What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

[Gespenst]

DW8XL. Game's fucking broken but it's kinda fun and I can't stop.
- Get a shitton of attack boosts
- Get a weapon that is weak against the boss's weapon
- Go straight to his base while luring everything on the way with you
- Hold guard in front of him until he starts shitting teal particles
- Press the Switch button for FREE gauge
- Rage up, Musou and make sure nobody falls off the rape express

Lu Bu's Halberd switching abuse is much more broken imho. Dat three times attack speed.


Currently (re)playing Ace Combat Assault Horizon campaign while trying to forget how shitty it (actually) was. Frankly, I'd rather enjoying ACAH than any post-2008 flight sim (especially DCS even if it was free) if it wasn't because of the "simulator/realism master race, fuck arcade shit" mentality that commonly found among most simulator communities.

[Obiwanshinobi]

All this talk about vintage first person shooters made me want to play some fucking nasty thing, like, SoF or whatever. Not everyday feeling nowadays, but I might need some regress like that. Something with more blood and corpses and Satan than usual. So my mission for my lonely drunk day off at the computer is to find the bastard thing that will be half-random, half-necessary...

[broken harbour]

I was super into Quake during the Q1 and Q2 days, I actually preferred the atmosphere and sci fi industrialist theme of Q2 personally.

After playing mostly RPG's lately I decided I wanted to play something a bit more action oriented, with explosions and decent surround sound, something to give my subwoofer something to do, but also something that isn't an FPS because... most of them are hyper violent or kind of boring. So I finally tried Metroid Prime. I missed most of that generation of gaming and I never got around trying it until now, I'm playing the Wii Trilogy version. About 4 hours in, just (mostly) finished up the Chozo ruins area, I'm sure most people have played the game by now, so I won't go into alot of detail other than while the graphics are dated, they really nailed the atmosphere and feeling of isolation. Wii controls were odd at first, it actually revealed some sensor bar placement issues I was having in my setup, now that I've placed it differently and messed with the sensitivity settings, all is good. I'd still prefer a mouse/keyboard combo but it's not like that's an option

[Obiwanshinobi]

I can't be bothered finishing the first Prime (Wii version) since whenever. The game does tons of astonishing things, BUT since the exploration is way slower than in 2D (and 3D platforming, what little is there, is no fun whatsoever), I don't think I owe Nintendo finishing it any time soon (never mind the sequels).
(Actually my re-reading of Conan stories by Robert E. Howard some time ago had awaken the memories of Metroid Prime, but not strongly enough for me to revisit it.)

[formlessgodfinder]

DW8XL. Game's fucking broken but it's kinda fun and I can't stop.
- Get a shitton of attack boosts
- Get a weapon that is weak against the boss's weapon
- Go straight to his base while luring everything on the way with you
- Hold guard in front of him until he starts shitting teal particles
- Press the Switch button for FREE gauge
- Rage up, Musou and make sure nobody falls off the rape express

Sorry I'm looking for an old friend that usually has the same nickname with yours (Formless God). He is from Nh*Tr**g. If you are not the one I'm looking for, I'm sorry for that.

[Formless God]

No, I'm not from there. That username tho.
(is the PM function not available to new users?)

[Ghegs]

(is the PM function not available to new users?)

It's not, new users must have their first post approved by the mod team before they're given full access to the forum, including PM capabilities.

[drauch]

DW8XL. Game's fucking broken but it's kinda fun and I can't stop.
- Get a shitton of attack boosts
- Get a weapon that is weak against the boss's weapon
- Go straight to his base while luring everything on the way with you
- Hold guard in front of him until he starts shitting teal particles
- Press the Switch button for FREE gauge
- Rage up, Musou and make sure nobody falls off the rape express

Sorry I'm looking for an old friend that usually has the same nickname with yours (Formless God). He is from Nh*Tr**g. If you are not the one I'm looking for, I'm sorry for that.

Celebrity status! Wish someone would name a username after me.

[BulletMagnet]

And "DesperatelySeekingYuma" might not actually have anything to do with you at all.

[Squire Grooktook]

After playing mostly RPG's lately I decided I wanted to play something a bit more action oriented, with explosions and decent surround sound, something to give my subwoofer something to do, but also something that isn't an FPS because... most of them are hyper violent or kind of boring. So I finally tried Metroid Prime. I missed most of that generation of gaming and I never got around trying it until now, I'm playing the Wii Trilogy version. About 4 hours in, just (mostly) finished up the Chozo ruins area, I'm sure most people have played the game by now, so I won't go into alot of detail other than while the graphics are dated, they really nailed the atmosphere and feeling of isolation. Wii controls were odd at first, it actually revealed some sensor bar placement issues I was having in my setup, now that I've placed it differently and messed with the sensitivity settings, all is good. I'd still prefer a mouse/keyboard combo but it's not like that's an option

Yeah, you nailed it. The slower pace owing to 3d is really what kills it for me. I think they could have worked around it to some degree with smarter map design, though.

My other big problem with the Prime series is the way boss fights are handled. These giant marathon battles where the length is compensated by frequently giving you mid-fight life-ups tend to feel really drab. When it's done well in the series best encounters (Meta Ridley, Metroid Prime, Dark Samus, the 3 Hunters), it makes for some epic and seriously climactic battles. But outside of those fights a lot of the bosses just feel a bit bloated and slow paced.

[Mero]

Finally finished the main story of The Guided Fate Paradox yesterday after about 5 weeks and 82 hours total playtime.

I really enjoyed the game but I don't think I'll bother with the postgame too much, there's another 100+ hours right there (at least).

I hope the sequel still gets localized, apparently it was a total flop in Japan.

[Leandro]

Mark of the Ninja which I just bought on Steam. On the second level and I'm not liking it

[BulletMagnet]

I hope the sequel still gets localized, apparently it was a total flop in Japan.

The US version is up for preorder now, not sure if it's been confirmed for Europe...at least importing's always an option.

[Ed Oscuro]

Testing out a new old Xbox...

Came with a game called "Combat: Task Force 121" which is uhhh super generic garbage with only the bare minimum of content. Not even that, really. Some guy gives you a bit of propaganda and then you go shoot stuff up. The most interesting feature in the game is how the scenery reacts to being hit by an attack - it's really something to see a wheelbarrow lying against a wall pivot quickly back and forth around one of its handles. Enemies ragdoll (and rarely fall through stairs), but that's really it for interactivity. I started playing it on the Hard difficulty - realized that wasn't such a good idea - then blazed through the entire game on Easy in something like three hours. No surprise that the clever publisher, Groove Games, tried a "skill based online gaming service" before it shut down many years ago. The only good points? The music is kind of unusual, and there's no interruptions or yelling when you're actually in game.

Next up was Mechwarrior: Lone Wolf. That's better! Lots of those big, smoothly textured heightmap landscapes the Xbox is known for, but your introduction to the game world is in a pretty dense city environment. Bad stuff is at a minimum, though that console cancer of having your "supporting cast" yammering or yelling at you to do xyz the whole damn time is on full display here.

Finally, I booted up Otogi 2 again. Pretty good stuff, getting the hang of it. Completed some challenges already (Ghoul ships stage done in under 2:30, did the 99 arches, monoliths stage, etc.) and now I'm at the first two bosses.

Given it's been many years since I was able to play on an Xbox system, it feels like I should be more excited. But it's a good start!

[MOSQUITO FIGHTER]

Advanced Warfare. Mostly playing hard point. System hack is too good.

[Ruldra]

Mark of the Ninja which I just bought on Steam. On the second level and I'm not liking it

Ghegs gifted it to me and I played it to completion. It's a pretty good game. What do you not like about it?

[Leandro]

Mark of the Ninja which I just bought on Steam. On the second level and I'm not liking it

Ghegs gifted it to me and I played it to completion. It's a pretty good game. What do you not like about it?

The game just doesn't get me in the mood... Also, I don't know if me playing on a 5:4 monitor is hampering the experience. It ends up looking like a widescreen movie in this type of monitor, with big black spaces on top and bottom and the viewing content only on the center portion of the screen, the sprites get really tiny when the action is zoomed out, it's annoying to me.

It's getting better now with the move upgrades, I'm at the level where the chick orders me to start a fire in a building. Maybe I'll open up to the game. At least I got it at 80% discount


I'll add you as a friend okay? My username there is Togurão

[Ruldra]

See if you can get the resolution sorted, I had no black bars on my screen when I played it.

And later on you'll unlock some costumes that will change how you play the game. The Path of Silence costume in particular will force you to play like a true ninja (can run silently, carries two distraction items but can't kill anyone). Playing through NG+ like that is a fun challenge.

[Ed Oscuro]

Wow, Otogi 2's destruction score must be its greatest difficulty boost. I keep trying to clear stages of rubble-ables...and then dying at the finish line because of no magic. Had to restart the spider lair stage a few times for this reason, but it's so fun that I don't really care that much. Still, I've got to play smarter.

The more annoying note is that Tenchu: Return From Darkness (an expanded Wrath of Heaven) has a cloudy ring halfway between the center and the edge of the disc! It'd be pretty funny if I gave up on my original Xbox all those years ago because I thought the Philips drive was crashing out, when in fact just one of the game discs had a manufacturing defect. Guess I'll try looking up fixes. Doubt boiling is going to help it, but it can't end up worse than it is now. I'll probably have to buy another disc. First time this has ever happened - and I can't say I'm surprised it's an Activision release.

[JBC]

Otogi 1 & 2 are -the- reason to own an original X-Box.

[Xan]

First time I ever see someone mentioning that "cloudy rings" issue. I have a PC game which has that too, it works but the CD soundtrack just skips. And I even got a replacement which has the exact same defect, so the whole batch might have been affected. Strange that this was apparently never publicized...

@topic: playing some Uncharted 3 online, which turned out to be pretty fun once I got the hang of it, and completing Zelda: Skyward Sword.

[null1024]

Mega Man 2 [NES].

silly tales from a bad player [AKA, me]:
So, I'm doing Quick Man's stage.
I'm on the beam part after the corridor where the lights go out.
I remember to switch to Flash Man's weapon just barely too late.
I'm stuck in the middle, and my only option is to walk into the beam.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

I turned the game off after that. Shit was hilarious though.
I'll get good at this game, but it'll be a while [other highlights were me forgetting Flash Man's pattern even though he's stupidly easy and forgetting how to deal with the floating square things while on the moving platforms in Crash Man's stage [I usually do Metal Man's first, because that weapon is completely broken and negates any issue they bring]].


oh, and I beat Tales of Hearts R [Vita] yesterday
Last boss was depressingly easy, although I was playing on Normal. Still, I didn't even really need to dip into the items I'd been saving up for it, the only thing to remotely worry about was his Mystic Arte.

Just started a New Game+, going to see what assorted things await .

[Obiwanshinobi]

Almost exclusively Advance Wars. Been seeing it on various "must-play GBA games" lists since the system was still pretty alive, but I've had it with first party Nintendo titles of late so I wasn't in a hurry to confront it.
It turns out to be THE Japanese turn-based tactics game (though if your definition of those involves runaway kids, amnesia, gerontocracy... you may beg to differ). Advance Wars practically put King's Bounty: The Legend on the back burner. Just as I was thinking "why do I have to find a Japanese game one bit like the latter yet?" - here it has arrived.

I might give Battallion Wars II another chance; not that I hope all misgivings I had about it to disappear, but I did like the engine's potential, so it would be interesting to see where they eventually took it to. It's no Spartan: Total Warrior (a similar kind of spin-off and better game at that), but at least they tried.

[Ruldra]

^If you're enjoying Advance Wars, make sure you try the sequel. It improves on the original in every way.

[BIL]

Mega Man 2 [NES].

silly tales from a bad player [AKA, me]:
So, I'm doing Quick Man's stage.
I'm on the beam part after the corridor where the lights go out.
I remember to switch to Flash Man's weapon just barely too late.
I'm stuck in the middle, and my only option is to walk into the beam.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

I turned the game off after that. Shit was hilarious though.

Out of (only slightly!) sadistic curiosity, have you played Bucky O' Hare (NES/FC)? :3 The Red Planet's lava run is Quickman Lasers with any pretense of fair play chucked out the window. No scroll breaks and there's only one correct path. Trial and error ahoy! The game has quite a few nasty memoriser bits but despite this one appearing so early it's the worst of the bunch.

TBH it's bad game design with checkpointing as a crutch. But it's bad game design that's forever thrilling to overcome!

[Mortificator]

If you're enjoying Advance Wars, make sure you try the sequel. It improves on the original in every way.

Advance Wars 2 is amazing, and I don't think I'll ever go back to the original... but strangely, the sequel's map graphics are a little worse.

[Ed Oscuro]

Otogi 1 & 2 are -the- reason to own an original X-Box.

After today's playing, I am starting to agree more. Now that I've smashed - admittedly with too much ease - through the familiar content and beyond, it's interesting to see how they keep things fresh.

In many respects it's just Armored Core with a fresh coat of paint , but it's soooo dense

[Leandro]

Just finished Mark of the Ninja. Decent little game. I liked that walk to the end, nice art...

[Ed Oscuro]

Otogi 1 & 2 are -the- reason to own an original X-Box.

I like that Mechwarrior too though. When I get some money to throw around, I'm hoping Steel Battalion doesn't disappoint either.

Found an old GameSpot preview by the legend himself, Greg Kasavin. He avers it's like Shinobi. I'm still sticking with Armored Core, but I wonder if the earlier builds weren't more stripped-down. I actually prefer just to have the dash, but its implementation here seems simply to let you speed things along and execute leaping upward slashes. There's no afterimage play or even dashing away from damage - if I hit an explosive spider with a massive attack next to a wall, it's definitely going to hurt. It might have been interesting to have some mechanic tying into that, but I prefer it this way. There still are some similarities though, covered here. "Shadow-dash like" may have been a stretch, but the magic meter really is a bit like the cursed sword.

More interesting is Greg's note (in the Preview) that the original Otogi's North American release has graphical effects "toned down" from the original Japanese version.

Aw, it seems like there's no S rank in destruction for Otogi 2. That sure cuts down the playtime a bit.

[iconoclast]

Wolfenstein: The New Order - I hated this at first, but I thought it was alright by the time I completed it. It's a pretty standard modern FPS, so if you're not a fan of cover-shooting, ADS, unlockable perks, and lots of scripted events, I'd avoid it. Aside from all of that, one of my biggest problems with the game is poor visibility. Most of the time the enemies don't stand out against the environment and using ADS basically blocks the bottom half of your screen, so sometimes it can be hard to see where the hell anything is. The story and boss fights were pretty bad too, although I did like a few of the characters and the cutscenes were pretty well made. On the plus side, the shooting feels pretty good, there's decent enemy variety, and it runs at a solid 60 fps on console. But it's still a pretty mediocre game. I don't understand why there's any hype behind it.