above said:

I think (other than the Japangrish translation that is a product of the times) the OG Zelda is a masterpiece that is so far ahead of its time it's not even funny.

I personally love it. I also love Zelda 2 and think it gets unfairly criticized solely for being different from the original, much like Castlevania 2. I really like that that era of games had sequels that tried to do something wildly different rather than give the same ol' same ol' (it's one of the many reasons why I prefer the US Super Mario 2 to the Japanese one).

[Matt D]

Zelda 1 is still super playable. I found Zelda: OoT unplayable last year. I got through the Shadow Dungeon maybe and it just wasn’t worth the grief of the controls and dealing with the camera.

[Stefanie Sparkleface]

1 hour ago, Matt D said:

Zelda 1 is still super playable. I found Zelda: OoT unplayable last year. I got through the Shadow Dungeon maybe and it just wasn’t worth the grief of the controls and dealing with the camera.

The N64/PlayStation 1 era of games has aged pretty poorly for me. The transition from 2D to 3D came plagued with poor controls and bad camera. Unless it's a 2D game (Symphony of the Night, for example, or a lot of the more memorable Saturn games), I don't mind letting a lot of that era go.

Edited January 12 by Stefanie Sparkleface

[Death From Above]

I am basically playing nothing but Total Warhammer 3 lately and me being me, I've done a fuckton of modding. I'm now curating a one stop for everything mod collection on Steam for those that want to play the Immortal Empires Expanded mod, if like 370 factions in one game seems like your jam.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3133534717&savesuccess=1

[Death From Above]

As far as classic Zeldas go I still rate the SNES one as the best but I'm a little biased because a few years ago I got deep into the Link to the Past Randomizer for a while, which is a fucking awesome little piece of tech that has a pretty active little community doing races and whatnot on twitch. I played it a lot until I pulled off a run where I beat the game in under 2 and a half hours and that was all I really needed to prove to myself with it.

[Raziel]

See,  now you have to pull off. LttPxSM combo randomizer in under 3 hours (best I've done is 4.5)

[JLSigman]

On 1/3/2024 at 12:22 PM, JLSigman said:

To start out the new year, I'm playing a game from 2004 - Sacred (Gold version). It's still very pretty, and very dumb, and very fun.

Got the the point where I remembered all the usual Sacred stuff (always buy undead killing potions, do not consume the skill things or they never recharge) and oof, they did not balance a ranged character well at all. Time to roll up with a Seraphim and try again.

Edited January 12 by JLSigman

[Death From Above]

3 hours ago, Raziel said:

See,  now you have to pull off. LttPxSM combo randomizer in under 3 hours (best I've done is 4.5)

I never actually had super metroid as a kid, and coming to it as an adult it's a great game but I find it really fucking hard for whatever reason.

The double Zelda + Super Metroid randomizer is so totally wild. Apparently the reason it works is that Zelda and Metroid just don't access the same memory addresses at all for whatever reason, so it's technically possible to hold all the info from both games at once without breaking anything. The best theory I've heard as to why is that maybe Nintendo planned one of those 2-game special carts at some point but never went through with it. If it's not that, it's just the oddest piece of random luck ever.

[SirSmUgly]

I struggle badly with Samus's jump in Super Metroid. If Samus jumped like she does in Dread, that game would feel much better to play, at least for me.

[supremebve]

19 hours ago, SirSmUgly said:

I struggle badly with Samus's jump in Super Metroid. If Samus jumped like she does in Dread, that game would feel much better to play, at least for me.

I find Metroid to be one of those games that feels wrong or right based on how much time I've spent playing modern games.  If I haven't played a modern game that is based on platforming and timing shots/jumps it feels fine, but if I have it feels sluggish and non-responsive.  

[Ramo2653]

On 1/12/2024 at 12:40 PM, Stefanie Sparkleface said:

The N64/PlayStation 1 era of games has aged pretty poorly for me. The transition from 2D to 3D came plagued with poor controls and bad camera. Unless it's a 2D game (Symphony of the Night, for example, or a lot of the more memorable Saturn games), I don't mind letting a lot of that era go.

A few years ago MegaMan Legends was on sale on the PSN store so I got it, man were the controls tough, you had to use L2/R2 to strafe and it made the boss battles rough.

[odessasteps]

Midnight Suns is a lot better once you get the feel of the card system,.

the hangout stuff is still dumb.i mean, Ilyana and Nico lounging around a grotto in bikinis is very silly. 

[Kevin Wilson]

18 hours ago, odessasteps said:

Midnight Suns is a lot better once you get the feel of the card system,.

the hangout stuff is still dumb.i mean, Ilyana and Nico lounging around a grotto in bikinis is very silly. 

It really is the weirdest game, its like the developers tried to combine all their personal favorite game types into one, not being too concerned how it fit. Was I supposed to be excited when I unlocked new swimming trunks for Blade? It was weird, and the whole gift-giving system. I still enjoyed and beat the game but I was way more into the card system than the "personal relationship" system.

[odessasteps]

It certainly helps that I used gift cards and didn’t pay for it. I doubt I would have as be used if I paid $70 for it.

[Zimbra]

1 hour ago, Kevin Wilson said:

It really is the weirdest game, its like the developers tried to combine all their personal favorite game types into one, not being too concerned how it fit. Was I supposed to be excited when I unlocked new swimming trunks for Blade? It was weird, and the whole gift-giving system. I still enjoyed and beat the game but I was way more into the card system than the "personal relationship" system.

I know that the card stuff was added fairly late in development when the base "XCOM with superheroes" idea turned out to be pretty boring to play so they may have just been throwing stuff at the wall to find what works.

[twiztor]

On 1/10/2024 at 10:34 PM, Death From Above said:

I want to love Castlevania 2 so much. I think it's a failure, in the end. But it's a really interesting one.

 

On 1/11/2024 at 8:15 AM, Raziel said:

Both Castlevania 2 and Metroid are examples of games that are really rough to go back and say anything kind about, but they were necessary steps as both franchises got what those 2 games were trying to do right in the end.  They were just a little too ambitious for that generation of hardware.  Hell, even OG Zelda is rough without some help.

 

On 1/11/2024 at 2:48 PM, Tabe said:

I think the original Metroid holds up just fine. 

for me, Castlevania 2 is the least of the NES trilogy. It's not a great game, but i also wouldn't call it a bad one. Yes, it's cryptic-ness is legendary for a reason. But outside of a few moments (notably the Ferryman as well as the cliff) i found it relatively straightforward. Each of the "castles" were actually very easy. and navigating to the next town wasn't overly difficult.

i sat down to play Metroid a few years ago during the COVID lockdowns. Got out my pen and paper and drew maps. absolutely loved the game. played through the GB sequel (meh) and Super Metroid (loved it!), but both just led to me wanting to play the OG again. it is one of my favorite NES games. 

OG Zelda is my favorite game of all time. it is insanely cryptic. If i hadn't owned it and combed every inch of that game when i was kid, i would not love it nearly as much. So much of what i love about that game is the work i put into solving and mastering it. that's a monumental ask in 2024, especially with the accessability of the internet. 

On 1/11/2024 at 10:16 AM, Stefanie Sparkleface said:

They're very much games of their time, because if you played them in that era without any knowledge of what was to come, they were masterpieces. If you play them out of order, or after a later version, it's hard to imagine what made them special. It'd be like playing Super Mario World first, then playing the original Mario Bros. (not Super Mario Bros., mind you) and wondering why it was such a big deal.

That doesn't make the older games bad, it just makes them of their time. I still love Metroid, the original Zelda, et cetera because I grew up with them, but my daughter would be bored out of her skull with them. Such as it is.

very true. i rarely recommend these games that i love, because it's rare that somebody just coming to them would find the same magic that i did. i think everybody has their own "line" that represents what they can appreciate/like/enjoy/love. i LOVE the NES. and i can appreciate the Atari 2600, but i have no interest in playing it for more than a round or two. It's just too simplistic. OTOH, i also have no interest in newer AAA games. The more overall games i play, the more i realize that i vastly prefer 2d to 3d. 

 

On 1/11/2024 at 8:22 AM, Matt D said:

I've been playing Zelda: A Link Between Worlds emulated because I got annoyed it was on so many "Best Zelda Games Ever" lists and I'd never played it since I didn't have a 3DS. I'm enjoying it. It's weird not having a money limit, using magic for all items, and having paper mario mechanics but the gameplay feels generally right and there are lots of secrets. 

i bought a 3ds to play ALBW when the game launched (2013? has it really been 10 years?!?). man, it felt less like a sequel or homage of LTTP and more like a ripoff. It felt incredibly easy (i don't think i died a single time) and many of the puzzles were stolen directly from its SNES "inspiration". I realize i'm in the minority, but it really felt bland to me.

i rank OOT as an all-time great game, but i haven't played it since the n64 was current, and i have no desire to go back and tarnish those memories. 

[Death From Above]

The big thing about OOT that always bugged me was how literally nothing happens on the overworld during the daytime. That just always felt weird to me.

[StevieNippz]

My 2023 was a lot of Civilization 6, a few hundred hours. I bought Stellaris at a discount and it seems like it can be a potential replacement. 

I beat Baldurs Gate 3 but have already made new characters because I missed so much my first playthrough. I can see myself still playing this game years from now.

Other games I finished last year were Midnight Suns, Ratchet and Clank A Rift Apart, Diablo 4, Steel Rising and Weird West. Also a good amount of AEW Fight Forever.

I have a backlog of Horizon Forbidden West, GoW Ragnarok, Armoured Core 6, Lords of the Fallen and Dying Light 2. I want to play Robocop and Spider-Man 2 but I have to knock out a few of the games I already own first. 

[JLSigman]

On 1/12/2024 at 5:10 PM, JLSigman said:

Got the the point where I remembered all the usual Sacred stuff (always buy undead killing potions, do not consume the skill things or they never recharge) and oof, they did not balance a ranged character well at all. Time to roll up with a Seraphim and try again.

Ugh, ran into a game breaking bug with Seraphim twice and I'm done. Uninstalled.

I've got to get caught up with FF XIV anyways...

[Kevin Wilson]

I already had a spreadsheet where I track some life things in it, so this year I made a tab for video games. I'm not 'scoring' them since its just for me, just putting the game, if I finished it, and when I stopped playing it (I very rarely if ever go back to games I put down, except maybe years later). I've already beaten two games this year so going well so far, my current plan is to play through Final Fantasy I - VI next with the pixel remasters on the Switch. I played a ton of IV and VI as a kid but otherwise haven't touched any of them in 25+ years. Should be fun.

I don't have a real goal, just thought it would be fun at the end of the year to see what I played and what I finished. I'm really bad at not finishing games for a variety of reasons, usually becomes something else shiny comes along and if a few months passes without me touching a game it usually gets abandoned as my backlog is too big and I find it hard to jump back into a game mid-game months later. So hopefully this will keep me focused.

[SirSmUgly]

11 hours ago, StevieNippz said:

My 2023 was a lot of Civilization 6, a few hundred hours. I bought Stellaris at a discount and it seems like it can be a potential replacement. 

I never could get into Civ 6 and should try again, though I bought the base game, didn't enjoy it, and never bought any of the updates. I should keep an eye out on Steam for sales.

Civ 5 is a bit easy once you figure out that 3-4 is the "perfect" number of cities to have (and that India can make you hard to beat against the COMP on even the highest levels), so I've been playing a little Civ 4 Complete. I like the opening game because you have to get the balance between expansion, building units for defense, and chasing science/wonders just right. 

[tbarrie]

Now I want to sneak in a plug for Old World, which was designed by the lead designer for Civ IV. It's not like Civ in the sense that it's trying to simulate all of human history; it focusses specifically on the ancient/classical Mediterranean and Near East. I really like it. It has a system of characters and random events similar to Crusader Kings (although not as deep or ambitious as CK III's), as well as a number of small but interesting tweaks to the Civ formula. I believe there's an option to turn the character system off if it doesn't appeal to you; I can't vouch for it, as for me that system adds a lot of fun, but I expect it would play just fine as a 4X game without it.

[RIPPA]

Harmonix has announced that they will be releasing their final DLC for Rock Band 4 on January 25

They say every thing will continue to run as usual they just will stop adding new songs

The company will be solely focused on Fortnite Festival for the foreseeable future

[Chaos]

1 hour ago, RIPPA said:

Harmonix has announced that they will be releasing their final DLC for Rock Band 4 on January 25

They say every thing will continue to run as usual they just will stop adding new songs

The company will be solely focused on Fortnite Festival for the foreseeable future

I just wish the rumor of them bringing back plastic instruments for both is true given the cost of those things now. 

[Craig H]

I’m pretty sure I’ve talked about the Outer Wilds before, but it’s easily in my top 5 games of all time and one of the best experiences I’ve had with my daughter playing games. A YouTube guy named FightinCowboy recently did a let’s play for all of Outer Wilds and the DLC. It was such an entertaining watch seeing someone go through the same struggles we did. It gave my daughter and me to try and find something like the Outer Wilds.

Let me tell you, there’s nothing like this game. There are some that kinda come close though.

We first tried out the Witness, but man, fuck that game. It’s really pretty, but it’s void of any character, there’s hardly any story, and it’s the most Jonathan Blow shit ever. The puzzles get nearly impossible just a few hours in and there’s like 500 puzzles to solve.

So that brought us to Detroit Become Human. This wasn’t quite what we were looking for, but for a game I totally wrote off, it’s something we’ll come back to. Feels pretty special but we’re not hooked just yet.

Then we started the Talos Principle. Hook this shit into my veins. This was almost exactly what we’re looking for. I don’t want to give too much of the story away, but I’m really digging the mystery of it and the puzzles are challenging without being impossible. There’s only been one I struggled with and had to go to YouTube only to see that lasers can go through purple walls. I never would have tried that on my own. So we’re looking forward to more of this and then playing the sequel.

Others on our radar are Alan Wake, having her play Control but the abilities and controls may be too complex for her, Alan Wake 2, maybe the Forgotten City?, Ghost Trick if it’s on the Switch, and maybe some others. 

We also have a goal to try and do a no death run through Celeste. I’ve beaten it, she’s beaten it, but we both died hundreds of times in the process. This might be our beat Punch Out blindfolded thing. Probably impossible, but we’ll give it a shot.