What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

[Andy Morrisson]

Finally sat down and put some serious time into Mushihimesama again today. I’m still hitting a wall on the Stage 3 boss, but the scoring routes are finally starting to click. Definitely feels good to get back into the groove after a bit of a break!

[drauch]

Don't know if it's true, but I have heard that the collision detection is even worse on Xbox than on PS2

I believe it. It's almost comical how bad it is at times. I thought about booting up the PS2 version on an emulator to compare, but I'm just done with it at this point. Maybe I'll circle back around some day after playing the others. And yep, Xbox version does indeed have inverted Y.

I'm like 3.5 hours into II:CB now, and wow, enjoying this immensely more. I do think 1 has a lot going for it, but I'm finding this actually fun to play and explore around, without expecting every room to house a ghost or for the same haunted lady to respawn ad nauseum when I backtrack. Presentation, direction, story -- I get why this one is a favorite. Was reading some complaints about this one being too easy with the slow ghosts, which I do get, but I think it feels a bit more 'natural', at least when I think historically of ghosts. I felt like every ghost in 1 is Slimer, zigzagging across the room like a shithead, and here they're all wailing and tormented. I guess for a game like this or something like Silent Hill or Echo Night I'm not playing for difficulty in the first place; I just want the mood and the dread and the narrative. I'm still feeling pretty helpless as a 15 y/o with this geriatric half-jog run speed.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Was reading some complaints about this one being too easy with the slow ghosts, which I do get, but I think it feels a bit more 'natural', at least when I think historically of ghosts.

I mean, the Resident Evil games didn't get anything other than slow zombies until runners started appearing in game 3, and it's a well regarded classic series. Fatal Frame also has selectable difficulty modes that really up the challenge, so if they're not finding it challenging enough they can crank it up to Hard or Nightmare.

[Steven]

Was reading some complaints about this one being too easy with the slow ghosts, which I do get, but I think it feels a bit more 'natural', at least when I think historically of ghosts.

I know Shibata mentioned somewhere that the second game was intentionally made... less scary? Less difficult? One of those two, based on the feedback from the first game. They also cut the framerate in half for some reason.

Still haven't been able to acquire an Xbox copy. Surugaya wanted 27000 yen for it and I'm not paying that much for an old optical disc. Couldn't find any PS2 copies, either! I imagine the remake inspired everyone to go clean out Akiba. I found a few copies of III but they were all the budget rerelease version with the ugly grey/silver cover. I am fine with buying those ugly versions if they're new and at their retail prices, but since they're all used and the same price as the non-ugly non-budget rerelease version, no way do I want to pay that much cash when I can get a non-ugly version for the same price.

[To Far Away Times]

So I gave up on Pulstar. Like the other times I’ve trained up on it, I just never seem to really enjoy the process. It feels like work. Nice graphics, interesting music, but as a big R-Type fan (1CC’d every game in my favorite hori series), I feel like this game flys too close to the sun. I have accepted that this game will not click for me. IMO, If you are going to copy so closely, you better do it better, and gameplay wise, Pulstar is less ambitious and less well designed. So much of Pulstar is “Here’s the part from the R-Type 1 stage 1,” or “Here’s the part from R-Type II, stage 2” or “Here’s the part from R-Type 1 stage 3” and it just keeps doing that, except you can’t detach the pod, so why am I playing this? Whenever I realize I’m only playing a game for an “I did it” then I usually drop it. I should be excited to play it every time. A good game should be good all the way through. The best R-Type clones like Xexex or X-Multiply have a clear inspiration but also a clear identity and gameplay hook of their own. They are additive rather than subtractive.

On a non shmup note, I started playing Ninja Gaiden Rageborne, but I kinda feel like I’m going through the motions with this one. It’s alright. Stage design is kinda mid. Noticeably short and repetitive on art assets. Animations are very well done though, both in smoothness and key framing. The animation guy deserves a raise. Boss fights feel kinda like a well thought out 2D Dark Souls challenging memo battle, which is a highlight. That’s where all the juice is. But I kinda haven’t been inspired by anything lately.

[m.sniffles.esq]

I always thought it was supposed to be "what if we made Action 52 but it wasn't completely shit".

As I said earlier (in this thread?), I was randomly sent a early code (probably due to carpet-bombing PR), and while I was pretty confused about the whole endeavor, this is what I at least think it's deal was trying to be

I don't have a lot of nostalgia for such things, and am not a big fan of 'nu-antiques' in general, so I more or less bounced off it. Some of the games seemed to have some surface pleasures--but all-in-all--I'm not the target audience.

[Marc]

Yakuza Hawaii.

Now I genuinely thought I was done with this series. I completed and enjoyed 6, but since then have gotten bored of Judgement, and LAD, and never bothered to start Infinite Wealth, though I did manage to complete the relatively brief Man With No Name spin-off. Truth be told, I only picked this one up because it was on sale and I knew it had Spikeout and both versions of Daytona 2,in its arcade, yet here I am, addicted all over again.

It’s always been a series with ridiculous and whimsical aspects, but without the overarching ‘Yakuza is serious business’ guff, it’s finally free to lean full-throttle into that. Coupled with the more laid-back vibe (it’s the first game I’ve ever played that given me that genuine ‘I’m on holiday’ feel), it all works incredibly well, despite the contrast with the typically wince-inducing combat. It’s still obviously a PS4-era engine, but the additional environment complexity, detail, and rock solid frame rate, together with the blue sky beach setting, means it looks stunning, I’d envisioned playing until I unlocked the arcade and just leaving it there… as of this weekend, I’ve left the first island, messed around with sailing and ship combat, and have now spent approximately 18 hours walking around Honolulu, waving at people, feeding animals, snatching butterflies, cooking, buying outfits, taking photographs, looking for treasure chests, hunting bounties, and completing the aforementioned delivery tasks. I headed back to the ship when I’d collected the required amount of crew and money, but someone on board said something that made me head back to the main island before I’d even set sail, and it’s night, and there are different events, and new people and bounties, and I can tell I’m going to be wondering around here for at least another half dozen hours. There’s an incredible density to the map, there’s something to do, see or fight on just about every street, and I keep finding myself playing for just one more hour. Just fantastic. Game of the series so far for me.

Metroid Dread
Now in fairness, It’s been a long time since I played Super, and I only ever played the two(?) GBA titles through once each, having never played the NES or GB entries, so I’m hardly an expert on the series. Having said that, in the early stages at least, this feels distinctly un-Metroid, in that I have barely had the opportunity to deviate from the path it’s pushing me down, and on the odd occasion there is, it simply leads to a door you can’t open yet. Maybe that’s how it always was, I just seem to remember Super at least being slightly more exploratory in the early game? It’s very smooth, but controls feel a tad fiddly and I’m not a fan of movement being mapped to a stick in any 2D game. My biggest misgiving at the moment is the bloody EMMI’s – they make early progress very fractured and frustrating, it’s not fun entering a new area and being one-shotted because you’re unfamiliar with the layout and there’s only one correct exit. I’ve just downed the second one so will press on, but for now, I’m yet to be fully convinced.

Ah, just before posting, I earned the shadow cloak thing. This at least promises to make the robot thingies less annoying for the foreseeable.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

The NES Metroid game is a bit rough around the edges so it's a tough sell to get into compared to Super Metroid which is a vastly more polished experience. But I would highly recommend the GB one, it's very interesting and unique in its feel, while feeling much more refined than the NES one mechanically.

[ryu]

I always thought Dread was somewhat overrated. It's got terrible pacing because of noticeable loading times, frequent cutscenes and the trial and error heavy emmi sequences. I agree with Marc that it feels very linear. There's ways to break out of that but those are bound to very specific alternative routes (that laudably feel like they weren't intended). As a result the game feels very static and not much like a classic Metroid experience. You either go the casual route or the specified alternative route.... there's not that much to plan sadly. Honestly I've given up on the franchise (the way I've given up on all Nintendo franchises tbh) so the miss steps that Beyond took and put me off from playing it didn't surprise me in the least. And I used to be a huge Metroid fan...

[Sima Tuna]

I'm shallow and I think Dread just looks really, really ugly, which was enough to keep me from playing it.

I'm currently between games and trying to decide if I want to try out Astelibra, Nine Sols or return to mindless Borderlands.

[BulletMagnet]

Yakuza Hawaii.

I've also taken a rather extended break from the Yakuza series of late after having played most of the earlier titles, but since the goofy parts of the games were always my favorites I've been particularly tempted to pick this one up...your write-up is not making resistance any easier!

[Stevens]

Nine Sols

I played most of this, but like every other 2d souls I try it was basically one and done.

I'd rather be playing a modded Sekiro.

You may love it though.

[Sima Tuna]

Eh. I love the setting and the art, but I've never been huge on parry-centric gameplay, which I've heard Nine Sols is all about. That's kind of why I never bothered to play it before now.

Borderlands 2 defaults to a weird aspect ratio on steam deck, but you can fix it in settings easily... Just not once you actually launch the game. I guess I'm too much of a console pleb to understand why some games won't let me change the resolution unless I go through the launcher menu. The game also had a really strange starting resolution. It was neither x720 or x800 but some hellish x765 thing.

[To Far Away Times]

I finished up Midja Gaiden: Ragebore, and yeah, not really a fan of this one. All three hours of it.

The visuals are nice and look the part, but the gameplay is just not my thing. I never played the NES originals, so I don't know how closely it sticks to those, but the stage enemies are obnoxiously tanky in this and there are so many of them, it's a total slog. It seems like the best play is to always run through the stage and not engage with the enemies? Ugh.

--

After that I played a couple hours of Resident Evil 9 and this is a much, much, better game. Early impressions are that this game rips. Feels a lot like RE7 so far, and I love that game.

[Steven]

Metroid Dread
Now in fairness, It’s been a long time since I played Super, and I only ever played the two(?) GBA titles through once each, having never played the NES or GB entries, so I’m hardly an expert on the series. Having said that, in the early stages at least, this feels distinctly un-Metroid, in that I have barely had the opportunity to deviate from the path it’s pushing me down, and on the odd occasion there is, it simply leads to a door you can’t open yet. Maybe that’s how it always was, I just seem to remember Super at least being slightly more exploratory in the early game? It’s very smooth, but controls feel a tad fiddly and I’m not a fan of movement being mapped to a stick in any 2D game. My biggest misgiving at the moment is the bloody EMMI’s – they make early progress very fractured and frustrating, it’s not fun entering a new area and being one-shotted because you’re unfamiliar with the layout and there’s only one correct exit. I’ve just downed the second one so will press on, but for now, I’m yet to be fully convinced.

Ah, just before posting, I earned the shadow cloak thing. This at least promises to make the robot thingies less annoying for the foreseeable.

It's mostly on-rails until you get the Morph Ball. Once you do that, you can go anywhere you want, skip bosses, skip some upgrades, do some crazy item order for no reason other than because you can, etc. Still pretty convinced that most of the sequence breaks actually waste time instead of saving it, but they're still fun.

If you didn't patch your game, there is an invulnerability glitch that you can do, but one of the patches also seems to have fixed a crash regarding sequence breaking to skip the tutorial EMMI, so that's nice too.

[AGermanArtist]

Yakuza Hawaii.

I've also taken a rather extended break from the Yakuza series of late after having played most of the earlier titles, but since the goofy parts of the games were always my favorites I've been particularly tempted to pick this one up...your write-up is not making resistance any easier!

I have 45 hrs on it and I would go so far as to say it's the best one (of what I've played - Yakuza 0/Yakuza PS2/Kiwami/Yakuza 2 PS2/Yakuza 3/Yakuza Dead Souls). Prior to playing it, I would've said Yakuza 0 was the best one. My only criticism is the dialogue and its length.

[BulletMagnet]

Prior to playing it, I would've said Yakuza 0 was the best one.

Zero is my arguable favorite as well, so that makes me even more tempted...heaven knows if they ever put it on GOG I wouldn't be able to resist. Too bad they just kind of abandoned that path after 7.

[NYN]

All three hours of it.

Did you play on Kids Mode to get done? Highly doubtful to get any fun out of it.

The visuals are nice and look the part, but the gameplay is just not my thing. I never played the NES originals, so I don't know how closely it sticks to those, but the stage enemies are obnoxiously tanky in this and there are so many of them, it's a total slog. It seems like the best play is to always run through the stage and not engage with the enemies? Ugh.

Yeah, no, the aim is to run each stage like speed-metal, to blaze and rip and burst trough tons of threats. Lemme guess here, you went for visuals alone, and figured out fast it doesn't move as nice. It takes effort to play any Ninja Gaiden, which every other geek on the web could've told you before. Thanks for playing!

[To Far Away Times]

Did you play on Kids Mode to get done? Highly doubtful to get any fun out of it.

I just played on whatever it defaults to, same as how I play any other game.

Yeah, no, the aim is to run each stage like speed-metal, to blaze and rip and burst trough tons of threats. Lemme guess here, you went for visuals alone, and figured out fast it doesn't move as nice. It takes effort to play any Ninja Gaiden, which every other geek on the web could've told you before. Thanks for playing!

It’s not my first rodeo with Ninja Gaiden, as I quite enjoyed Itagaki’s Ninja Gaiden 1 & 2. Played through the second one multiple times even.

[lastemperorjubei]

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus.

I played through it when it released on the Switch 1 on a higher difficulty but the resolution was rough in handheld. With the new boost mode on Switch 2 it looks much better in handheld. I'm enjoying it more this time. Like the story and characters and the evil antagonist. I think they are working on part III.

[Sumez]

(Metroid Dread)

Having said that, in the early stages at least, this feels distinctly un-Metroid, in that I have barely had the opportunity to deviate from the path it’s pushing me down, and on the odd occasion there is, it simply leads to a door you can’t open yet. Maybe that’s how it always was, I just seem to remember Super at least being slightly more exploratory in the early game?

No, you are completely correct. Metroid Dread is like that all the way through. And although it's not the only Metroid game that is like that, the two games that are arguably most emblematic of what "Metroid" is, are most definitely not. Getting lost, exploring, and poking at things to find out where you can go is what makes the series for me, and Dread is the exact opposite. It is constantly pushing you one specific way through the game, even if it does wind around and return to old places ever so often.
But by the time you actually get the freedom to freely move around the map without feeling like you're fighting the game designers, you are already at the threshold of the final boss, and they are just letting you do that so you can round up your 100% completion with items you missed or which required and item that you hadn't acquired yet at the time.

It frustrates me when people celebrate Dread as the comeback of 2D Metroid, because that's a surefire death sentence for actual 2D Metroid

[m.sniffles.esq]

I'm still plugging away at Yakuza 8 (aka the other Yakuza in Hawaii) as I guess it's enjoyable/diverting enough, even though it's got some pretty major problems.

It occurred to me that I didn't remember reading about said major problems in reviews upon release, and after re-reading a good number of them I realized it wasn't just bad memory on my part. In fact, several make statements to the effect of:

"you can switch character classes--and while the majority of these are inferior to the default--you're free to experiment without penalty. Therefore they add variety"

Uh, I would say the massive amount of (very scarce) money required to acquire gear for these inferior classes is a definite penalty for experimentation. Although, the reviewer may not notice when they can just skip ahead to the next chapter and magically receive upgraded gear and a couple hundred thousand dollars.

Which again brings up the age-old "well, you can't expect a writer on deadline to play an entire 100+ hour rpg for review" raison d'être for 'fast-forward' enabled review copies. But how can one give a fair assessment of what it's like to play a game when they're only playing highlight reels? It's like writing criticism of an 800 page novel when the critic has only read 80 pages of cliff notes.

[vol.2]

So I'm finally playing Prey, on Sima Tuna's recommendation. So far I'm liking it a lot better than Dishonored and Bioshock games.

The story is a lot tighter, and the game mechanics are a much more refined.

The longer I play the game, the more I am reminded of bits and pieces used from other games of the past. The inventory is quite obviously like RE4, and the combat system is a really interesting blend of Metroid Prime and the other Arkane games. I think I would have liked to play this one with a GC controller actually. It would be nice to have a hot button on the shoulder to scan things quickly during a fight instead of a toggle with my keyboard. I suppose that I could play with a controller on my PC, but it's still a toggle. Also, the enemies are very Metroid Prime coded, almost various Chozo versions with the purple color and the fire and the lightning damage et al.

And then I am also getting some Alien Isolation vibes, but far more fleshed out.

Really like the space walk parts, it's really fun to control the character in a different way sometimes. The only thing I really hate so far is the hacking mini game. I can do it, but it's annoying as hell to pay attention to. I don't like my games to feel like work.

That's it so far. Only about 20% of the way through I think. I am just at the point that I need to make some permanent decisions about what abilities to get. Unfortunately, I seem to have either used or accidentally recycled a bunch of shotguns shells, so I am stuck with the pistol mostly as a weapon. At least that makes choosing upgrades easier.

[To Far Away Times]

I finished up Resident Evil Requiem last night. Quite a good game.

From the director of RE7, do you know it’s going to be a good time. I don’t think this game quite reaches those amazing highs, but I was enthralled all the way through. There are some incredibly tense sections and the game feels very oppressive during Grace’s point of view. Leon is sort of a short cathartic release of tension and then it’s back into the grinder.

Resident Evil games always transition to a more action packed second half, but here it makes more sense to have that happen with Leon’s point of view.

One minor complaint, there are a lot of environmental props that are reused from prior RE games beyond the obvious franchise stuff (a vase here, a wallpaper there, some water simulation stuff with stairs), and one boss is just straight up copy and pasted from RE3 Remake.

Graphics and performance are very good. Probably the best looking game I’ve played. The opening level is stunning looking with water and light peaking through the scaffolding.

One of the better games in the series, IMO, but not quite at the tip top.

[Josh128]

I finished up Resident Evil Requiem last night. Quite a good game.

From the director of RE7, do you know it’s going to be a good time. I don’t think this game quite reaches those amazing highs, but I was enthralled all the way through. There are some incredibly tense sections and the game feels very oppressive during Grace’s point of view. Leon is sort of a short cathartic release of tension and then it’s back into the grinder.

Resident Evil games always transition to a more action packed second half, but here it makes more sense to have that happen with Leon’s point of view.

One minor complaint, there are a lot of environmental props that are reused from prior RE games beyond the obvious franchise stuff (a vase here, a wallpaper there, some water simulation stuff with stairs), and one boss is just straight up copy and pasted from RE3 Remake.

Graphics and performance are very good. Probably the best looking game I’ve played. The opening level is stunning looking with water and light peaking through the scaffolding.

One of the better games in the series, IMO, but not quite at the tip top.

How do you feel about it vs Resident Evil: Village? I'll admit, I have 7, and I enjoyed the few hours I put into it, but put it down due to being busy and never picked it back up to finish it. I bought the RE: 2 remake but never played it, and I've never played Village. Does this one allow for a 3rd person perspective like Village? Did you play Village with 1st or 3rd person perspective?

[To Far Away Times]

You can play both characters in either first or third person.

I liked Village, I’d rank it somewhere in the upper middle of the series. I played that one in first person. It’s a good game in a series of good games. I did like Requiem a bit more though.

Though I do hold RE2 Remake and RE7 near and dear to my heart, I love both those games. RE2 Remake has got to be one of the best remakes of anything ever, and RE7 is the scariest game in the series, and has a such a great scenario and vibes imo. Both are well worth a playthrough, imo.

[vol.2]

You can play both characters in either first or third person.

I liked Village, I’d rank it somewhere in the upper middle of the series. I played that one in first person. It’s a good game in a series of good games. I did like Requiem a bit more though.

Though I do hold RE2 Remake and RE7 near and dear to my heart, I love both those games. RE2 Remake has got to be one of the best remakes of anything ever, and RE7 is the scariest game in the series, and has a such a great scenario and vibes imo. Both are well worth a playthrough, imo.

I'm pretty much at the same place as Josh with this. I'm a huge fan of OG RE games, but I haven't played anything downstream. I own every game up to RE5 for every system, and then when 6 came out I was not interested in the QTE thing and didn't want to finish it.

I've got RE7, RE2 remake, RE4 remake, but I haven't played any of them. Probably most looking forward to RE2 remake at this point, but the original is honestly one of the best PSX games ever made, so idk how it could be improved upon outside of a coat of paint. I guess I'll find out.

Of all the older games, the most I'd actually like to see a re-imagining of is CV. I love that game, but I think it's gotten a bit long in the tooth in some places.

[AGermanArtist]

Got a Switch 2 yesterday, so I'm playing Mario Kart World a lot. I like the handling and prefer it to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Pretty happy with it.

The Gamecube online app seems to have been fixed, I didn't notice any lag with F-Zero GX.
Shame Strania Stella Machina EX isn't compatible
eShop is a huge improvement.
Time to get through my Switch backlog with a more capable machine.
edit - ARMS' new update is fantastic.

[Obiwanshinobi]

A couple of afternoons ago I installed OutRun 2006: Coast to Coast on my lady's laptop, copied that lens flare file to where it belongs, hooked up a gamepad and had my first time (in what feels like a couple of years now) of wanting that "one more go" over and over again. Truly a very special car journey game indeed. Deserves bigger screen and beefier speakers than I gave it that latest time, but it was awesome all the same, almost medicating!

[BareKnuckleRoo]

OutRun 2006: Coast to Coast

One of my fave racing games, up there with the Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune games. Make sure you check this out, it restores multiplayer functionality via fanservers as well as various other QOL support features for modern systems: https://github.com/emoose/OutRun2006Tweaks