Devil May Cry [PS2] + R2VKMF: Polygonal Action Daishingeki

[Blinge]

I dug up some old footage I took in Sekiro literally 2 years ago hahah

A time I followed the teachings of Dr. Biruford Sensei
https://youtu.be/52Zk9jGf1F8

I said fuck you to stealth gameplay and insisted on fighting all groups at the same time.
The only stealth kills allowed were ones when I run full speed at an enemy and still get the deathBLOW!!

I should really restart that playthru and see it all the waythru.

[BIL]

I'm honoured Burinju, tbh I'm a bit of a boipucci in this here polygon town Need more bloodening! For now though I've been sticking me neck out a bit in BB, got a bit of a time attack / The Mercenaries mode going on in fishing hamlet. (OBJECTIVE: whack four BIG SHARKIES under 5min, and no healing you sneaky fish fucker!)

Given neu-From is all of a year old from my perspective, I guess I shouldn't be surprised I'm still thoroughly enamoured with BB. A quickstepping backslasher ala Shinobi/ZOE with a bone-juddering shot of classic Castlevania accountability - plus SH1&2-grade DEEP LORE - was always going to eat up a lot of my time.

[Blinge]

oh sick hahah.

yeah man I'm impressed by your ability to bloodlet BB and squeeze ever more sanguine fun out of it

[BIL]

It's been especially rad coming back after DS1+2, and noticing all the stuff that found its way here. Totally ignored the Chikage previously, now it's "oh neat BB has a Chaos Blade too."

I really fell in love with the Hunter Axe this time around. The spinneh-mah-winneh 2h charge shot is spectacular, but imo the real killer is that haymaking L2 reap. Dangerously slow, when launched from head-on/locked-on... but unlocked, you can catch ankles and shins at ridiculous range and angles, almost side-on. Dead easy to connect a second slice from there, well out of reprisal range. Sorry Mom. (accidental Eileen showdown, Forgot About Henny) I'm a big fan of oblique "whiskering" attacks like that ala Metal Black and Gun.Smoke's respective shots. Wicked transform combos too, lots of guaranteed staggers. Whack 'em with 1h R1, transform for a brutal stab, lick 'em with the L2 and finish off with spin. Or just drop repeated 1h charge pancakes on 'em.

A weapon with tons of EZ cheese but also an undeniable finesse element. Had a good time figuring out how to scrap more aggressively with large enemies, rather than waiting for parry windows and/or blasting 'em with Beast Roar the instant they get momentum. Gonna try out the cane next, and that's it for the starter three.

Did you ever get any use out of the Stake Driver? It seems like it should be frickin awesome, but I feel like I'm beating on motherfuckers with a phone. Which is definitely a thing that happens! But yeah, oddly underwhelming (though I've no doubt I'm missing something). I guess it's built around the big bang. Ah well, killer concept anyway, as with all Powder Keg / Oto weapons. Looking at Boom Hammer next.

[Sima Tuna]

My favorite weapon in bloodborne is the Kirkhammer. Mostly because it's a fast strength-scaling sword with the classic dark souls sword moveset. The hammer part is fine too but it's all about that sword, for me. It's not the best weapon against every enemy type, but it has an effective attack for every enemy. Which isn't super common.

[Blinge]

sounds boring tbh

I can't get behind using weapons that just make it into souls again.

Also - I love how there are now three separate threads containing bloodborne discussion

edit: stake driver's also on the bucket list but it's genuinely just shit. you can miss enemies while trying to hit them pointblank while locked on

[Air Master Burst]

Oh man, the stake driver was SUCH an underwhelming disappointment. It's actually pretty effective when used "correctly" but that's boring as shit. The charge-up is way too long to be useful for much beyond sneak attacks.

The cane is ok, I chose it as my first starter and regretted it immensely after taking the axe my second time through. Fun for a bit for that John Steed feel, but kinda bland compared to other options.

Boom Hammer might be my favorite weapon in the game, it fucking rules.

[Blinge]

cane is cool if you just whip whole groups at a time, it really shines there.

[Sima Tuna]

Cane is the worst starter Poke-er, weapon. None of the BB weapons are awful, but for early game, you want Saws. Saws and fire will shred everything until eldritch enemies become common.

Not that it matters tbh, since BB is one of the easier souls games (not counting the dlc, lmao.)

[Volteccer_Jack]

Did you ever get any use out of the Stake Driver? It seems like it should be frickin awesome, but I feel like I'm beating on motherfuckers with a phone.

In raw output, it's functionally equivalent to the sword form of Kirkhammer/LHB. The tricked form's unique moveset is handy for some situations similar to the rapier. It's a good weapon for stunlocking or performing hit-and-runs. The charged R2 is the big selling point of the weapon, and is comparable to Monster Hunter's Greatsword, requiring intimate knowledge of the patterns of your target but enabling the highest single-hit damage in the game (even benefitting from counterhit bonus) and having incredible stagger power to interrupt enemy attacks.

In terms of "optimal" play I think Kirkhammer is generally superior to Stake Driver, providing similar (smaller) benefits with less effort.

Cane is the worst starter Poke-er, weapon. None of the BB weapons are awful, but for early game, you want Saws.

The Cane's tricked form IS a saw, but the more important benefit is the enormous reach. It can stunlock half a dozen human-sized foes simultaneously, while the larger beastly enemies can be fought from safely outside their attack range.

I think Threaded Cane and Hunter Axe are both far better than Saw Cleaver, since the Saw Spear is easily reached at game start without even engaging in combat and makes the Cleaver redundant, while the Cane and Axe each provide powerful benefits not easily replicated by other weapons.

[Blinge]

Not that it matters tbh, since BB is one of the easier souls games (not counting the dlc, lmao.)

come fite me in the FromSoft thread tbh

its down to personal experience, but i couldn't agree less with your take.

edit: actually no, I dunno if i can be arsed to have this debate another time.
I've lost a lot of time to people making dumb claims like "ds3 is the easiest souls"

[Blinge]

Saw cleaver still literally one of the best weapons in the game wtf??
the transform attack is nuts.

Like, i'd rely on it over the axe and cane any day. But all 3 starter pokemon are good.

Kirkhammer and stake driver shouldn't be mentioned in the same fucking sentence. the Former has SO MUCH more moveset utility it's insane. It can also flatten people with ease.
(fwiw the cleaver also has a slam if you chain two charged attacks in its tricked form)

[Air Master Burst]

All Souls games are pretty easy without self-imposed restrictions, although DS2 is probably objectively the hardest just because they make you work a bit more to grind souls. I wish they'd try to make one that didn't just let you level past everything with impunity.

[Blinge]

smh my head

birru i'm sorry for destroying your thread.

[Stevens]

You go to box Blinge. For two minutes, and think about what you have done.

[BIL]

I see no problems here Excellent posting gents.

Discovered the questionable joys of backing up a NG7+ (no idea what loop it actually is, probably thirteenth) savefile with all stats, weapons and consumables maxed. That way I can go fuckin nuts with vials and bullets trying out new toys, then just reload the file and be back to max. Not that anything in BB is particularly hard to obtain/replenish, but y'know. The difficulty (read: enemy STR/DEF) is comfy too, not a bad substitute for that dream BB2 that ditches levelling altogether. Not too hard, not too soft.

[Lander]

An excellent and most non-bogus thread befits equally bodacious tribute.
The lifeblood of six ninja ought suffice, hold my theme-appropriate japanese beverage.



I love this genre

[BIL]

Gorgeously done. Will add to the OP when I finally get it spruced up, if that's ok (love the username+av combo btw, Lander is a patrician STG mascot choice )

[Lander]

Thankyew, thankyew and of course! Contributing some style to the OP would be most honorabru.

Lander (spoken in the fourth person rather than the third so as not to appear arrogant) is a top chap - I'll reserve Zanac ravings for a non-non-shmup thread, but safe to say his ascension to the pantheon of smiley spherical mascots was immediate and decisive upon popping out of that first Sart.

[Sima Tuna]

Anyone have an opinion on Wonderful 101? I missed this particular game on account of it being locked to Wii U. But I've been thinking about checking out the Switch version. Not sure how I feel about the idea of playing a crowd of dudes rather than one character.

Also every time I reinstall Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, I remember why I uninstalled it. >_> No blood. No enemies. Every opponent has 5x the health of original NG2. Fug. It's still NG2 but it feels kinda bad to play compared to vanilla NG2.

[Lander]

Anyone have an opinion on Wonderful 101? I missed this particular game on account of it being locked to Wii U. But I've been thinking about checking out the Switch version. Not sure how I feel about the idea of playing a crowd of dudes rather than one character.

Wonderful 101 is really good - very polished, and I consider it part of Platinum's golden-age holy trinity alongside Bayo 1 (or 2) and MG Rising.

It's certainly odd to adjust to the crowd mechanics and isometric perspective at first; character action is notorious for first-run fumble-throughs as-is, and the changes exacerbate that a lot.

But, once you're comfortable it becomes apparent that much of it is just breadth-first analogs and abstractions for the same genre core through a Pikmin lens; It looks like a crowd, but controls like a dude. Characters are spendable-recoverable meter, but also passive meter. Line-drawing is weapon switching, but also contextual interaction. Weapon switching spans the whole arsenal, but costs meter relative to raw power. Et cetera.

And that's in no way a criticism - it feels weird to dial in an asynchronous multi-weapon juggle combo against a giant enemy and see a similar end played out through significantly different means, but is equally satisfying.

The party can get pretty crazy when played at a high level; since figuring out combos is no longer tied to the startup / active / recovery of a single character, you can portion out meter across several different attacks whose hitboxes intersect and interact in various different ways. Couple that with DMC1-reminiscent undocumented enemy quirks (like force-feeding your Wonder Liner to a giant enemy crab to stagger it for a launch) and you get a system that's arguably one of the deepest in the genre once you break through the pseudo-RTS barrier.

And it's mad charming too. If Viewtiful Joe was an irreverent love letter to B-movies by way of super sentai, TW101 is the same but for saturday morning superheroes. And it gets some mileage out of that Platinum presentation - easily some of the most exciting and entertaining setpieces in their whole body of work.

Fuck, writing this is making me want to get the Steam release and see how it looks in 4K. I still need to finish GnGR!

Also every time I reinstall Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, I remember why I uninstalled it. >_> No blood. No enemies. Every opponent has 5x the health of original NG2. Fug. It's still NG2 but it feels kinda bad to play compared to vanilla NG2.

Vanilla NG2 back-compat is the sole justification for my Xbone's continued place in the living room. Busted-ass game, but busted never played so good

Terrible shame what they did with Sigma. I probably wouldn't have sacked up enough to play vanilla properly without going through the training wheels edition first, but the sheer savagery at the core of the game evaporates like so much magic smoke after being neutered back down to NGB levels. (Sans NGB's degree of immaculate low-enemy-count neutral design...)

[Sir Ilpalazzo]

Anyone have an opinion on Wonderful 101? I missed this particular game on account of it being locked to Wii U. But I've been thinking about checking out the Switch version. Not sure how I feel about the idea of playing a crowd of dudes rather than one character.

Also every time I reinstall Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, I remember why I uninstalled it. >_> No blood. No enemies. Every opponent has 5x the health of original NG2. Fug. It's still NG2 but it feels kinda bad to play compared to vanilla NG2.

It rules. The main appeal of the game is that it feels like a very manual and management-focused take on this type of action game. Things that you would take for granted in Bayonetta have to be more carefully considered here - special attacks, dodging, and blocking cost meter (and become expensive fast if you're using multi-unite morphs to maximize damage), narrowly dodging attacks can result in your crowd getting scattered which inhibits your offensive capability unless you quickly scoop them up, and the direction in which you draw your weapons to use special attacks needs to be considered to given the various ways, positive and negative, enemies can interact with it. There's a lot to keep track of, in a way that makes the game's combat very tactile and consistently pleasant to engage with.

The weakness of the game is that it pushes a lot of its difficulty and complexity behind this barrier. Again, the multi-plate-spinning act you need to do in order to keep up even juggle combos or to keep a solid offense that circumvents elite enemies' unique defenses is really fun in and of itself - but in general, its enemies are less interesting than Bayonetta's, and beating them is often more based around understanding a proper, adaptable strategy for each enemy type than it is about continuous and steady execution against a volatile enemy (as it is in Bayonetta's harder moments, or in the other most elite action games, like God Hand or the Ninja Gaidens). Basically the game's difficulty lies more in understanding and properly utilizing the complicated player character than in the enemy design.

I would put it as one of Platinum's best games, although there's a decently-sized gap in quality between it and Bayonetta. Highly recommended. Don't worry about the idea of controlling a crowd much; it's basically more DMC / Bayonetta with some interesting complications than it is Pikmin.

[Volteccer_Jack]

Anyone have an opinion on Wonderful 101?

I don't put it on the high pedestal its fans seem to, but it's good, and the people who like it tend to really like it, so worth a spin to see if you're one of those. It's more a child of DMC1/VJ than of Bayonetta; combos are typically short and exploitation of enemy vulnerabilities is key to success. It does suffer from "Platinum game first playthrough syndrome" pretty badly though IMO.

Also every time I reinstall Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, I remember why I uninstalled it. >_> No blood. No enemies. Every opponent has 5x the health of original NG2. Fug. It's still NG2 but it feels kinda bad to play compared to vanilla NG2.

Change the names and this is pretty much why I don't play NG2, lol. "It's still NG2 but it feels bad to play compared to Razor's Edge"

[Lander]

Sigma-adjacent:



Best line in the whole series too

Change the names and this is pretty much why I don't play NG2, lol. "It's still NG2 but it feels bad to play compared to Razor's Edge"

I'd consider those fighting words if there wasn't an audible ring of truth to them I went back to 2 immediately after an extended period with RE at one point, and it felt really stiff compared to the smooth flow I'd adjusted to.

That said, even discarding the well-trodden Bacon Arm / Cockney Murder / DOAVerse cheap shots and focusing purely on the game part, I still think something is lost relative to previous titles.

Like, the moveset permutations are truly staggering at this point, but that's a double-edged sword that also starts feeling like a universal input system and eroding character from some of the weapons; dial in whatever tap-tap-wait-release sequence feels intuitive and it'll probably work without too much mind for spacing. Or play Kusari-gama / Kasumi and chain-instakill everything for free from downtown

Combined with the more prominent combo counter / scoring, it feels like it's pursuing 'arcadey' sixth-gen rank-chasing (disclaimer: not intrinsically bad, etc), rather than embodying arcadey Makaimura ruthlessness in trying to kill the player at every possible opportunity. Likeable enough, but in a fashion that's not even really trying to succeed 2's tragically imperfect savagery.

[Sima Tuna]

I haven't played all that much of Razor's Edge, so I can only give my first impressions of why I don't like it as much as the previous NG games.

My main issue is the game is still bolted to NG3 and I fucking hate everything NG3 stands for. The story, the way Ryu was changed with the dumb infection subplot, QTEs, and the stealth section that strikes at the very first level. I have to assume the combat gameplay of Razor's Edge is quality, considering the way various people have recommended the game. But the presentation hits me so fucking poorly at first blush.

The problems with Sigma 2 are mostly over-corrections to perceived "problems" in base NG2. Way fewer enemies, no gore, spongier foes etc. Razor's Edge, my gripe is mostly how ugly the game looks and the fact all its story shit is still based on the absolutely abominable NG3 story. NG2 story isn't good (none of them are,) but it's relatively inoffensive. Cutscenes in NG2 usually either follow the Rule of Cool or they're dumb and funny.

I fully acknowledge Razor's Edge could be a 10/10 combat game and I'm just bitching about superficial fluff that doesn't really matter.

Wonderful 101 arrived but I haven't had much time to play it. I wish character action games would let me map fucking controls, dammit! A for attack, X for team attack. Bullshit! Who wants to attack with "A"? Y is my light attack button and X is my heavy attack. That's the format I use for every two-attack character action game since Devil May Cry 3 SE on ps2 (square for light attack and triangle for heavy.)

I seriously get pissed off to an irrational degree when a game won't allow me to remap the controls and doesn't include any ideal default configs. You can swap controls through a few presets in Wonderful 101 but you cannot remap attack to Y. At. All.

[Volteccer_Jack]

Like, the moveset permutations are truly staggering at this point, but that's a double-edged sword that also starts feeling like a universal input system and eroding character from some of the weapons; dial in whatever tap-tap-wait-release sequence feels intuitive and it'll probably work without too much mind for spacing. Or play Kusari-gama / Kasumi and chain-instakill everything for free from downtown

So, first, I think the ability to intuitively weave combos without needing to memorize NG's absurd combo lists is an improvement. Second, while the weapons losing 'character' is IMO a reasonable complaint on Normal/Hard, I think that's where it ends. On MN/UN, I'm acutely aware of every string I do, why I do it, and what limitations I'm under due to my equipped weapon.

Combined with the more prominent combo counter / scoring, it feels like it's pursuing 'arcadey' sixth-gen rank-chasing (disclaimer: not intrinsically bad, etc), rather than embodying arcadey Makaimura ruthlessness in trying to kill the player at every possible opportunity. Likeable enough, but in a fashion that's not even really trying to succeed 2's tragically imperfect savagery.

Just don't agree with this at all. NG2 is more random and messy, but most of the time that can't compete with the methodical killing intent of RE's enemies. The more prominent scoring system is tied directly to your upgrades, feeding back into that fight for survival. Even the relatively tame fights become a race to get ahead for the sake of preparing against future threats. Playing MN/UN for the first time, the thought of what I would need to get through Days 7/8 was always in the back of my mind. It also helps that you get a hard limit of 5 'healing items' for the entire playthrough, instead of chugging them in every boss fight.

story

Haters gonna hate

No but seriously, NGB and NG2 are about 50% longer than they should be, and both the story and gameplay suffer badly because of it. DMC3 and 4 have exactly the same problem. You get through 60% of the game and the story should be over, but then you have to play through a bunch of pointless recycled filler content while the story just starts making shit up to prolong the game. Of all these games, NG2 does it the worst: Ryu arrives at a large stairway. All of the main villains, and the central plot device, are gathered in one spot, the top of the stairway. The bad guys deploy their forces to stop Ryu. Ryu battles what seems like the entire Black Spider ninja clan, so much so that your Xbox 360 is fighting for its life alongside Ryu. Ryu finally kills them all and reaches the top...and the bad guys are just like "LOL you thought you were gonna fight us? Have fun playing literal hours of recycled content before you get to fight the villain!" Then you trudge through a stage copy-pasted from NGB and a literal wasteland of repeat bossfights and not a single interesting or fun thing happens until the final set of bossfights, which obviously should have just been atop those stairs.

By tying itself to its story, Razor's Edge achieves what NGB/NG2 couldn't: good pacing.

[Lander]

I gave Wanted: Dead a crack today for silly impulsive reasons. Ended up playing couple hours of alright Police Brutality Action Game combat - which might be good at the very end of the upgrade tree - then getting lost in a bizarre interstitial fever dream after reaching the hub area, culminating in an endless ramen-eating rhythm minigame that effectively softlocks you from starting Mission 2 if you have a decent vestige of genre muscle memory.

Weird as fuck, confused-ass title that can't decide if it wants to be bloody east-west cop action, goofy slice-of-life character study, literal mystery anime, memes memes memes, or Switch-farming minigame fluff. All through the lens of a five-buck localization + VO job.

Strikes me as as a 'Punk' game, akin to SUDA51, SWERY65, or select Mikami works with a dash of Kojima pop media / philosophy - take it or leave it, but it's certainly lower on the ladder than all of those. Imma leave it.

So, first, I think the ability to intuitively weave combos without needing to memorize NG's absurd combo lists is an improvement. Second, while the weapons losing 'character' is IMO a reasonable complaint on Normal/Hard, I think that's where it ends. On MN/UN, I'm acutely aware of every string I do, why I do it, and what limitations I'm under due to my equipped weapon.

The variety is good in its own right, but I don't think it outweighs the loss of the more rigid precision demanded by the first two. That stuff defined the series and gave it an identity relative to DMC and GoW, before the genre receded into Mostly Platinum.

And viable combo strings being reduced to some subset on higher difficulties is nothing new - I suppose RE provides a few more options given its breadth, but similarly boils down to favouring whichever moves give you a tactical delimb or other useful property.

Just don't agree with this at all. NG2 is more random and messy, but most of the time that can't compete with the methodical killing intent of RE's enemies. The more prominent scoring system is tied directly to your upgrades, feeding back into that fight for survival. Even the relatively tame fights become a race to get ahead for the sake of preparing against future threats. Playing MN/UN for the first time, the thought of what I would need to get through Days 7/8 was always in the back of my mind. It also helps that you get a hard limit of 5 'healing items' for the entire playthrough, instead of chugging them in every boss fight.

I can't excuse the more rough edges like IS ninja spam, but I like what 2 was going for with aggressive mixup game, high enemy count, and iframe abuse. It's not refined enough to hit the quality bar set by Black, but the moments that it works are pure edge of your seat KMF.

Optimizing your gameplay for more power gain was was always a factor on account of combo / ET / UT essence bonuses, particularly on higher difficulties where you want to rush the top-level moveset for a viable weapon. I do prefer the checkpoint refill style, but heals erode your progress all the same assuming that you're not farming currency in the cases that allow it.

Haters gonna hate

Hahaha alright that's pretty good too

No but seriously, NGB and NG2 are about 50% longer than they should be, and both the story and gameplay suffer badly because of it. DMC3 and 4 have exactly the same problem. You get through 60% of the game and the story should be over, but then you have to play through a bunch of pointless recycled filler content while the story just starts making shit up to prolong the game. Of all these games, NG2 does it the worst: Ryu arrives at a large stairway. All of the main villains, and the central plot device, are gathered in one spot, the top of the stairway. The bad guys deploy their forces to stop Ryu. Ryu battles what seems like the entire Black Spider ninja clan, so much so that your Xbox 360 is fighting for its life alongside Ryu. Ryu finally kills them all and reaches the top...and the bad guys are just like "LOL you thought you were gonna fight us? Have fun playing literal hours of recycled content before you get to fight the villain!" Then you trudge through a stage copy-pasted from NGB and a literal wasteland of repeat bossfights and not a single interesting or fun thing happens until the final set of bossfights, which obviously should have just been atop those stairs.

By tying itself to its story, Razor's Edge achieves what NGB/NG2 couldn't: good pacing.

I don't consider NG2's plot much to write home about; it suffers from the inevitable-i-guess RE5/6 power creep + globetrotting escalation after razing hell from Satan upward in Black, but is otherwise solid enough framing for crazy action. I enjoyed the nostalgia stage for the fights and Muramasa moment, but agree that the temple stairs were a wasted opportunity to kick off the climax proper.

If anything I favour the relative minimalism of the first game, since the revenge mission setup is baggage-free and allows Ryu to speak with actions instead of words for the most part. 2/RE call back to the NES games more in their content, but I think 1 better hits the 'ninja cinema' vibe of short to-the-point interstitials that show off cool ninja stuff and keep the plotting relatively terse. The silent sword-drawing tension preceding each Alma encounter is worth a thousand words about macguffins and prophecies in my book.

3's pacing is consistent, but I have to accept that I'm playing DoA Gaiden to appreciate it. Seeing the Master Ninja in the passenger seat, exhibiting fee-fees, and having a goddamn face because the broader setting necessitates it, is an adjustment to put it lightly

[XoPachi]

I reinstalled Astral Chain to see if my low opinion of it would change.

It hasn't.
(Marie can still get it tho.)

[Sima Tuna]

I've heard good things about Wanted: Dead. It might end up another RE6 situation (where I convinced myself the game would be secretly good, then played it for myself and thought it was shit.) But Mark likes the game, for whatever that's worth. The way I figure it, Wanted Dead will be a bargain bin game before long and then I can try it for a cheap price. It'll be worth it for a twenty or so, considering how rarely any character action games come out.

I wanted to try Astral Chain until I heard "detective segments" and "action rpg" used to describe it. Bleah. I know Platinum has a very "good" reputation generally among the mainstream, but I find their output rather uneven overall. Well, going by my own personal preferences, of course.

The only game of theirs where I really love every aspect of it is Metal Gear Rising Revengeance. Even then, there are some stupid fucking codec calls and a half-assed stealth feature. Even so, those elements hit more than they miss, considering the wack-ass Kojima game world. If anything, it further solidifies MGR as a "metal gear" game and not just some platinum action thing. The only major flaw with MGR is lack of true weapon swap. But again, having to muck around in menus for things you should be able to switch on-the-fly is a Metal Gear staple.

Platinum just really come across as kinda schizo to me. They introduce all these "hey look over at this shiny thing" minigames and gimmicks to their titles that never feel or work as well as the core gameplay.

[XoPachi]

I wanted to try Astral Chain until I heard "detective segments" and "action rpg" used to describe it. Bleah. I know Platinum has a very "good" reputation generally among the mainstream, but I find their output rather uneven overall. Well, going by my own personal preferences, of course.
The only game of theirs where I really love every aspect of it is Metal Gear Rising Revengeance. Even then, there are some stupid fucking codec calls and a half-assed stealth feature. Even so, those elements hit more than they miss, considering the wack-ass Kojima game world. If anything, it further solidifies MGR as a "metal gear" game and not just some platinum action thing. The only major flaw with MGR is lack of true weapon swap. But again, having to muck around in menus for things you should be able to switch on-the-fly is a Metal Gear staple.

Platinum just really come across as kinda schizo to me. They introduce all these "hey look over at this shiny thing" minigames and gimmicks to their titles that never feel or work as well as the core gameplay.

The little investigative sections are easily the worst part of the game but even the general action isn't particularly good. On top of the game running terribly because it's on Switch, it's one of the clumsiest playing games I own.

The company's been extremely hit or miss for me lately. Between the massive spottiness of Bayonetta 3, the clumsy slog of Astral Chain, the joke that is Babylon's Fall, and the titles that just don't interest me like W101 and World of Demons, I'm just not super into Platinum anymore.
At least Hi Fi Rush exists. I know it's Bethesda not Platinum, but it's still Shinji Mikami. That to me is a Platinum/Clover game I've wanted for years.

I will say I'd give an Astral Chain sequel a chance. I feel like they would refine and clean up what just doesn't work in this game and still have something unique. The game is a good idea but it's just really sloppy to me.