Media Videogame thread

[Pilo]

Also in my quest to finish the "must plays" of the DS library was my perusal of Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective, a game that went under my and as I'm sure many other's radars due to its late release date occurring at the tail end of the system's lifespan. Ghost Trick, though, rest assured is no throwaway. Its gorgeous, fluidly animated graphics push the DS to its limits and are total eye candy making it a standout among other titles.

All the visual appeal in the world for naught though if Ghost Trick wasn't just as good in its other aspects which is just as well because the game executes its concept near-perfectly with excellent writing and a deceptively simple yet addictive gameplay hook enabling a lot of fun and creative puzzles. If this game slipped under your radar as it did mine then I'd advise you to give it a look. You'd be doing yourself a disservice not to.

 

[Karxrida]

Been playing Bayonetta a bit since it got ported to the Switch. It's pretty fun so far, though it has some issues like puzzle timing being way too strict.

My right hand also cramps quickly when playing, so I can only do short sessions.

 

[earl]

Bought FTL around a year ago for about $2, only really started getting into this year. And damn, is it a deceptively and almost-always consistently fun game, with ship unlocks and then normal and hard modes keeping me feeling like I’m not near finished 80 hours in. Also, fuck whoever made the Anti-Bio beam and by extension the Slug A layout, piece of shit weapon.

Basically 2.5 cents per hour of entertainment and it’s only getting smaller

Lastly, I have 30 dollars in steam cash and nothing to spend it on. Any good games that I could by that would run on an older computer?

 

[Asek]

Lastly, I have 30 dollars in steam cash and nothing to spend it on. Any good games that I could by that would run on an older computer?

heroes of might and magic 3 (unfortunately its the bad edition with no xpacs unlie the GoG one but its still a damn good game) (turnbased)
(edit dont buy homm3 on steam the gog one is actully cheaper with all the content wtf i thought it was more expensive?)
age of empires 2 (rts)
age of decadence (crpg)
binding of isaac / spelunky (roguelikes)
freedom planet (sonic style sidescroller)

 

[Asek]

or wait until the sales on map game studies such as paradox and get ck2 / eu4 with the essential xpacs for cheap

 

[Pilo]

Bought FTL around a year ago for about $2, only really started getting into this year. And damn, is it a deceptively and almost-always consistently fun game, with ship unlocks and then normal and hard modes keeping me feeling like I’m not near finished 80 hours in. Also, fuck whoever made the Anti-Bio beam and by extension the Slug A layout, piece of shit weapon.

Basically 2.5 cents per hour of entertainment and it’s only getting smaller

Lastly, I have 30 dollars in steam cash and nothing to spend it on. Any good games that I could by that would run on an older computer?

a couple of recs:
half-life 1 and 2 (if you don't already have them) - i hate to say "immersive" as its quite the buzzword nowadays but the half life series is just that. its cutsceneless storytelling and interesting environments lend themselves well to its amazing gameplay. they're also dirt cheap during sales

nuclear throne - an action-packed, fast paced roguelike with a futuristic setting. tough but addictive.

VVVVVV - insanely fun and intuitive platformer which revolves around the central gimmick of gravity reversal - also very, very cheap

cave story+ - another great platformer. a bit on the expensive side but nonetheless very good

fallout: new vegas - bit of an older game but it doesn't tend to show its age much and it's reasonably priced to boot

 

[Mr. Uncompetitive]

Also in my quest to finish the "must plays" of the DS library was my perusal of Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective, a game that went under my and as I'm sure many other's radars due to its late release date occurring at the tail end of the system's lifespan. Ghost Trick, though, rest assured is no throwaway. Its gorgeous, fluidly animated graphics push the DS to its limits and are total eye candy making it a standout among other titles.

All the visual appeal in the world for naught though if Ghost Trick wasn't just as good in its other aspects which is just as well because the game executes its concept near-perfectly with excellent writing and a deceptively simple yet addictive gameplay hook enabling a lot of fun and creative puzzles. If this game slipped under your radar as it did mine then I'd advise you to give it a look. You'd be doing yourself a disservice not to.

You know I was thinking of replaying Ghost Trick recently, think I remember a little too much of it so I'll hold off for another year or so. (I was gonna rant about how Ghost Trick, despite selling badly, wasn't actually that late a release but it turns out I was dead wrong and this game came out in early-2011...I swear it came out in 2010, but yeah that's pretty terrible even relative to notorious stuff like Operation Rainfall Trilogy, Conker's Bad Fur Day, and Snatcher)

I personally played it on the IOS port about 3-4 years ago, which is pretty much identical to the DS version save for the CSS changes for IOS (as in, no graphics changes like was the case for the Ace Attorney). It usually goes for $10 with the first 2 chapters being free, but I bought it on sale for $1, probably one of the best dollars I've ever spent. It's an excellent game to have on a phone, but if you're interested in this option, just be warned that Capcom hasn't done the best job keeping it up to date which IOS patches.

Anyways, I can confirm that the game is definitely worth your time, the animations, while pixelated in quality on IOS, are animated very smoothly and it certainly gives the game its own unique art style. Soundtrack is actually really good, I still listen to songs like Awakening, A Dashing Enigma, Complication, and the Main Theme while working. And of course, the gameplay is very fun; the puzzle solving was very well done and actually gets pretty complicated and ingenious with the later chapters (the car and the medicine bottle come to mind). The story and writing are both very solid, though I wouldn't say they reach the levels as its far more famous older brother, Ace Attorney.

Hide

(though Lynne being like "oops i died ayy lmao" was pretty damn good)

Similarly, the "investigation" portions were pretty light and I don't recall them being particularly interesting compared to Ace Attorney (note that my only experience with adventure games prior to Ghost Trick was the first AA game...and yeah I somehow managed to play Ghost Trick without spoilers)

Think my only real gripe with it was that, even though I could accept the idea of ghosts and all, I feel like the last ~4 chapters got too absurd in concept and didn't answer enough of the questions I had.

Hide

namely concerning Temsik and any background information about the foreigners

To be fair, I level the complaint of "bad latter third/quarter/whatever" to a few other Adventure games I've played (namely Snatcher and To The Moon), and to Ghost Trick's credit, it's FAR less problematic than the other two when I think about it in hindsight, as it still flowed decently enough, had exciting moments, and had a very good final chapter despite all that. I remember feeling the game was kinda on the short side too, definitely took me less than 10 hours, though again, I was comparing to Ace Attorney, so maybe a bit unfair?

(also please please please go play TWEWY if you're going into DS stuff)

 

[Pilo]

You know I was thinking of replaying Ghost Trick recently, think I remember a little too much of it so I'll hold off for another year or so. (I was gonna rant about how Ghost Trick, despite selling badly, wasn't actually that late a release but it turns out I was dead wrong and this game came out in early-2011...I swear it came out in 2010, but yeah that's pretty terrible even relative to notorious stuff like Operation Rainfall Trilogy, Conker's Bad Fur Day, and Snatcher)

It actually did come out mid June 2010 in Japan before being released WW in early 2011. My only guess as to what could have forestalled the release would probably be an extraordinarily lengthy localization period which is a real shame because it ended up being massively overshadowed by the launch of the 3DS in Europe and America 2 months later.

Anyways, I can confirm that the game is definitely worth your time, the animations, while pixelated in quality on IOS, are animated very smoothly and it certainly gives the game its own unique art style. Soundtrack is actually really good, I still listen to songs like Awakening, A Dashing Enigma, Complication, and the Main Theme while working.

I'll admit some of the songs are decently catchy but I haven't found any standout tracks yet. Chalk that up to current progress if you will (I'm only on chapter 3/4 iirc)

(also please please please go play TWEWY if you're going into DS stuff)

I already have this on my laptop, I'm 100% playing it after Ghost Trick.

 

[ChrystalFalchion]

So recently I bought the Switch port of Bayonetta (will buy 2 once I finish the first). Really enjoying it so far, despite it looking a bit dated. Super pumped for Bayonetta 3 coming this year.

Also, so stoked for Fire Emblem Switch, loved Awakening and Fates.

 

[Karxrida]

Playing the 3DS version of Radiant Historia since I can't concentrate and never played much of the original (largely due to lack of motivation). VA work is pretty good in the dub.

 

[Tera Melos]

I seriously can't stand Fallout 4, every time I start playing it I just q'out and launch New Vegas...Fallout 4 would have been cool if it was removed from the Fallout Franchise and just a Post-Apoc survival FPS that also focused on Settlement building. That would have been interesting as fuck and I probably wouldn't have paid for it.

Also, Subnautica is so boring I bought it and put in two hours before realizing there's nothing to this game other than what you want the game to become. I can't stand games like this, I was told it was huge open world survival adventure but it's No Man's Sky with Crafting (Sure No Man's Sky has Crafting now so I guess it's just No Man's Sky under water.)

I've super tried getting into Rainbow Six Siege, I bought the 15$ edition to experiment and learn the game, then realized you can't upgrade unless you buy a 100$ season pass apparently? So, I'm locked into a edition of the game where I earn currency 90% slower, which means 30 hours to unlock a Base Game Character, and about 60-65 hours to unlock DLC Characters...what a motivation killer. While I wouldn't call the game Pay 2 Win (Skill is the biggest factor) I would say that if you want variety in the game, you're absolutely forced to throw money at Ubisoft every time new content comes out.

I'm updating Duel Links right now, since I'm waiting on Gwent's Draft mode to release and Hearthstone and TESL kind of began to bore me. Duel Links was always a real fun game, sure it's borderline pay to win but it's another game where skill is much more rewarding then just senselessly buying packs of cards.

 

[Mr.E]

I got five free days coming up and sadly figured I'ma just have to watch the other Sakura Wars dates/endings on YouTube because fuck I forgot how long it takes to do the endgame series of battles (loaded up Ch7 to get working on Rosita's) and I'm not spending 2-3 days to 100% it like I originally wanted to.

...I say as I've put off doing this for a month as it is. Rosita's date was super-cute though. My boy Shinjiro took her to F.A.O. Schwarz, they did the whole floor piano deal and she zonked out in a pile of stuffed animals after a long day of running wild around the city.

But I got other games to get to, and holy hell do I have a hankering to start mashing Rabi-Ribi instead of starting The Last Story, but I should play my console game while I have the days off cuz it's a lot easier to jump in and out of playing the former for short periods of time.

 

[Mr. Uncompetitive]

Hi! I hope this isn't a bad post to bump this thread with, but I'm heading to PAX East in two weeks (going on Fri/Sat/maybe Sun) and I'll prolly be doing what i did last year and play a bunch of indie games. This time around I hope to do some write-ups on all of them and post them here, so if there any game devs or publishers (indie or not) whose games you want me to play, lemme know (list is here, Nintendo/MS/Sony are listed under Hardware btw) Only dev i definitely plan on visiting is good ol Inti Creates, other than that I'll prolly just wander around and play stuff that looks cool or stuff i get suggested.

Also if any of you are going and know me and wanna meet up that's cool too

 

[Mr.E]

it's okay I was gonna bump it anyway, mostly for the sake of making a crude joke since nobody really cares about my adventures in old Wii games

Fin The Last Story. It's no Xenoblade, but it was alright. Surprisingly short, actually, clocking myself in at a little over 40 hours and I'm notoriously slow and methodical. Rather localized story with a whole world out there left unexplored, for better or worse.

Main character and his love interest generic and boring as fuck, until about 70% through the game, but the supporting cast is fantastic. It was kinda refreshing that your entire party is basically set from the beginning amongst a group of friends and not happenstance pickups along the way. Interesting if not hectic combat system, but too easy except for trying to face off Cave Cougars too early (a ridiculous pile of stats even at par level) despite an occasionally frustrating camera. Permanent missables always grind my gears but anything that you can miss without going out of your way to miss it isn't important anyway, and the game is pretty short and encourages multiple playthroughs (which I won't be doing). Best Dressup Simulator of all-time, aided by armor being relatively unimportant compared to weapons and the game being easy.

And so now I can spend the next X months beating my dick off to the pants off Rabi-Ribi.

 

[Mr.E]

But first, Ryse: Son of Rome! I heard it was pretty short, and it was. It almost took me longer to download it (~3.5 hours) as it did to beat (~5 hours). Why the fuck is this game 25 GB? It looks good I guess, those graffix gotta go somewhere.

Just as well because if the game were much longer, the lack of depth in the gameplay would quickly become tiring. It's mostly QTE Simulator, broken up with occasional bouts of siege crossbow use and squad advancement (neither of which have any real depth to them either). It's even less compelling considering you only use two buttons the whole time anyway, and to get the best timing bonuses you basically have to memorize the execution animations and press the buttons immediately after the color-coded prompt appears, because you're not getting them if you have to wait for the signal given and react. But it's fun to start and doesn't overstay its welcome, I suppose. The story is a pretty decent tale of revenge that I think would've been better served without the divine element. The protagonist is already a badass Roman Centurion and it wouldn't take much of a rewrite to have let him (and the primary antagonists) stand on his own merits.

Then there's a shoehorned in bad multiplayer that's long dead and gates so many achievements. (Though I actually really liked Mass Effect 3's MP.) At least the PC port of the game includes all the XBox DLC by default, looking at you SteamWorld Heist and Bioshock 2 killing my completion percentage, and you can apparently get at least most MP cheevos playing solo.

Now I can Rabi my Ribis.

Also, there is nobody named "Ryse" in the game. The protagonist's name is Marius. I guess marketing thought it sounded cooler than titling the game "Rise, Son of Rome," "Son of Rome," "Marius, Son of Rome," etc.

 

[n2dnite]

I kinda benched the other games I'm playing to put my time into Digimon Adventure (PSP). As a kid, I thought the show would make a pretty good game and you can imagine my (relative) disappointment when I gave the Digimon World games a spin. True to the name, Digimon Adventure does exactly what kid me wanted: allowing you to personally play through the story with some bonus stuff thrown in. It's not a 1:1 experience but it does try to stick as close as possible to the source material.

I'm only up to the part where MetalGreymon makes his grand appearance but I've enjoyed the game so far. It surprisingly hasn't been a grind like other Digimon games I've played, aside from some difficulty spikes here and there when enemies get upgraded.

they should do this again but with tamers

 

[Mr.E]

tfw I can't keep Erina's Halloween costume on and Cicini's off at the same time NM I figured it out, because Erina's costume isn't regulated by the Lilith's Gift badge so yes I can wear Erina's costume separately from everyone else's.

someone shoulda told me Ni No Kuni II was going to be on PC unlike its predecessor dang, not that I was ever going to get around to buying/playing it anytime soon either way

(btw that game is out in case anyone else was unaware)

 

[Tera Melos]

Just beat The Darkness 2, was my first time playing it and I found the controls to be pretty horrific and the content / plot of the game itself very cringy and a little over the top.

Finished the game in just under three hours and was in continuous mind boggled states as the plot made absolute zero sense and the ending felt like it was cutting me off RIGHT as the story ACTUAL picked up.

 

[Mr.E]

I was like this isn't the first or even second time today I've heard people talking about such a no-name game, what's going on? Turns out cuz it was just given away by Humble Bundle. On the same token, as I was about to post, Specs Ops: The Line is also free on Humble right now for the next two days still.

also Rabi-Ribi is a really good game in case anyone was unaware by now... I think Rabi-Ribi has had enough exposure and is recent enough that I don't really need to say much about it myself *shrug*

Rated T for Teen

Mind even the daki picture is in the (limited edition physical, or Steam DLC) artbook, and is a LE official product... not to undermine the fact the game has legitimately great gameplay or anything. *ahem* Erina's Halloween costume is hardly any different than base Lilith, because muh succubus, but damn.

The digital Artbook includes some beta content too and it's not very good, obviously because it's either unfinished or wasn't interesting enough to begin with for inclusion in the final product, but as an actual artbook it serves its purpose well. It includes some cute sketches and developer insights on the underlying character designs, plus the model viewer. Worth the few bucks if you care for that stuff.

Currently doing a 0% item run, which it turns out even Casual difficulty is not actually as easy as one might think when you don't even have your basic melee attack. A lot of seemingly pointless secret passages make sense once you start doing 0%. Sadly, the game still has to specially accomodate in a couple areas -- it wasn't designed that perfectly -- but it's cool that the game specifically acknowledges and does accomodate rather than outright forcing you to pick up certain items like most games.

And for the cheevo hunters, the DLC achievements even have alternate unlock conditions that allow them to be obtained without the DLC.

 

[Fishin]

http://www.siliconera.com/2018/04/0...ed-3ds-series-crossover-title-august-2-japan/

A new Etrian Odyssey game got announced and as a fan of the series it sounds amazing, basically a regular game in the series but it takes most of its systems and classes from previous games in the series (2's Force system and subclassing from 3/4) and has by far the largest number of total classes, I'm already having a headache deciding what classes I want.

 

[Kina]

I've bought an PS4, any tips of which game do i buy?

 

[ChrystalFalchion]

I've bought an PS4, any tips of which game do i buy?

I'd suggest Horizon Zero Dawn - big open world lots of stuff to do easily 50 hours + if you're going for 100% completion.

 

[Siggu]

I've bought an PS4, any tips of which game do i buy?

Driveclub is IMO the most appealing exclusive the PS4 has.

 

[Kina]

I'd suggest Horizon Zero Dawn - big open world lots of stuff to do easily 50 hours + if you're going for 100% completion.

Oh, perfect, i've bought it with this game already (and with GOW Remastered, Uncharted 4 too) looks like i'm gonna have decent games to play for 2-3 months.

Driveclub is IMO the most appealing exclusive the PS4 has.

Looks nice but isn't Forza Horizon better?

 

[Ortheore]

I've bought an PS4, any tips of which game do i buy?

The remaster of Shadow of the Colossus is pretty sweet, playing it atm. Also PS exclusive if you care about that kind of thing.

=====

Actually on that note, I feel like sharing my thoughts on it, as I'm 3/4 of the way through it. Atm my biggest gripe with it is that the story isn't currently as well-developed as I like- most of the time you kill the opposing colossus, wake up back at the main shrine, get told about the next one, head off to kill it and so on. This is so rarely interrupted that it feels like the story basically has a beginning and an end, with nothing in between, so I don't have that much of an emotional investment in the game. However, that's pretty much my only complaint about the game so far.

From a design standpoint the game is an absolute marvel. The environments are beautiful and they and the enemies you fight create this feeling of scale, of being so much smaller than everything around you. An open world makes a ton of sense here, rednering you just one small individual in a vast desolate landscape. I also appreciated the fact that the game lacks a lot of the features that characterise most open world games- there are a few exploration things to complete, but they in no way distract from the core focus of the game and there otherwise isn't really anything that can be called a sidequest. For the most part it's just you, your horse and the wilderness, and the game's all the better for it. As for actual combat, I fucking love the idea of giving the player just bosses to fight, completely cutting out boring, unchallenging low-stakes encounters that are prevalent in many other games/genres (RPGs for instance). The colossi are fantastically designed and present their own unique twist on using the game's existing mechanics. Furthermore, that sense of scale really ties in well with this, as each encounter feels like a david-goliath scenario, making it all the more rewarding when you defeat a colossus.

At present the barebones story limits my enjoyment of the game, but it's hard not to be impressed with how well-crafted this game is. It's a masterpiece, it's as simple as that.