Topic: The Chit Chat Thread

@Th3solution No Game No Life is an anime. A brother and his adopted sister who are legendary online (under a certain username) for never losing a game. They get transported into a world where everything is decided by games and no killing violence and such is allowed. Two participants have to agree upon a game and something of equal value or bet for the game. The world was once getting torn apart by way before the world had these rules though, and the move “No Game No Life: Zero” tells the story of how the world became like it is. Where it went from being torn apart by violence to everything being decided by games.
The series is beyond crazy and clever with how they win the games and the mind games they play in the process.

@kyleforrester87 While I put spiders out now, years ago me and my sister were too scared to do so - instead we'd name them. We became most attached to Dierdre, Martha and Moira, who we assumed were triplets. Poor Alfonse was named posthumously after we discovered him squashed in a door frame. 😢

@mookysam lol I was thinking you were going to say you vacuumed them up or something but nope..named em.

Once my housemate found a pretty big spider curled up dead, and he spent quite a long time arranging its legs in a position with toothpicks so it looked alive, and put in the bathroom by the toothbrushes. It stayed there for over a year, and scared a lot of people, multiple times.

The game was unfortunately a bit unfinished in terms of the combat @Ralizah and is a bit clunky apparently to say the least. Not even in the "It's a horror game and supposed to be kinda clunky" way.

The company had to release it before they could polish it up some more because they ran out of funding... Not long after RoR's release they went defunct too, which is a shame (They only made two games). The story's definitely the highlight of Rule Of Rose.

When I had a re-look the other day at the series there was a rather interesting tidbit I didn't know. The first person you see on the opening credits for Clock Tower 3 is the director as you might expect. Except he's actually a fairly well known Japanese film director which I wasn't aware of.

Plus they did all the cutscenes with mo-cap and you can notably see the wirework looking movements were kept in the animation which really adds to the exaggeration of it all to me.

The english dub might've just went with it and made it even campier/goofier then it was already looking.

I found the Resi 7 demo too spooky just with headphones... I kept jumping at every little noise thinking one of the bakers was walking behind me... only to realise afterwards that it was just me as there were tin cans all over the kitchen floor 😂

Very much so. As I've already mentioned a number of times before my dad got me into gaming with Resident Evil back when I was in my teens, never really got into the SNES my dad had bought previously.

For my kids both my Son and Daughter are gamers. My son's tastes are relatively average... My daughter takes after me though and a bit more diverse

I haven't played any of the Fatal Frame games besides #2 but from what I've heard the second is considered the best of the series.

It's been ages since I played it (It's only available on the US psn on PS3 I believe and for me it was tied to the US account I lost when my PS3 had to wipe itself clean) but I remember Fatal Frame 2 quite a bit still because of it's uniqueness.

It had a pretty good story and was definitely spooky with some unnerving ghost designs. It felt very unique to me with the location and was generally easy to get a feel for the layout.

There was a bit of backtracking involved but other then that I don't think there was anything bad I had to say about it. The english voices were pretty good, the camera based combat was satisfying.

... I think there was quite a bit of health pickups and film laying about but other then that it was a very solid experience overall.

That's unfortunate, although (probably) not a dealbreaker for a PS2 survival horror game. There was a lot of clunk and jank mixed into the generally high quality of the software on that platform.

The dubbing and mocap are definitely an element of the goofiness (I've never seen video game characters gyrate and wiggle and convulse so much in a video game before; the actors clearly had fun with it), but the story and gameplay elements are often completely out of place in a horror game. I'm not sure what it was going for. Although I'll get more into that in a week or two.

In retrospect, it's funny, because there's really nothing coming to get you at all in the demo. The atmosphere is definitely spooky, though. It must be sublime in VR. Although I should probably make sure it won't be too much for me. Don't really want to freak out and send a DS4 flying through the TV in our game room.

Yeah, I remember you talking about your dad. It's neat that your kids are into it, too.

I've actually gotten my sister, mother, nephew, and brother-in-law more into gaming as well. Granted, my mother is a bit casual and can't handle anything really complex, but she loves Animal Crossing and did well with some of the simpler ARPGs on 3DS like Fantasy Life and Disney Magical World. Meanwhile, I've introduced my sister to stuff like Fire Emblem, Dragon Quest, and, now, The Witcher 3. My BiL is a bit stuck on PC gaming, but he's enjoying some strategy and adventure games on the Switch.

It's fun, because when a game with local multiplayer that we all play comes out, gaming time kind of feeds into family time.

Can't really get them to give traditional home consoles a chance, though. The handhelds just fit much more neatly into our busy lives.

The english voice work in the original is pretty bad. I wish there was the option to play a localized version with Japanese audio. Didn't detract too much from the game, though. Like with Silent Hill, weird voice acting can work well with the eerie atmosphere.

I really wish the series wasn't owned by Nintendo, though. They haven't treated the series right. The Wii entry apparently never left Japan, and Fatal Frame 5 was digital only in the States. The only entry in the series that got a proper release over here, if it can even be called that, is some gimmicky spinoff AR thing on the 3DS.

Well whenever you do play it I hope it's not dealbreaking!

I look forward to reading your eventual thoughts on Clock Tower 3!

You say that but those tin cans had it in for me! 😂

And yeah probably wise about seeing if you can handle Resi in VR! I'd 100% end up throwing my controller at something... Knowing my luck I'd end up knocking everything in the room over...

I have tried over the years to get my mom into gaming too but she can't handle anything complex either. She's rather decent at fighting games and enjoys them... But it's only for a few matches before she gives up. Otherwise it's either Nintendogs (bless her) or Professor Layton.

I have actually seemingly started wearing down my partners aversion to video games too. Veeeeeery slightly. Still working on that

My daughter coming back home (after deciding Uni wasn't for her) means I've been able to do some more co-op stuff with her and I can get that family time vibe once again which I missed (But nowhere near as much as her!)

Yeah I heard that the jump to Nintendo is when Fatal Frame is considered to be it's weakest. I think I remember 5 actually got a physical release here but only as some super duper collector edition.

Plus the AR thing sounds bad, and not "so bad it's good" kinda bad either...

... I... Haven't actually played a Silent Hill... 😅

Interesting new signature for your posts too... You play quite a number of games and your taste in gaming doesn't seem to only focus on such a thing... Is it a quote or something? 😁

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Speaking of mums, mine is currently in a state of denial in Red Dead 2 Chapter 6. It’s been a long road full of many ‘PRESS L2, NO THAT’S R2’ moments but it’s been both hilarious and great to show my mum what me and my brothers see in gaming. The Witcher TV show means she’s gonna play Witcher 3 next because she loved that and I reckon she can get by without having played 1 and 2.

Some new and interesting looking PC game trailers.

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy

It sounds like you have a lovely family. Here's hoping you eventually convince your partner to open up more to your hobby!

It's also kind of impressive for your casual gamer mother to be decent at fighting games. I'm not a casual gamer, and I still suck at them.

Yeah. The game got a limited physical release in Europe. I've actually considered hacking my Wii U to break the region lock and importing one of those expensive second-hand copies of the European physical. I don't mind digital on my Switch, but, for some reason, the thought of paying $50 for a digital Wii U game just turns my stomach.

Besides being a complete gimmick, the problem with AR games is that you need to be situated in an extremely well-lit room to play them properly. That doesn't really mix well with the whole 'spooky ghost game' thing.

Also, I just want to play a Fatal Frame game, not flip through a manual and play stupid minigames.

You should, if you ever get the chance.

One of the first four, anyway. Konami kept kicking the license off to various random Western developers last gen, and, predictably, they didn't really understand how to make good Silent Hill games (I've actually heard Silent Hill: Shattered Memories on the Wii was an interesting game, but it's very, very different, and not really a survival horror experience). It's also worth keeping in mind that the third game was a direct sequel to the first game, whereas 2 and 4 stand on their own.

There was an HD re-release of the PS2 games on PS3/X360, but the collection was so incompetent that they're vastly inferior versions of the games.

This article. I found Yamauchi's salty take on the failure of the N64 to be quite funny.

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2020/02/random_the_real_rea...

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy I have tried several times to kindle an interest in gaming for my wife but to no avail. She used to love Tetris and Crash Bandicoot so tried that again with her, including getting Insane Trilogy but she just wasn't interested. I tried to force her to play Gone Home but she spent the whole time spinning around and unable to move.

I have to accept that gaming isn't for her in the same way that parenting well just isn't something I am capable of.

@RogerRoge No problem. Both Plan 8 and Crimson Desert are developed by Pearl Abyss, the creator of Black Desert. I thought both trailers looked great but as of right now I have no idea what the gameplays are like.

She can totally get by @nessisonett without playing the previous Witcher games (I did and I'm pretty sure 90% of people who've played the third did too!)

It's rather cool you managed to persuade her to play Red Dead of all things! Was that her first "proper" game?

Ha ha awww @Rudy_Manchego that's a shame but fair enough if she isn't interested... I may have to accept that at some point myself with my partner!

Ha ha well I'm not great at them either @Ralizah. By decent I meant she's able to mostly keep up with me in them. She's very much a button masher though and she can get a bit competitive in those seeing as she can actually play them 😅

... It's 3D movement (and the analogue sticks in particular) that throw her into disarray.

Ooooooh hell you weren't kidding about it being mostly minigames. It's only two hours long if that! How weird! I mean I can sorta see why they thought using the 3DS might have been a good idea ... but yeah...

I think it was on PS2 as well... But it was mainly made for Wii. Unsuprisingly it's a bit of a rare commodity though. I've heard things about it too with a psychatrist or something checking up on you? Sounds a bit like what's in Until Dawn with Dr Hill? Might be a touch more involved in Shattered Memories?

I've seen both the SH films though (Pyramid head was spoiled to me anyway beforehand) and honestly I think the first is kinda ok? The second is a trainwreck though 😂

I heard the PS3 version is a bit better in this regard? It was something about losing all the master builds and they had to basically redo it or something? Had entirely new audio if I remember right as I swore I read something involving voice actors for one of them...

I just read the PushSquare article about it! Considering he was the president back when they made baseball cards though he was in the seat for quite some time which is impressive!

... Still quite bitter though too. I mean I would've been too if I was in his shoes!

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy I’d say it was probably the first ‘proper’ game although she’s played Lego Harry Potter and a lot of simulators like The Sims and Tropico. It’s taken a while for her to get used to the controller, it’s amazing what we take for granted having memorised controllers and training our hand-eye coordination so long ago!

I think any of those sucessfully count as proper games @nessisonett!

I was moreso thinking of something like candy crush or Nintendogs or something ... Nice selection there to get her used to it... My mother (she's 58) would probably take one look at Tropico and hand the controller back with all those menus though 😅

She'd probably give Lego Potter a go though!

The analog sticks on controllers really throw my brother-in-law off as well. He's great with a mouse and keyboard, but have him try to play something with dual analog and suddenly he's barely able to move and aim at the same time. He hasn't developed the pruned synaptic connections needed to do that stuff effortlessly.

Of course, I'm trash when it comes to trying to use a keyboard to platform in a PC game, so who am I to talk?

I want to be a fly on the wall at the meeting where the corporate suits first came up with the idea of an AR-centered Fatal Frame minigame collection that would require sitting in a bright environment to play. I just can't fathom what anyone was thinking.

It is actually quite Until Dawn-ish, actually, since the game changes certain aspects of the environment and narrative depending on what actions you choose throughout the game. Also, like Until Dawn, there's a session with a psychiatrist.

I've not heard good things about the PS2 version. I believe it was severely gimped in comparison to the more fully-featured Wii release (probably the only time I'll ever be able to say that about a Wii game with a straight face).

There's very little that triggers Silent Hill fans more than seeing films and subsequent games use Pyramid Head. For narrative reasons, he should ONLY ever appear in the context of Silent Hill 2. He's not just a generic monster to be utilized in various media!

Actually, the PS3 version had an unlocked framerate, resulting in a lot of judder, whereas the 360 version generally stayed locked at 30fps. The handling of the FMVs and the aspect ratio change was amateurish. Dramatically reduced fog effects in Silent Hill 2. And yeah, new voices, which the games really didn't need. :/

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Too late - already started divorce proceedings after reading your thread. Enough is enough!

Just kidding, I get she isn't into it and some things can't be forced.

Sad to hear about Kirk Douglas but he did live a long full life. He is truly a legend in the movie industry. May he rest in piece.

@Genrou Oof, it’s sad to see him go since he’s basically the last Old Hollywood actor left other than Olivia de Havilland. They’ve lived almost two lifetimes by now.

@KratosMD Stick it to the Man is ace! It has a very strange sense of humour and some of the puzzles are a bit out there. It has some novel uses of some of the features on the Ds4, like using the pad to tickle someone. Great little game!

@Genrou I’m surprised and ashamed to say that despite his being a cultural icon (and #17 on AFI’s list of “Greatest Male Screen Legends of Classic Cinema”, according to Wikipedia) I haven’t seen a single Kirk Douglas film. I looked up his filmography out of curiosity and the only one I actually tried to watch was Man From Snowy River but I never really got into it and remember next to nothing about it. (All I recall was the iconic scene with someone riding a horse down a steep incline 😄) I also may have seen a few scenes in passing of his role in Spartacus. I love that I see he did appear in an episode of The Simpsons and Xena: Warrior Princess. Honestly, Michael Douglas his son looks so much mike him that it was difficult to keep them distinct in my mind. I had no idea Kirk was 103 when he passed yesterday. That is a long life, for sure.