Guilty Gear Isuka GG Boost mode

[Mischief Maker]

I'm not a big fan of fighting games but I love brawlers (Streets of Rage, Devil May Cry, Godhand, etc.) I heard this game has a free-roaming brawler where you play a character with your full moveset verses crowds of generic baddies comboing the bejeezus out of them.

From a brawler fan's perspective, is this game worth picking up just for that mode?

[Casper<3]

No, not it's not. ...and if you're going to, get Guilty Gear Dust Strikers instead. It is basically an extended edition of the thing.

(thought Ive never played it, just isuka)

[ChainsawGuitarSP]

I don't like brawler style games myself, but the general census from what I've heard is that Boost mode is pretty much THE reason to own Isuka. Alternatively, you could pick up Judgment for the PSP instead, which IIRC, has more focus on that mode. Either way, you have no excuse not to play Guilty Gear. I'm terrible at the genre and I still love 'em.

[Mischief Maker]

Well more specifically, I'm putting together a pc game collection for my new PC and I need a 6th brawler. I have:

Demon Stone
Die by the Sword
Lugaru (to be replaced when Overgrowth is finally done)
Shank
Ultimate Knight Windom XP

the 6th slot is currently up for grabs between Enclave and Guilty Gear Isuka.

Bearing in mind that I'm uncompromising in my insistence that all games on my PC are DRM-free, does anyone have any alternative suggestions that come to mind?

[null1024]

Having bought GGI myself, I wouldn't get it just for that [unless you find it on the cheap like I did, for $5 or so].
Boost mode is the most fun part of GGI though [still has problems, like the turn button], as the main game is just a gimped GGX2 with 4 players [fuck the turn button, it never quite becomes natural, and layer switching is a bit annoying].

[Obiwanshinobi]

Midnight Slashers X.
Die by the Sword is a meele combat sim rather than a brawler (it's hardly about you being outnumbered by the enemies). Ys: The Oath in Falghana is more of a brawler than DbtS, although this isn't saying much.
The LotR: The Return of the King is a decent hack & slash in the vein of Demon Stone. Also, The Bard's Tale (2004).
Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy (or JKII: Jedi Outcast, but it starts as an FPS).

[Mortificator]

There's a cool remake of Streets of Rage that blends elements of all three games together. I'll PM you links.

Devil May Cry 3 SE had a well-done PC port, though I think it used the basic "disc needs to be in the drive" DRM. Of course, that kind of thing is easily bypassed with a crack. There was also a PC port of DMC4, but I haven't played that version myself, and of course the game isn't nearly as good as the first or third.

BloodRayne 2 is on GOG. It didn't amaze me, but it was decent. The original BloodRayne's there too, but it's more focused on shooting than slashing.

There really haven't been many pure brawlers released for PC.

[ChainsawGuitarSP]

the 6th slot is currently up for grabs between Enclave and Guilty Gear Isuka.

Yeah, get the latter. Totally not a biased choice what are you talking about

[Obiwanshinobi]

DMC3 for the PC is NOT a good port (neither is Onimusha: Warlords, which I would've recommended otherwise), but if you are lucky, it works about the same as on the PS2 (looks way uglier in high resolutions, though). DMC4 for the PC should be much better a port, like other this gen Capcom PC ports. There's a PC port of Chaos Legion, but I wouldn't expect it to be any better than DMC3 or Onimusha 3 (should be better than Warlords, still).

There really haven't been many pure brawlers released for PC.

If you count every TPP slasher where you get to fight more than one enemy at once now and then as a brawler, then there's quite a number yet to be mentioned: Demon Vector, Rune, Conan (not the 2007 game, but a few years older one for the PC), Knights of the Temple 1&2, Severance: Blade of Darkness, Shade: Wrath of Angels, Mount & Blade... Most of them should have free demos out there.
Darksiders looks okay and - unlike the console versions - isn't capped at 30 fps (from what I read). Shame about the goofy animation, but it's not quite as bad as in the Legacy of Kain/Soul Reaver games.

[Casper<3]

I don't like brawler style games myself, but the general census from what I've heard is that Boost mode is pretty much THE reason to own Isuka. Alternatively, you could pick up Judgment for the PSP instead, which IIRC, has more focus on that mode. Either way, you have no excuse not to play Guilty Gear. I'm terrible at the genre and I still love 'em.

I have to disagree. I think ABA's early incarnation is the reason to own Isuka. That and the color customization, is a lot of fun.

Game is awful otherwise (and I'm a long time GG player)

Lets not even talk about Leopoldeon or whatever it's name is. Possible the worst boss design ever.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Oh yes, there's Dynasty Warriors 4 Hyper - graphically enhanced port that had some issues with the joypad I'd used (no analogue movement it would seem; only 8 directions) and Dynasty Warriors 7.
Apparently Samurai Warriors 2 and Warriors Orochi too. No idea about the PC versions' qualities, but Koei is no stranger to home computers.
Other games that should have free demos floating somewhere: Heavy Metal F.A.K.K ², Gladiator: Sword of Vengeance, Kaan: Barbarian's Blade.
There is, of course, quite a few things wrong with most of the aforementioned, but that's what you get for calling Die by the Sword a brawler.
One game outstanding in its time and probably still good today is Heretic II. Them Quake II lighting effects and still some of the best animations (dated as they are) American devs came up with in TPP action adventure games, which is, in a way, depressing (just take a look at GoW or Darksiders and there's no denying Heretic II moves more gracefully).
Played some Oni on the PC lately and while it has some issues with the pacing and level design, the mouse and keyboard controls work a treat and the graphics have aged well (apparently it's Oni Anniversary on that vid - I didn't even know about this mod).

[Mortificator]

Oh yeah, I forgot about Dynasty Warriors 4. Heretic II is also fun, though I've had some problems running it on newer machines.

Is there something I'm missing about DMC3 SE PC? The only issues I noticed were that interacting with scenery will always be the mapped to the first button on your gamepad (though the controls are otherwise customizable) and that Damned Pawns don't glow anymore. On the positive side, loading times are virtually eliminated and the music files in the installation directory can easily be swapped, which is a big plus for a game that subjects players to...

The flinch in your eye
Calls your bluff
Feel free to die
When you've had enough
Useless cause
Is breakin' your back
Your life will end
When you attack

... every time an enemy pops up for the first two-thirds of the game. What makes the PS2 version better?

[Obiwanshinobi]

Consider yourself lucky if you played DMC3 on your PC pretty much without issues. With those dodgy PS2-to-PC ports (MGS2, Onimusha, RE4 - you name it) nobody knows what will be fucked up on their computer unless they try. Somebody even reported loading times LONGER than on the PS2 (where those were palatable). I got artifacts and reversed thumbsticks (left one detected as right one and vice versa - and while the developer's own patch wouldn't fix it, I had developed a solution all by myself). At the end of the day it was playable on my rig, but once I bought Special Edition for my PS2, I never looked back. The game looks simply the best on a CRT with SCART. High resolutions only reveal the presentation's shortcomings in this case (even on the PS2 some of the lousier textures are impossible to overlook).
I just think the Capcom's PS2 catalogue alone is worth owning the console and a CRT TV. Their PC ports of the time, however, are among the worst console to PC ports in recent memory.