What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

[BIL]

I didn't know the Jocker got a second game.

I always liked the City course best in BAR too - actually, my favourite parts of the other courses were the more natural settings like tearing through the town and dockside in the Island track, or the resort area of the Snow course. Very Italian Job. (that's with Moicul Caine, of course - I need the shitty remakes of his movies like a case of the Rockfords!)

[Hagane]

Playing Oath in Felghana again. Now that I get how the game is supposed to be played (frantic rushdown to rack buff multipliers instead of the more careful approach I had the first time I played it), the game is much easier (though still rather challenging at some points) and fun, too. Tearing everything apart by chaining attacks, boosts and whirlwhind attacks feels really good.

Also going for the Mystara 1CC. Still can't figure out how to consistently beat the Lich. If he gets in close I'm done, no matter how much magic I cast to get away from it. That staff attack of his is really obnoxious and a lot of spells just miss him. I'll try to get the strategy from the Replay Burners Magic User run down, but it seems like it'll take some time.

[BIL]

That feeling of tearing through stuff like a buzzsaw and running rings around enemies in Felghana keeps me coming back to it, unlike any other action RPG I've played... very much a credible action game. Some of those Inferno bosses will drive you to the wall (Chester mkII is an especially good fight).

I still need to play Ys Origin, which goes even further in that direction (feels almost run n' gun if playing as Hugo, the magic user). Loved what I tried but my aged PC wasn't running it well enough.

[KAI]

Yunika>>>>Hugo
Playing Ys Origin right now. Feels easier than Felghana and Napishtim.
Can't wait to beat this game and start playing Ys Chronicles.

Legend of Heroes FC [PSP] and Sorcerian [PCE] are still on my "must play" list, but I would like to hear some opinions first.

[Ed Oscuro]

Looking at Ed's game consumption as well as posting count and average length, it is clear to me that he is a man who knows no moderation.

A lot of these have only been tried out for a few minutes each, and I've been at this for a long while - the last two or three weeks. It just seemed to make sense to try out a whole raft of titles at once to see what the system's library is like. There have been some surprises for sure.

I'm pretty sure there's nothing in a game like Blues Brothers 2000 or Batman Kids Brawling after the first few minutes. Duck Dodgers is almost an exception but you can tell they made sure to hide the weak content in the middle of the game (I'm just hoping that gets better), although that game was still pretty solid (given its very modest ambitions) even when it looked rather poor.

[Moniker]

Played about 20 mins of Don't Starve (PC)

Not sure how I feel about it yet. In roguelikes, I like a constant sense of danger from the very beginning. Don't Starve's (presumably) Minecraft-esque "the night is dark and full of terrors... but the daytime's pretty chill" is something I don't like straight away, but perhaps I'll get into it. Crafting is pretty straightforward, and danger zones are quickly recognized. I guess I don't particularly like the "oh shit, I forgot to chop enough wood: game over" moments. Warrants further investigation, in any case.

Apart from that, Brutal Doom 18a (PC), and Okamiden (NDS)

Brutal Doom is awesome as always. Playing through the Doom 1 level set, allowing myself only one save at the beginning of each level. Probably should take it easier on myself and throw down a midpoint somewhere. It's hard (in an interesting way) to maintain the difficulty-fun equilibrium. I don't know the Doom 1 level set half as well as that of Doom 2, so it's all quite fresh and engaging.

As for Okamiden, I played through about 50% of the original PS2 Okami (which I sold back at some point to make ends meet). Okamiden has a great Yoshi's Island in 3D art style, but getting through all the dialogue has been a chore so far. Hopefully it tapers off. Some reviewer's lament ran something like: "I just wish Okamiden had been the first game rather than the second." So I'll stick with it and get the Wii Okami when I'm done. Love that the riceballs in Okamiden use almost the exact same graphic as the riceballs in Shiren the Wanderer.

[BIL]

Playing through the Doom 1 level set, allowing myself only one save at the beginning of each level.

Hell yeah, that's what I like to do these days (knowing Doom 1 inside-out). Or if feeling particularly up for punishment, doing a straight run of Episode 4 on Black Metal, no saves. Feels almost coin-op esque in how a steamrolling gorefest of a run can be brought crashing down within an instant of carelessness (E4 is way the hell harder and more complexly designed than the original three).

[BulletMagnet]

So I'll stick with it and get the Wii Okami when I'm done.

Beware the Wii version, it has some goofy forced waggle controls and using the remote to draw Celestial Brush stuff doesn't work as well as you'd hope. I'd recommend snagging it for PS2 or PS3 instead.

As for myself, I decided to take a leap of faith on Divekick, and have been enjoying myself more than I thought I would. Reviews are somewhat mixed, but for someone in my position, who's more or less familiar with fighting games and their conventions but is nowhere near "tourney level" it's pretty fun, if not perfect, obviously. What I like best about the game is its unique position as an open and unapologetic admission by the FGC (or a portion of it) as to how ridiculous both fighting games and the people who play them can be; considering that some elements of that community can be even more stifling and unwelcoming than the shmupping hardcore, I find DiveKick's "yeah, it's all pretty silly, but who cares" mindset an overdue breath of fresh air.

I'm obviously not versed enough in fighting games to comment much on balance and mechanics and such, but I am sorely tempted to, for the very first time in my gaming career, actually get online and try playing against some other people. That in itself is an accomplishment worth noting; now to see if I have the fortitude to actually go through with it.

[null1024]

Chaos Code [PS3].
Man, I wish I had this game. Loads of fun, but my buddy who's had it for all of two days is kicking my ass [since he spent a bit practicing combos, something I can't do since I don't own the game].

DiveKick [PS3].
Crazy fun. Ended up mostly playing S.Kill and had kept my seat for ages. S.Kill's parry, ahaha! Four times in a row, opponent comes in, parry that shit, お前はもう死んでいる。

Everyone was completely amazed at how interesting it managed to be with just two buttons.

Ridge Racer 2 [PSP].
Beating some personal records on various tracks, although I'm gonna hold off on posting my times over at Rolling Start for another day, mostly because the times are only tiny improvements and I can do better still [wallbounces, bleh]. A few more runs should do it.

[Moniker]

So I'll stick with it and get the Wii Okami when I'm done.

Beware the Wii version, it has some goofy forced waggle controls and using the remote to draw Celestial Brush stuff doesn't work as well as you'd hope. I'd recommend snagging it for PS2 or PS3 instead.

Damn. Thanks for the heads-up. PS2 Okami is getting fairly rare @ brick & mortar game stores, but I suppose I'll have to hunt down the original. (Is it eccentric of me to hate buying games (or anything, for that mattter) online?) Like you said, I'd assumed that the Wii implementation of the celestial brush would make it the definitive version. Bummer.

[BulletMagnet]

S.Kill's parry, ahaha! Four times in a row, opponent comes in, parry that shit, お前はもう死んでいる

Heh, once you have enough meter you can sorta sit on the ground and say "dare ya!" I guess that's one of the balance issues some reviewers mentioned...along with making him the last boss and giving him infinite meter.

Damn. Thanks for the heads-up. PS2 Okami is getting fairly rare @ brick & mortar game stores, but I suppose I'll have to hunt down the original. (Is it eccentric of me to hate buying games (or anything, for that mattter) online?)

Heh, I like being able to actually check out the item I'm buying in person too, but I'd imagine it's not too hard to find a decent-condition PS2 Okami online, especially if you don't mind snagging the reprint.

Like you said, I'd assumed that the Wii implementation of the celestial brush would make it the definitive version. Bummer.

It does stink that they didn't offer Classic Controller support here; if they did I'd definitely recommend it, as otherwise the game is fine as far as I know.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

The Simpsons arcade game. Anyone who likes this game must have a serious nostalgia boner, because frankly it blows. The game is amusing enough and it's clear they put a lot of effort into Matt Groening references so its presentation is quite good, but oh man, the collision detection is just awful. It's hard to know when you're going to hit or miss entirely. Seriously, the player's attack hitboxes are mystifyingly hard to gauge, and attacks just don't have much range to them, particularly the 'jump + attack button' strong attack has horrible range compared to its equivalent in some of the TMNT brawlers. Even jump attacks seem to be way less reliable than they ought to be. Weapon attacks seem to be way more useful by comparison - that hammer in level 2 is extremely useful even compared to normal attacks.

The gameplay really just isn't good for a beat 'em up, and it doesn't live up to its hype.

[Ed Oscuro]

Konami arcade games with shitty hitboxes? Well, that's quite a surprise!

I worked at a place that had a Simpsons cabinet long ago, and never did get around to putting a quarter in. I still haven't even tried emulating the thing.

[trap15]

I played the Simpsons arcade game a bunch as a kid and really liked it. Came back to play it a few years ago and holy shit it sucks. Oh well.

[7711]

I'm addicted to Torchlight II, can't get enough of it. Clearly the best Diablo like game I've ever played.

[Neathyr]

Yeah, if you thought the collision detection for this game is an atrocity, wait until you play The Shadow for the SNES. Ho lee shit. Every time you face an enemy, it truly is a battle for survival. To this day I still wonder who in their right mind greenlighted that piece of junk.

[BrianC]

Yeah, if you thought the collision detection for this game is an atrocity, wait until you play The Shadow for the SNES. Ho lee shit. Every time you face an enemy, it truly is a battle for survival. To this day I still wonder who in their right mind greenlighted that piece of junk.

Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of game companies? The Shadow knows! hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

At least the pinball machine is pretty cool. I love the radio show.

Lately, I have been playing Rayman Origins and SMTIV.

[Ed Oscuro]

I played a bit of The Shadow for SNES a while back. Meh movie, meh game. It's not the difficulty so much as the extreme repetition that does it in, IMO. I didn't recall it being THAT difficult though, and I'm terrible at brawlers.

[Neathyr]

Yeah, if you thought the collision detection for this game is an atrocity, wait until you play The Shadow for the SNES. Ho lee shit. Every time you face an enemy, it truly is a battle for survival. To this day I still wonder who in their right mind greenlighted that piece of junk.

Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of game companies? The Shadow knows! hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Probably. lol

I played a bit of The Shadow for SNES a while back. Meh movie, meh game. It's not the difficulty so much as the extreme repetition that does it in, IMO. I didn't recall it being THAT difficult though, and I'm terrible at brawlers.

It's because the game has quite possibly the worst combat I've ever seen in a brawler, making a complete mockery of the genre.
Sometimes, whenever I tried to grab an enemy, the game couldn't register the imput (even when I'm walking on the Y axis), so he hit me instead. THEN the game told me I could grab him. Oh, want to combo him? Even when using the most basic attack (the typical Y mashing) he will still trade punches and kicks with you because his hitstun stage is way too fucking short, to the point where you can't even finish your typical dial-a-combo. Talk about a shitty design.
Oh yeah, if you hit a mook with a flying kick, you'll stop in mid air for a moment and then you fall.

I remember renting the game back in 2000 (I think) and I felt ripped off. To think it was released in the same year Ghost Chaser Densei came out... Eh.

Anyway, for some reason, I started playing Mortal Kombat Armageddon's Konquest Mode last night. It's a good mindless fun, though Shaolin Monks is a better option if you want to play a beat 'em up version of MK. Thankfully, the cutscenes can be skipped.
Even though the gameplay in the MK series is indeed crap (sans the reboot, which is decent-ish), somehow I really enjoy the MK universe. It's one of those rare occasions where you really feel sucked into another world and your character is now your avatar, so to speak. Maybe it's a different type of fun, who knows?

[Hagane]

The Lich went down faster than I expected. The Earring made a world of difference. As I thought, I easily got to Ezerhorden afterwards, as the Lich is a considerable spike on difficulty. The 1CC will come rather fast it seems. I'll try to get an 1CC with the Thief afterwards to have some challenge, the Magic User is pretty much auto-pilot once you know how to spend your magic effectively and get the timing and spacing of his normal attack down. Late game bosses stand no chance against a well equipped Magic User. Getting critical hits with his dagger attack feels really satisfying though, nothing like draining half of a boss bar in an instant.

Also playing a bit of Cannon Dancer. I really like the options you have, but I feel the character suffers from The Punisher syndrome... too powerful for the game's sake. Throws and bombs are devastating and extremely safe, so in a couple of hours managed to get to stage 5 consistently.

[ACSeraph]

Anyway, for some reason, I started playing Mortal Kombat Armageddon's Konquest Mode last night. It's a good mindless fun, though Shaolin Monks is a better option if you want to play a beat 'em up version of MK. Thankfully, the cutscenes can be skipped.
Even though the gameplay in the MK series is indeed crap (sans the reboot, which is decent-ish), somehow I really enjoy the MK universe. It's one of those rare occasions where you really feel sucked into another world and your character is now your avatar, so to speak. Maybe it's a different type of fun, who knows?

Yeah I feel the same way about this, I love MK despite what utter crap it is, and the universe really appeals to me in the same way campy old comic books do. As someone who plays fighters pretty seriously though I always feel a bit guilty that I waste my time with stuff like Deadly Alliance.

I've been taking advantage of Xbox Lives recent sales, so I've been replaying MGS3 and Bully in HD. MGS3 looks really really nice in HD and of course is just generally a godly game. Bully I actually beat the week it came out on PS2 and then promptly sold it. I had forgotten how good it actually was and I'm really enjoying plowing through it again. I think it may actually be my favorite game from Rockstar.

[Ed Oscuro]

From Superman to our very own Captain Kart, heroes have brought justice to the very foes they face off with. In the Mario Universe, it's way similar. Heroes come in all different shapes and sizes, all with their own special skills. Heros who shine forth, are known as Super Stars. Those who fall below the ranks of a true hero, are Not So Super Stars. Those who can shine forth in this series of tournament events, will be known as a true Super Star of Mario Kart Wii.

TWO HEROS ENTER
AN HEROS LEAVE

Heroes are glory hogs...so, every man (and woman) for themselves.
Another strange twist awaits, in the next post.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Am I the only one who never really liked the Mario Kart series? The only weapon-based racer I liked was Wipeout, and even then it was more for the racing itself than the fighting with other vehicles (though defeating multiple people with quakes is very satisfying).

Quake II [N64]:A bit of interesting mapping here, but for the most part nothing astonishing, and probably not up to the level of the iD originals or the expansions. Still, quite playable in single player.

Just read this; I'm a big fan of the PC version, though I think I played the N64 one around the same time or before (?). The N64 version has unique maps, which is nice, but several unfortunate engine changes: Power Armor is a timed item so it doesn't stick around forever and make you unbelievably tough to kill as long as you have cells, and you can't store Quads/Invulns for later use. Being able to store them does mean you don't have to memorize the level for optimal use, but did make things quite easy against the bosses in the PC version (Quads make mincemeat out of everything).

The worst change was that the final boss in Quake 2 is just a few Tank Commanders and a Hornet, at least as far as I could tell (maybe the actual final boss Makron from the PC version only shows up in Hard mode, dunno, I only remember beating normal). Anticlimactic for a finale considering those enemies barely count as minibosses, though beating the game gave you a password for a minigame where you played in a deathmatch map that spawned Gladiators over and over as a kind of challenge mode.

I also recall BFG shots using a much simpler damage engine - instead of laser beams emitted as the orb flies near enemies, it only does damage when the ball actually hits something, with any enemies away from the blast but in its line of sight getting hit with a lightning bolt.

[Leandro]

Am I the only one who never really liked the Mario Kart series?

No, you're not. I hate it.

[BulletMagnet]

Am I the only one who never really liked the Mario Kart series?

I played the SNES original quite a bit back when I was a kid, but the N64 edition dampened my enthusiasm and by Double Dash it was pretty much gone. Then again I'm not really a fair example, since as I 1) got older, 2) started to drive in real life and 3) quickly realized I hated driving in general, my tolerance for most any form of racing game pretty much evaporated altogether, heh.

[Neathyr]

The original Mario Kart was the only one that I really enjoyed. From Mario Kart 64 onwards, the series was more about getting imbalanced items to steamroll the opposition and being an overall party game. Super Mario Kart is probably the only MK game where you are not punished if you are, you know... a good player. Blue shells? Triple red shells? There's nothing more frustrating when a lesser experienced player wins a race just because he tends to get good items.

It kinda saddens me to say this, but to be honest, I don't even bother with Mario Kart anymore. Whenever I feel like playing a kart arcade racer, the original Sega & Sonic Racing is where it's at.

Anyway, for some reason, I started playing Mortal Kombat Armageddon's Konquest Mode last night. It's a good mindless fun, though Shaolin Monks is a better option if you want to play a beat 'em up version of MK. Thankfully, the cutscenes can be skipped.
Even though the gameplay in the MK series is indeed crap (sans the reboot, which is decent-ish), somehow I really enjoy the MK universe. It's one of those rare occasions where you really feel sucked into another world and your character is now your avatar, so to speak. Maybe it's a different type of fun, who knows?

Yeah I feel the same way about this, I love MK despite what utter crap it is, and the universe really appeals to me in the same way campy old comic books do. As someone who plays fighters pretty seriously though I always feel a bit guilty that I waste my time with stuff like Deadly Alliance.

I think it's because it's a nice change of pace to most fighting games with anime(ish) look. For me, at least. That, and I'm a sucker for dark fantasy oriented themes with a focus on the supernatural.
Sometime this year, I'm planning to get more serious at fighting games, but I don't think I can dish MK quite yet. It's that guilty pleasure feel.
...However, I'd say the only 3D MK worth playing these days is Armageddon. Traditional Fatalities are gone, yes, but those little extra modes they added are really fun to mess around with. Motor Kombat deserves a golden medal for lol material, and it's not that bad. Konquest is great when you want to completely turn your brain off and get some mindless entertainment. Hell, I'm even considering unlocking that huge Krypt. Combat-wise... yeah, the less said the better. Slightly better than Deception, though.

[Ed Oscuro]

I just like to drive around and see the pretty scenery, heh. It's been many years since I played Mario Kart 64, but I do remember that it has the same issue as Super Mario 64 - it's not an especially compelling title visually and will bore many to tears for being too simple-looking. Yeah, the randomness of pickups is bad, but I think that if you have solid skills, the numbers will work out in your favor eventually. Games often have a difficult relationship with quasi-random effects, and this is one of those cases where you can see both good and bad points in equal measure. Many of the other racers I've looked at recently go overboard with difficult jumps, and if you try to score them all on a single play you'll certainly feel a great sense of accomplishment - but that also translates into spending a lot more time with some of the courses than you'd actually want (in my opinion, anyway). Some people are fine playing games and replaying them for longer than me (at least racers) while others will move on quickly (probably more gamers than many suspect, actually, dump games very early).

Quake II: I'm not sure the power armor timeout is a bad thing, except that it, like all the other bonus items, have the same old problem of being off on the side and only picked up after I've cleared an area - as I'm trying not to rush in and waste ammunition or get killed outright, which is quite easy to do (especially when you can see the enemies through the walls!) the Damage Amplifier (Quad) is almost always wasted. It's always been a mystery to me why regular levels use deathmatch-style tricky item placement, when getting players into the habit of running for the quad damage and having fun while operating outside their normal routine / comfort zone seems like it'd be a good change of pace.

Another thing which is pretty interesting which I already mentioned is that Project64 (still) shows enemies and items through walls. This actually represents less of a benefit than one might think, because you don't want to go totally nuts using grenades and rockets around corners, and you still have to deal with many enemies efficiently - head-on with the super shotgun or the machine gun. What it does do is give you a much clearer picture of what's happening, while spending a lot less time flailing around looking for things - something that the game is badly suited to do, even using a modern precise analog stick in place of the N64's analog stick for looking around. It ends up just meaning you play through each level once instead of having multiple failed attempts, but the enemies themselves aren't much easier than usual because of it. It would be nice if there was a game that actually used this concept to the full (I'm not sure that apparent MIA Shmups Forumer Twiddle's last known favorite Blacklight: Retribution's wall hack stuff counts, but it's in that direction).

On that note, I am liking the levels a bit. In some ways it reminds me of Chasm, which I didn't respect all that much, in that it has these small levels which are finished quickly. Quake II N64's levels are even smaller and therefore tend to be more like jewels, doing one small idea pretty well. It doesn't allow some of the really grand setpieces and changes in scale you find in the PC version, which help prevent boredom, but there still are neat things. Not a fantastic game but it seems passable.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Not a fantastic game but it seems passable.

All you could expect from the port, really, given PC hardware generally being better suited for FPSes.

Unless I'm mistaken, Quake I for the N64 tried the more faithful approach to level design, and really I preferred getting a unique levelset in Quake II - helped make the port standout more uniquely. The hardware meant it wasn't going to be a terribly faithful port anyways, so it was nice that they went and gave it its own levelset. Quake II for the N64 also tried to be much more colourful; I remember there being way more bright, blue hues in particular compared to the PC version's more realistic, gritty brown and grey tones.

[ACSeraph]

I think it's because it's a nice change of pace to most fighting games with anime(ish) look. For me, at least. That, and I'm a sucker for dark fantasy oriented themes with a focus on the supernatural.
Sometime this year, I'm planning to get more serious at fighting games, but I don't think I can dish MK quite yet. It's that guilty pleasure feel.
...However, I'd say the only 3D MK worth playing these days is Armageddon. Traditional Fatalities are gone, yes, but those little extra modes they added are really fun to mess around with. Motor Kombat deserves a golden medal for lol material, and it's not that bad. Konquest is great when you want to completely turn your brain off and get some mindless entertainment. Hell, I'm even considering unlocking that huge Krypt. Combat-wise... yeah, the less said the better. Slightly better than Deception, though.

I actually felt like Armageddon was the weakest of the 3D MK's. The air combo system in particular felt bad to me, and the lack of character specific fatalities really sucks out a lot of its personality. I fire it up occasionally but not as often as the other two. I agree about the extra stuff though, it was definitely a win content wise.

MK9 was kind of a dream game for me. It turned out a million times better than anyone could have reasonably expected it too. If it had had a better reversal system to balance out the cheesy guard stun lock down (which I am not above abusing the hell out of) it could stand proud among this generation's top competitive fighters imo.

[Ed Oscuro]

It's been a while since I tried Quake on the N64 - I picked up a copy somewhere along the line in the last 5 years or so - but it seemed kind of faithful to the original.

I agree about the necessity of being unique: The fact that Quake and its sequel can play on everything including the fancier models of coffee maker (not the latte makers, though - they don't like the old ultraviolence) means that there's very little reason to play any of these things if they don't provide a unique experience; the small moments of interest in Raster's Quake II level set are much appreciated. I'm also not sure exactly what they could do within the apparent strict limits on map size seen here (assuming it's based on memory space, and not an artificial constraint) to make them more expensive, without having to make the games look and feel substantially unlike Quake II and end up with another Turok. That said, I always liked the original Quake's levels enough that playing through cut-down versions of just a handful of them feels like a good time.