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Topic: User Impressions/Reviews Thread

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Thrillho

@Ralizah

I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the game!

The game is certainly a drop off from Y0 but is a fun game in it's own right. The sub stories really do feel lacking compared to Y0 and YK2 doesn't do that much better either (while Y3 has waaaay too many).

Majima is one of my favourite characters from any gaming series though. Y0 is great in seeing how his character develops but he is at his peak craziness in YK1. The Majima Everywhere mechanic is good fun but overstays its welcome and, like you say, takes up far too much of the game time. The Kiryu/Majima relationship is pretty central to the series (as far as I've got) and it's fun to see how it changes.

One of his forms is so weird and unexpected that it actually shocked me.

Would that be the hostess one per chance?

Like you say, the multiple combat styles is a carry over from Y0 and is dropped in YK2. The overwhelming upgrade wheel is also a bit of a mess and each game tinkers with this with varying levels of success. Brawler is obviously the staple fighting style but I do miss the Rush style for some fights.

The YK1 boss fights are some of the worst in the series with the health mechanic you mention. It seems stupid that they can be stopped with specific heat attacks which you only get late in the game. All the games in the series have an issue where standard fights can be too easy and then boss fights too far the other way.

The hostess "mini-game" is a pain and lots of the games have sub stories that you only unlock after fully romancing women. The whole series' attitude to women isn't great and I never liked the fact Kiryu spends all that time (and money!) to get these women in bed in order to get sub stories and loads of XP.

I hope you enjoy the rest of the series! YK2 has an excellent story as well and one of the best antagonists.

Thrillho

Thrillho

@Ralizah I also wanted to say I've never heard of the Shantae series but enjoyed your thoughts on the game/series too.

Thrillho

Ralizah

@Thrillho

Thrillho wrote:

The game is certainly a drop off from Y0 but is a fun game in it's own right. The sub stories really do feel lacking compared to Y0 and YK2 doesn't do that much better either (while Y3 has waaaay too many).

The few substories I completed in Yakuza Zero before dropping it were quite a bit more memorable. I've heard that game is regarded as the peak of the franchise. It's certainly a good deal longer!

Yakuza 2 was a PS2 game as well, right? It's probably best not to expect too much from the writing in those games. Honestly, looking at footage, I was surprised by how cinematic the original was. Kiwami gives everything an upgrade, obviously, but the vast majority of scenes in this game are just straight up lifted from the original. Thinking about playing the English dubbed PS2 version one day to properly appreciate Mark Hamill's turn as Goro Majima.

Thrillho wrote:

Majima is one of my favourite characters from any gaming series though. Y0 is great in seeing how his character develops but he is at his peak craziness in YK1. The Majima Everywhere mechanic is good fun but overstays its welcome and, like you say, takes up far too much of the game time. The Kiryu/Majima relationship is pretty central to the series (as far as I've got) and it's fun to see how it changes.

lol Kiwami feels like 60% Majima, 40% everything else. He is a fun character, though. I saw his introduction in Zero. I'm eager to see how he goes from being the suave "Lord of the Night" to a yandere maniac.

Thrillho wrote:

Would that be the hostess one per chance?

No, although I got a pretty great laugh out of that scene. I mean the zombie form. The concept itself is goofy enough, but what really got me is how elaborate that entire sequence was. You fight that form multiple times, a large number of his goons get in on the act... the scene just goes on and on, and what I thought was going to be a one-note joke ended up turning into one of the game's best setpieces.

I also love that Majima is so dedicated to his trolling that he'd spend thousands of dollars to arrange something like that so casually.

Thrillho wrote:

Like you say, the multiple combat styles is a carry over from Y0 and is dropped in YK2. The overwhelming upgrade wheel is also a bit of a mess and each game tinkers with this with varying levels of success. Brawler is obviously the staple fighting style but I do miss the Rush style for some fights.

I'll admit the DBZ-tier fights with Majima in Rush mode are fun, but yeah, Brawler just WORKS most of the time, and when I transition away from that for bosses, it's because they suck so much that I have to peck their health away.

So Yakuza Kiwami 2 has an entirely different combat system? That's going to be an interesting change.

Thrillho wrote:

The YK1 boss fights are some of the worst in the series with the health mechanic you mention. It seems stupid that they can be stopped with specific heat attacks which you only get late in the game. All the games in the series have an issue where standard fights can be too easy and then boss fights too far the other way.

Oh, good, it's not just me. Yeah, I'm a bit more tolerant of the extreme heat actions for other bosses that you can obtain early on, but it's INSANE that you have to grind for hours and hours to gain access to the Dragon-style extreme heat action.

At least the final boss wasn't a pain at all when I got to him. I can't imagine trying to fight him when he's recovering health and I have no way to stop it!

Thrillho wrote:

The hostess "mini-game" is a pain and lots of the games have sub stories that you only unlock after fully romancing women. The whole series' attitude to women isn't great and I never liked the fact Kiryu spends all that time (and money!) to get these women in bed in order to get sub stories and loads of XP.

I guess I don't need to feel like I'm missing out by skipping the hostesses entirely, then. I presume all of those expensive watches and what not that I have squirreled away in my item box are meant to be given to them?

RE: Women, while that's not surprising, I actually quite liked Yumi! I was happy to see she had a substantial (if mostly invisible) role in the plot, and that her personality had evolved and matured over the years. But we all know who Kiryu's true soulmate is, and it isn't some girl he gave a ring to once upon a time.

Thrillho wrote:

I hope you enjoy the rest of the series! YK2 has an excellent story as well and one of the best antagonists.

I'm really tempted to grab Yakuza 7 when it comes out, but I'll probably resist and play Yakuza Zero when I have the urge to play one of these games again, and then work my way through the franchise in order.

How many of the games have you played, btw?

Thrillho wrote:

I also wanted to say I've never heard of the Shantae series but enjoyed your thoughts on the game/series too.

Thanks! I've noticed the latest entry is focusing a lot of new eyes on it, which is fantastic.

But yeah, the series was practically married to Nintendo handhelds for most of its existence, and has only recently branched out to home consoles and non-Nintendo platforms in any sort of meaningful way. The big shift came with the release of Half-Genie Hero a few years back.

Edited on by Ralizah

Currently Playing: Advance Wars 1 + 2: Re- Boot Camp (NS)

PSN: Ralizah

nessisonett

@Ralizah Yeah, I played Kiwami straight after 0 and it was a bit of a step down. At the same time, it’s still classic Yakuza and everything great about the series is still there! Majima is just so good and I did love the Everywhere mechanic, they got increasingly elaborate as it went on.

@Thrillho Women aren’t exactly a big part of Yakuza! Lmao, Sayumi in Yakuza 3.
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Plumbing’s just Lego innit. Water Lego.

Trans rights are human rights.

Ralizah

Hyper Light Drifter - Special Edition

Completion status: Beat game, found between 4 - 7 key shards in all areas; no idea on playtime, but I comfortably beat it in three days, so it's extremely short. Obtained almost all of the optional upgrades from the town.

Platform: Nintendo Switch (also on: PC, PS4, Xbox One, and iOS)


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I was reasonably optimistic about this one. HLD is one of those indie games that has enjoyed a modicum of positive buzz from critics and audiences alike since it launched on PC in 2016. This Switch port adds a couple new guns and outfits to the game, although I think the "special edition" branding is deceptive; relatively little work has gone into distinguishing this port from other versions of the game. I enjoy Action RPGs. I should have enjoyed this.

But, I'm afraid I just don't get it.

Things start off well with a cryptic but intriguing opening cutscene that seems to depict an apocalyptic event that decimates a different world than ours. You control The Drifter, a blue-skinned warrior who appears to suffer from some sort of terminal illness and will, periodically throughout the game, cough up blood. There is literally zero narrative beyond this point, though. Whenever you explore a new area, you'll typically find locations where characters communicate via fuzzy pictures showcasing... events of some sort. There's no dialogue in this game, so good luck sorting that sort of thing out without watching a fifty minute lore video on youtube. Functionally, this game is plotless, and the interesting set-up during the opening cutscene is completely squandered. There's an art to leading with a minimalistic narrative, so I won't allow that excuse to be used; Shadow of the Colossus (one of the many obvious inspirations this game wears pretty openly, alongside Ghibli films, and Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind in particular, which this game steals imagery from) was a famously moody and minimalistic piece of art that nevertheless told a complete and relatively comprehensible narrative with almost nothing in the way of explanatory dialogue. Filling your game with symbolism and strange art design doesn't make up for good direction, proper stakes, character development, etc.

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But this is an indie Action RPG, not Dostoevsky, so the gameplay is really what matters, right? Again, it's... not compelling. The game is laid out as such: you have a town with an exit to each side of it. Within the town, there are shops that you can patronize which allow you to upgrade your health (and the number of health packs you can carry with you at one time), your dash abilities, special sword attacks (which feel largely useless), and upgrades for your guns that make them more capable and allow you to store more bullets for them at one time.

Each direction is its own little themed zone. Within a zone, you'll need to find and activate at least four devices that will give you shards which you can use to access blocked off areas as well as the zone's boss. Four of these devices are marked out on your map by the rare NPC you'll stumble across. You only need to find these four to 'beat' the area, but each zone also features four additional, far more hidden devices that you'll need to find if you want to collect all of the secret items in this game (I didn't). Getting to these devices in each zone involves descending into rather large and sometimes interconnected dungeons, where you'll find gears that allow you to purchase upgrades in town, collect health packs, and, more than anything, fight loads of enemies.

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The combat is simple, but reasonably well-balanced and satisfying. Your Drifter will be able to dash around, slash enemies with his sword (you can even do a three-hit combo, although, unless that combo is going to kill the enemy, it's usually better to dash up, swing once or twice, and then dash away before committing to that third, heavier swing and allowing them to hurt you), and use a variety of guns to shoot enemies (invaluable for enemies perched on distant platforms). The Drifter can only carry so many bullets at once, but, for some reason, attacking enemies allows you to gain more bullets, so you won't be able to go into an area, camp somewhere, and snipe at enemies. You have to rush in and attack them head on.

Not a lot of thought goes into the combat, although you'll need to practice some level of patience when enemies armed with rocket launchers (!!!) are present. There are a lot of secrets in the dungeons, including hidden corpses containing keys that allow you to access more secret areas, but very little thought goes into actually finding them. What the game wants you to do, and it's annoying is hug walls and the edges of platforms to find hidden areas and invisible platforms suspended in the air. There don't appear to be any puzzles in this game, so it's all a lot of hugging the walls and dispatching enemies. If there was an EXP system involved, it might be more rewarding, but I generally found that the dungeons felt padded out, and weren't really interesting to explore.

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Bosses are challenging, although definitely not overwhelming, and once you learn their attack patterns, you can usually dispatch them without too much trouble. The trouble with them is that, again, I didn't find them memorable or interesting at all. Their designs are boring. They look like enemies from any other random indie game, like Enter the Gungeon.

Once you beat the boss of a zone, you 'complete' the area, as far as story progression is concerned. Once you do this on all four sides, you activate some sort of square in the middle of town. You go into the square, find some random shadow monster to fight, and then, once you beat him, stuff starts crumbling, there's a brief sequence of events that are also cryptic, and then the game ends. Not only is the final boss less difficult than most of the bosses that came before it, but the ending is INCREDIBLY anti-climactic. Credits start rolling and, boom, the game is done.

Also worth mentioning is that, when you activate the four devices the game requires you to activate in each area (one area actually only required three devices to get to the boss, and I had to spend some time hunting down the fourth, interestingly), some Shadow of the Colossus weirdness will happen, black figures will surround your character, and The Drifter will see obscure visions of... something. They're never explained. I was intrigued at first when this happened, but, lazily, the visions are exactly the same each time, as far as I can tell, so I don't see why the game has you see the same visions in each new area when they don't add anything to the game.

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This abstract art is what the game wants you to use to help you find your way around, lmao

Some other nitpicks about the game:

  • People like to praise the pixel art in this game, but I wasn't a fan. Cutscenes look good, but the actual style is very messy in-game, and it often made it difficult for me to distinguish platforms from empty spaces, and textured backgrounds from platforms I could dash to. All things being equal, it's one of the worst looking indies I've played in quite a while.
  • There's an in-game map, but the damn thing is useless. There's a more generalized map that's no help at all, and then there's a dungeon map that looks like a random collection of boxes and lines. Worst map I've ever seen in a video game.
  • There's a dash upgrade that allows you to chain-dash multiple times, but the timing required to properly trigger it is weird. I eventually got the hang of it through sheer muscle mastery, but I see no reason why the game gives you such a random, specific window in terms of timing subsequent dashes.
  • The performance isn't great in the Switch version, and the game will drop frames randomly during fights with a lot of enemies on screen at once.

One key area where the game excels is the soundtrack. Accomplished synthwave composer Disasterpeace, who previously contributed to the indie game Fez as well as the horror film It Follows worked on this project as well, and, honestly, it was a great choice. His moody, atmospheric compositions are a great fit for this game.

In conclusion, I was very underwhelmed by Hyper Light Drifter. It's a visually messy game with rudimentary dungeon-crawling and a practically non-existent narrative. It's definitely not a terrible game, but I do happen to think its reputation as a top-tier indie is utterly undeserved. I'm glad I bought it when it was on sale. Wouldn't really recommend this unless it goes super cheap, although you can probably find something better to do with your time with a bit of ease.

An unfortunate 5/10.

Edited on by Ralizah

Currently Playing: Advance Wars 1 + 2: Re- Boot Camp (NS)

PSN: Ralizah

HallowMoonshadow

Did you have fun writing that Hyper Light Drifter review @Ralizah?

To be honest I haven't heard all that much about this beyond the general good praise the game has.

It looks... Ok I guess. That map however does seem quite unhelpful.

Isn't this getting a netflix series as well? Seems like that could actually flesh out the narrative side somewhat.

That music is pretty atmospheric and sounding quite good indeed.

Don't think there's anything else I can really say about HLD other then it's a shame you didn't enjoy it Ral.

I wasn't particularly bothered about it before and I'm still not particularly interested.


I'm glad you had a much better time with Yakuza Kiwami however! It was a very enjoyable read indeed.

... I really need to get on this series at some point.

Every time I hear about one of the games in this series it seems to get more batsh*t bonkers from the last time I heard about them (in the best way possible)

Some especially catchy music you put there Ral!

Edited on by HallowMoonshadow

Previously known as Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy
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"You don't have to save the world to find meaning in life. Sometimes all you need is something simple, like someone to take care of"

Ralizah

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy It could be the shorter length of the review itself, but I usually spend multiple days composing my reviews, whereas the HLD one took... an hour, maybe? I literally beat it this morning. So maybe. Although it's still not bad enough to real rip into, other than that godawful modern art masterpiece they call a map.

But yeah, the game sort of came and went, and... eh.

shrugs

Glad you enjoyed reading the Yakuza review. The series is sort of interesting, because you look at stuff online and think: "Gosh dang it, this sounds like the quirkiest Japanese thing ever." And, I mean, it's up there, but the games do a good job of sucking you into their world. The weirdness starts to feel like an organic aspect of the setting. Even the "lolsorandom" bits with Majima don't really stand out in the grand scheme of things because of the way his relationship with Kiryu is grounded.

But yeah, I'd recommend getting into these games. This is apparently one of the worst ones, and, some issues aside, I still pretty thoroughly enjoyed my time with it.

If you're only going to play one, I hear Yakuza Zero is the place to be, since it's one of the most polished games in the series and, being a prequel, doesn't really assume you know anything about the other games.

Or, if you're more of a turn-based person, Yakuza: Like a Dragon is apparently another good starting place and is releasing sometime near the end of the year. And that'll be a brand new release in the West!

Currently Playing: Advance Wars 1 + 2: Re- Boot Camp (NS)

PSN: Ralizah

Th3solution

@Ralizah Kudos for being such a prolific reviewer this last couple weeks! I always enjoy reading your opinions and your excellent writing style.

Shantae is the game that I’m most ambivalent toward that you reviewed recently, but it was an interesting read and discussion. I have to admit, it’s garnered enough attention and so many sequels that it has my attention now at least. Perhaps I’ll give one a try someday.

I was really taken with your informative Yakuza Kiwami review. Mostly because I currently sit in a very similar place as you did previously, as I’ve also played about 20-30 hours of Yakuza Zero and was enjoying it but couldn’t quite keep the momentum going so I never completed it. And now it’s been about 2 years since I played it and I’m not sure I’ll remember where I am and how to play. I think the “condensed Witcher 3” gameplay world is an apt description, because of the sheer volume of distractions and side content that seems to go on forever. (I also got bogged down with W3 and need to go back one day) Then couple the enormity of the game with the fact that there are, what ... 8 other main games in the series now if you include the new one coming and Judgement? My obsessive compulsive nature makes it hard for me to try and play them out of order also. Especially since there are narrative connections between the entries that I wouldn’t want to miss out on. So although I think it sounds best to jump from Zero to Kiwami 2 due to K1 being the weakest of the series, I don’t think I could bring myself to skip it. But reading your review has me interested to maybe put in Zero again at least and see if that get me excited enough about the series again.

And Hyper Light Drifter is a game I’ve kept a passing interest in and I’m kind of just waiting for it to drop onto PS Plus one day. And even if it does, after reading your experience with it I may not want to spend the time on it.

“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”

HallowMoonshadow

Ralizah wrote:

It could be the shorter length of the review itself, but I usually spend multiple days composing my reviews, whereas the HLD one took... an hour, maybe?

My reviews take the same time more or less (When I actually get round to writing them of course)

The HLD review only an hour to write though?! Bloody hell @Ralizah, you are the review writing king!!

Ralizah wrote:

If you're only going to play one, I hear Yakuza Zero is the place to be, since it's one of the most polished games in the series and, being a prequel, doesn't really assume you know anything about the other games

Or, if you're more of a turn-based person, Yakuza: Like a Dragon is apparently another good starting place and is releasing sometime near the end of the year. And that'll be a brand new release in the West!

I think I'll start with Yakuza Zero myself.

I'm sure there's some call forwards and nods to fans whom have played the series in the release order but as you say Zero seems to be one of the most polished and well regarded titles in the series and it being a prequel seems to be the perfect starting point for me.

... Not to mention my backlog is nearly all turn based rpgs of some sort and I could do with a bit of variety in there 😅

Plus aren't Kiryu and Majima in Like A Dragon/Yakuza 7? I don't know anything about them other then what's been said and even if they're a bit part I'd still feel I'm missing out otherwise

Previously known as Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy
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"You don't have to save the world to find meaning in life. Sometimes all you need is something simple, like someone to take care of"

nessisonett

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy I’d recommend Zero to start with too. I started with that one and while a few of the in-jokes went over my head, it provides the perfect opening to the series and re-introduces a lot of the characters. I reckon I’ll replay it once I make my way through the series just to experience some of those in-jokes as they were intended!

Plumbing’s just Lego innit. Water Lego.

Trans rights are human rights.

RogerRoger

Very Fast, Very Dangerous
Thoughts on Nostalgia, Progress and Podracing

Let's be honest; I haven't exactly kept my love for Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace a secret around here. It's primarily my fault that a certain third-person adventure tie-in wound up being listed as one of this forum's greatest ever PSone games.

For twenty years, I've listened to gamers talk about how I'd picked the wrong side, and how it was actually Star Wars: Episode I Racer on the Nintendo64 which was, ultimately, the best interactive experience to emerge from that first prequel. Since I never had access to an N64, I was forced to remain content with my lightsaber and my dialogue trees. Sure, I could look at the poorly-rendered podracers parked up across the Mos Espa levels of my game, but I could never pilot them.

That was, until developer Aspyr (responsible for recently resurrecting other well-regarded Star Wars titles for modern consoles) announced that they'd be bringing a remastered port of Episode I Racer to the PlayStation4 and Switch this year. A small handful of delays later, and I would finally be able to play this missing piece of my childhood nostalgia puzzle on Tuesday, June 23.

It was gonna be so wizard. I was absolutely convinced I'd fall for it; something brand new to me, from a time when The Phantom Menace was openly celebrated, rather than clumsily avoided. The two decades of widespread praise rang in my ears as I found it on the PS Store and paid my £11.99 to download it. The removal of the Episode I subtitle on the game's digital cover art made me wrinkle my nose (the game is still formally listed on PSN as Star Wars: Episode I Racer, because that's its gosh-darn name) but, as a beleaguered prequel fan, I've come to expect such petty jabs.

The game beyond it was unaltered, save for a new control scheme and aspect ratio. This was pure Star Wars from 1999, preserved for posterity.

And it turned out to be a crushing disappointment.

***

Things start well enough. There's an opening crawl (oh, how I miss those) and a gorgeous CGI cutscene revealing the Boonta Eve Classic, the famous podrace featured in The Phantom Menace... except, just as it's accelerating towards its crescendo, it fades to black, as though it abruptly ran out of budget. There are two brief establishing clips that follow, showing us the wreck of an ill-fated Gasgano being recovered from the dunes, and then a panning shot to establish the Mos Espa podrace hangar.

Once you get past the obligatory "select your game mode" screen, this makes sense; all of the tournament menus are played out in first person. It's as though you're walking around a local cantina, selecting which race and racer to place a wager on. You can visit your preferred champion in the hangar, inspect their pod, and lavish it with stat-boosting upgrades and adorable Pit Droids purchased with your winnings. All sales go through Watto, who you can visit in either his shop (for expensive, brand new parts) or his junkyard (for used parts that, whilst cheaper, need to be repaired by Pit Droids and, in the meantime, could weaken your chances right off the line).

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No Money, No Parts, No Deal: Roaming around the shop itself might be out of the question but, in most games from the turn of the millennium, this would've merely been a static upgrade screen.

This immersion is superb, especially for a 1999 cash-grab which didn't need to be anything other than chucking a couple of jet engines around a few wacky alien landscapes. I could've stayed in the menus all day; pilots mull over their potential part purchases as Watto grumbles about outlanders who don't want to buy anything. Dewbacks and a ronto lumber about the hangar whilst the Pit Droids work, sparks flying from their tools. There are even cameo appearances specific to the Tatooine sequence from The Phantom Menace, as I spotted Qui-Gon Jinn, Jar Jar Binks, Artoo-Detoo and a naked See-Threepio propping up the shop counter. At this point, all of the historic praised heaped on Episode I Racer was coming good; this was indeed an authentic, affectionate slice of my Star Wars.

Then I started my first race, and my inner fanboy started picking Sarlacc-sized holes in what I'd heard others wax lyrical about. "The sound design is movie-accurate!" No, it really isn't. Every pod had a unique engine noise in The Phantom Menace but, here, they're all given the same dull, generic buzz. "The speed makes it a real challenge!" No, the speed makes it insultingly easy. There were eleven other pods alongside me on the starting grid, and I never saw them again after the first fifteen seconds. "The music is fantastic!" Yeah, okay, this one's a given because it's all sampled from John Williams' film score but, because the loops are quite short, I thought it was only supposed to play over the final lap? So why is it now playing over the entire eight-minute race, testing even my patience?

That last one might have something to do with Aspyr. Their ports of older Star Wars games have always been rough and ready, with minimal effort expended, and so I expected a few oversights. This might be their most comprehensive remaster yet, but it's still comparatively bare-bones work. It launched with a trophy sync issue, and a bug which meant purchased podracer parts failed to register, despite Watto happily taking your truguts. There was a patch, five days after launch; if the current global situation wasn't what it was, presumably forcing Aspyr staff to work from home, I'd make a much bigger deal out of this point. They probably just left all their Pit Droids back at the office.

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Engine Trouble: If the podracer represents this port, and the Pit Droids are Aspyr, then no wonder poor Mawhonic looks as though he's mid-facepalm.

Even where Aspyr have tried, it's still not quite enough. The new control scheme does nothing to fix the game's broken boost system, whereby you have to hold R2 until you're at full throttle, push forward on the left analogue stick (a.k.a. the one you're trying to steer through a narrow canyon with, at 800mph), wait for a meter to charge and then press Cross. You'll instantly jump to blinding speeds, yippee, but then one of two things will happen. Either an engine will overheat and catch fire, and you'll need to slow down to repair it, or you'll rapidly approach a corner, and you'll need to slow down to navigate it; problem is, the boost doesn't cancel until you release all three of its inputs. Given the lack of instructions or tool tips, I had to turn many a podracer into many a pancake in order to figure out how this convoluted nonsense actually worked.

All this being said, there were still some moments that made me smile. Despite a heavy amount of repetitive geometry, many of the tracks had inventive and exciting layouts. They all boast an impressive sense of scale and level of detail, saturated as they are in the design language and ambience of The Phantom Menace. I spotted a Trade Federation landing craft over a particular city, the Radiant VII flying near another, and a tri-bubble bongo outside of an underwater tunnel. Between each race, you're sent back to those awesome menus, left to spend your takings and tinker with your pod, and I found myself looking forward to that downtime.

There's also a cool gameplay feature ripped straight from the movie, when Sebulba had to flip his podracer sideways to fit through a narrow gap. Given the gargantuan size of some pods, you'll have no choice in using this manoeuvre quite often (providing you want to play as anybody other than Anakin Skywalker who, in his homemade pod, is small enough to fit through almost all gaps without flipping; he's also the fastest out of the gate, able to win most races without any upgrades... darn it, this is supposed to be one of the positive paragraphs... okay, yay for the flippy thing).

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Freshly Squeezed: It's ironic that this split-second part of the game is its highlight, because the cracks are showing everywhere else, and in a much more obvious way.

Look, I get it. I signed up to play a 1999 racing game, and that's what I got. I believed twenty years of hype because I was reading it all through rose-tinted glasses (whilst foolishly forgetting that popular consensus is rarely my friend; a spectacular feat of absentmindedness when you consider the source material we're dealing with here). I also spent a significant portion of those twenty years watching and re-watching the podrace from the film which, naturally, might've given me unworkable expectations about what a game could realistically replicate.

The simple truth is, in the context of modern gaming, giving us Episode I Racer with an improved resolution and framerate isn't enough to fulfil its potential.

To achieve that, you'd need to make it more like its sequel.

***

Star Wars: Racer Revenge was released exclusively on the PlayStation2 back in 2002, as part of the marketing machine for the next prequel in sequence, Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones. Despite that film featuring barely any podracing, a digital Hayden Christensen was crammed into Jake Lloyd's old bucket seat, and a new developer set about building on the enormous popularity of Episode I Racer. By all accounts, the end result was supposedly an inferior follow-up to a beloved classic.

Except it really, really isn't. As far as I can tell, a lack of immersive menus aside, it's an improvement in almost every conceivable way (and no, I'm not counting graphics when I say that; of course the PS2 would beat the N64 in the looks department, that goes without saying). This time, the sound really is movie-accurate, with the Formula 1 notes of Anakin's engines and Sebulba's sinister staccato restored. There are more camera options available, including an authentic cockpit view instead of the awkward, ethereal angle which hovers over the pods in Episode I Racer. Simply put, on home console, this is the closest you can get to piloting a pod. The movement, physics, look and feel of the races finally mirror the silver screen and so yes, now would be the appropriate time to use the quote you've all been waiting for.

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"Now this is podracing!" On the left, the first game grants you a bizarre out-of-body experience. On the right, its sequel puts you firmly in the driving seat.

After walking away from Episode I Racer in under three hours, having already earned its ridiculously easy platinum, comparative curiosity made me boot up Racer Revenge and I was simply astounded by the sudden jump in quality. As I played a couple races, revelling in the now-simple "press R2 to boost" mechanic and enjoying the dynamic commentary, I thought again of the critical unanimity in favour of its predecessor and struggled to comprehend it. How can it be that, when measured by quantifiable standards, the lesser of the two games is held up as the superior? Could it really be that, in the three years between them, kids grew up enough for nostalgia to be a factor?

Because I don't want to belabour a personal perspective here, but Racer Revenge is just better. It has fewer tracks, but they're all unique, replacing the previous game's idea of simply opening up extra paths and racing on more of a course each time you revisit it. Gone are the identikit cutscenes for each planet, replaced by individual environment briefings. When I started up my second event, I was temporarily confused by the fact that the game had kindly remembered my camera and HUD preferences, as I'd gotten to used to Episode I Racer stupidly reverting everything back to default at each starting line. I even raced with the pack because, in an effort to expand its gameplay, Racer Revenge includes a takedown system which rewards paint-trading aggression (unlike before, when contact with another pod meant almost certain death). I had to play this tactically because, if I crashed, that would be it; no immediate, arcade-esque respawns this time around... but it was okay, because I was controlling one of the four hidden bonus characters (who, rather than being a pair of random nobodies, are deservedly recognisable fan service now).

Untitled
Good to Be Bad: C'mon, every kid wants to play as the villains, right? So who better to make the secret, novelty unlockables? Also, Watto. Because Watto.

Now, here's the thing; I fully appreciate that my views regarding Racer Revenge could themselves be clouded by my own wistful reminiscence. I had skipped it at launch, but still first played it way back in 2005, at a time when the PS2 was still the most advanced console I'd ever owned. When it was re-released as a PS2 Classic on PS3, I purchased and played it again. When it was re-re-released as a PS2 Classic on PS4, this time with trophies, I purchased and played it again. When it was given a physical re-re-re-release by Limited Run Games last year, I purchased two Collector's Edition copies. That's a lot of re-re-re... wait, re-re... one, two... re... er...

Sufficed to say, it's been a big part of my Star Wars gaming experience, and I've clearly enjoyed every second of it. That being said, I don't keep it on the same pedestal as other games from that galaxy far, far away. I think my slight lack of reverence towards it made its flattering comparison with Episode I Racer all the more surprising, given the hushed tones in which most people whisper about that hallowed original.

***

So where does the truth lie? Which game really is the best, from an impartial standpoint?

Well, despite this runaway train of thought, I can't really answer that. For some, nostalgia will be more powerful than progress but, for others, the steady march of technology inevitably renders old games increasingly obsolete. I assumed I was one of the former (which would automatically make me unqualified to be truly objective anyway) but now I'm not so sure. Episode I Racer might very well be an unseen time capsule from my childhood, but it's also an astonishingly bad game and, for the first time ever, I feel like I'm assigning the second part of that equation greater value.

That's why I found Qui-Gon's musing about the podracing on Malastare an apt title for this, well... whatever the heck this piece has become. I was so quick to assume that I'd love something so closely connected to The Phantom Menace, and yet it was a risky assumption because, going in with such elevated expectations, I could only ever emerge disappointed.

In other words, just like a podrace, nostalgia can be very fast.

And very dangerous.

"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."

PSN: GDS_2421
Making It So Since 1987

mookysam

@Ralizah Stellar bundle of reviews and enjoyable, informative reads. The new Shantae sounds like it would be much more up my alley than its predecessor (which I think I'll skip). I've got the Wii U and DSi games languishing on various hard drives, so I think the release of Seven Sirens has given me a bit of a push to get into the series sooner rather than later.
Yakuza is another series I'd really like to get into. The number of games to play is a little intimidating at this point!

@RogerRoger It's a shame that you found Episode I Racer disappointing given your love of the film. I guess as with many, many other games of the era (and on that particular system) it's reputation has a bit (lot?) of that "had to be there at the time" nostalgia going on. That's not to say that there aren't great games on the system, but you know what I mean! I do remember it being highly praised when it was released, but detached from that period and viewed through a modern lens I don't blame you for finding it dated. It's funny you mention speed, because to hit 60fps and have quite fast vehicle movement in Nintendo's own F-Zero X they had to drastically reduce the complexity of the visuals. I wonder if that trade-off would have been worth it here? The sound is also perhaps a result of the system's tiny storage media.

Black Lives Matter
Trans rights are human rights

Ralizah

@RogerRoger Sorry to hear you weren't a huge fan of the N64 remaster, although it does answer my question about whether I should pick it up or not. If a Star Wars otaku like yourself is having trouble enjoying yourself with it, I probably would get comparatively little from it. I think this remaster's primary audience was people who enjoyed the game back on the N64, honestly.

I appreciate you factoring in the possibility of nostalgia bias, but I don't find it hard at all to believe that a PS2 racing game stands the test of time better than one on the N64. It's not just graphics: technically demanding, mechanics-heavy games like racers would have benefited tremendously from the boost in hardware. RPGs still tend to hold up well on old hardware, but most other genres suffer in comparison.

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy I basically knew how I felt about HLD as soon as I was done with it, so it was simple enough to belt out a piece on it in one go. I'm sure there's probably some deep lore or symbolism or something I'm missing out on, but I'll just have to take that hit. I accurately reflected the game as well as my experience with the game, and that's all I ever set out to do.

Something like FFVII Remake sits at the other end of the spectrum for me. I have so much history with and adoration for the original that my emotions regarding the Remake are still a sort of undefined slurry that I'm having a difficult time working through. I'm still not really sure how to approach it while being as non-partisan as I strive to be.

@mookysam There are an obscene number of good games waiting to be played, and so little time to really get to them. Especially as an adult.

I thought the same about Yakuza. And, honestly, the sheer volume of content to engage with was one reason I kind of let the excellent Yakuza Zero go when I did. Kiwami, even with its padding issues, is still a much tighter experience, so it's not quite as intimidating.

But yeah, there's SO MUCH Yakuza. Seven games to date. Soon to be eight. That'll go up to nine if you include Judgment, which, as far as I understand it, is practically a Yakuza game. Ten if you include that Fist of the North Star game where the combat feels eerily similar to Yakuza.

Glad to hear you're thinking about getting into Shantae. There's a lot of charm and history to that series, so I think it's a worthwhile time investment for anyone who is into platformers as a genre.

@Th3solution Thanks! I appreciate you taking the time to read my walls of text.

Kiwami might be a bit underwhelming coming off the back of Zero, but I think, on its own, it's still a fun enough experience. It's definitely not something I'd skip. If nothing else, the Majima Everywhere mechanic NEEDS to be experienced, and, as far as I'm aware, it's the foundational story for the rest of the series.

If nothing else, the similarities between Zero and Kiwami (primarily in terms of the battle system) would make it easier for you to transition from one to the other.

RE: HLD, I think waiting for PS+ might not be a bad idea. A lot of people seem to think it's some sort of masterfully crafted experience, anyway. It's a bit surreal to read posts from people online about how it "reduced them to tears." I feel like I must have played a radically different game than a lot of these people.

Currently Playing: Advance Wars 1 + 2: Re- Boot Camp (NS)

PSN: Ralizah

nessisonett

@Ralizah I wouldn’t worry too much about HLD, I personally liked it and would say it was about a low 8 but I completely understood where you were coming from. Games are like everything else, entirely subjective and even when you look at us lot, we all have different tastes. I mean, Foxy didn’t even like Nier:Automata, god forbid😉 There’s people out there who don’t like Ocarina of Time for lacking Dark Souls-esque combat (don’t ask, that review haunts me) and there’s people who love even the trashiest of trashy fan-service games. That’s why this thread is so important, sometimes our opinions can change about games just by hearing about other people’s experiences and we can give them another go and appreciate them more/find some flaws. I’m sure I’ll be convinced to give Bloodborne another go at some point despite my feelings 😂😂

Plumbing’s just Lego innit. Water Lego.

Trans rights are human rights.

RogerRoger

@Ralizah First up, I owe you an apology. I'm usually careful to comment on other people's reviews before posting my own, but I've been struggling to write lately and yesterday evening the floodgates just opened; I got that whole podracer piece down in one sitting and simply wanted it posted, so that it was A: an achievement and B: something fixed that I couldn't tie myself up in knots over today.

Your pieces about Yakuza Kiwami and Hyper Light Drifter are excellent, as always; you once called me a machine for writing two reviews in as many weeks, so goodness knows what that makes you after completing a trilogy of reviews in half that time! I really enjoyed reading both, particularly the Yakuza one as I've been watching that franchise from the sidelines for a while now, so I value your well-articulated perspective as a newcomer. Your honest and fair descriptions have me convinced that it's no longer a question of if I'll ever play it, but rather when (providing I can get over myself with regards subtitles). Same goes for Hyper Light Drifter, only it's the other way around; it's a game that I'd heard vaguely good things about, and might've grabbed for a fiver in a sale, but you've just saved me my time and money. For that, I'm grateful.

As for Episode I Racer, thanks for reading! Whether you were a fan of the N64 original or not, I'd seriously wait until it's two bucks or less in a sale. There's just not enough there to justify a higher price tag than that; it's an effective illustration of how brief and lacking games used to be, but that historical footnote won't be of any comfort once you've beaten it in a couple hours.

Since I know you're a multi-platform person, just a word of warning that, apparently, the Switch version suffers from a handful of other technical shortcomings, as well.

***

@mookysam I think you're absolutely right about Episode I Racer. At the time, you basically had WipEout, F-Zero and this, so it might've been a lot of people's gateway to other racing games, as the Star Wars brand carried a lot of weight. This might also be a good case study for the advantages and disadvantages of the era's "disc vs. cartridge" arguments. Interesting that you mention F-Zero X because I'd never heard that about its development before; I might look into that, thanks!

"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."

PSN: GDS_2421
Making It So Since 1987

mookysam

@Ralizah So many games, so little time. I think I'd need a year or two to get up to date with Yakuza given how long they are, but that's okay. And by then they'll be on Yakuza 12. I'm wondering if Judgement can be played independently of the overachieving Yakuza story. Mostly because it's the only game I actually own at this point. Fist of the North Star can sit in the "maybe" pile for now. L

@RogerRoger Sound is definitely one of those areas where the N64 was at a disadvantage. Partly because of the storage medium and also because developers often offloaded sound to the CPU (which lacked direct memory access) in order to squeeze more out of the visuals. It's a bizarre system. Anyhoo, I'd recommend F-Zero GX over the N64 one as it's considerably better, has a proper story mode and is a real technical showcase for the GameCube.

Black Lives Matter
Trans rights are human rights

Thrillho

@Ralizah Going back to Yakuza (I wanted to wait until I was on my laptop to address each point).

I haven't played the entire series yet (I just finished Y4 and need to put some thought down at some point) but Zero is still the most fun game so far and is certainly the most impressive in scope. It's done well though in that it's a great introduction to the series for newcomers but has loads of nods to the rest of the series that you'd only really get after playing the others. It was also fun to play so much as Majima and have all the combat styles that he then uses against you in YK1.

I have no issue with the fact the Kiwami games and the 3-5 remakes are lifted from the originals (Kiwami 1 has some scenes that link it to Zero though) but you do have to consider it when going from Zero to what were PS2 games. But seriously, how impressive must they have been at the time??

Majima isn't such a focus in the other games so far but he's still a central character and it's a real love/hate relationship between him and Kiryu.

The combat changes in later games pretty much mean that brawler is the only style but with plenty of upgrades. I forget how the system worked in YK2 as they tinker with it so much game to game. Y3 goes so far the other way with a really rudimentary system but all the games give you a lot of the same moves to play with as Kiryu; Tiger Drop will always be there for you!

As for hostesses, Zero and YK2 have the cabaret club mini-game which is rather infamous for being addictive and good fun to work through. Being able to visit hostess clubs is in every game though and Y4 is the first one I remember that doesn't have sub stories tied to fully romancing hostesses. A lot of the others can only be 100 percented by doing so (and every game has a special fight that is only unlocked after completing every sub story).

Again, good luck with the series if and when you go back to it! I'm looking forward to getting around to the final two games at some point but need a good break between each of them.

Thrillho

Thrillho

Oh and I forgot to say @nessisonett that gif is perfect for the character you mention (even if you spelt the name wrong )

Thrillho

mookysam

@Arugula Awesome, cheers! 😀

Black Lives Matter
Trans rights are human rights

nessisonett

@Thrillho Oh lord, so I did. Bloody autocorrect 😂😂

Plumbing’s just Lego innit. Water Lego.

Trans rights are human rights.

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