Comments 391

Re: Praise, Raiden! Mortal Kombat Legacy Kollection Adds Mythologies, Special Forces

GeneJacket

@Olmaz Regardless of how dead simple emulation has gotten and how easy it is to obtain the games in this collection through other means, calling this collection a "cashgrab" is not only obscenely cynical but also does a massive disservice to the people putting in the work to make this a worthwhile collection.

You seem to be under the impression that they just threw a bunch of roms on a disc and called it a day, which is simply not the case. They've put a ridiculous amount of time and work into this thing, collecting decades of documentation about the games, producing a whole slew of new video features about the history of the series, written an entirely new from-scratch emulator specifically for MK4 (as the arcade version has never been faithfully ported to any other platform), or add online multiplayer with rollback netcode to every single game...and that's just the big stuff.

This isn't going attract any new MK fans and, like you said, the vast majority of these are worth little more than a few minutes of nostalgia. This is explicitly for the MK hardcores. Not the 15 million that bought MK11...they're not expecting this to be a massive seller, it's for the few thousand that still care about these original entries and want to have them in one place that's easily accessible. If that's not you, that's fine, but don't dump on all the obvious hard work the folks at Digital Eclipse have done to put this together for those that do care.

Re: Monster Hunter Wilds Beta Will Get an Extra 24 Hours on PS5 After PSN Outage

GeneJacket

@Shadeon_Koopa You don't even have to talk to Alma after beating the first Chatacabra, you can simply go out into the world, open the map, and set a field survey (quest) for any roaming monster.

I think the far more open ended structure than usual is throwing some folks. You can play it like the previous entries, talking to the handler/quest-giver to initiate hunts, but they want you to just stay out in the world without going back to camp (or setting up a remote camp when needed) as much as possible.

Re: 25 Years Ago, Square Released the Best Final Fantasy Game

GeneJacket

I will forever dislike FFVIII, if for no other reason than Squall just being the absolute worst FF protagonist in the entire series.

I played through like 95% of it, I remember I was pretty close to the end, but I just couldn't anymore with Squall's late-90's, hyper-emo BS. If the main character in your game doesn't care about what's going on, and takes every opportunity to remind us of that fact, then why should I?

Plus, in a reality where VI and IX exist, VIII cannot be "the best".

Re: Random: You'll Probably Want This Streets of Rage Action Figure

GeneJacket

I do not understand why companies keep licensing their IP to Jakks. They're fine for super stylized characters, but anything slightly more detailed or "realistic" and they always, always, always look terrible (the joints, specifically). I'm not asking for all figures to be on the level of Good Smile or McFarlane, but this is sub-Hasbro.

Re: Soapbox: Dead Space Is This Year's (Almost) Forgotten Horror Delight

GeneJacket

I played the original up to getting to the bridge of the Ishimura, but it wasn't clicking for me, so I bounced off and never came back. I wasn't super interested in the remake, but EA Play is included in Game Pass, so I decided to give it a shot again last week.

I did end up playing through the whole thing, and while I do think the visual and audio design, atmosphere, and general gameplay are great (except the boss fights, those are straight up awful)...holy hell did the "narrative" all but ruin it for me and absolutely turn me off of ever dipping into the sequels (even if they get remade).

I'm not a hard man to please with schlock horror, but Dead Space is beyond the pale stupid. It's the exact kind of writing I hate the most in media, just a barrage of proper-noun nonsense the game has zero interest in explaining in a vain attempt to force some kind of mystery. And, to add insult to injury, the performances are abysmal. Every single character in this game reacts to their friends turning into grotesque murderous corpses as if it were a minor inconvenience. I keep going back to one audio log of one of the crew who saw someone turn into a necromorph, then murder someone else, then shrugs it off...and recounts this with all of fear and intensity of reading off his grocery list. He essentially goes "Huh, that sure was weird...oh well, back to work".

Which could and SHOULD be campy and fun, but the tone of the game is so self-serious that it thinks itself better than camp...and it's not, at all. It's single brain cell dumb, and can't even be bothered to have fun with how dumb it is.

I can absolutely see how it hooked people in 2008, but in 2023...we can do so, so much better.

Re: Poll: Did You Buy a PS Portal?

GeneJacket

Absolutely not. I already avoid using the PS5 as much as possible because of how much I detest holding the Dualsense. Why would I want to play the same system I don't like, with worse latency using the same controller I hate, just split in half with a screen bolted to it?

Re: PS5 Fans Think They've Found Marvel's Wolverine's Release Year

GeneJacket

Can we not with "news" like this? I'm sure Insomniac are targeting next year. The key word there is TARGETING, as in "we would LIKE to have it release by___", which is decidedly not "it WILL released by ____".

So when/if they don't make it out next year, and some a**holes starts sending death threats to Insom employees for missing a date they never gave us, "news" like this is responsible for setting unrealistic expectations.

Re: PS5 'Slim' Is Now Officially for Sale in the US

GeneJacket

Y'know, I though the launch PS5 was ugly, but I could at least somewhat understand the design philosophy behind it...this revision makes me think Sony is purposefully trying to make the ugliest system ever made. The super glossy plastic and beveling on the midsection, combined with the weird half-gloss/half-matte of the plates, just makes it look like one of those dirt cheap hacked famiclones you see on aliexpress for $25. I legitimately hate looking at this thing.

Re: A Pyramid Head Origin Story in Silent Hill 2 Remake Was 'Incorrect Information'

GeneJacket

@Flaming_Kaiser Again, Red Pyramid isn't a character. Like every enemy/creature in Silent Hill, it doesn't "live" in the town. It simply did not exist before James arrived and his psyche manifested it. It's origin is that it has no origin. It was born from James' mind when he arrived in Silent Hill, and at the end of that game it ceases to exist.

The fact that it became the de facto mascot of the series and appeared at all in subsequent games is because the movie was a minor hit and Konami themselves fundamentally misunderstand the series (or just straight up don't care, I'd guess the latter, since they basically threw out or ignored all the lore for everything after the first 4 titles).

Re: Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater Is Going to Look Unreal on PS5

GeneJacket

@SuperSilverback They're using the original voice tracks, so they're pretty limited on what they can add/change, at least from a narrative perspective. Based on that, I would assume it's going to be more a very pretty reskin on top of nearly identical gameplay/systems as the original.

Even given that, I still don't trust Konami won't find some way to F it up, somehow.

@NotSoCryptic Konami ditched Fox Engine after PES 2020 (and its subsequent 2021 update). It's an incredible piece of tech and I do wish more studios would invest in their own proprietary engines, but I also completely get why that has been all but abandoned and, ultimately, it's probably better for the industry overall that they don't. With how many mass layoffs and how much turnover the industry has, having to spend so much time/money training people on an engine they may only ever use once before getting laid off or leaving for a different studio is just a massive waste of time and resources. I kinda hate that UE is so ubiquitous, but if everyone knows how to use it, it makes it far easier for people to bounce around and change jobs and hit the ground running without needing weeks or months of training to get them up to speed.

Re: Mortal Kombat 1 Developer Teases Future Ghostface, Jigsaw DLC Villainy

GeneJacket

@Darknexus I could see Pinhead working if the Lament Configuration is doing everything. If he's basically just standing there doing zero fighting of his own, both hands lightly extended holding/manipulating the box to call in chains and hooks and cenobites to do his bidding and move him around. That could be VERY cool, but I could also see a character that weird being a little too far outside of scope for a DLC character...but NRS tends to go all out, even with dlc, so who knows.

Re: Mortal Kombat 1 Developer Teases Future Ghostface, Jigsaw DLC Villainy

GeneJacket

As everyone else already said, Ghostface leaked from a recent datamine (also Jade, thank CHRIST).

As a horror aficionado, he's really the only one left that makes sense to me...outside of Ash, who we're just not gonna get, they tried but for whatever reason they couldn't get him (even though f'ing Call of Duty just did, that pisses me off).

Michael Myers could work, but I can't think of way to make him feel/play differently than Jason in MKX. Victor Crowley, from Hatchet, could be pretty cool...but, again, he's just kinda Jason. Obviously Chucky or Leprechaun or Jigsaw won't work for logistical hitbox reasons. Pinhead isn't a fighter, so they'd have to get REAL weird and creative to make that work (which I'm super down for, but that seems like a huge longshot).

And, holy sh*t, as I was typing this it hit me like a bolt of lightning...TOXIE, of The Toxic Avenger (which just so happens to have a remake/reboot coming soonish). He's both super fun and super gross, just absolutely a PERFECT fit for Mortal Kombat.

Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 496

GeneJacket

Finished Separate Ways, attempted a professional run, and got a little overzealous in chapter 5....stupid turrets...ah well, I'll give it another shot tomorrow.

Other than that, grabbed Phantom Liberty so I'm doing another full Cyberpunk playthrough (this will be my 4th), AND randomly decided to check out Speedstorm...hot damn, it's REALLY good. It's about as disgustingly monetized as something can be, but the gameplay is genuinely excellent.

Also, still working on AC6, and need to try and wrap up BG3 before Spidey....TOO. MANY. GAMES!

Re: Jim Ryan Retires as PlayStation Boss in March 2024

GeneJacket

Nothing against him as a person...but, as someone who fell in love with Playstation with the PS1 and has watched their generational arcs, they've been more successful than ever under Jim Ryan...and they've lost every single ounce of personality that drew me to PS in the first place.

As I've said before, under Jim Ryan's leadership, Playstation has become the Apple of gaming...boring, sterile, and soulless...and it sucks.

I dearly miss the weird, kinda stupid, very fun and experimental Playstation of the PS1/PS2/PS3 generations that was all but gone in the PS4 generation, and entirely dead for the current gen.

I will not miss him, and hope whoever officially takes over next is more than just a corporate suit that understands what Playstation is supposed to be about.

Re: Marvel's Avengers Is Dirt Cheap Ahead of Getting Thanos Snapped Later This Month

GeneJacket

What a bummer. You can sh*t on the game all you want, but I put 200 hours into it, maxed out everyone except Hulk and Iron Man, and had a great time with it. Yeah, it's got a lot of problems, but Crystal did a genuinely excellent job with the campaign. They had something here that could have been special, and it's a shame Square-Enix and Marvel Games forced so much live-service BS that weighed everything down into a game that never needed it.

I will never NOT be salty that Square and Marvel's terrible decisions ultimately killed the She-Hulk DLC, which was the only thing ever wanted from it.

Re: Megan Fox Lends Her Likeness to Nitara in Mortal Kombat 1 on PS5

GeneJacket

@Matroska You've got that backward. Arnold only gave them permission to use his likeness, he didn't get scanned or do any performance capture, and he didn't do Terminator's voice. Stallone and Peter Weller did their voices but didn't do any capture, and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa did performance capture as well as Shang Tsung's voice.

Re: Reminder: Last Chance to Stack PS Plus Subscriptions Before Price Rise

GeneJacket

My current sub expires today and I turned off auto-renew a while back. I'd upgraded to Premium because of the promo discount they were doing for a while and had intended on dropping my sub down to basic, but after this egregious price hike I'm just cancelling altogether. I just don't use my PS5 anywhere near enough to justify the extra cost.

Re: Reaction: Has Sony Put Together the Worst PS Plus Month Ever?

GeneJacket

It's not about the games, it's about their absolute lack of respect for their players.

This trend of Sony pushing the image of Playstation being the most distinguished and boutique console, the once and future God-King of all that is gaming, and pricing things according to how far Jim Ryan's head is up ass has completely soured me on the brand.

He wants them to be the Apple of gaming, that's fine...they have the brand recognition and market lead to do that, but I ain't sticking around for it.

Re: PS5 Is Now Trending Ahead of PS4 Life-to-Date Sales in US, Despite All the Stock Setbacks

GeneJacket

Why, though, is what I'm wondering. Not taking the piss here, I've had my PS5 for a little over 2 years and I just don't really understand why the system is selling like it is. Granted, I'm more of a PC/Switch guy these days so the PS5 is just an exclusives machine for me, but there aren't even really enough of those to justify the price and I've barely used the thing since I got it. Honestly, if it weren't for Spidey 2 and MK1, I don't know that I could justify keeping it around.

Re: Rumour: PS Plus Essential Game for September 2023 Leaked Early

GeneJacket

It's fine. Nowhere near as legitimately great as SR3 or 4, but way better than 1 or 2. It's a solid 6 on a 10 point scale and the kind of game that's fun to just run around goofin' off in. Don't listen to any of those "This game is an atrocity" chuds, it's Saints Row, anyone who takes SR THAT seriously has some issues to work out.

Re: Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon (PS5) - Great Mecha Action at Times Feels Stunted

GeneJacket

"The result is a game that can be just as enjoyable as it is frustrating."

Yup, that's Armored Core.

That's not snark or a dig at Liam, btw. I think there were a lot of pre-conceived notions and assumptions about what a new Armored Core would be, both from newcomers and veterans of the series.

Turns out, it is (more or less) exactly what a lot of vets guessed it would be...another Armored Core. A much improved and evolved version of what we fell in love with back on the PS1 but, fundamentally, it still Armored Core.

The frustration I've seen a lot of newcomers cite in their reviews is an integral part of the series, for better or worse, and (far as I can tell) FromSoft took all the lessons they've learned over the past decade away from the series and did all they could to minimize a lot of those frustrations of old. Some of the original AC games were so cheap and so blatantly broken that certain arena fights were effectively unwinnable unless you got incredibly lucky or had the exact right build that worked for that fight and that fight only.

It's a very old school game design philosophy we don't see much in modern games (even From's own games), and I totally get how and why that frustration would irk a lot of new players, but it's a core (no pun intended) tenet of the series and without some of those frustration, if it was more streamlined or less obtuse, it wouldn't really be Armored Core.

Re: PS2 Games Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3 Will Be Just 720p on PS5, PS4

GeneJacket

So this really is just a worse looking port of the 2013 MGS Legacy Collection (which I believe retailed for $60 USD at the time)...minus VR Missions, MGS4, and Peace Walker...and they're still charging $60 USD.

They can't even be bothered to do the bare minimum. Why does anyone give Konami the benefit of the doubt?

Re: Texas Chainsaw Massacre's PS5, PS4 Adaptation Won't Get Gutted Like Friday the 13th

GeneJacket

"Hobbs wouldn’t be drawn on the specifics which ultimately led to Friday the 13th’s demise"

He doesn't need to, both Gun and Illfonic have spoken at length about it, and the whole debacle is well documented. TLDR: They were caught in the middle of a very long, very boring domestic IP rights battle between Victor Miller (co-creator/writer of the original film) and Sean Cuningham (co-creator/director of the original film/producer of the entire series). After many years and multiple failed appeals from Cunningham drawing things out longer, Miller finally won the suit in late 2021. Unfortunately, it was too late for the game, as Illfonic had already moved on because they couldn't keep working on content they may never be able to release for a game they weren't legally allowed to alter. It sucks, but their hands were tied, there was nothing they could do.

Re: Gritty TMNT: The Last Ronin PS5 Trailer Is a Teaser in Every Sense of the Word

GeneJacket

Can't say I particularly trust Nickelodeon (their middling licensed game track record speaks for itself), and don't have a ton of faith in Black Forest or the reanimated corpse of THQ...but I'll keep my fingers crossed.

@Ken_Kaniff Nick has owned them since 2009, it'll be fine. The overall tone of Last Ronin is "dark", but in actual content isn't all that far removed from most other TMNT stuff.

Re: Round Up: Baldur's Gate 3 Reviews Suggest It's One of the Best RPGs Ever Made

GeneJacket

@Palleon It's because of co-op. When in a co-op game, every player and character in their party can go off to any other part of the world and do whatever they want. Everyone exists in the same world, even if they aren't doing the same things and Larian are having a hard time getting that to run properly on Series S. But, because MS requires parity between Series S and X, they can't just release it until it works as advertised on both.

Re: Preview: Armored Core 6 Could Give Newer FromSoftware Fans Whiplash

GeneJacket

@Perturbator Listen, I'm not trying to be a d*ck here. You have a lot of options...PS3, PS2, PSP or Vita, a modded PS1 Classic, an Xbox 360, pc emulation...like, all of those are viable and easy options.

And yes, they have said explicitly, multiple times, and the previews have further confirmed that THIS Armored Core isn't THAT much different from previous Armored Cores. Even when they play somewhat differently, the core experience of spending hours perfecting your build to take on an extremely difficult mission or arena battle is the same.

This is exactly what us, who have played a lot of the previous titles, keep trying to tell people. Armored Core 6 is, shocker, still an Armored Core game. If you've played ANY of them, you'll understand the gameplay loop and have a very good idea of what you're getting yourself into with AC6.