What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

[Acid King]

Max Payne 3 postmortem - Finished it today and I'm feeling pretty meh about it. All things considered, it's a good game with solid shooting mechanics and really nice shootouts, but there's a few things I really don't like about it and several are interrelated.

First, I think getting rid of the speed increase you get from killing people in bullet time was a mistake. What made the second game so much fun to play was the way you could pop in to bullet time and just run right through rooms full of enemies without using any kind of cover. The reliance on cover mechanic makes for a less interesting use of bullet time, since the game turns in to a shooting gallery, where you kill a couple people, pop in to bullet time, then use it while behind cover to take out several enemies in one go.

Second, I don't like the checkpoint happy level design. Clear a room or area/complete a task->cutscene->get dumped in a new set piece/cinematic bullet time QTE->rinse->repeat. Dying dumps you back only a short ways, back to the tail end of the last cutscene, because the game likes to put you in situations you won't be able to survive on your initial attempt. The game just funnels you through the levels and it makes me miss the open movement of the earlier games, where you weren't bludgeoned by cinematics.

Finally, the motherfucking cutscenes. Unskippable cutscenes are the bane of my existence and this game is stuffed with them. I decided to start a new game to try the harder difficulties and I don't think I'm going to be able to replay this one. They use in game cutscenes to mask the loading and instead of just dumping you to a loading screen when you tap A to skip forward, it flashes "still loading" and keeps playing the scene. This really irritates me to no end. I already sat through this shit once, now I have to sit through it on every replay? Buuuuuullllllshit. Of course, the cutscenes and checkpoint strewn levels are a function of Rockstar Vancouver trying to make the game cinematic, which it certainly is, but it comes at a cost to replay value. I played the first two games to death and it's a shame the cinemas are so onerous that I don't immediately want to jump back in to a new game.

[Mischief Maker]

I also finished up Drakan: Order of the Flame

Drakan was number two on the August, 1999 Softrend chart.

[Vexorg]

If I recall, at the time Drakan was basically a "show off the shiny new video card" game, heavy on flash but short on substance. I think I had a copy come in the box with a GeForce 2 card.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Semtex bit of MGS2 on Hard made for some pretty frustrating time. Even resorted to Gamefaqs and YouTube, but even then I had to find out by myself how to tip-toe. Not that I gave up easily, but it's been months since I got stuck at that point and I decided to just let it go.

[Mortificator]

After quite a bit of playing, I finally beat the classic Spelunker on NES.

Spoiler

I have to say that I ended up absolutely adoring this game. I mean I really can't understand why people call this game cheap, I never noticed a cheap section of the game. It just seemed to require a lot of precision. Once you get the controls down, you end up not really getting frustrated at the challenge.

I feel the same way (I played the Atari version, but the difference seems to be mostly A/V). Just an idiosyncratic character in a big environment designed to push him to the limit.

[spadgy]

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2. Groan. It's just about getting better a few hours in, but oh dear... It's got some real weaknesses. Poor level design, missions and structuring. The combat's decent enough, but its not the game the first LoS was (which I thoroughly enjoyed).

[Despatche]

old games that can't be classed as shmups i.e. galaga vs pac-man

although

maybe pac & pal can be considered a shmup

[Ed Oscuro]

galaga vs pac-man

you dingleberry, I was hoping this was a thing

I also finished up Drakan: Order of the Flame

Drakan was number two on the August, 1999 Softrend chart.

also, a belated "that post made my week," sorry for not acknowledging it sooner!

[Moniker]

A buddy's trying to get me into SW: The Old Republic.

Tried WoW once or twice but it never really took. This I'm doing more as a gesture of friendship, so giving it a little more slack.

The combat is okay, I guess. It doesn't really seem to matter which skills I use when. I figure out which does the most damage over x period of time and spam it, occasionally using some sort of stun move against multiple enemies to pick 'em off one by one. I was able to do most of the starter planet solo, but then it became a matter of either grinding (hate grinding), or going in a group. Did the missions with some random bloke, and it was sorta fun.

Just got to the point where I've specialized my class and there are proper skill trees, but the passive benefits are pretty lame (1% damage reduction, eg). When compared to other grinders like Path of Exiles, it's hard to get it up for character progression.

No real skill involved, except maybe obvious shit like luring enemies out one at a time; I guess I'd rather be playing Dark Souls. Most of my buddies are power gamers, sadly.

[Ed Oscuro]

Most of my buddies are power gamers, sadly.

power lusers, moar like. you're right, there's really little that's interesting about input buffering and selective aggro tactics. Give me a real action game any day, even one I'm not good at.

[Ruldra]

I'm a sucker for Tower Defense games on smartphones, but most of them really, really suck. I've tried dozens of them but it's hard to find something that appeals to me.

Well, I found Galaxy Defense and I'm having lots of fun with it. Looks great and it's pretty damn tough. Some stages look impossible but you can easily perfect them once you find the right tower combination to use.

Upgrades are very expensive though, so unless you spend money, you'll have to make do with underpowered towers. Somehow I made it fine to level 23, let's see if I can make it that way to the end.

Oh, and NEVER use crystals to replenish energy. They're hard to come by and some tower upgrades require crystals, so if you use them for energy you'll really screw yourself over later on.

[Hagane]

Going for a 1CC in Metal Slug X. Stages 1-4 re pretty simple, but the final part of stage 5 and the last boss are giving me some trouble. Still, it shouldn't take too long.

Also, Cadillacs and Dinosaurs is SO dumb. Slice / Slisaurs are the worst designed bosses in Capcom history.

[Ed Oscuro]

I'm a sucker for Tower Defense games on smartphones, but most of them really, really suck. I've tried dozens of them but it's hard to find something that appeals to me.

Well, I found Galaxy Defense and I'm having lots of fun with it. Looks great and it's pretty damn tough. Some stages look impossible but you can easily perfect them once you find the right tower combination to use.

Upgrades are very expensive though, so unless you spend money, you'll have to make do with underpowered towers. Somehow I made it fine to level 23, let's see if I can make it that way to the end.

Oh, and NEVER use crystals to replenish energy. They're hard to come by and some tower upgrades require crystals, so if you use them for energy you'll really screw yourself over later on.

Did you ever try Bloons Tower defense games? Interesting stuff, and the BTD5 variant has daily challenges to challenge you. I've not played around with it for a few weeks now, but I had a good year or so of almost daily logins...not a bad run for an online game.

Bloons Monkey City is just a time sink unfortunately, and then you get to the point where there's nothing left to build / upgrade and it just fizzles out.

[BIL]

Going for a 1CC in Metal Slug X. Stages 1-4 re pretty simple, but the final part of stage 5 and the last boss are giving me some trouble. Still, it shouldn't take too long.

Nazca/SNK really nailed that curve in MS1/X/3. In all three you'll still be working on the Final Mission well after the preceding ones are thoroughly locked down. Which is why Xbox MS3's level-restarting continues are particularly unfortunate... can't imagine that endeared to many newbs once stage 5 showed up.

Mega Corporation's MS4 otoh is all over the damn place. The second stage's boss has the most undecipherably murderous patterns in the whole game, save for maybe the very last's.

[Ruldra]

Did you ever try Bloons Tower defense games?

Just checked out BTD5. Didn't find it that much to my liking, but thanks for the suggestion anyway.

Interesting theme though. Lol sniper monkeys.

[BrianC]

I have been playing Bravely Default. I'm enjoying it so far. I like the class and brave and default systems. I was surprised by how powerful bows are in the game. They do more damage than swords for some classes. Another surprise was the sword magic. I didn't expect it to work with other weapons besides swords, but it even works with bows.

[BulletMagnet]

Another surprise was the sword magic. I didn't expect it to work with other weapons besides swords, but it even works with bows.

Was not aware of this, might have to try out. You are right about the bow and arrow, I never thought a Thief would be my primary damage dealer.

[Sir Ilpalazzo]

Going for a 1CC in Metal Slug X. Stages 1-4 re pretty simple, but the final part of stage 5 and the last boss are giving me some trouble. Still, it shouldn't take too long.

Nazca/SNK really nailed that curve in MS1/X/3. In all three you'll still be working on the Final Mission well after the preceding ones are thoroughly locked down. Which is why Xbox MS3's level-restarting continues are particularly unfortunate... can't imagine that endeared to many newbs once stage 5 showed up.

Mega Corporation's MS4 otoh is all over the damn place. The second stage's boss has the most undecipherably murderous patterns in the whole game, save for maybe the very last's.

I've only played the first Metal Slug (gotten fairly close to 1ccing it; I've made it to right before the final boss) but the game's difficulty curve felt like a weakness to me. The intense last level has a perfect level of difficulty, but most of the rest of the game is just too easy unless you challenge yourself and ditch the Metal Slugs or something. It got to the point where stages 1 through 5 (save the mid-boss in stage 3) were boring me and I was just waiting for them to be over so I could get to the real meat of the game. I was hoping that Metal Slug X would have a steeper difficulty curve.

As far as "run and gun"-type games go, I liked Ghouls 'n Ghosts' difficulty curve a lot more. Each stage in that game took about an equal amount of time to get down, and the earlier stages still have some threatening moments for experienced players.

[BIL]

As with their kindred spirit Strider, it's more in aesthetic terms that I like this sort of curve. A complete run is like a playable action movie, with the finale's onset of arcade difficulty forcing you to earn the best scenes. MSX/3 are progressively tougher games than the original, but ultimately they too are relatively easy and heavily weighted towards their ever more bombastic climaxes. Most games couldn't get away with this, I agree.

[CIT]

I think Metal Slug 3 is way too top-heavy in terms of difficulty progression. Last stage is too long, too repetitive and ultimately tedious.

I know Shmups Forum members like to be all about the difficulty, but I found MS3's final stage challenging in a bad way.

[BIL]

Yes - that is an unfortunate issue with MS3's last stage. In particular, both autoscroll sections are overlong, enormously so in the second's case. And to make things worse the vertical one is a pain in the ass without autofire (if you lose your ship). Ultimately they don't contribute much besides fatigue.

[Mortificator]

Became nothing more than a killing machine through Silent Bomber. It feels right on the cusp of greatness. Non-grid Bomberman in a Xenosaga aesthetic. The finale was memorable, though its chess battle wasn't as cool as DMC3's, and I could have really used a checkpoint after it.

[BIL]

I, too, have long been the mere shell of a man. I also recently learned my favourite JP voice actor the late Kaneto Shiozawa (Grey Fox, Random Hajile, Zato-1, Shin Kazama, Rei of Nanto Suicho-ken, Paul von Oberstein) voiced Benoit, so it's about time for a playthrough of that version. edit: Although I really like Benny's English VA.

"Hey Jutah. How does it feel?"

Best 3D airdash in the world. Like Omega Boost, I don't even care that there was never a PS2 followup, it realised itself so well within the PS1's confines. Sometimes I swear the explosion sfx are going to shatter my living room floor after I tag four mechs and a generator before airdashing clear and blasting all to hell in the same instant.

[trap15]

I think Metal Slug 3 is way too top-heavy in terms of difficulty progression. Last stage is too long, too repetitive and ultimately tedious.

I know Shmups Forum members like to be all about the difficulty, but I found MS3's final stage challenging in a bad way.

My feelings exactly.

[Marc]

Found out tonight that 360 runs Burnout 2 at nearly half speed during any race that uses weather effects, so had to give up on that for now.

Instead, played some Split/Second, one of the 360's most underrated racers. Cars are nice and weighty, tracks wide and designed for plenty of drifting, large variety of event types, graphics are gorgeous, and the AI in later cups is the sort of nasty cheating shit I love. It's about a fiver on disc now, every racer fan owes it to themselves to try it. Thinking about it, OTT destruction aside, it feels more Burnout than 3 and Revenge. Black Rock should have been thrown the task of a Burnout HD Remix, man that would have been sweet.

Also some Hydro Thunder Hurricane. Vector Unit basically captured everything I loved about the original, it initially seems simple enough but some of the expert courses are arseholes to place first, spent a good hour just repeating the next to last race till I'd gotten it. Really good fun.

[null1024]

Ah, yeah. Split/Second is fantastic.

Been playing Ys: Memories of Celceta [Vita], Pokemon Y [3DS], and Wipeout 2048 [Vita].

I'm at the Sacred Beasts' Lair in Ys. Just dumped all my Pokemon into Pokebank and started a new save in Y.
I'm being godawful at Wipeout, I can't even clear the first race of the 2050 league in anything better than 8th.

[edit]

Been playing Halo Custom Edition [PC].
Team Slayer with sniper rifles is amazing, at least with < 8 people. At one point, it was just me and one other guy, and we had an awesome impromptu sniper duel from across the map. I lost, but damn. Lots of fun.

biggest problem with Halo: when playing with rockets, by the time you see it, it is too late to get out of the way.

cute things: it doesn't detect any VRAM on integrated Intel 4000 graphics -- still maxed everything out because the game is from 2001 [it's so adorable to see support for old-ass cards like the ATI Rage series in the config file]
less cute things: random polygons disappearing sometimes for no reason

If you play [and luck out and pick the server I'm on, hehe], I'm "shotacon" -- the nick's an in joke from highschool [where we literally had Halo class -- it was some programming course but we never did any code at all and the most cursory of work, each machine had Halo on it, and someone put a copy on one of the shared intranet drives for if your machine didn't ]. All of the perfectly ordinary people pronounced it "shot a con" [as in, "shot a convict"]. I called people out on it when they pronounced it properly [ショタコン].

[ColonelFatso]

Today I went down to my local games-enthusiast shop and bought a couple of replacement parts for my N64 (power supply, composite out cables, controller in non-shitty condition), then set about rediscovering my (skimpy) collection, most enjoyably Perfect Dark and Knife Edge.

Probably could have gotten away with emulation for the former, but for the latter it's not possible because the game ends up running at full 60fps (while on actual hardware it runs closer to 20 in most cases) and being completely uncontrollable.

Honestly though, one of my favourite rail shooters of all time.

[null1024]

Project Diva Extend [PSP].

fuck PPSSPP, I can't seem to get this thing to time my inputs properly -- the trifecta of 1: I'm using a PS1 controller, with larger and further apart buttons, fucking me up; 2: the audio is kind of lagged, even with the setting to attempt to minimize that latency, and 3: there's a few frames of input lag and it's driving me nuts

On the other hand, it seems to be consistent now. PPSSPP release before this seemed to have the audio be completely desynced from the game, here it seems like it's just constantly off by some amount.

So, I caved in and bought a new PSP [but they have such awful build quality, even if I get a case they're still built like ass], hopefully it'll be here by Wednesday.

[Ruldra]

Been playing Art of Fighting 2 these past few days. Unlike in the past when I was just playing for the heck of it, this time I'm playing carefully, observing which attacks are safe to use and which enemy attacks are punishable. Also looking for specific AI patterns that I can exploit.

All the effort paid off as I was able to reach stage 11 for the first time ever today. I was only a hit away from beating my opponent and facing Mr. Big next. Maybe this game isn't as unforgiving as I thought.

Anyone knows the requirements to face Geese? Do I just need to beat Mr. Big on a single credit?

--

Update: Yeah, the more I play this, the more I realize it's all about AI exploiting. You CAN win fights just by playing normally, but you'll severely improve your chances if you play around the enemy's AI.

Some of the tactics I use (playing as King):

- Approach enemy, use strong kick, then move back. Enemy will move back a bit and then jump towards you. Use strong kick again to hit him out of the jump (this move is an excellent anti-air) then immediately Venom Strike him. Repeat until victory. Effective against Robert and John.

- As soon as the fight starts, just use jumping-back-strong-kick. Effective against Eiji and Temjin, however they are prone to use their super moves if you abuse this too much (after a while you know when they're about to use them though).

- Mickey for some reason won't block King's sliding crouched kick, so force him to use his meter and keep using that to beat him.

- Jack is by far the easiest fight in the game, he has a horrible moveset as pretty much every move leaves him wide open for retaliation. Avoid jumping, block his attacks and punish afterwards for an easy win.

- As for bonus game, I only do strength training for an increased lifebar. Strong kick for far away enemies and crouched punches for up close ones. I once beat all enemies with 9 seconds remaining on the clock with this tactic.

Still figuring out the rest. The game is much more enjoyable for me now.

[null1024]

Project Diva f [Vita].

I'm enjoying it quite a bit. Looks nicer, far improved in-game UI [the song clear status bar is at the bottom along the screen and is segmented, it's both easier to check at-a-glance and is less confusing to read], really solid framerate [even in Extend there were a few framedrops], seems to be a decent sequel, star notes are completely retarded though. You can literally just swipe at random, and as long as each swipe is close enough to a note to get any ranking at all, it counts as at least a GOOD.
Mind you, if the input window wasn't so damn wide they'd be the actual worst, since I've had swipes just not get read at all.

I don't ever remember getting this many GREAT or EXCELLENT clears in Extend, even on Normal. Either I just got better [not like I ever touch Normal tracks once I clear them] or this game has easier charts. Some of the Extreme charts have sections with inputs that I have no idea how to read though, since I dunno how they match up with the song.

The Vita is a bit less comfortable to play on than the PSP due to its smaller buttons though. I've had to play sections one handed while trying to make the other hand feel more comfortable.

Things I hate about Vita games: devs seems to really like rendering 3D at PSP resolution [so far, I think Wipeout, TxK, and Sonic ASRT are the only games I've seen that run at full display res [maybe SFxTekken, but I uninstalled that to make room for Miku], and Wipeout dynamically adjusts its own based on framerate [which is neato, considering that when the framerate goes down, the screen is covered in shader effects anyway]] -- it's fine here usually because you're probably busy looking at the notes [so, rendering at full res would be a waste, really], but it's noticeable as fuck when you see your character in menus and the like. Bleh.

on an unrelated note, my PSP only shipped yesterday, bleh
at least it should be here by Friday or Saturday, considering it's going from SC->FL and not NY->FL or something