@Kidfried I came away from Control not really sure what to think. Even taking away the whole deleting my save, horrible headache-inducing visual issues and a couple of hard crashes, the game was great every once in a while but bang average for quite a lot of it. None of the guns really felt right and you couldn’t use your telekinesis often enough to solely rely on it. Not to mention the plot that just stops. It’s an odd one.
I've found myself playing The Mummy on PSone. I think I was in a Tomb Raider mood without actually wanting to play a Tomb Raider game, so its promise of slightly more arcade-y gameplay and linear action fit the bill, but I'll be damned (for all eternity by an ancient curse) if it isn't splitting my opinion right down the middle. For every great thing I love, there's a frustrating thing I hate.
For example, some real effort has been made to capture the spirit of the movie. Not only are all the sound effects lifted right out of it, from gunfire to the chants of the undead, but Jerry Goldsmith's sumptuous soundtrack is used throughout, which is a much rarer choice than you'd expect (it's pretty much only Star Wars that did this back in the day, and they don't any more). The environments are gorgeous, opting for greater detail and sacrificing draw distance because it lends to the creepy atmosphere, and most levels are quite involving, even if they are relatively straightforward.
And yet, my digital Brendan Fraser awkwardly trots through them like he's got a hernia. His jump mapping is all over the place, making some platforming sections almost unpassable, and whilst his quick-turn is quicker than Lara's, he's still too clunky to successfully survive most fights... so, that's both traversal and combat made needlessly difficult, then. And I haven't even started on how he frequently goes surfing on a sarcophagus. I must've missed that scene in the movie.
Seriously, this is one of the toughest games I own. I know it quite well, having spent far too much of my misguided youth playing a free demo of it, but it's still regularly handing me my butt with cheap, imperceptible deathtraps and overwhelming hoards of mummies.
All I can say is, thank goodness for cheat codes. I'm not using invincibility or unlimited ammo, but I've happily given myself unlimited lives, because there's no way I'm struggling to the end of a forty-minute level only to fall at the last and be expected to start over. Test my skills, by all means, but don't test my patience. I'll respawn at a well-spaced checkpoint, not all the way back at the beginning.
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
Been playing quite a lot of Friday Night Funkin'. It's a free rhythm game, playable in browsers. The music in it is very catchy, and it's a lot of fun to play. It's also got some charming visuals, particularly with the character designs.
Ys: The Oath in Felghana on my Vita. A surprising amount of voice acting in this, and some of the performances are... interesting. Margo's va is very extra in terms of her performance, and Cythia sounds like she's coming onto Adol every time she talks, lol. Perma-seductive voice.
Also, I'll admit, every time the narrator, who sounds like he's doing voice work for a nature documentary, says anything, I crack up.
Sounds like one hell of a good time with that voice acting @Ralizah! That the title before Lacrimosa of Dana?
As for me alongside giving FFXIV's free trial a shot on PS4 I've decided to dust off my PS3 and give it some love with replaying the classic Metal Gear Solid yesterday.
Just starting it up made the memories flood back with the music (even the do do do's over the Konami logo) and the mission briefing on the sub.
I only played a little of it though so far, just getting to the heliport and past most of the tutorial/opening stuff so I can get into it properly this evening!
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"
@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Oh no. Oath in Felghana is the remake of Ys III. Lacrimosa was Ys VIII.
Still got Memories of Celceta, Origin, Ark of Napishtim, and Ys Seven (apparently Falcom quit trying with the title when they got around to that last one) to get through before I hit Lacrimosa. I'm skipping Ys V because it's the only game that never saw a release or re-release of some sort in the last few generations.
Ahh I see... I just saw the unnumbered title of it @Ralizah and alongside your mention of the Vita and just assumed it was the one right before Lacrimosa! Having a good time with it? 😄
It's pretty neat they've brought pretty much all the library up onto modern platforms for people to enjoy. Has the Switch version of Monstrum Nox come out yet or is that still being worked on?
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"
They usually re-release Ys remakes on whatever the modern Sony handheld is. Now, I guess, they're stuck with home consoles, although there's a concerted effort to get a lot of their games on Switch. PC ports of their remakes are pretty much guaranteed, and pretty much their entire catalogue is available via Steam, which can't be said for any one console.
Oath in Felghana is alright. Pretty decent. I've yet to play an Ys game I haven't just automatically enjoyed (which I'll never be able to say for Trails, even if I love all of the subsequent games in the series). The music is worse than in I, II, and VIII so far, though. And the lack of dungeon maps is annoying. At least the dungeon designs are a big step up from the confused labyrinths of the first game.
The characters aren't particularly memorable this go-around, IMO, beyond the amusingly hammy voice acting, though. Falcom also falls back on stereotypes: the fat NPC, for example, talks about being hungry INCESSANTLY.
The combat is a big step up from the bump system in the first two games. There's no depth to it whatsoever, but it's snappy and makes hacking and slashing your way through swaths of enemies good fun.
The Monstrum Nox PC and Switch ports release in July, so we'll see how that turns out. I don't mind sacrificing performance for portability (there's a reason I'm playing the 30fps PSP version of Oath instead of the 60fps PC version), so if this version sticks to a solid 30fps, then I'm satisfied.
@RogerRoger Same, I’ve only played it the once (on PS3 of all things) but adored it. I tried it on Vita but the controls are a nightmare for changing item/weapon. It’s also one of the games I ate back when I was a literal baby and my dad had a PS1. Discs are cold apparently so anybody with teething babies, make sure to not leave any lying about unless you want bite marks all over them! RIP Metal Gear Solid.
Ha! I was hoping someone would make a reference @RogerRoger! 😄
It's nice to hear David Hayter's voice as Snake once again. Kiefer wasn't bad in V... But he didn't really have a whole lot to do there from what I remember.
At the very least I plan on playing this and Snake Eater... But I might play 2 as well. Never been quite fond of the plot of that one but the themes in it are only more relevant as time has gone on...
Oath in Felghana is alright. Pretty decent. I've yet to play an Ys game I haven't just automatically enjoyed (which I'll never be able to say for Trails, even if I love all of the subsequent games in the series). The music is worse than in I, II, and VIII so far, though. And the lack of dungeon maps is annoying. At least the dungeon designs are a big step up from the confused labyrinths of the first game.
Well... You might recall my reaction to Trails of Cold Steel 2 @Ralizah so I can't say the same either! 😅
The characters aren't particularly memorable this go-around, IMO, beyond the amusingly hammy voice acting, though. Falcom also falls back on stereotypes: the fat NPC, for example, talks about being hungry INCESSANTLY.
Ahh that's a shame to hear regarding the characters... That one in particular feels like especially lazy writing. I'd say maybe it could be a localisation thing but Cold Steel relied on anime tropes/stereotypes too and it seems like a weird thing they'd change translating it. Hopefully things liven up soon on the character front... Or at the very least you get an entertaining big bad!
The combat is a big step up from the bump system in the first two games. There's no depth to it whatsoever, but it's snappy and makes hacking and slashing your way through swaths of enemies good fun.
Sounds fairly decent on the gameplay front though at the least! I know in Lacrimosa and Nox there's multiple party members... Has it always been like that or do the first few YS games have just Adol to play as?
The Monstrum Nox PC and Switch ports release in July, so we'll see how that turns out. I don't mind sacrificing performance for portability (there's a reason I'm playing the 30fps PSP version of Oath instead of the 60fps PC version), so if this version sticks to a solid 30fps, then I'm satisfied.
I was going to say that the port has taken quite a while... But then I remembered the game only came out in Feburary this year. My sense of time has still not quite recovered. I'd assumed the PC version had already come out the same time as the PS4 version though!
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 The PSone Classic on PS3 is my preferred place to play it nowadays. My first time was on PSP but the control compromises there weren't as obnoxious as I'd imagine they were on PS Vita. My only regret is that I'd played MGS2: Sons of Liberty first, as a kid, and those two games in particular benefit way more from being played in the correct order.
@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Yeah, as much as I think Kiefer Sutherland is a better actor (no offence to David Hayter, who is amazing), I can see why some would call his casting a mistake. He was expensive, so Venom Snake is a comparative mute, and he was already associated with an iconic character, so I just kept hearing Jack Bauer every time he spoke. I love MGSV and love his work in it, but it's got to be interesting going back and hearing Hayter from the very beginning.
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
@RogerRoger The tanker opening sequence of MGS2 was so incredible for the time wasn’t it?
Rain drops bouncing off your character! Shooting the light out in the Olga boss fight! Being able to shoot individual bottles in the kitchen/galley area!
Rain drops bouncing off your character! Shooting the light out in the Olga boss fight! Being able to shoot individual bottles in the kitchen/galley area!
@Thrillho You've just described the vast majority of my time spent in that level.
I played the tanker demo given away free with the Official PS2 Magazine almost endlessly, until I could get my hands on the full game a year later... at which point, I answered its start-up questions honestly, admitting that I'd never played the PSone original. So it skipped the tanker completely, and confused the heck out of me by showing "Snake" infiltrating the Big Shell instead.
What a mind-bender but, in retrospect, it was also the perfect introduction to the esoteric world of Hideo Kojima. Made my relationship with the game last many years, and stand up to multiple replays and interpretations. Which is why I'm so keen to play it again!
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
Ahh that's a shame to hear regarding the characters... That one in particular feels like especially lazy writing. I'd say maybe it could be a localisation thing but Cold Steel relied on anime tropes/stereotypes too and it seems like a weird thing they'd change translating it. Hopefully things liven up soon on the character front... Or at the very least you get an entertaining big bad!
I'm nearing the last part of the game now, and one of the antagonists IS interesting and (somewhat) sympathetic, at least. A smattering of side characters are likable as well. It's fine for what'll probably amount to a 15 - 20 hour experience where you spend the majority of it running around dungeons, IMO.
I also like the smaller scope of the experience so far. There's supernatural stuff, of course, and I'm sure I'll kill a god-like being of some sort by the end, but Oath in Felghana's story (what there is of it, anyhow) revolves around relationships and grudges between a handful of people in a small-ish region, so it feels a bit smaller and more personal than the other Ys games I've played.
What's there is absolutely fine, given the length, and the fact that the source material of this remake is pretty ancient in video game terms. Although, interestingly, the original Ys III aged worse than the first two, since Falcom pulled a Zelda and made this entry a side scroller when it first released. This version (PSP remake) retains the isometric viewpoint of the first two games, though, which I imagine led to more work with regard to updating the level design.
Sounds fairly decent on the gameplay front though at the least! I know in Lacrimosa and Nox there's multiple party members... Has it always been like that or do the first few YS games have just Adol to play as?
I'm going to retract my "there's no depth to the combat" complaint now. Falcom quickly starts layering in complexity as the game goes on. This boss fight I'm stuck on right now feels like isometric DMC, and my hands hurt from trying to play it on a small handheld.
On the gameplay front, I'd also like to mention that the game rewards the player for aggressive play, as multipliers for exp, defense, attack, etc. will activate when you kill an enemy, and you have to slaughter foes in quick succession to keep those going. It's a decent addition.
My understanding is that Ys didn't originally feature a party system until Ys VII, although I think the Vita remake of Ys IV includes other party members. It's just Adol in this one, though, like in the first two games.
I was going to say that the port has taken quite a while... But then I remembered the game only came out in Feburary this year. My sense of time has still not quite recovered. I'd assumed the PC version had already come out the same time as the PS4 version though!
I think the ports have taken a while, which is likely why it took NISA so long to release it on PS4. I imagine they wanted the versions to all release in the same year, at least.
EDIT: lol, I'm an idiot. I've been playing through the entire game without dashing, apparently, since Adol needs to drink a potion to gain the ability to dash, and the thing has just been sitting in my inventory. I thought it was a mere consumable. No wonder some of these boss fights have been so rough!
@Thrillho It's why I actually really like Raiden as a character, and did so even before his "improvements" in subsequent appearances. Thanks to having only played the tanker demo (which ended as soon as you made it through the engine room, so it wasn't even the whole level) Solid Snake was literally the gruff dude who shot all the bottles, so swapping him out didn't bother me, and I grew attached to "my" protagonist before going back and learning about Snake's origins.
When they mock Raiden in MGS3: Snake Eater with the whole Raikov thing, it actually annoyed me, and I felt a bit protective of Raiden's reputation.
Oh boy, I shot every single radio in that game, though! I don't think I've ever been brave enough to attempt an Extreme playthrough, so you have my respect. The battle with the Harrier is annoying enough on the lower difficulty settings. I can only imagine how nightmarish it must've been for you!
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
... Alright I think I might have to play Metal Gear Solid 2 now as well @Thrillho & @RogerRoger after that talk of yours and bringing the memories back of when I first played it.
I spent ages getting Snake to do pull ups on the tanker to increase his hanging ability. I was so cheesed off when it got shifted over to Raiden... But I ended up doing it again anyway! 😂
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"
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