What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

[Lord Satori]

Ever want to play a game with satisfying blood and gore but can't find it?

No, this is not an ad pitch, it's a genuine question. Brutal Doom has raised my bar so high that only a few things scratch that itch when I'm in that mood. I like Crimsonland, but I can only take so much of the same game.

[Mischief Maker]

Ever want to play a game with satisfying blood and gore but can't find it?

Not quite blood and gore, but I've been wanting a game of absolute amoral brutality to blow off steam. They had a lot of games like that in the 90s like Crusader: No Remorse and Blood Omen, but games since then have all chickened out and given your antihero a full justification for their brutality. Or worse, made it so your victims were asking for it.

Fortunately a game finally came out in 2016 that scratches my brutality itch: Brigador.

Spoiler

[Blinge]

So I finally knuckled down and finished Etrian Odyssey.
I was enjoying the later game.

Took a stab at the Drake postgame boss and got instantly wiped at high level.
So i though I could just explore the postgame stratum and level up in the process, try to build some killers to beat that thing and finish other sidequests.
I then hit the level cap of 70.

Now any exploration won't be getting me any xp. I'll get money sure but, i dont even know if there's better gear to buy at this point.
So I might have to tap out here.
I don't feel like "retiring" my party just so i can start at level one (!!!) with a few more stats each..
seems futile, even for a dungeon crawler rpg.

[ZacharyB]

Hey Blinge,

If you have a medic, does it have Immunize? That works to bolster physical defense, not just elemental defense. It's so effective, many players complained that it made the game too easy.

[Blinge]

sheyit, I didn't know that! I have it at like level 2 >_<

I guess one of those 'rest' partial respecs is in order.

Thanks man.

[Sumez]

The "postgame" stratum in Etrian Odyssey is not really "postgame". It's the actual last level of the game, it's where everything comes together. It definitely took me a lot of dedication to get through, but it was worth every bit of that.

[Blinge]

Oh yeah? The reason I called it thus is because it happens after the ending, credits and final boss (or so i thought)

[Sumez]

Well true enough. I just found the final stratum to be a real fitting ending to the game, and a positive surprise for me, to see the game not ending when you thought it would (yet again).

[WelshMegalodon]

Ryuuko no Ken SFC. While the Mega Drive conversion is more playable, this version does a far better job of bringing home Ryuuko's ever so slightly broken faux-sidescroller charm. The zooming and odd control of the arcade original are retained at the cost of everything looking significantly uglier. AI is, as usual, more exploitable than a clueless college frat boy, though exploits learned in the arcade, Mega Drive, and PC Engine versions do not carry over, making this a worthwhile challenge for those who have mastered other versions. Your opponents generally seem a bit more aggressive at close range than they are in said other versions, though your own experience may vary.

I've seen this labeled a Takara port, but it seems Takara was only the publisher. The actual developer, Monolith, was behind the embarrassingly bad Super Famicom versions of Ryuuko no Ken 2 and Garou Densetsu Special.

Oh, and by the way, the remixed soundtrack is terrible.

[soprano1]

So I finally knuckled down and finished Etrian Odyssey.
I was enjoying the later game.

Took a stab at the Drake postgame boss and got instantly wiped at high level.
So i though I could just explore the postgame stratum and level up in the process, try to build some killers to beat that thing and finish other sidequests.
I then hit the level cap of 70.

Now any exploration won't be getting me any xp. I'll get money sure but, i dont even know if there's better gear to buy at this point.
So I might have to tap out here.
I don't feel like "retiring" my party just so i can start at level one (!!!) with a few more stats each..
seems futile, even for a dungeon crawler rpg.

Not a great fan of dungeon crawlers, but Yuzo Koshiro's work on the DS trilogy is eargasmic.

[null1024]

Akatsuki Blitzkampf [PC].
Buddy of mine was gushing about the game for like a week, so I decided to give it a go.

It's pretty damn cool. Very solid feel to it, brilliant presentation. Spritework is very nice, similar to KOF13 but a bit rougher overall. Cool soundtrack. No "anime fighter" mechanics or movement or moves, everything is very down-to-earth.

despite Akatsuki existing in UNIEL, this game feels like the antidote for that sort of gameplay [a game that as far as I can tell is a grounded game that still has all the nonsense found in a game like Melty Blood ]

[FinalBaton]

Diablo 1 (PC)

Came across the retail disc at my local thrift store for $1, so I snagged it. Looked online and was delighted to learn that the game runs perfectly fine under Windows 7, once Aero is disabled! (maybe this is something obvious, but I personnally didn't know this).

Had forgotten how addicting the game was, holy hot damn... the thirst for LOOT is REAL!!! I'm really not a PC guy, I've played maybe 10 PC games in my entire life, but this is one that I played back then and tremendously enjoyed. And I'm really digging the game still

[Marc]

A cople of hours of Metal Slug this week. My take:
St1: Come on, I have held a pad before. Seriously though, it’s weird in that doesn’t get repetitive to play, it’s just such a joy to mow through the opposition in a wave of HMG fire.
St2: As above.
St3: No problems, other than the odd death to the mid boss when he jumps to the bottom of the screen and I don’t react quickly enough to the knife attack.
St4: Possibly the easiest stage in the game once learned. At this point though, it tips from being about moving forward in a hail of gunfire, to inching carefully forward to control when things appear on screen. The boss is an utter joke in the slug.
St 5: I’m just getting the hang of one-lifing it. The tipping point are the two blockades – took me around 30 min practise last night to work out how to keep the Slug up to the boss. Once you’ve cracked that it’s pretty easy.
St6: Just… ouch. May need to watch a vid or two for tips.

Also, is it just me or is this game utter ass to play for score? Bonus drops don’t seem to be influenced by anything as far as I can work out – meaning at the start of St2 I can end up 45,000 down on my previous game just because it awards me a smaller value, and there are several points that just seem to throw hordes to be exploited for points? No thanks. I’m averaging half a mil at the start of St6, but have ended up with almost 100,000 less at some points despite playing almost exactly the same game.

Others:

Let It Die What the hell did I just play? This is by the Lollipop Chainsaw/Shadow Of The Damned right? Those weren’t my cup of tea, but this hits the nail on the head for me, found the entire tone amusing. The brawling seems a bit scrappy (can you actually lock on?), but I have only played an hour or so. Will certainly be playing more, good fun with what seems a surprising amount of depth for a F2P.

Double Dragon 1 & 2 The original is fun up until the crappy platform bits. The sequel up until the combine harvester in ST3.

Lost Odyssey Got it free on 360, seemed rude not to at least try it. If had the time and inclination to ever play a JRPG again, this would be the one I’d go for. Looks and feels very Final Fantasy – I presume there are some shared staff?

[Sumez]

Also, is it just me or is this game utter ass to play for score?

https://youtu.be/sbivUJwGoR0?t=39m37s

(apologies to 1up for using his footage )

[BulletMagnet]

Looks and feels very Final Fantasy – I presume there are some shared staff?

Yup, Hironobu Sakaguchi and Nobuo Uematsu were in there, possibly others too; there were also some Shadow Hearts vets on the team, as borne out by the timing elements (albeit somewhat simplified) in the battle system. It doesn't do anything that'll convert people who already don't like JRPGs, but if you're down with the genre it's worth a playthrough IMO.

[WelshMegalodon]

How big an increase in the fun factor should I expect from these games, coming from the very first NES release?

Since my initial reply to this was on the vague side:

Final Fantasy III goes out of its way to be more accessible to newcomers, at least at the beginning of the game. Right off the bat you're given a dozen or so Level 1 spell charges, as well as the Poisona spell. The chests in the first dungeon also contain some much-needed armor, and random encounters are quite generous with Potion drops. Furthermore, all classes in this title, even casters, can dual-wield for twice the damage (and they actually deal twice the damage this time, unlike what happened in FFII). The Telepo spell and magic-casting items are also obtained relatively early in the game, making dungeon crawls slightly easier.

FFIII also does away with "Ineffective" hits - if a targeted enemy is slain before your character has a chance to act, the character will automatically redirect his attack (often to a monster in the back row, which kind of sucks, but oh well). This only applies to physical attacks, not spells, but that usually isn't an issue since you spent relatively little time using Black Mages (outside of mini dungeons, that is).

The Kearu line of spells can be used offensively against undead enemies - though I can't remember off the top of my head whether this was also the case in FFII - while Raise and Araise can kill them, making your White Mage even more essential to have in your party. (The fact that he learns several instant-death spells throughout the course of the game is also a nice bonus.)

FFIII's Job system isn't terribly complex - Dragon Quest III's is admittedly more interesting - but stat gains do depend on what class you are when leveling up, so there is some limited opportunity for stat-building.

The music has also improved:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6abeexV ... e=youtu.be

While I like FFII, I wouldn't recommend it to a newcomer for reasons I've stated in the past, though the music is worth a listen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CaPrJ- ... e=youtu.be

[kaicooper]

just start playing Watch Dogs 2 for an hour and uninstalled it..boaring game
Open Worlds games this generations just trying to reach GTAV style..

back to Freespace 2

[BrianC]

just start playing Watch Dogs 2 for an hour and uninstalled it..boaring game
Open Worlds games this generations just trying to reach GTAV style..

back to Freespace 2

Boaring?

[null1024]

Clash of Elementalists [DSiWare].
It's a neat Virtual On clone, but there's only four characters [the fuck?].

There's a few weird bits about it, movement feels a little off, there's no terrain obstacles for whatever reason, but there's no doubt about it, this is straight up VO with anime girls. If you've ever played VO on pad for any extended period of time, you'll be absolutely at home.
The mechanics are lifted directly from VOOT, air and watari dashing is a thing, it seems like there's a V-Armor style system in place, etc.

was going to ask why I've never heard of this, but it's a 2013 DSiWare release that got fuck-awful reviews because VO's pad controls are kind of weird [there's a review here that mentions the VO similarity off-hand, but it's pretty obvious the author has never so much as touched a VO game fuck you author
It's still a 6/10 game at absolute best, but only for the appalling lack of characters [like, I'm amazed they didn't even just add a few VO:Marz style clone characters to pad it out with slightly different movesets, there's literally only four characters and no boss, arcade mode is ridiculously short, so it's pretty much awful if you don't have friends]. With more characters, this could have been a wonderful little VO-on-the-go experience.

as it stands, it's mechanically competent, but lacking in content for no real reason

[Lord Satori]

Ever want to play a game with satisfying blood and gore but can't find it?

Not quite blood and gore, but I've been wanting a game of absolute amoral brutality to blow off steam. They had a lot of games like that in the 90s like Crusader: No Remorse and Blood Omen, but games since then have all chickened out and given your antihero a full justification for their brutality. Or worse, made it so your victims were asking for it.

Fortunately a game finally came out in 2016 that scratches my brutality itch: Brigador.

Spoiler

It's alright. It reminds me of Bedlam, a similar game from my childhood. Though I can't fully enjoy it as my I own a mac mouse, but I'll probably come back to it once I get a proper USB mouse. I had one, but its sensor had trouble working with my desk or something, so I switched back.

Man this craving is a little annoying. It doesn't affect me for console games, but on the PC, I've been bouncing between Brutal Doom, Crimsonland (beat hardcore only to get stuck on the same Spideroids mission on Grim difficulty), and the original Zombie Shooter once in awhile.

[Marc]

Also, is it just me or is this game utter ass to play for score?

https://youtu.be/sbivUJwGoR0?t=39m37s

(apologies to 1up for using his footage )

Yep, tedium confirmed.

[soprano1]

Finished Bravely Second. It didn't do anything wrong, but it didn't do anything fantastic either.
Trying out waifu simulator/strategy game Fire Emblem Fates.

[Squire Grooktook]

Trying out waifu simulator/strategy game Fire Emblem Fates.

When I get back to the SRPG I'm developing on the backlog from my shmup project, I'm planning on using "Waifu Strategy Battle Gaiden X" as the working title.

IMO Fates (particularly Conquest) has some of the best gameplay mechanics and music in the franchise. But the story and characters irritates me more than any other installment and really ruins the atmosphere for me. And this is coming from someone who actually enjoyed "so animu it hurts" FE Awakening as a guilty pleasure.

And no, it's not the translation.

[KAI]

Panzer Front [PSX]. A tank simulator with a vehicle designed by Mamoru Nagano, RTS-like mechanics and 1-hit deaths. So good.

Also playing Densha de Go! Final [PS2]. Love it's scoring mechanics, but the game is so fucking boring sometimes. Leaving the arcades was a death sentence for this franchise.

Akatsuki Blitzkampf [PC].

Have you tried the sequel (En-Eins) yet? It's been dumped a few months ago. Beats the hell out of Akatsuki IMO.

[Durandal]

Blood (PC)

hmmmMMMMMMMMmmmmfuuuuuooooaaaaaagh
i'm fucking love this game, it is so good

Just everything about it, from the smooth-ass movement and physics, to the excellent varied levels, to the boner-inducing sound design (god I LOVE throwing dynamite into a pack of zombies and Caleb's ensuing cackling) to the cultists' screams and the campy horror atmosphere in general
The only thing I can have against it is that it's too much of a hitscanfest where enemies relentlessly assault you with their hitscan weapons, however over you time you learn to avoid taking damage through circlestrafing and crouching. Eventually you'll know how to deal with certain situations even when you play a level for the first time, so it takes some time getting used to. The movement in this game allows you to jump over most enemies which makes fighting zombies one helluva more fun ordeal. I still don't know whether crouching is just bugged, as it allows you to avoid getting hit by zombies and a lot of enemies in general (except the Cultists), but nonetheless it's the kind of movement I'd prefer in games like Duke Nukem 3D on Damn I'm Good where I'd spend more time running and jumping past enemies, except jumping over enemies in Douk is a generally rougher ordeal. A regular double shotgun blast will knock a zombie on the floor which requires you to finish it off with a dynamite or wait for it to get back up and blast it again (did someone say Damn I'm Good?), but a trick I discovered lets you kill zombies instantly by crouching right under them and firing a double-barreled blast right at their torso, as the sheer force of the blast will send zombies flying who are then finished off by the ensuing falling damage.

The flare gun is unique in that it still remains useful over the course of the game for a starter weapon (not counting the pitchfork) as it can light most enemies on fire with one/two flares which detonate after a short period of time, but it also has a more effective alt. fire that fires a larger flare with a larger spread that sets anything on fire. The tommygun should be your go-to weapon for hitstunning cultists, as tommyguns have an alt.fire which let you sweep an entire room and hitstun multiple enemies at once. There's some other neat stuff like voodoo dolls which act as a long-range hitscan weapon which deals damage to you if you don't hit anything with it, and the dynamite in Blood blows Duke's pipe bombs out of the water. Not only do they feel much better to use with a visible bar for charging your throws, but they are also more versatile as they come in proximity bomb, remote detonation, and timed bomb variants. My only gripe with Blood's arsenal is how OP the Tesla Cannon is, it can kill most enemies with two or three bursts and ammo for it is rather plentiful.

Unfortunately the best Build game never got the sourceport it deserved, as the source code to Blood got somehow lost and the rights are owned by the gold-hoarding dragons of Atari. As of now some messing around with Dosbox and configs is required to get Blood running properly, all you need for hardware is a good CPU as Blood does not support GPU acceleration. There's also BloodCM, a Blood remake for eDuke32, however there are a lot of little inaccuracies which turn people off like me who have sunk hours into Blood, such as changes in terms of secret activations, dynamite throwing physics, and other minor details which end up being grating. I do hear Monolith is preparing something when it comes to Blood, but I have no idea what.
Then there's also Blood: Deathwish, a fan-made mega mission pack which I believe is even better than the main campaign, as it sends you to Silent Hill and space amongst other things, and includes a final boss which blows the original final boss out of the water

[konmai]

Tbh FE has always been more of a cupid simulator for shipper shitters (now also a breeding sim for people with a customization fetish) and adding an avatar character doesn't change its core much.

When the shitty purple haired sow hijacked a conversation in an attempt to get in my pants for the third time I had the game permanently on autoskip.

[Squire Grooktook]

Tbh FE has always been more of a cupid simulator for shipper shitters (now also a breeding sim for people with a customization fetish) and adding an avatar character doesn't change its core much.

When the shitty purple haired sow hijacked a conversation in an attempt to get in my pants for the third time I had the game permanently on autoskip.

I don't have a problem with My Unit/Avatar. It's just that the story in Fates/If is a clusterfuck even by the standards of the last game. They hired a mangaka to pen the script, and by his own admission they tossed 90% of what he wrote into the trash at the last possible moment, and it shows.

I really do enjoy the series for fast paced, streamlined, arcade-y tactics with no filler. But Fates made me realize that it's just not the same when most of the flavor text to the adventure pisses me off. And ignoring it all just makes the experience feel sterile for me.

[soprano1]

Then there's also Blood: Deathwish, a fan-made mega mission pack which I believe is even better than the main campaign, as it sends you to Silent Hill and space amongst other things, and includes a final boss which blows the original final boss out of the water

Sounds great. I love Blood, the atmosphere is done just right.

[BIL]

the dynamite in Blood blows Duke's pipe bombs out of the water.

Been long enough that I've few detailed thoughts on Blood, just fond mid-90s memories - but the sheer concussive force of those TNT bundles made a permanent impression on me. Had never seen that level of screen-jarring intensity from a game's explosions before. Where DOOM's barrels relied on damage dealt to convey force, this was quite patently a motherfucking detonation fit for obliterating flesh and bone - I was instantly turned onto the fine art of conveying impact via videogame.

Brutal DOOM v20b's grenades come close to the raw annihilating power, but they're nowhere as palpably satisfying to heave into the fray as Blood's sparking, generous bundles of impending carnage - and the aftermath's not there, either. Good gravy do those cultists scream. Also, glass. Particularly fond memory of demoing the game for friends on my family's new rig and putting a cultist straight into a window with both barrels, shards and gore raining down as the blast pinned the howling varmint there for several seconds (he couldn't fit through, you see!). We were amazed and appalled! Fuuuck... good clean ultrakinetic funtimes were had in the mid/late-90s FPS day.

[kaicooper]

now soo buzy with these

Astroneer
Osiris New Dawn
Resident Evil 7 Demo (PC)
Forest

======

btw just finished Root of Evil: The Tailor
sucn an amazing short creepy/puzzle game..i finished it
in 2 hours..awesom puzzles and atmosphere..it just need some
graphics edit for characters..thats it