What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

[Marc]

The apparent cruciality of the whole remake culture thing is simultaneously astonishing and rather funny to me. I've not been paying any attention at all to SH2 remake but the impression I get is that it's technically competent mostly-artless commercial work #712563, and somehow this has become worth celebrating because it's less shit than everything else. Exactly the same position as the Resi remake series, which is presumably what they were aiming for.

The brain drain surrounding these immense IP rightsholder companies is so severe at this point that it's impossible to believe they're running on anything beyond fumes and momentum.

Same here. I said in a Mark MSX community post thing that I wonder when it'll be time to repaint the Mona Lisa and sell it as a new piece of art? We should repaint it every 10 years or so and delete all images of the old one, as well as burn the old paintings. Make it impossible for anyone to experience the original art in its original form. Force these zoomers to look only at the NEW ART, dammit.

We should re-shoot Lawrence of Arabia every ten years too. Fuck David Lean! We can do it better now! New stuff made with new technology is always superior to the old!

But seriously, I don't care about the merits of any remake if it doesn't include the original game inside of it somewhere. If you haven't preserved the original work then you can fuck off.

Good remakes: Tomb Raider remasters, Dragon's Trap, La-Mulana, Strange Journey Redux (only because you can disable all the Redux shit,) Devil Survivor Overclocked etc. The basic dna of the original game is still in there. Either it's the same code in a different wrapper or very similar to the original version.

I'm sure people will disagree, because I've encountered the very opposite opinion frequently: that a remake has no value unless it does "something radically different" from the original work. AKA it needs to be a completely separate game but with the same name, and somehow this is a good thing despite how it dilutes search results and makes preservation of the original game harder (since megacorps simply refuse to port the "old" version of the game when they could port the "new" one.)

Nobody is taking away your original thing though. It still exists, and there are probably more ways to play it with every year that passes. Let's not pretend that's ever going to change.

And The Electric Underground? His coverage of RE4RE was, well, shit, and unbearably pretentious.The video equivalent of that Icycalm guy' website. Debating it's merits vs the original us one thing, trying to claim it's some 'souless' piece of shit is pure fantasy land.

[Steven]

Here, let me fix that for you.

And The Electric Underground? His coverage of everything is, well, shit, and unbearably pretentious.

There. That's better.

[Immryr]

But seriously, I don't care about the merits of any remake if it doesn't include the original game inside of it somewhere. If you haven't preserved the original work then you can fuck off.

This seems like a weird take to me. It also seems contrary to your own recent excitement for the Kage remake and Tengo project games in general.

[Sima Tuna]

But seriously, I don't care about the merits of any remake if it doesn't include the original game inside of it somewhere. If you haven't preserved the original work then you can fuck off.

This seems like a weird take to me. It also seems contrary to your own recent excitement for the Kage remake and Tengo project games in general.

You got me there lol. I do wish Tengo Project had included the original version of the game with their remakes. Would be cool to play Wild Guns SNES and then switch over to the new Wild Guns in 16:9.

[Marc]

Here, let me fix that for you.

And The Electric Underground? His coverage of everything is, well, shit, and unbearably pretentious.

There. That's better.

I'm so fucking glad it's not just me.

[lpslucasps]

But seriously, I don't care about the merits of any remake if it doesn't include the original game inside of it somewhere. If you haven't preserved the original work then you can fuck off.

I agree with the sentiment. Most remakes are fine, some are genuinely good and innovative. But they should not, and do not substitute the original work, which sould be readily available somehow. And, hey, if you're remaking the game, why not include the original work with it, so I can better appreciate what is being remade?

[Lander]

I did a bit of a wiki dive on Silent Hill at large last night, and ended up bumming around the Konami's Direction For The Relaunch section.
Hmm. I've a sense things might decline after SH2R has blown over, absent a change in direction; there seems a distinct lack of care for the sizeable parts of the series that aren't explicitly psychological.

The apparent cruciality of the whole remake culture thing is simultaneously astonishing and rather funny to me. I've not been paying any attention at all to SH2 remake but the impression I get is that it's technically competent mostly-artless commercial work #712563, and somehow this has become worth celebrating because it's less shit than everything else. Exactly the same position as the Resi remake series, which is presumably what they were aiming for.

The brain drain surrounding these immense IP rightsholder companies is so severe at this point that it's impossible to believe they're running on anything beyond fumes and momentum.

Well, that's video games in the large these days. Ruined with a chance of interest.
There's a distinct transience to these new attempts; fun for a couple of runs, but with a significantly lower chance of revisit than the material that inspired them. Self-fulfilling, I guess.

Though I've seen more-artless than SH2R; yet to witness the ending, but 2/3-ish through it doesn't seem to have hacked away or replaced anything wholly unforgivable, which is more than can be said for its big-ticket peers.
But at the same time, it's Silent Hill 2. Even if the remake lands in broad, the hardcore get the band back together (they won't lol) or it's illegitimate sentiment is a justifiably long shadow.

I'm sure people will disagree, because I've encountered the very opposite opinion frequently: that a remake has no value unless it does "something radically different" from the original work. AKA it needs to be a completely separate game but with the same name, and somehow this is a good thing despite how it dilutes search results and makes preservation of the original game harder (since megacorps simply refuse to port the "old" version of the game when they could port the "new" one.)

An erosive notion, that one. And well compatible with the Dorito Pope 'we like new and cutting edge and bold' nonsense.
I'd be perfectly fine with it if reimagining was the sell-line, but as it stands the wilful malleating of language is typical disingenuous maneuvering. This is what it means to create context, Jack!

I'm so fucking glad it's not just me.

It's definitely not just you

[Eyvah_Ehyeh]

Playing Grunn. Surreal "metroidbrania". Wonderful first 2 hours, but just as was the case with Animal Well, I just might lose interest toward the end. Like, it seems like it's quite deep, the "well", also in this game, so I might just not have the patience to solve it. When I do, I'll get back to Echoes of Wisdom. 2D zelda games have been my jam since Skyward Sword (before that, I played all the 3D ones as well, and adored them, especially the N64 ones). Also juggling COBALT CORE, which might be the first roguelike deckbuilder that I've played that feels like it could compete for the top spot that Slay the Spire has had ever since I first played it.

[guigui]

Currenlty playing some Boomerang Fu
https://www.dekudeals.com/items/boomerang-fu

Mindless multiplayer game ala Bomberman, but imo faster and funnier. Really, if you have some friends or kids to play with, just treat yourself with this game at $2 currently, no possible ragret.

[Marc]

But seriously, I don't care about the merits of any remake if it doesn't include the original game inside of it somewhere. If you haven't preserved the original work then you can fuck off.

I agree with the sentiment. Most remakes are fine, some are genuinely good and innovative. But they should not, and do not substitute the original work, which sould be readily available somehow. And, hey, if you're remaking the game, why not include the original work with it, so I can better appreciate what is being remade?

Except the OP has already made an exception for Team Tengo games. When it suits?

[ryu]

Silent Hill 2 spoiler

Spoiler

In the original when James first picks up the radio Mary's voice can be heard over the static saying "James ... kill ...", directly alluding to his murder of her. I was only quickly playing bits of games with both friends for a rough comparison but that one line alone sent shivers down my spine like nothing else. Of course the remake completely missed this nuance.

I also noticed that in the originals first dialogue with Angela her and James are standing awkwardly close to each other but seem to talk as if they were far apart. It's these small things that make it a narrative masterpiece.

Yeah Mark is pretentious and really likes to hear himself talk, but comparing him to Icycalm goes too far. And tbh I liked some of his videos at least somewhat. He has some sound opinions (that he likes to beat the dead horse with ofc...).

Btw I got stuck in the geometry of SH2 Remake and had to quit out...

[lpslucasps]

Except the OP has already made an exception for Team Tengo games. When it suits?

Well, in my case it's quite simple. As long as the original game is easily available, I'm fine with most remakes, as long as they're good. Hell, I'm fine even with bad remakes, as long as the publishers don't try to make something stupid like delisting the original game to force me to buy a remake/remaster instead (like, say, what Rockstar tried to do with the GTA Trilogy).

[Steven]

Here, let me fix that for you.

And The Electric Underground? His coverage of everything is, well, shit, and unbearably pretentious.

There. That's better.

I'm so fucking glad it's not just me.

Don't worry, it is most definitely not just you.

I agree with the sentiment. Most remakes are fine, some are genuinely good and innovative. But they should not, and do not substitute the original work, which sould be readily available somehow. And, hey, if you're remaking the game, why not include the original work with it, so I can better appreciate what is being remade?

So what do you do when a creator makes a remake and within the remake there is a message that says "My original game is kind of a piece of shit because I had no idea what I was doing when I made it, so play the original at your discretion" and the story of the original game no longer works with the subsequently developed prequels, and fixing the story is part of why the remake exists? That is absolutely a substitution and replacement of the original by the creator's own admission, and yes, I know of a game where this happened, which is why I bring it up.

[lpslucasps]

I agree with the sentiment. Most remakes are fine, some are genuinely good and innovative. But they should not, and do not substitute the original work, which sould be readily available somehow. And, hey, if you're remaking the game, why not include the original work with it, so I can better appreciate what is being remade?

So what do you do when a creator makes a remake and within the remake there is a message that says "My original game is kind of a piece of shit because I had no idea what I was doing when I made it, so play the original at your discretion" and the story of the original game no longer works with the subsequently developed prequels, and fixing the story is part of why the remake exists? That is absolutely a substitution and replacement of the original by the creator's own admission, and yes, I know of a game where this happened, which is why I bring it up.

The author is entitled to their opinion and I'm glad they were able to make the game they always wanted. Notwithstanding, I think the original game should be preserved, and playing it would give me a better appreciation of the remake.

[Steven]

I agree with the sentiment. Most remakes are fine, some are genuinely good and innovative. But they should not, and do not substitute the original work, which sould be readily available somehow. And, hey, if you're remaking the game, why not include the original work with it, so I can better appreciate what is being remade?

So what do you do when a creator makes a remake and within the remake there is a message that says "My original game is kind of a piece of shit because I had no idea what I was doing when I made it, so play the original at your discretion" and the story of the original game no longer works with the subsequently developed prequels, and fixing the story is part of why the remake exists? That is absolutely a substitution and replacement of the original by the creator's own admission, and yes, I know of a game where this happened, which is why I bring it up.

The author is entitled to their opinion and I'm glad they were able to make the game they always wanted. Notwithstanding, I think the original game should be preserved, and playing it would give me a better appreciation of the remake.

It's a PC doujin game that was released physically in limited quantities in China over a decade ago. There was a digital release, again only in China, and I think it's maybe gone now, or at least I can't find it, so the only guaranteed way to legally obtain it is to go find a used copy in China, so I hope your Chinese is good.

[lpslucasps]

It's a PC doujin game that was released physically in limited quantities in China over a decade ago. There was a digital release, again only in China, and I think it's maybe gone now, or at least I can't find it, so the only guaranteed way to legally obtain it is to go find a used copy in China, so I hope your Chinese is good.

Its unavailability is a shame, the qualities of the remake notwithstanding. Once again, I'm of the belief the original work should be preserved and available — something that I'm well aware is not always possible.

As for the language barrier, it's certainly a hassle but nowadays there are a lot of tools to help overcome it. I've played my fair share of Japanese and Russian games using translators before (and before I learned the language, English too¹). I'm not saying it would be a seamless experience, but it's not the end of the world if I'm really interested in the game.

Anyways, does this game have a name?

¹ not saying I speak it well lol

[Steven]

Anyways, does this game have a name?

面包房少女 CODE NAME:BAKERY GIRL
It has both regular and limited edition versions. This is what ended up becoming remade as Reverse Collapse, and Reverse Collapse actually contains two separate remakes of this, one of which is much closer to the original Bakery Girl, but it's still very different. Once you start that more faithful remake for the first time, there's a disclaimer that pops up that warns the player that the game is very, very poorly designed and balanced because the developer had no experience at all when he made it. This remake is still significantly more polished and easier to play than the original Bakery Girl.

That original version of Bakery Girl is also an extremely radically different remake of the supremely rare 面包房少女 ~ Withered, of which only 400 copies exist. Yes, this does indeed mean that there is a single game with three very different remakes all made by the same guy over the course of about 15 years. This game is secretly super important, as it unintentionally ended up becoming the foundation of the modern Chinese phone game industry despite being an ultra-obscure PC-only visual novel, but you're probably never going to find a copy of it or Bakery Girl.

[XoPachi]

Was playing GP Legend last night. While this game is still an 8/10 because F-Zero is exclusively comprised of excellence, I'm noticing some flaws about it. Mainly that it was kind of structured in a way that was more for formality and tradition's sake than really considering why certain things worked in the past.

GP Legend sports 5 lap races. But it's the first classic entry to move from Super Jets and Elimination Racing to point based Grand Prix's and the 3D games' boost meter. The Super Jet being a single turbo awarded each lap was meant to be a very preciously limited but, difficult to time resource. One boost a lap up to 3 is much less generous than a meter. You had to expend it very carefully because using it poorly would have you pinballing off the rails and wasting it or overshooting jumps entirely and dying outright. This can still happen in GP Legend but, there's another element here...
To facilitate the rank-out racing, F-Zero 1 and Max opt for progressively difficult RNG through it's races in the form of the bumper drones and bombs (not the mines in Silence or Synobazz, I'm referring to the randomly appearing black bombs/flashing bumpers). Those two games were just as much about dodging as they were about going fast testing how well you can maintain a line with obstructions. There's a steady curve in pressure throughout a race. If you cannot manage it, you'd fall behind the safe limit and lose before the race concludes. Compounding these is the ruthless rubberbanding and very scant energy refills.

Juggling all of this for 5 laps made F-Zero 1 and Max tests of endurance through gradually mounting tension. It would have a lot less stress at the typical 3 lap count.

GP Legend is very standard racing. It's fine racing, of course but, 5 laps starts to drag when it's not doing the things it's prior classic style games did. You've much less in the way of resource tension and the game is not throwing anything at you to make you panic. So what happens is 2 laps of most races feel like fairly empty repeats especially since this happens to just generally be the easiest F-Zero entry. This can really add up during a session and oddly makes it exhausting for extended periods even though previous games were 5 laps and do not get to this point. You pull ahead and nothing really challenges you through the remainder of the race to justify the added duration save for some track layouts themselves (ILLUSION). I don't know if that's why they switched to 3 laps in Climax but, it's better for it.

[To Far Away Times]

Climax is my favorite of the GBA ones, but F-Zero GX is my favorite F-Zero game by a mile.

—

I’m playing Nioh 2 right now and god damn this game is difficult. Each of the first three bosses has been tough. The serpent boss, especially, is an asshole. But it’s a very well designed game. Attacks can be studied, patterns can be learned, and what once seemed impossible can be cleared with a bunch of healing items left over.

One thing that is hard to adjust to is how little room for error there is. Two hits can usually kill you outright, and enemies often quickly chain attacks together. Also, panic rolling will get you killed every time.

[m.sniffles.esq]

Seeing that Everspace 2 is leaving gamepass in a couple weeks, I decided to re-investigate it. And yeah... My initial reaction seems to be correct.

The first is straight up great, and I highly recommend it. I'm guessing they attempted to widen the appeal for the sequel, and it sort of killed it for me.

Just from a purely aesthetic standpoint, I much prefer the first's '70s prog rock record cover graphical style to the sequel's more comic book slant. Graphics aside, I find the original's open 'rougelike' gameplay much more engaging than the sequel's mission-based 'souls-like' proceedings. Personally, I don't find doing some pedestrian task 268 times in attempts to figure out how to keep the boss that spawns upon completion of said task from crewing you up in 15 seconds to be a lot of fun. And while I fully understand there's a large percentage of the population that's all about that shit--because oh! what shot of dopamine you get when you finally figure it out/execute it perfectly--I happen to be in the minority that finds it tedious.

With that said, if you're down for some Freelancer with some Dark Souls thrown in, it will probably be up your alley.

[XoPachi]

Rivals of Aether 2 got a demo for the next week that's basically just the full online experience. So I've been playing that. Don't know how to feel about it yet. I know I hate the monetization. I get why it had to be this way, but it doesn't change my opinion of it. But as far as the game itself, I'm not sure.
But it does work and work well, especially the rollback online. So if anyone's curious and just wants a free (for the moment) platfighter to try, you'll be in a match within a minute of installing. Go to town. https://store.steampowered.com/app/2217 ... Aether_II/

[To Far Away Times]

I really don’t remember Nioh 1 being this hard. I thought it was maybe a little more difficult than Dark Souls games, but not much more.

Nioh 2 has been brutal, lol.

[Sturmvogel Prime]

Revisiting No Man's Sky after all these years. The ol' galactic neighborhood really changed since my last play.

[m.sniffles.esq]

Revisiting No Man's Sky after all these years. The ol' galactic neighborhood really changed since my last play.

Is your favorite base underwater or in the middle of a mountain?

[Sturmvogel Prime]

Revisiting No Man's Sky after all these years. The ol' galactic neighborhood really changed since my last play.

Is your favorite base underwater or in the middle of a mountain?

Well, that depends on which planet I build it. Most of the times I build them on the beach allowing me to build a coast-to-underwater base, and most of times is now a good idea considering the latest updates added undersea ruins and salvageable ships.

[m.sniffles.esq]

Well, that depends on which planet I build it. Most of the times I build them on the beach allowing me to build a coast-to-underwater base, and most of times is now a good idea considering the latest updates added undersea ruins and salvageable ships.

After not playing for awhile, I found the base I last saved at being half-buried in a mountain, I then warped to my biggest/most involved base and found it at the bottom of an ocean. I guess these issues aren't exactly rare as planets often get re-terraformed after updates.

[Lander]

There's something faintly Douglas Adams about all that. The planning documentation has been on display at Alpha Centauri for over 10 standard units of temporal measure; it's your own lookout if you couldn't be bothered to figure out FTL travel in time to lodge a formal complaint.

[Sima Tuna]

Subnautica taught me never to build your base with a viewport facing a Leviathan spawn zone. For your own mental health.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

There's something faintly Douglas Adams about all that.

> LIE IN MUD
> ENJOY MUD

[m.sniffles.esq]

There's something faintly Douglas Adams about all that

Not going to lie, there was something very Douglas Adams about

I found myself thinking about No Man's Sky towards the end of the summer. Upon loading up my save, I realized I'd never played any of it's main 'quests' to completion before I got bored.

So I made the very loooooooonnnng journey to the center of the galaxy and I found:

Spoiler

new game+

too

(although, it made me realize his books are probably funnier to the reader than to the characters living them...)