What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

[system11]

I'm playing Hyperdimension Neptunia Mk2 at the moment - it's not brilliant but the story and characters are entertaining.

[ZacharyB]

it really is like getting lost in some dark cave with no way out.

That endgame, glimpsing an unreachable egg from a crawlspace and having the counter suddenly rocket back up to ten is pretty memorable. "This thing broken?" Despite the tiny screen I found that climactic setup way stronger than the first or third games'.

First time I saw that I remember my heart going into my throat. It's magic the investment they got out of that tiny screen.

[Ruldra]

Finished Lilly's route in Katawa Shoujo.

Far more romantic than Emi's route (which was my 1st playthrough), and liked it way more, but unfortunately I got the bad ending. I have no idea what I could've done differently, the way the story unfolded it was the only logical conclusion to it. I really thought it was the only possible outcome, but when I saw the empty slots at the bottom of Lilly's route in the Library, my heart sank.

I got to Emi's happy ending so easily I didn't think those options were all that important, or that the bad ending was easily avoidable. But now...I'm gonna get paranoid every time an option shows up, ugh.

Anyway, it's crazy how emotionally attached you get to these stories. I feel heartbroken now.

[trap15]

I'd been meaning to do this for a while now, but I wrote a review for Riot. Find it here: http://daifukkat.su/blog/archives/2013/ ... cmos_riot/

[majik989s]

I finally got around to putting my copy of Mana Khemia into my psp and diving in. Loving every second of it. It fits the platform very well, surprisingly.

[Ed Oscuro]

I'd been meaning to do this for a while now, but I wrote a review for Riot. Find it here: http://daifukkat.su/blog/archives/2013/ ... cmos_riot/

Informative and interesting, I think that does it justice

[null1024]

King of Fighters 2002 [Neo-Geo/MAME].

Every time I play this game, I am always surprised at the amount of corner-cases it seems to have regarding hit properties.
I love my friends for having this be our go-to game when we just want some fighting action.

[Aguraki]

hey guys anyone here tried king of fighter XIII steam edition?
kinda scared by the name steam edition and also havent played KoF since 10 years+ so a lil feedback on that version would help.
If KoF XIII is on other supports Ill take the review as Im in the dark on that one.

[Leandro]

King of Fighters 2002 [Neo-Geo/MAME].

Every time I play this game, I am always surprised at the amount of corner-cases it seems to have regarding hit properties.
I love my friends for having this be our go-to game when we just want some fighting action.

You're lucky to have friends like this. Last time I played KOF2K2 with my friend was so much fun, really close matches even though I've not played it much since it's release... But my 98 skills carried really well. Nowadays this friend of mine is married and living away.

On topic, I was playing Road Rash II lately, trying to get into it since last time I played in the 90's. It doesn't feel as fun as I remembered..

[null1024]

hey guys anyone here tried king of fighter XIII steam edition?
kinda scared by the name steam edition and also havent played KoF since 10 years+ so a lil feedback on that version would help.
If KoF XIII is on other supports Ill take the review as Im in the dark on that one.

I've played it, local vs with a friend [on his machine, because all of mine are shit]. It's based on KOF 13 Climax, unlike the console versions. Seems to have all the options of the console version.

[Ed Oscuro]

I always figured the voice acting in HotD2 in particular had to be intentional. NO ONE would say Goldman's lines the way he does unless they were specifically trolling the Japanese people who payed them to do the acting.

I get that feeling from Ghost Squad, too, in the way the Commander's voice kind of ebbs and drones. "Caution!"

Big difference from the English localizations of the Umbrella/Darkside Chronicles games, where Paul Mercier refuses to match the poorly written lines shown onscreen sometimes, replacing them with more natural english.

I do have my reservations about how things were handled in Umbrella/Darkside Chronicles; there are some good moments but also a few terrible bits shoehorned in. The storytelling and design don't rise to the standard of RE4, but they get very close at times. Of course, both games are also uneven at times.

As far as shooting games go, the Chronicles games have some neat ideas, but the shaky camera makes targeting difficult at times; many enemies will attack shortly after appearing on screen, which sometimes is unavoidable if you're relying on a pistol for stun knockback (and even more powerful weapons may need a precise shot placed at the exact right moment, which you must anticipate ahead of time). I have sometimes been quite entranced with the enemy appearances though - a memorable one was the appearance of two Hunters in the famous baggage handling area of Code Veronica X, where one Hunter appears on the right, jumps up and out of sight over a vent, while another jumps in from the right further back, and the first one probably lands in front again. Of course, there's plenty of wobbling zombies too.

[ACSeraph]

hey guys anyone here tried king of fighter XIII steam edition?
kinda scared by the name steam edition and also havent played KoF since 10 years+ so a lil feedback on that version would help.
If KoF XIII is on other supports Ill take the review as Im in the dark on that one.

I've played it, local vs with a friend [on his machine, because all of mine are shit]. It's based on KOF 13 Climax, unlike the console versions. Seems to have all the options of the console version.

I've only played the console and arcade versions of XIII but I absolutely love it. I think it's up there with the best games in the entire series (98 and 2k2), and if it ends up being the last one, well at least they went out with a bang.

I do have my reservations about how things were handled in Umbrella/Darkside Chronicles; there are some good moments but also a few terrible bits shoehorned in. The storytelling and design don't rise to the standard of RE4, but they get very close at times. Of course, both games are also uneven at times.

As far as shooting games go, the Chronicles games have some neat ideas, but the shaky camera makes targeting difficult at times; many enemies will attack shortly after appearing on screen, which sometimes is unavoidable if you're relying on a pistol for stun knockback (and even more powerful weapons may need a precise shot placed at the exact right moment, which you must anticipate ahead of time). I have sometimes been quite entranced with the enemy appearances though - a memorable one was the appearance of two Hunters in the famous baggage handling area of Code Veronica X, where one Hunter appears on the right, jumps up and out of sight over a vent, while another jumps in from the right further back, and the first one probably lands in front again. Of course, there's plenty of wobbling zombies too.

Well, personally I absolutely love them, right down to the shaky camera. I think in some ways it made the experience more authentic, since aiming in chaotic situations like that probably wouldnt be nearly as easy as Time Crisis would have us believe.

UC was a bit unfortunate because of how lazily they handled RE3, and the new content felt uninspired. However Darkside is one of my favorite rail shooters I've ever played. The only real flaw with it for me is that you can't accurately calibrate it due to the tech. It still plays pretty well on Wii, but the way the move decalibrates on the PS3 basically ruins the entire thing. God I hate the Move.

[Ed Oscuro]

Well, I should clarify that sometimes I've noticed the camera doing dumb things. The shaky camera by itself isn't a problem and I didn't feel it was overdone, although you will notice that when the story calls for one character to be shocked or hit and shaky because they are recovering / getting their bearings, the other character will react identically (if you are playing as them). Of course this isn't a problem for Darkside Chronicles, which doesn't have selectable characters. There is of course the ongoing joke of "we killed it" but this is different - I've killed Hunters with two zombies in the area, only for the camera to stay locked on the fallen Hunter while the zombie's head stays out of the camera (this in a section of the Fall of Umbrella chapters from the first game). More commonly, and clearly by design, the camera (especially in Umbrella Chronicles) looks at something stupid for a long period of time when you really want to look elsewhere. The free-aiming from the dongle in the first game only goes so far. The favorite target is dormant zombies lying on the ground as you slowly step around - just like RE6 this offers the disbelief-introducing element of being able to shoot zombies repeatedly when they are dormant, without doing anything (except in these games their models will even react). Of course this doesn't prevent Back-Turned Zombie Activation Syndrome (BTZAS). By itself, BTZAS is a probably unavoidable concession to time compression and dynamism in these games, and it is mitigated somewhat by a healthy mix of true suspense and areas which have interesting enemy entrances.

Both games diverge from the original stories in severe and occasionally dumb ways. Some of the changes were good, even if they don't replace the originals - Alfred and Alexia from Darkside Chronicles were interesting enough in differing from the original model, though Alfred's intercom messages don't really hit the right notes and I feel they hurt interest in his character. Other things are easily forgiven for the sake of simplicity - like the removal of the "who is this guy" Leech Marcus from the Resident Evil Zero segment, and many other small examples like this. Other things look quite bad, though, comparison with the originals - pretty much the whole of the original scenario for Darkside Chronicles smacks of amateur hour after you leave the interesting market area, although I can't really explain why I should feel this way or that its story and characters are actually worse than those of the older games seen here. I definitely do not care for Manuela singing, even if that ties in with some elements which seem "Resident Evil-like" (oh, the monster recognizes its family - never seen that before).

Of course the big example of (what I thought was) a strange liberty with the story was the failure to explain or even acknowledge the line "I died in the crash two years ago, is that what they told you?" from Resident Evil 4 with regards to Krauser, when the game script (early on, anyway) takes care to reference to some of his signature lines from the RE4 script early in the story. On the other hand, Leon's reflection on Krauser's fate offers a picture that seems totally wrong to players of the English localization of Resident Evil 4. I haven't finished up Krauser's bonus chapter from Darkside Chronicles, but frankly it is going to be a chore. All that I have noticed so far are some out-there, and I think off-key, mental commentary from Krauser. Personally I feel the RE4 introduction of Krauser character hints at a more Predator-like storyline; here's it's just another jaunt "through the jungle" (tons of concrete corridors in the conveniently-placed dam, actually). RE seems to have a history of saying "we're going into the jungle" only to not go anywhere near a jungle.

Maybe my issue with the "crash" storyline missing points to the RE4 localization team being better writers than the original team; in RE4's original script, Krauser apparently says something like "I'm supposed to be dead (when?) from the accident two years ago," although I'm not sure on the tense of this line ("2年前事故で死んだはず" according to this page).

I think it is a shame that the localizations have a much better feeling in many cases, but those changes can end up throwing longtime players off when the localizations diverge from the original intention and thus get ignored in updates. In most every other place, the attention to detail from the original games is fantastic, and shows the teams involved are not just fans but students of the original games. That said, I did feel that Umbrella Chronicles' opening in the amazingly rendered Ecliptic Express and the continuing high level of detail is somewhat ruined by later chapters of both games, with sometimes muddy and underdetailed areas (I don't know Resident Evil 3, but the sections involved in that segment struck me this way) and lots and lots of concrete tunnels.

Overall, while Darkside Chronicles definitely does "fix" many things from the first game that I've listed, I don't feel that some of those "fixes" represent really remarkable change in some cases, and in other cases it seems downright dumbed down. I didn't feel that Darkside represents the better game in terms of environments or storyline, and in many cases I like the combat from the original game somewhat better, as well as the somewhat more involved system for attaining S-ranks. Yes, I do feel that boss fights in the sequel can be more fluid than the originals, which tend to cycle through a small handful of patterns as your camera runs through specific locations repeatedly - but that didn't really hurt my enjoyment or make the Darkside boss fights feel better. Javier's boss fight - who cares? I do agree that the Resident Evil 3 section from Umbrella Chronicles stands out as weak amongst the rest, although it has some worthwhile points too.

[Ed Oscuro]

Why are there posters for Spanish bullfights and a Hotel Shakespeare in Venice?
The PC version of HOTD 2 chooses a text language based on your system locale. I couldn't see what the characters were saying, and I never heard "that quote" before, though I was listening carefully. "Did that thing just say what I think it did?" Yes...

I just need to beat the car zombie training section a couple more times to red-star clear it, and I've done all the others already (just an hour's work really, with a break in the middle). I like that it mixes up difficult ones with less difficult ones. The coin-shooting challenge is very easy, but a nice close to the Training challenges. Then I started on the Boss mode...I've cleared Judgment once, red-starred both versions of Hierophant, and will have done the same for both Strength types after beating Strength B two more times. I will go back to Hierophant A another time, though, because I was really close to having a perfect (landing all shots as soon as possible) run on it. Strength types are really annoying me because of the difficulty of cancelling their leaping attack.

"Failed"

Man, I love this game so much already though.

[KAI]

Ys Chronicles Plus II [PC]
LOVE-THIS-SHIT!! I want a remake of Ys IV like this.

[ACSeraph]

That said, I did feel that Umbrella Chronicles' opening in the amazingly rendered Ecliptic Express and the continuing high level of detail is somewhat ruined by later chapters of both games, with sometimes muddy and underdetailed areas (I don't know Resident Evil 3, but the sections involved in that segment struck me this way) and lots and lots of concrete tunnels.

Well, RE3 is actually completely different from how it is depicted in UC. The only common element between the two is that they are both about Jill escaping from Racoon City while being pursued by the Nemesis. The areas are all different as are the plot details. The reason is that to save time and money they reused areas from the Resident Evil Outbreak games rather than rendering new content based on RE3. So basically the first two parts of UC were made in a higher end graphics engine than the later levels were; that's why there's such a discrepancy in quality.

[null1024]

Tales of Xillia [PS3].

I managed to do an overlimit chain once. Only once. It would be nice if I could make it happen again.
Whats-his-face got shot, and Millia and whats-her-face got kidnapped, so now I'm off to rescue them.
And now I'm searching this big-ass building for a key or something and not finding it at all. Siiiiiiiiigh.

Oh, and Ridge Racer 2 [PSP].

The Devil Kid [has a different name that is far less memorable] in the Special 2 class is amazingly fun to drive. Super-speed right off the block. It's like I'm playing F-Zero. Crazy fun.

[Ed Oscuro]

That said, I did feel that Umbrella Chronicles' opening in the amazingly rendered Ecliptic Express and the continuing high level of detail is somewhat ruined by later chapters of both games, with sometimes muddy and underdetailed areas (I don't know Resident Evil 3, but the sections involved in that segment struck me this way) and lots and lots of concrete tunnels.

Well, RE3 is actually completely different from how it is depicted in UC. The only common element between the two is that they are both about Jill escaping from Racoon City while being pursued by the Nemesis. The areas are all different as are the plot details. The reason is that to save time and money they reused areas from the Resident Evil Outbreak games rather than rendering new content based on RE3. So basically the first two parts of UC were made in a higher end graphics engine than the later levels were; that's why there's such a discrepancy in quality.

That makes sense, but I meant that with regards to the areas other than the RE3 ones.

The Fall of Umbrella areas (which I've now completed; I just need to go through Wesker's two final Dark Legacy notes and then the HUNK mission, handcannon yay) are somewhere inbetween here - shiny, but still not a lot of detail.

I have to admit I've been terribly disappointed in the "new" plot details as a rule. We know that Claire was captured at a Paris-based lab for Umbrella immediately before the action of Code Veronica, so why is the Fall of Umbrella scenario situated in what looks like an arctic oil production facility, supposedly somewhere in Russia? Money, again, I'm sure. I'm not sure whether the team should be congratulated for doing more with less, or chastised for not spending time to make the new material worthwhile (it really isn't). Fuck Sergei, too. Not the worst character ever, but hardly memorable.

[hermit crab]

Metal Slug Advance

Totally missed out on this. Was under the impression it was some kind of botched version of MS1 with a lifebar. Turns out it's a completely different kind of game, well sorta. A completely different game anyway. I'm sure most of you knew that already though.

Really enjoying it.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Fired up World War Zero: IronStorm on my PS2 to make sure it works and whether 60 Hz mode is there. Contrary to a couple of sources it is not, so initially 25 fps bothered me, but this being the only console version ever released (split-screen ahoy), I eventually got used to it.
Character models, animations and lighting are indeed improved. Even with auto-aim OFF, the collisions detection and damage dealt makes it more forgiving than the original IronStorm. Most delightfully, collision detection seems always fair in campaign, i.e. when you can see and damage the snipers, you're vulnerable as well. So far so IronStorm, although snipers on medium difficulty seem less inclined to deal headshots to the player. Thus duelling with them is not as edgy as it used to be on the PC (but we're still talking medium difficulty early in the day).
Guns rock hard as they used to and ragdoll effect makes a difference for the better.
You may ask why not play Sniper Elite instead, but World War Zero came out a year before that. Considering the fact Rogue Trooper came out a year after Sniper Elite, Rebellion must be lauded for their efficiency as devs.

[Furry Fox Jet Pilot]

Metal Slug Advance

Totally missed out on this. Was under the impression it was some kind of botched version of MS1 with a lifebar. Turns out it's a completely different kind of game, well sorta. A completely different game anyway. I'm sure most of you knew that already though.

Really enjoying it.

The unlockable card system really adds depth to the game, and if you prefer the old style where you die in one hit, there is a card called "Paper Thin" that you can unlock that allows you to change it back to the old health system.

[hermit crab]

Metal Slug Advance

The unlockable card system really adds depth to the game, and if you prefer the old style where you die in one hit, there is a card called "Paper Thin" that you can unlock that allows you to change it back to the old health system.

Thanks for the tip, maybe I'll try that out. I do prefer the old style but then again there's like 7 games that use it (by default) so it's cool that there's a different one too.

[Sir Ilpalazzo]

Has anyone here who's played Battle Circuit give me advice? I'm trying to 1cc it with Green, and the biggest roadblock is Zipang. He probably ruins 75% of my runs even if I manage to get past him. It feels so arbitrary whether he blocks or not, and I can't figure out when he's supposed to be vulnerable.

[broken harbour]

I've never played Ocarina of Time, and for the last 15 years people have been telling me it's the greatest game ever made, so I picked it up for my Gamecube last week and have been giving it a whirl.

it's fun, but it does show its age. None of these single stick 3rd person games really control well. I'm just entering the 4th dungeon, and I'd like to see this game all the way through. Hopefully it doesn't get too frustrating. I would love to see a modern remake of this game with modern twin stick controls.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Has anyone here who's played Battle Circuit give me advice? I'm trying to 1cc it with Green, and the biggest roadblock is Zipang. He probably ruins 75% of my runs even if I manage to get past him. It feels so arbitrary whether he blocks or not, and I can't figure out when he's supposed to be vulnerable.

That whole level is a major roadblock, it's quite difficult.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6n222oe6m5M

This run clears Zipang's first form mostly by throwing the other enemies into Zipang, the second form by trying diagonal dash juggling and immediate using a defensive special for the invulnerability if he blocks. He still takes a ton of damage and uses a health recharge. Definitely not an easy boss by any stretch!

[Obiwanshinobi]

None of these single stick 3rd person games really control well.

Rayman 2: The Great Escape does on DC and PC (never mind two other versions).
That said, the lack of second stick-controlled camera in Super Mario Galaxy felt like a step back to me. Most levels are designed to work around it, but I missed architectonical grandeur of PS2-era 3D platformers.
On the other hand, I like the way camera works in Pandora's Tower.

[broken harbour]

None of these single stick 3rd person games really control well.

Rayman 2: The Great Escape does on DC and PC (never mind two other versions).
That said, the lack of second stick-controlled camera in Super Mario Galaxy felt like a step back to me. Most levels are designed to work around it, but I missed architectonical grandeur of PS2-era 3D platformers.
On the other hand, I like the way camera works in Pandora's Tower.

Never played Rayman 2 so I can't comment on that game, my main gripe with the controls in OOT is that the left stick is really jumpy, (this might be a GC thing, never played the game on N64) it's hard to just walk on a narrow bridge or something without risking jumping off the edge accidentally. And the 'auto jump' feature is just irritating, I'd rather Link just fall and grab the ledge, give me a damn jump button, I'll decide when Link jumps!

I agree with you on Mario Galaxy, in fact, the camera system made me put the game down about halfway through back in 2007. There's certain areas where the camera would flip 180 during say... a jump and more often than not, it'd kill you. Note to Developers: Crap like that isn't allowed anymore! There's no excuse for a broken camera system! You've had 15+ years to learn!

[Obiwanshinobi]

And the 'auto jump' feature is just irritating, I'd rather Link just fall and grab the ledge, give me a damn jump button, I'll decide when Link jumps!

In Oracle of Ages/Seasons by Capcom there's a jump button (once you obtain certain item). As is in Ōkami, by no other company than Capcom.
Guess what company I wish made another 3D Zelda game for Nintendo.
The most interesting SMG level I've played (still undone with the game) happened to be the one where I had to adjust the camera manually (a bit of a chore with the d-pad, but more stimulating than any of earlier stages). Something-Beach-something I think.

[BulletMagnet]

Currently a fair ways in to Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom, a sort of action/adventure/puzzle-ish hybrid from the now-defunct Game Republic, in which you travel with a big friendly AI monster companion you can give certain commands to. Lacking some polish, but overall enjoyable: it's the sort of game that would have been a good 40-50 dollar new release (though IIRC it released at 60 and dropped like a rock due to poor sales, unfortunately). The monster is goofy but I hafta admit I like him regardless; some of the voices of the other critters you talk to are rather cringe-worthy though.

my main gripe with the controls in OOT is that the left stick is really jumpy, (this might be a GC thing, never played the game on N64) it's hard to just walk on a narrow bridge or something without risking jumping off the edge accidentally.

I personally can't stand the GC analog stick, it just never felt "right" to me. Of course I'm not a fan of pretty much ANY aspect of the GC controller, but I rant about that regularly on here so I'll spare you.

[null1024]

Cadillacs and Dinosaurs [Arcade/MAME].

Was playing it a friend, coined each controller up with 5 credits so dying still had meaning [I got my friends to accept this after having hooked up arcade Gauntlet [instead of the Genesis version as usual], and it droned on when you didn't limit yourself]. Fun game.

I personally can't stand the GC analog stick, it just never felt "right" to me. Of course I'm not a fan of pretty much ANY aspect of the GC controller, but I rant about that regularly on here so I'll spare you.

I adore how the GC controller feels in my hand [fits like a glove], but actually using it as a controller is less nice [super long throw triggers and odd button layout are the main problems].