Topic: User Impressions/Reviews Thread

@RR529 Missed your review back there, sorry! Never even heard of that game before, so it was interesting to read and learn about via your detailed breakdown of its gameplay and premise.

The device of calling a silent protagonist "Rookie" reminded me of Sonic Forces, where it's equally laughable after your custom character goes toe-to-toe with an army and saves the world. And of all the places I'd expect to find tie-in DLC from The Witcher, a giant mech combat game would be near the bottom of my list! Why'd they include that?

Shame you didn't sample any digital ice cream, mind. That would've been my first stop!

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@Ralizah I'm glad you enjoyed continuing the classic DOOM games on a platform you found more suited to the series' strengths. I can imagine that helped when you had to overcome its design inconsistencies (and the Chasm, in particular) about which I've heard complaints elsewhere. From what I've played of it myself, I'd have to agree. Those city levels can most certainly do one.

But I think the expansion of the enemy roster is actually what stops me from enjoying DOOM II as much as the original because, to borrow your turn of phrase, I'm most certainly a "blindly shoot like a moron" kinda Doomguy. Asking me to keep track of a larger, more varied menagerie of nightmares can bring the breakneck, music-fuelled fluidity of classic DOOM gameplay to a screaming, red-misted halt when I inevitably forget to break line of sight with an Arch-Vile.

Perhaps I'm clinging to my childhood memories of the shareware original too tightly. Your conclusion, and specific praising of the more inventive levels, has me wanting to give it a second chance. Excellent write-up, as always! Will you continue onward straight away, or take a break?

@RogerRoger It's interesting that the aspect I enjoyed most about the game hindered your appreciation somewhat.

The original DOOM is widely regarded as the better game, so you're hardly in the minority here. It definitely is a better game in certain respects, but DOOM II feels much more fully realized.

I did play through most of the first DOOM again on PC to see if the change in platform was affecting my opinions, but I still felt the same way about it (other than enjoying the tighter kb/m controls more, that is).

Assuming there are no issues with its distribution and/or PC version controls, I plan on downloading DOOM 64 at launch as my next game in the series.

@Ralizah I guess it's simply what I grew up with. During my formative years, DOOM was ten levels of fast-flowing, no-thought-required distraction whilst I listened to music. Whilst I've subsequently grown up to appreciate games on a much broader basis, it's tough to shake something so ingrained.

But because of that, it's tough to say that my opinion matches anybody else's for any similar reasons, or meets any common metric. Your review has me wanting to revisit DOOM II with a more objective eye (which I'll likely do on PS3, since it's where I have it downloaded already, despite your effusive praise of its KB&M controls). Especially given you went back to the original to compare and contrast before writing up your piece. I'm always up for changing my mind, particularly when it comes to childhood memories.

Here's hoping tomorrow's port of DOOM 64 is a decent one!

@Ralizah Great write up.
I've never actually played Doom II.

Tatted with the original on PC, but after that it was PlayStation Doom and Final Doom.

I didn't play another Doom properly until Doom 2016.

Whenever I'm due for a break from Eternal, I'll be trying out Doom 64 as it came as the pre-order bonus. Always heard great things about it (less the N64 trident).

@RogerRoger I think people should play games however they feel comfortable. If that's with a Playstation controller, then that's the way you should play it. I'm just not big on aiming with sticks, despite my overall preference for controllers (which is why I like gyro aiming so much: mouse-like accuracy with the comfort of a controller for someone like me who is still a console gamer at heart).

Have you played more recent games in the series?

@KALofKRYPTON Thanks!

The N64 controller is a nightmare, imo. I still don't understand how people used it comfortably. It feels like it was designed to be held by a three handed alien, and the control stick is the stiffest thing ever.

@Ralizah For certain stuff (mostly first party) it works fine. Even the 8 way cutout for the stick is OK. But some stuff just doesn't translate well to it at all. (Look at me, sounding almost like a N64 fan )

@Ralizah Oh, true. But I did play those ten shareware levels on PC back in the day (only with a keyboard, mind) so I wouldn't be averse to trying a different input. I just have the PS3 version ready to go, s'all.

And no, I haven't. Saw some gameplay and whilst it does look spectacular, I think my stomach reached its limit with the Wolfenstein reboots. KAL's recent screencaps from Eternal and its predecessor haven't exactly proven that concern wrong, either. Just a teensy bit too HD for me!

You?

@Ralizah, @RogerRoger, thanks for reading (that was probably my longest review to date, so I wouldn't hold it against anyone if they decided to skip it).

Good DOOM II review, btw. It's not a series I'm particularly keen on trying out, but it's interesting to learn about nonetheless.

Also, if you do decide to get Daemon X Machina, a train escort mission in the C-Rank around the middle of the game seems to be considered the game's make or break moment for a lot of people. I lucked out and cleared it with the train at 10% health left on my first try, but I can definitely see how it could be an irritating mission someone could get stuck on. Just as a heads up.

@Ralizah Nice writeup and I liked the focus on the different enemy types.

@RogerRoger Other than DOOM 3, which I played as a teen (and have mostly forgotten, aside from remembering how surprisingly scary it was at the time), and the demo for DOOM 2016, these games are my first exposure to the series.

While I've lost my appetite for gore and cruelty as I've gotten older, the newer DOOM games don't really bother me. The violence feels almost cartoonish, frankly.

That teaser for The Last of Us Part II, though, with the people getting beaten and killed? It felt like torture porn. I genuinely felt a bit nauseous afterward.

@RR529 Oh dear, the dreaded escort mission. Thanks for the heads up.

I'm hoping the game goes on sale eventually. Not something I want to pay full price for, but I'd happily part with $29.99 for it.

@Thrillho Thanks! It seemed only appropriate, seeing as how the huge extra number of enemies is the main point of differentiation between this and OG DOOM (well, and the level design, but as I said, that's not differentiating it in a good way).

I know most of these enemy types are in later DOOM games, so it seems to have left its mark on the series.

@Ralizah I know I've seen a few tweets from the main Playstation account along these lines;

@Ralizah My brother loved DOOM 3 when he played it for the first time a few years back, and he's somewhat of a classic purist. From what I gather, it's a hugely underrated game.

Yeah, I reckon if I had access to the newer games as a teenager, I'd be all over them. When you've seen and done certain things for real, the appeal of a digital equivalent fades somewhat. I'll admit that there's a big difference between the various demons and inhuman creatures in DOOM and the often-worryingly-realistic enemies encountered in Wolfenstein, despite MachineGames' best efforts to make most of them wear dehumanising armour. I'll never say never, but stick with "unlikely" for now.

@Thrillho What a difference technology makes!

Hopefully DOOM Eternal is fairly cheap later in the year when I'm ready to get to it. It looks superb.

@RogerRoger I'll re-evaluate the re-release with fresh eyes soon, but I've always been of the impression that DOOM 3 was a great horror-shooter that suffered from betrayed expectations. People went in expecting classic DOOM with its lightning-fast gameplay and metal attitude and instead got a somewhat slow-paced and atmospheric horror game.

@Ralizah I think that was exactly it, if memory serves. And perhaps why the series took such a long break, only to return with a reinvention of fast-paced, rock-fuelled shooter mayhem.

I'll be looking forward to your thoughts since, as you know, I do love a misunderstood underdog!

Nice review there @RR529 for DaemonXMachina!

It's always really interesting to read about the Switch exclusives and PSVR games you play as I don't have either system myself! Keep up the good work and glad you enjoyed it! 😀

Sweet another @Ralizah DOOM review! Time to party!

...Club DOOM folks!

Huh... Is a Revenant not part of DOOM II's new set of demons?

Having only played DOOM on the PS1 I have no idea which demons were in what concerning the original release (I swear some of the demons here are actually put into the first/ultimate DOOM bit of the PS1 version just to confuse me even more lol)

Still a nice review Ralizah and a good choice with the focus on the added demons!

It'd be interesting to see what you'd think of the PS1 version of DOOM regarding it's levels and thier geometry due to the fact had to be scaled back a bit to make it run properly.

Though can you ever go back to playing on a controller now that you've tried it with a mouse?

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy

WTF

It is. I wrote a whole thing about it. But it's not here. :/ Neither was the section about the Heavy Gunner.

Must have been some sort of flub when I posted it. My laptop has this nasty habit of liking to highlight and quickly delete large sections of text when the bottom of my hand brushes against the trackpad.

I fixed it now. Thanks for eyeing that.

Yeah, I'd be interested in trying it out someday. Especially seeing how much I'm enjoying the N64 version of DOOM (which, indeed, is just a brand new old-fashioned DOOM game, but not one made by id, which I find to be fascinating).

Yeah, I've gone back to my Switch Lite version and messed with sensitivities a bit. I've discovered it's a lot more manageable aiming with a stick if you turn the sensitivity down low, although, in the process, you lose the ability to whip around quickly, which is kind of important with DOOM. I hear the Switch version of DOOM 64 apparently added motion controls. I'm almost tempted to buy it again on that platform to see how they improve the console experience.

Oh you're welcome! I was just thinking it must've been part of the first one then and missed reading about them @Ralizah 😅

As I said I've only played the PS1 version and there's some stuff from the second DOOM actually in the first/Ultimate part of it (You can get the super shotgun apparently along with Hell Knights & Revenants?) so I wasn't honestly sure what's introduced in what...

All I know is there's no Arch Vile in the PS1 version! But hey we got that Sweet "Club Doom" Secret Level 😂

Oh really? I just assumed it was another port with enhanced graphics or something... I look forward to reading your eventual review then!

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Ah, I worded that really poorly. It is a remaster of an old game. I just found it interesting that it was a new DOOM game at the time that was designed like the classic games, but from an entirely different developer.

The enemy and weapon sprites are entirely different, too, and some of the familiar weapons feel different. I'm actually really fond of a lot of the changes I'm seeing.

Rhythm Paradise (also known as Rhythm Heaven in the US) for the Nintendo DS.

Rhythm Paradise is a collection of over 50 rhythm mini-games. It makes extensive use of the DS touch screen and stylus, requiring players to touch the screen and flick the stylus to the rhythm. Most of the mini-games are fairly simple to understand, but quite challenging to master. The game is also oozing in its charm and personality, and has quite a goofy feel to it.

Of the 50 or so rhythm games, there's around 25 unique concepts for the mini-games. The remaining games are either sequels that build on an existing game, or tricky remixes that combine elements from multiple previous mini-games. The games all feel fairly unique, and use a wide variety of fun and quirky concepts. There's games such as refuelling robots, a monkey fan club cheering on a singer, and a monk eating dumplings.

There's generally a practice section at the start of new mini-games to introduce the player to that particular game and to teach them how it works. Once the player has completed the practice (or skipped it), it's on to the main mini-game. Mini-games are usually fairly short, opting for smaller more intense challenges. At the end of a mini-game, the player then gets a "Superb", "OK" or "Try Again" ranking, along with some goofy flavour text on how well they did.

Despite its fun and goofy appearance, Rhythm Paradise is actually fairly challenging. While there are both audio and visual cues, a lot of the rhythm games will be very tricky unless the player listens carefully to the music and gets a good feel of the rhythm. Rhythm Paradise is fairly strict on its timings, and doesn't offer any leeway if the taps were slightly off the beat. To mitigate any frustrations by the difficulty, there is an option for skipping mini-games entirely if the player is struggling. The skipping option is fairly subtle and is done by a small exclamation mark in the level select screen. This can easily be ignored completely by players not wishing to skip.

Rhythm Paradise mainly uses the touch screen and stylus as the sole control method. It requires the DS to be held sideways, similar to holding a book or playing Dr Kawashima's Brain Training. There's options for both right-handed controls and left-handed controls. The exact controls vary depending on the rhythm game, but generally involve either tapping the screen, holding down on the screen, dragging the stylus across the screen, or flicking the screen with the stylus.

The flicking wasn't easy to get the hang of, and does seems a bit finicky. It did cause some frustration whenever I thought I flicked correctly but the game didn't seem to like it. My 3DS screen was already fairly badly scratched, but I do think the flicking may have contributed to a few new scratches. The developers presumably got some complaints about the flicking, as this was removed in the 3DS game Rhythm Paradise Megamix. Megamix instead lets the player choose between pressing buttons or tapping the touch screen without flicking.

Music is an important aspect of rhythm games, and Rhythm Paradise certainly delivers in this regard. There were no tracks in the game that I particularly disliked, but there are a lot of catchy tunes. There's plenty of variety in the songs, including pop, rock, techno sounding songs, and various others.

Overall, this game was a very enjoyable experience. My main issues were that the flicking controls took a lot of practice to get used to, and seemed finicky. The game also isn't always great at indicating exactly what the player did wrong. In some intense, fast-paced mini-games it can be hard to tell whether a wrong move was due to tapping too early or too late. But the game's charm along with its wonderful sense of fun when playing it more than makes up for its shortcomings.

@crimsontadpoles I love the concept of this series to death, but something about the timing of the notes in the minigames just throws me off. I also have a huge issue with flicking or directional motions in rhythm games (my biggest issue with certain notes in the otherwise excellent Theatrhythm Final Fantasy on 3DS, for example).

Good write-up!

Have you played Elite Beat Agents?