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| Screwtape |
Posted on 19-11-24, 13:09
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Full mod
 Post: #369 of 443 Since: 10-30-18 Last post: 1101 days Last view: 172 days |
A while ago Mario Kart Tour was released, the first free-to-play mobile game in the Mario Kart franchise. I installed it because I was curious, and because I've been a long-time fan of Mario Kart games (weirdly, since I hate the basic premise), and honestly it's better than it has any right to be - there's racing, and you do have *some* amount of control over what happens on-screen, and the courses are cool. Unfortunately, it's a free-to-play mobile game, which means premium currency and having to grind to unlock things (and not in the fun sense of having to *get good*, just investing time) and honestly there's a bunch of actual Mario Kart games I haven't played yet. And so I've been putting time into Mario Kart: Double Dash on the Gamecube. The two MK games I've played the most have been the GBA and DS iterations, which are the games immediately before and after Double Dash, so it's been interesting looking at how the series has evolved. Double Dash backs away from the high-skill precision driving of the GBA game, since they have decent 3D hardware and they can make courses visually rewarding instead of just viscerally rewarding. They also wanted to keep experimenting, so Double Dash adds the whole dual-driver mechanic, and changes the rules for getting a boost at the beginning of the race, and (so far as I can tell) prevents you from permanently holding an item behind you as a shield. The Gamecube version also has the most aggressive AI players I've ever seen, even on 50cc - I've never *seen* so many banana peels on the track. The DS game walked a lot of those changes back, but kept the prettiness-over-precision focus and judging by Mario Kart 7 on the 3DS and what little I've seen of Mario Kart 8, the series has hovered around that point in the design space ever since. I've also just today been spurred to start playing The World Ends With You, despite not being really keen on fashion or moody teenagers (although I am a fan of Shibuya-kei I don't think that makes an appearance). So far I've completed the tutorial and gotten stuck on the first real mission. I really dig the game's aesthetic - being set in a real place, the graphic design, the way ever screen seems to be playing pre-recorded music with singing instead of being synthesised (it's probably synthesised with voice samples for space reasons, but it *sounds* like snatches of radio music that might be played in the stores you're walking past). I'm not sure about this combat system, though; I've gotten an E-rank on just about every battle I've fought, which bodes ill. The ending of the words is ALMSIVI. |
| Nicholas Steel |
Posted on 19-11-24, 14:01
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Post: #304 of 426
Since: 10-30-18 Last post: 499 days Last view: 14 days |
You should seriously give Mario Kart Wii a shot, with an official Nintendo brand steering wheel accessory if you van find one (they were being sold for $5 a few years ago). It's got the perfect turning circle for the games motion controls... you can of course choose to not use motion controls. AMD Ryzen 3700X | MSI Gamer Geforce 1070Ti 8GB | 16GB 3600MHz DDR4 RAM | ASUS Crosshair VIII Hero (WiFi) Motherboard | Windows 10 x64 |
| CaptainJistuce |
Posted on 19-12-05, 07:43
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Custom title here
 Post: #784 of 1164 Since: 10-30-18 Last post: 63 days Last view: 9 hours |
I'm playing Blaster Master Zero Two, which is up there on the "comically bad names" list. I am enjoying it a good deal. It is more challenging than Blaster Master Zero(which was a walk in the park for the most part), and some of the mechanical changes they made seem like a direct response to complaints I had with the previous game(most notably, the new behavior on the weapon energy meter does a lot to keep most every tank scene from being "just spam homing missiles until everything is dead"). The map is no longer one contiguous world to shoot through. In theory, this is annoying as it turns the entire game into a collection of bite-size minigames. In practice, it isn't really that different. Just means that when backtracking from Area D to Area A, you don't have to actually fight through every single enemy in between. The world isn't actually SMALLER, and each area seems to be roughly the same size as a Zero One area, if not a bit bigger. It is still basically "Metroid with a tank". ... The instant-death forcefields in Area F are NOT FUNNY, though. Nine of ten stars. The plot is more personal, which is an interesting choice. In Blaster Master Zero One, your dude found an alien jumptank and uses it to kill the evil mutants and save the Earth(and also save his alien robot girlfriend(long story)). Good ol' video game heroism through unmitigated violence, nothin' new here. In Blaster Master Zero Two, your dude built a new jumptank that can fly through space so he can take his space robot girlfriend home to get treatment for her space cancer. No, seriously, that's the plot. Space girlfriend is gravely ill and needs to go home for medical treatment before she dies. If your dude just HAPPENS to wind up saving a bunch of other planets from mutants through excessive force along the way, well, that's a nice bonus, but it isn't really the goal. And as an important side note, Inti Creates put an appropriate amount of thought into the differences between the Famicom game Metafight and the Nintendo game Blaster Master before they set out on making a remake. Blaster Master Zero is canonically a remake of Blaster Master, but a sequel to Metafight. And I love this detail. --- In UTF-16, where available. --- |
| Nicholas Steel |
Posted on 19-12-05, 11:59 (revision 1)
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Post: #308 of 426
Since: 10-30-18 Last post: 499 days Last view: 14 days |
Since you've played both games, how hard is it to stand still while facing diagonally in the Overhead View sections? Ages ago I tried the demo of the first game on the Switch and I couldn't figure out a way to easily stand still facing diagonally which made those sections more frustrating than they had any right to be (I was playing with 2 Joycons) AMD Ryzen 3700X | MSI Gamer Geforce 1070Ti 8GB | 16GB 3600MHz DDR4 RAM | ASUS Crosshair VIII Hero (WiFi) Motherboard | Windows 10 x64 |
| CaptainJistuce |
Posted on 19-12-05, 21:25
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Custom title here
Post: #785 of 1164 Since: 10-30-18 Last post: 63 days Last view: 9 hours |
I've always used the lock aim button when I needed a diagonal. I assume the difficulty is going to depend greatly on controller. --- In UTF-16, where available. --- |
| Broseph |
Posted on 19-12-14, 16:40 (revision 1)
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 Post: #149 of 166 Since: 10-29-18 Last post: 1561 days Last view: 1238 days |
Recently re-played through NES-troid which was a while since I did, and I stumbled upon this: https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/3234/ It's a Super Metroid hack which aims to recreate the first game's map, but with SM's engine of course. I haven't played it through yet, but from what little I played it looks like it has done a decent job: there's no wall jumping afaik, you can't just shoot the blocks to go to Kraid's lair; you need the bomb like you did in the first game etc. One thing is sorely missing though: the first game's music. Instead, we get SM's music from where you arrive on the planet, and that's just not the same. |
| Screwtape |
Posted on 19-12-22, 14:28
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Full mod
Post: #376 of 443 Since: 10-30-18 Last post: 1101 days Last view: 172 days |
This week,I've been playing a game called Forager. It's a top-down 2D game roughly in the numbers-go-up genre, a bit like Factorio, and a bit less like Minecraft: you mine rocks and kill monsters to obtain resources you use to upgrade your equipment, and to build machines that transform your resources into other, rarer resources. Those resources let you upgrade your equipment again, and build even more machines, etc. One way Forager distinguishes itself from those other games is its passive skill tree. Certain actions earn XP, fill the level-up bar with XP and get one skill point, which you can spend on a passive skill, which then reveals adjacent skills. Some "skills" are fairly tame, like "smelters work 20% faster", while others unlock the ability to build new machines or items, and some are just weird ("you can now eat rocks, ones and gems"). The other big difference is that instead of an infinite generated world, you start on a tiny island, and resources slowly respawn so you don't run out. There's a "coins" resource (you can mint them yourself, sell other resources, or build a Bank that generates them over time) which you spend to unlock adjacent islands, which gives more room for resources to spawn, and room to build things. However, the maximum size of the world is 49 islands (7×7), and each island has a Special Thing on it. For example, one island has a Stardew Valley style museum, one has a shrine that (when activated) gives double XP for picking flowers and berries for five minutes, there's dungeons and puzzles and even just "island spawns with a bunch of monsters on it". The islands are picked largely at random, I think, so you'll get puzzles and rewards in a different order every game, but they're divided into five biomes, so the Skull Cave will always be somewhere in the Spooky Biome, even if you don't know exactly where. I picked this game up because I wanted something to thoroughly distract me, and overwhelm me with strategic decisions, and it's almost perfectly that. There's always some resource that's on the critical path to the next upgrade, so you have to choose between figuring out how to make that resource spawn faster, or switching to a different goal, or just going mining for a while and hoping you get the thing you want. Unfortunately, my game hasn't gone as smoothly as I'd like. For example, I spent a very long time stuck on the skull tier, where everything requires Great Skulls to craft. I got one skull from a merchant, and found another randomly, but I needed like 50 skulls to make a complete set of gear. Eventually I invested in a passive skill that unlocked a crafting table for "ultimate magical items" and discovered that it would craft Great Skulls from ordinary bones, which I had tons of, and I resumed zooming up the upgrade tiers. Much later than that, I unlocked the Skull Cave, which had a bunch of monsters that dropped Great Skulls, and even gave me an item that would occasionally spawn those monsters around me. So the game definitely gave me the things I needed to progress, eventually -- but because of randomness and the poorly labelled skill tree, I got stuck and frustrated through no fault of my own. That said, I can see why the game was designed that way (replayability!) and I've had a lot of fun before and after that point, so I definitely recommend picking it up if you're looking for that "I'm carrying 1.3k iron ingots, 87 cooked fish, 23 flowers, and a magic potion that makes me spray lightning bolts for a minute" gameplay experience. The ending of the words is ALMSIVI. |
| creaothceann |
Posted on 19-12-22, 19:49
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 Post: #225 of 456 Since: 10-29-18 Last post: 44 days Last view: 1 day |
Currently playing through Bayonetta 1, nice 2009 game that got a PC port in 2017. I'm getting the impression that it's not really for me though since I just can't seem to memorize all the combos. So, easy mode... My current setup: Super Famicom ("2/1/3" SNS-CPU-1CHIP-02) → SCART → OSSC → StarTech USB3HDCAP → AmaRecTV 3.10 |
| kode54 |
Posted on 19-12-24, 05:06
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 Post: #25 of 105 Since: 11-13-19 Last post: 1461 days Last view: 1461 days |
Working my way through Borderlands 3. For some reason, this time, I’m way more attached to rushing through the plot, and mostly neglecting the side missions. This is probably quite bad, especially since a lot of these look like they could be dependent on doing them when they become available, as they could become impossible to do later, due to plot deaths or such. |
| Screwtape |
Posted on 19-12-24, 07:33
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Full mod
Post: #377 of 443 Since: 10-30-18 Last post: 1101 days Last view: 172 days |
When you say "this time", do you mean as opposed to previous times you've played Borderlands 3, or previous Borderlands games you've played? Is the main quest super-interesting, or do the side-quests just sound boring? The ending of the words is ALMSIVI. |
| creaothceann |
Posted on 19-12-24, 10:06
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Post: #226 of 456 Since: 10-29-18 Last post: 44 days Last view: 1 day |
Now playing Bayonetta 2 via Cemu. My current setup: Super Famicom ("2/1/3" SNS-CPU-1CHIP-02) → SCART → OSSC → StarTech USB3HDCAP → AmaRecTV 3.10 |
| kode54 |
Posted on 19-12-25, 00:57
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Post: #26 of 105 Since: 11-13-19 Last post: 1461 days Last view: 1461 days |
Posted by Screwtape I mean compared to the previous Borderlands games. And this game is a little different from the past ones. The menu is fast to open and switch quests, but there's hotkeys to cycle through them now, too. Which is good, because this game, unlike the previous ones, doesn't automatically switch your objectives to the last mission you just picked up, and tends to stay on whatever one you currently have selected. Although, just like the previous ones, when you complete the current mission, it automatically selects the main plot mission. I'm doing the side quests now, they're quite fun. Like this one with some guy in the Atlas HQ named Terry. That was funny shit. |
| picto |
Posted on 19-12-28, 16:27
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 Post: #5 of 16 Since: 10-03-19 Last post: 1158 days Last view: 442 days |
I've been playing through Hotel Dusk for DS recently. The game primarily takes place in a single location, and largely in one day too (December 28th, before a new decade; 1979) Which yes, may or may not be related to why I'm playing it now.   It really gets all the mileage out of the console, too. You have a notebook you can take notes in as you're questioning people, to jot down anything you'd like to remember for later. One puzzle require you to open and close the DS like a book to solve it- Which also reminds me, you actually hold the DS sideways to play this game. It's a real shame the developer, Cing, went under in 2010. |
| Nicholas Steel |
Posted on 19-12-29, 16:00 (revision 1)
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Post: #319 of 426
Since: 10-30-18 Last post: 499 days Last view: 14 days |
Really annoying that there's no reliable indication of installation progress when installing a PS4 game from disc. There's a progress bar on the games icon with a disc symbol to the right of it but even when that bar fills up and disappears it's still possible the game is being installed from disc. I assume that bar indicates whether or not you can reach a games title screen yet because that seems to be the case with Horizon Zero Dawn (loading my save file takes me to a loading screen and when that completes I'm taken to a loading screen with a 20~ minute timer on it). So the only indication of setup being completed is when the disc spins down. I just got around to installing my PS4 SSD in to my new PS4 Pro... which required formatting the disk and reinstalling everything because the contents of the drive are encrypted/keyed to the console you install the O/S on. Also, does anybody else's PS4 Pro not sit flat? Mine rocks diagonally by a couple millimeters. AMD Ryzen 3700X | MSI Gamer Geforce 1070Ti 8GB | 16GB 3600MHz DDR4 RAM | ASUS Crosshair VIII Hero (WiFi) Motherboard | Windows 10 x64 |
| kode54 |
Posted on 19-12-29, 23:19
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Post: #29 of 105 Since: 11-13-19 Last post: 1461 days Last view: 1461 days |
You may be the outlier in being a PS4 Pro owner. I own one banned PS3 that can't be modded. Meanwhile, I finished the main plot of Borderlands 3 yesterday. I was a bit disappointed by some of the plot directions, but it's okay, it played out okay in the end. I also found the final boss to be way easier than one of the earlier plot bosses that I had to redo over 20 times before I figured on an appropriate weapon and gameplay style. |
| CaptainJistuce |
Posted on 19-12-31, 01:39
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Custom title here
Post: #799 of 1164 Since: 10-30-18 Last post: 63 days Last view: 9 hours |
I own a regular PS4. --- In UTF-16, where available. --- |
| kode54 |
Posted on 19-12-31, 02:17
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Post: #30 of 105 Since: 11-13-19 Last post: 1461 days Last view: 1461 days |
Started a new game in Dead Space, after almost a decade since I last played it. I already had 11 hours on the clock from back then, but no save files to go with that. Just as soon start over anyway. Plays liquid smooth at 3840x2160@60Hz, max settings. Linux. |
| Nicholas Steel |
Posted on 20-01-01, 10:42
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Post: #320 of 426
Since: 10-30-18 Last post: 499 days Last view: 14 days |
Something I found disappointing about Horizon: Zero Dawn. The very pretty intro only plays the first time you open the game, every subsequent time you open the game it goes directly to the Main Menu (after the company logos). New Game+ skips even more early content too. Also I've completed the base game and DLC and found the game to be an excellent experience albeit the pricing of gear in the game is way too low on Normal difficulty making it way too easy to become overpowered. AMD Ryzen 3700X | MSI Gamer Geforce 1070Ti 8GB | 16GB 3600MHz DDR4 RAM | ASUS Crosshair VIII Hero (WiFi) Motherboard | Windows 10 x64 |
| Screwtape |
Posted on 20-01-02, 03:11
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Full mod
Post: #380 of 443 Since: 10-30-18 Last post: 1101 days Last view: 172 days |
I'll probably never own any hardware that Horizon: Zero Dawn will run on, but I've been watching a YouTube Let's Play, and it looks pretty great. Portraying current-day or near-future technology as the relics of a lost civilisation is absolutely my jam, and H:ZD is so much better at it than I could ever be, it's kind of frustrating. Meanwhile, I've resumed playing Forager after the Christmas break, and I've gotten to the stage in the game where motion-sickness kicks in. The game has all these juicy animations that zoom and shake the screen when you mine a rock or kill an enemy, and now I've begun to automate those things to the level where my screen shakes every couple of seconds, or even more frequently. Luckily, those animations can be turned off in the options menu, so I think I'll go do that. The ending of the words is ALMSIVI. |
| creaothceann |
Posted on 20-01-02, 07:03
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Post: #228 of 456 Since: 10-29-18 Last post: 44 days Last view: 1 day |
Posted by Screwtape https://www.pcgamer.com/you-can-play-horizon-zero-dawn-one-of-the-best-ps4-exclusives-on-pc-soon-via-ps-now/ My current setup: Super Famicom ("2/1/3" SNS-CPU-1CHIP-02) → SCART → OSSC → StarTech USB3HDCAP → AmaRecTV 3.10 |
