Tomo
Junior Member
![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star.png)
Posts: 2,800
|
Post by Tomo on Jun 5, 2024 23:12:51 GMT
Late Shift - 7.5/10
Enjoyable little interactive FMV game where you romp through London having got in far too deep with a robbery gone wrong. Acting veers from good to wooden and there are some bizarre moments of questionable character decision making, but it's all a lot of fun and doesn't take itself too seriously.
|
|
|
Post by dangerousdave on Jun 7, 2024 14:55:00 GMT
Holy crap. I did it!
Advanced Wars (Switch)
That last mission is such a grind! And I get that maybe the message there is that war is ugly, but I can’t say I enjoyed it very much. Whilst I initially liked the idea of capturing bases and spawning fresh units, that last mission felt like I just had to throw every unit I could afford at the map until they were unable to move. It felt really scrappy. A bit cheap after the offerings of the previous missions.
Overall, it’s still a great game. The vast majority of the missions are very well designed. At first you might feel there’s some trial and error required in order to understand and complete certain missions, but as you etch the logic of all the units into your head you learn to pretty much anticipate anything. When a strategy pays off, be it a clean assault or having the enemy fall into a trap, it feels so incredibly rewarding. And if I didn’t have the cleanest victory, I was often compelled to replay a mission to get that S Rank.
That last mission grind has given me fatigue, however, so I won’t be jumping into the sequel just yet. I need to take some time away and wait for that itch to return.
4/5
|
|
|
Post by Samildanach on Jun 8, 2024 20:33:21 GMT
Before I get stuck into shmups of 1993 proper, I played these randoms, mainly because of rare Arcade Archives sales on PS store recently.
Space Moth DX (Indie) Originally '17 A chilled out indie bullet hell. Initially the music, visuals and gameplay didn't really excite, but I got drawn in as I practiced and improved. This is not a ridiculously hard bullet hell either as you have both a bomb and a rechargeable shield mechanic to get you out of tight spots. Despite my enjoyment with it, I tend to prefer something a bit more adrenaline filled and the visuals all are a bit...flat; but this was nice for a while. 3/5
War of Aero : Project MEIOU (Arcade) '93 This rather obscure game (nobody knows even when exactly it was released) is a pretty good Image Fight clone. You start out in a space colony and base before descending throught the atmosphere to the planet. Stage 4 in the creepy cave ended up being my wall before one continues on into a fun speed zone. Stage 6 is the best with a wonderful ascent up a massive space tower accompanied by the best music before the final two levels in enemy bases round things off with difficult challenges. This one is very much a hidden gem and certainly one of the best by Allumer. The large variety of weapon types keep things interesting for repeat plays and I definitely will come by back to this one over the years. 4/5
Metal Hawk (Arcade) Oct '88 Namco's output in this era, particularly in this game, was absolutely stunning for its time. The game is a top-down free-scrolling shmup and your attack chopper can change altitude at your whim with all enemies and backgrounds scaling beautifully below and around you with no slowdown...in 1988!! Just a stunning piece of work that is marred by the gameplay being less tight than a traditional shmup. It is a little too easy to get hit because of the difficulty in parsing bullets and enemies coming from all angles as well as above and below you, all at once potentially. One for the wow factor occasionally rather than spending obsessive time trying to 1cc it I think. 3.5/5
Fighter & Attacker (Arcade) Oct '92 Namco's attempt at a vertical shmup in the style of Toaplan's early output/Raiden. It is famous (mainly in Japan) for it's ridiculous music (in a good way) which wouldn't sound out of place out of a Streets of Rage game or '90s Detroit club scene (apparently). The gameplay itself is solid and the visuals stay strictly modern era military without any fantasy/sci-fi. Oddly you face the evil dictator escaping his base in his purple helicopter at the end of the penultimate stage before a final stage taking down planes in the sky. Maybe he sent them as his last revenge? Anyway, the massive selection of ships give great replayability and it is a well made game even if a little 'been there done that' by '92. 3.5/5
|
|
zagibu
Junior Member
![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star.png)
Posts: 1,709
|
Post by zagibu on Jun 8, 2024 23:25:06 GMT
Finished WH40K: Mechanicus on normal. Was way too easy in the end. Could finish most missions, including the final boss, in the first turn. Took me exactly 50 hours to play all of the slightly less than 50 missions.
Sided with Scaevola, of course, fuck the pious vindictive grampa Videx.
|
|
|
Post by simple on Jun 9, 2024 0:02:07 GMT
Psychonauts 1 Classic Schafer. Cool original concept; genuinely funny and smart writing; complete ballache to play at least 40% of the time. Loved it back in the day but its showing its age a bit now. Mainly when it comes to control precision and the way the camera behaves. The second is basically more of the same with modern quality of life improvements smoothing out the ride so we’ll blame any frustrating bits on the PS2 rather than the devs. There’s a 30+ episode dev diary of Psychonauts 2 here that’s actually pretty interesting here: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIhLvue17Sd70y34zh2erWWpMyOnh4UN_
|
|
|
Post by Aunt Alison on Jun 9, 2024 0:40:40 GMT
Psychonauts 1 Classic Schafer. Cool original concept; genuinely funny and smart writing; complete ballache to play at least 40% of the time. Loved it back in the day but its showing its age a bit now. Mainly when it comes to control precision and the way the camera behaves. The second is basically more of the same with modern quality of life improvements smoothing out the ride so we’ll blame any frustrating bits on the PS2 rather than the devs. There’s a 30+ episode dev diary of Psychonauts 2 here that’s actually pretty interesting here: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIhLvue17Sd70y34zh2erWWpMyOnh4UN_Played it not too long ago (first time) and pretty much agree with all of that. Had no idea what to expect from it going in but ended up really enjoying it. Really liked the art style and character designs - reminded me of Day of the Tentacle a bit
Haven't played the second one yet but I do own it
|
|
malek86
Junior Member
![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star.png)
Pomegranate Deseeder
Posts: 3,014
|
Post by malek86 on Jun 9, 2024 7:32:45 GMT
I think Psychonauts 2 is a massive improvement over the first one in all the ways that count. The open world-style collectibles feel pretty pointless and just tacked on to follow modern trends, but everything else is ace.
|
|
|
Post by simple on Jun 9, 2024 7:55:40 GMT
Its been awhile since I played 2 but I don’t remember it having any different collectibles to 1. Although 1 does have the figments, emotional baggage, mental cobwebs, psy-cards, psy-challenge markers, the safes, the hidden scrapbook items, the brains and the arrow head currency. Which are a lot of collectible types considering almost all of them have the same effect in boosting your XP rank.
I do think both are bloody good though. Apart from those bastard rats who exploded into green clouds.
|
|
|
Post by pierrepressure on Jun 9, 2024 8:06:20 GMT
Baldurs Gate 3 - 9/10
One of the best games of this generation, I was hooked from start to finish.
137 hours on the clock, no idea how Bichii blasted through it.
|
|
MolarAm🔵
Full Member
![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star.png) ![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star.png)
Bad at games
Posts: 6,292
Member is Online
|
Post by MolarAm🔵 on Jun 9, 2024 8:28:06 GMT
It's because she doesn't believe in doing side quests in an RPG
|
|
Duffmangb
New Member
Locust Forever
Posts: 72
|
Post by Duffmangb on Jun 9, 2024 8:32:14 GMT
It's because she doesn't believe in doing side quests in an RPG What was the game revan "completed" by watching a playthrough on YT ![;)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/wink.png) in fairness when called out she did come clean about it, that is our revan.
|
|
|
Post by dangerousdave on Jun 9, 2024 10:09:29 GMT
It’s always more honourable to mop up side quests and find missable items/bosses/powers than it is to actually finish an RPG properly.
|
|
Tuffty
Junior Member
![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star.png)
Posts: 3,002
|
Post by Tuffty on Jun 9, 2024 12:09:02 GMT
Paranormasight - 8/10
Just an awful, awful name for a game really. A horror/supernatural visual novel with some gorgeous artwork and character design full of twists and turns in narrative and what the game expects of you. To say any more would be spoiling it and it's maybe 6-7 hrs long anyway but the cast of characters are enjoyable and unravelling the story was engaging. No voice acting, but that's about the only criticism on a production side. There are a few jump scares but not overly packed with them throughout as you might think. I do think the opening of the game is it's strongest point but it's still entertaining. I think it actually does a good job of keeping the suspense up without resorting to jump scares a lot. Some of the descriptions of murders is quite detailed and grim to think about. It also taps into an unpleasant feeling I hadn't had in a while. Remember in MGS1, the moment where you're on a call with Otacon as the elevator is going down and you realise there are stealth camouflaged soldiers on the life with you? And Otacons portrait changes to him being close up? That usually gets to me. I think its the shift from normal to distressed that ramps up the tension and punctuates that somethings not right and you're in danger. That happens a fair amount in this game too. Characters looking scared, visibly distressed or even killed looks grotesque, it's disconcerting. I had that sinking feeling wondering what on earth was gonna happen next. But then that's the point right? Picked it up on sale for less than £10, if any of that sounds interesting I think you'll have a good time.
|
|
|
Post by JuniorFE on Jun 9, 2024 12:17:18 GMT
It’s always more honourable to mop up side quests and find missable items/bosses/powers than it is to actually finish an RPG properly. "What do you mean a giant meteor is about to crush our world, I'm not leaving here until I have a golden Chocobo!"
|
|
malek86
Junior Member
![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star.png)
Pomegranate Deseeder
Posts: 3,014
|
Post by malek86 on Jun 9, 2024 16:44:49 GMT
Supermarket Shriek (Switch)
Something of an obstacle racer, with only two control buttons: you turn your kart around by shouting either left or right, and accelerate by shouting in both directions at the same time. Kinda hard to describe really, but it's fun. Later levels tend to get very hard, but never quite to the point of frustration... well, depending on your patience.
Can even be played coop by having one player press each button. I can't imagine what kind of a mess that would be. It's hard enough in single player already.
Switch version does look a bit low-res and performance isn't always great, but it works well enough. If you have access to other versions they might be better, but it's still perfectly serviceable.
8/10
|
|
|
Post by Bill in the rain on Jun 10, 2024 2:06:04 GMT
Prince of Persia - Sands of Time (GC version on Wii) This is still a great game. Much shorter and much easier than I remembered. I remembered some of the puzzles being rather tricky, but not so much. Maybe all the subsequent PoP and Tomb Raider games raised my game! Platforming is still awesome. When you get into a groove you can fly through sections without pausing, and the dagger is still a genius mechanic, because if at any point in flying through obstacles you screw up you can just rewind. (The last section, where it's taken away for a bit, really highlights how much it cuts down on frustration and alows you to take risks without worrying about needing to restart whole sections) Combat is still its weak point. The basic combat is fine, though they did make 1 or 2 moves very OP so that you have no reason to use the others. The problem is that they just spawn in endless enemies for *FAR* too long. If they cut the number of enemies by 50%+ it'd really improve the game, though make it even shorter I guess. (Short is good, imho) The voice acting and little touches are great. The relationship and banter between the Prince and Farah is still excellent. Unfortunately the GC version has severe issues with voice volumes, which means you miss half of it I forget which platform I first played it on (Xbox? GC? PC?) but I definitely didn't have that issue back then. 8.5/10 (or 9/10 if the voices worked). 10/10 at the time. Now I kinda want to play Warrior Within. iirc it improves the platforming, puzzles and combat, but totally screws up the characters and vibe. So I'm torn on whether to actually play it as it might just annoy me. Maybe I'll do TR:Underworld or a Styx game instead.
|
|
ekz
New Member
O_o
Posts: 644
|
Post by ekz on Jun 10, 2024 3:07:00 GMT
Glad you finally managed to finish a game Bill. Good write up. 👍
|
|
|
Post by Bill in the rain on Jun 10, 2024 4:24:43 GMT
I have finished games before! Probably!
Sands of Time for one...
PS/ That reminds me, did anyone ever finish Kentucky Route Zero? I happened to notice it was on sale on Switch, which reminded me I never finished it. I think I finished 2-3 episodes and then had to wait for more to be released. Which of course meant I totally forgot about it, and have now totally forgotten what happened so far. I'm gonna have to go back and do it all from the beginning, aren't I? I don't think episodic games work for me...
|
|
malek86
Junior Member
![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star.png)
Pomegranate Deseeder
Posts: 3,014
|
Post by malek86 on Jun 10, 2024 9:10:41 GMT
Unfortunately the GC version has severe issues with voice volumes, which means you miss half of it I forget which platform I first played it on (Xbox? GC? PC?) but I definitely didn't have that issue back then. I played the game on Xbox BC some time ago, as well as PC, and it had the exact same problem. Seems it should be related to surround audio, but I couldn't find a way to fix it.
|
|
hicksy
Junior Member
![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star.png)
I'm good for some but I'm not for everyone
Posts: 1,253
|
Post by hicksy on Jun 10, 2024 9:24:11 GMT
...did anyone ever finish Kentucky Route Zero? I happened to notice it was on sale on Switch, which reminded me I never finished it. I think I finished 2-3 episodes and then had to wait for more to be released. Which of course meant I totally forgot about it, and have now totally forgotten what happened so far. I'm gonna have to go back and do it all from the beginning, aren't I? I don't think episodic games work for me... It's just not that good imo. Like a game version of a sundance film. A lot of style but little substance. Must be better things to play? ![;)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/wink.png)
|
|
|
Post by Bill in the rain on Jun 10, 2024 9:27:23 GMT
Unfortunately the GC version has severe issues with voice volumes, which means you miss half of it I forget which platform I first played it on (Xbox? GC? PC?) but I definitely didn't have that issue back then. I played the game on Xbox BC some time ago, as well as PC, and it had the exact same problem. Seems it should be related to surround audio, but I couldn't find a way to fix it. It's weird. They can't *all* have had some weird sound driver change. I definitely didn't have that problem when I first played it, as I remember the dialogue being a key part of why I liked it.
|
|
malek86
Junior Member
![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star.png)
Pomegranate Deseeder
Posts: 3,014
|
Post by malek86 on Jun 10, 2024 9:44:19 GMT
Is your Wii set to Pro Logic 2? If it is, try with stereo. Otherwise, I don't know why it would happen on consoles too.
Most annoyingly, there are no subtitles at all. I guess it was a common problem in 2003, unfortunately.
|
|
Tuffty
Junior Member
![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star.png)
Posts: 3,002
|
Post by Tuffty on Jun 12, 2024 23:32:20 GMT
Ghostrunner 2 - 6/10
Wish I had more to say about this but it's the most bland, forgettable campaign of anything I've played in recent memory. No likeable characters, no crazy setpieces, no big moments. Its largely parkouring around a future cyberpunk setting with some motorbike sections. When it all goes well you're flowing from one moment to the next pretty well but when you stumble it really shows, falling to death, getting caught in geometry etc. Combat sections are largely trial and error puzzles on their own. Glad to have played on PS Plus at least
|
|
|
Post by Bill in the rain on Jun 13, 2024 1:52:53 GMT
All parkour-type games should have a rewind button imho. It solves all the issues.
|
|
malek86
Junior Member
![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star.png)
Pomegranate Deseeder
Posts: 3,014
|
Post by malek86 on Jun 13, 2024 20:39:05 GMT
Ghostrunner 2 - 6/10 Wish I had more to say about this but it's the most bland, forgettable campaign of anything I've played in recent memory. No likeable characters, no crazy setpieces, no big moments. Its largely parkouring around a future cyberpunk setting with some motorbike sections. When it all goes well you're flowing from one moment to the next pretty well but when you stumble it really shows, falling to death, getting caught in geometry etc. Combat sections are largely trial and error puzzles on their own. Glad to have played on PS Plus at least How does it compare to the first game? I thought that one was okay, but yeah, pretty bland and not much to say about it. Kinda hard too, though not as much as I had expected from the reviews. It was mostly a matter of understanding when and where to stop.
|
|
Vortex
Junior Member
![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star.png)
Harvey Weinstein's Tattered Penis
is apparently a mangina.
Posts: 4,873
Member is Online
|
Post by Vortex on Jun 14, 2024 11:05:59 GMT
A Little to the Left
An arranging/tidying puzzler that can sometimes be a little obtuse. May rinse a few minor achievements out of it yet, but it's done. Gentle, fun and occasionally frustrating.
I had to look up a guide to find out how to put an animal skull in a box in one of the last levels as I knew *what* I had to do, just couldn't work out *how* to do it! There were a few moments like this over the game, but overall it was quite entertaining if you like that sort of thing.
7/10 would possibly puzzle again.
|
|
apollo
Junior Member
![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star.png)
Posts: 1,119
|
Post by apollo on Jun 14, 2024 13:53:43 GMT
Dark nights with Poe and Munro
Just finished the last chapters and its was good FMV type game, shame each chapter is one off story and no real link to each chapter (chapter 5 one was a bit crap) The actor who plays Poe, can't tell if he is being chessy on purpose or if its his best acting. The actress who plays Munro looks a lot like Alyson Hannigan
8/10
Got shape shifting detective in a recent sale and just started that
|
|
Tuffty
Junior Member
![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star.png)
Posts: 3,002
|
Post by Tuffty on Jun 14, 2024 18:06:59 GMT
Ghostrunner 2 - 6/10 Wish I had more to say about this but it's the most bland, forgettable campaign of anything I've played in recent memory. No likeable characters, no crazy setpieces, no big moments. Its largely parkouring around a future cyberpunk setting with some motorbike sections. When it all goes well you're flowing from one moment to the next pretty well but when you stumble it really shows, falling to death, getting caught in geometry etc. Combat sections are largely trial and error puzzles on their own. Glad to have played on PS Plus at least How does it compare to the first game? I thought that one was okay, but yeah, pretty bland and not much to say about it. Kinda hard too, though not as much as I had expected from the reviews. It was mostly a matter of understanding when and where to stop. I'd say it's a better game than first one yes. More diverse environments, skill tree to give yourself some different abilities, the motorbike sections are something different and quite fun, looks good, soundtrack is what you would expect. But yeh, story is bland, the surrounding cast even more so and the gameplay kinda wears thin even at the 7 hrs or so it took to beat.
|
|
|
Post by peacemaker on Jun 15, 2024 22:31:37 GMT
Hellblade 2
I can’t really give it a score. It’s in part 10/10, the visuals, audio, atmosphere. The characters and mo cap are amazing and there are many memorable moments through out and by the end I was fully invested in the characters and story.
It’s in part about 3 out of ten. Every time there was a visual puzzle with the bubbles I wanted to delete the game. The combat is pretty wank and basically but the animations and tension is so brilliant I can look past it.
It’s not too long, probably about right. I also love that there is zero hud.
Highly recommended if you can just ignore the awful puzzles and lack of real gameplay.
|
|
|
Post by lukasz on Jun 16, 2024 13:20:38 GMT
Culpa Innata SPOILERS for this 17 year old game. Had a blast until the end. The game just abruptly ends, doesnt fully conclude the main plot but at the same time sets up sooo much for sequel. It didnt happen and chances of that ever happening are nonexistent.* Game is big enough and detailed enough to be self-contained but i guess the writer wanted more and was hoping for great sales so can justify second game to see his vision? So thats the shame. But apparently there is a book. not available on amazon so need to hunt it down as it expands on the game considerably (its 500 pages according to amazon) Anyway. The game is pure adventure game but is very open world. At the end you get a score i guess based on how you performed. 95 for me. out of 100 meaning i did miss some stuff. but you can miss so much more including a whole section of the game and very important subplot. I did use walkthrough to point me to where to go next few times as I got stuck which allowed me know where to look for next clue. It is also very very text dialog heavy. so much talking which I found very relaxing and enjoyable in my hectic life. those two combos make the game fairly big for adventure game. 21h according to steam it took to beat. While I am disappointed that the game ended without real conclusion I am glad i played it. was very unique and truly enjoyable. edit:* I might be wrong: culpainnata.com/mainbecame active some time ago and is fairly detailed. and core of the Culpa Innata 2 was done at least to some extent but battle with publisher over money resulted in game never being completed. maybe kickstarter one day?
|
|