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Post by TG Barighm on Jul 13, 2019 2:06:01 GMT -5
Yeah, that was kind of the point and what Iga was going for when he made it. So far a lot of people have been quite happy with it, although it's not quite as good as SotN.
But this also makes it possible for him to release a sequel that IS just as good as SotN, or at least a similar Castlevania title. The game has likely sold at least 100k copies outside of Kickstarter sales, so the whole thing has generated $10 million. If they can get the game's sales to a cool million, then we can safely expect a few more tiles and proper publishing support, although I'd prefer if publishers left Iga alone and he made enough money to make whatever he wants.
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Post by acathala on Jul 13, 2019 14:38:34 GMT -5
Well at least Castlevania is getting a spiritual successor. Spare a thought for some of the other Konami franchises.
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Post by TG Barighm on Jul 13, 2019 15:24:24 GMT -5
I see gamers lamenting that practically every day, although there are rumours Konami is actually developing new MGS and Contra games right now, and I just spotted a new Castlevania on their roster. Hmm...seems to be a Dissonance of Harmony follow-up.
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Post by TG Barighm on Jul 17, 2019 4:19:17 GMT -5
BLOODSTAINED: The game doesn't make as good a first impression as SotN did, the music isn't nearly as catchy and there is little variety in the first enemies you encounter, but the game certainly looks colourfully vibrant and the first boss wasn't a mindless pushover like most SotN bosses were (they don't really get interesting until reverse castle). The same level of inventory variety seems to be present, the first weapon you start with has a combo technique, and you can power up spells and craft all sorts of items. There is quite a bit of incentive to explore too, what with unmarked hidden doors and how all new food recipes grant permanent stats bonuses. I like how they mapped spell techniques: spells are mapped to different buttons and combos depending on their style of use. It's very intuitive and is pretty effortless to switch between spells on the fly. I hear the game is long, too, at 30 hours for many people.
I can see why many say the game doesn't QUITE reach SotN levels, but it sure comes close. And, hey, as I said before, the sequel just might.
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Post by TG Barighm on Jul 18, 2019 0:54:54 GMT -5
20XX added to the list. It's my birthday present to myself.
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Post by TG Barighm on Jul 18, 2019 22:07:09 GMT -5
The Sinking City added to the list. I know, I said I don't like these kinds of worlds, but it's supposed to be a third person shooter, so it sounds promising.
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Post by TG Barighm on Jul 20, 2019 4:30:19 GMT -5
BLAZING CHROME It's a Contra rip. Which is fine. Until it does a whole Space Harrier sequence. Which is not.
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Post by acathala on Jul 20, 2019 6:02:15 GMT -5
The Sinking City added to the list. I know, I said I don't like these kinds of worlds, but it's supposed to be a third person shooter, so it sounds promising. If it helps from what I've seen of it, it doesn't look like the traditional Lovecraftian game.
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Post by TG Barighm on Jul 20, 2019 13:20:49 GMT -5
You know, I don't know where this "not quite as good as SotN" stuff is coming from. Yes, I agree the music in Bloodstained is not very good, and the enemy variety, awkward dialogue, and bugs kind of drag the game down, but the game is much longer than SotN, you have much more control over what spells you can learn and when, and the bosses are SO MUCH BETTER than SotN bosses.
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Post by TG Barighm on Jul 21, 2019 17:24:52 GMT -5
Sunset Overdrive has improved a fair bit with the introduction of the badges system. Basically you earn badges for doing cool things like scoring headshots or jumping from rail to rail. You then spend those badges on upgrades to the things you want. Now that I'm able to power up the things I actually care about instead of being pigeon-holed into a speedy hit-and-run role all the time, the game has eased up quite a bit. Just goes to show you always need to give games some time to hit their stride.
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Post by TG Barighm on Jul 24, 2019 4:00:53 GMT -5
HALF-MINUTE HERO: It's really more of a puzzle game than an RPG. Still a cute game. Novel idea. The way the maps are laid out remind me a lot of Ogre Battle. Many of its systems would actually work well for an Ogre Battle game...minus the time mechanics, of course.
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Post by TG Barighm on Jul 25, 2019 2:17:14 GMT -5
THE SINKING CITY: The biggest problem I'm having with this game is that it makes my PS4 run awfully loud; otherwise, it's pretty cool and the investigation and combat mechanics are good enough to keep me invested. I just wish I didn't feel like I need to give my PS4 a break every hour or so to play it.
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Post by TG Barighm on Jul 27, 2019 13:27:45 GMT -5
Added Owlboy to the list. Wondering if I should bother with Titanfall 2.
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Post by TG Barighm on Jul 30, 2019 13:48:40 GMT -5
Added God of War. The new one. I was avoiding this one because I haven't played any of the previous games.
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Post by TG Barighm on Jul 31, 2019 4:20:29 GMT -5
GUARDIAN HEROES: Had this one sitting around for a long time. The D-pad on the 360 controller sucks so it's hard to get used to the funky control scheme. Other than that, it's pretty cool. I just wish they'd give you more continues.
CHRONICLES OF MYSTARA: Again, shitty D-pad kind of ruins it, but it's got quite the campaign with lots of side paths and secret rooms to explore and, unlike GS, you're free to die as many times as you want. Which is pretty important when the control scheme sucks so much. Seriously. Who thought it was a good idea to have so many different items assigned to a single button in the middle of a frantic brawl? Game is also awfully vague about special moves. Instead of telling you what buttons to press, it uses symbols...which sometimes don't mean much. What the heck does "()" mean?
FALL OF THE GODS: Some lame-o 360 indie game. Well, okay, the Zelda style world was actually pretty well done, but I got annoyed at how often the game told me to log onto Facebook and the grade school level writing. Do you know how hard it is to solve a riddle when the text looks like something a 6 year old wrote?
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Post by TG Barighm on Aug 1, 2019 20:10:59 GMT -5
Shadow of War is available again, but I'm pretty sure this is the same copy I sent back that was damaged and didn't work. I'm wondering if I should bother with it again. Should I really give it a shot, or can I satisfy myself in thinking it plays like the first game, but improved? In the case, I'd probably buy it the same I way I bought the first one: as a bargain purchase during a publisher sale.
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Post by TG Barighm on Aug 2, 2019 5:13:24 GMT -5
THE SINKING CITY: This game is turning into a case of a whole lot of good ideas, atmosphere, and overall tone, but bad execution. It really sucks because you can see all of the framework for a terrific game, but then when you get down to the nitty gritty, it's like the devs had no idea how to make it actually fun. Instead, it feels more like they focused on checking off boxes. Which is a major shame because being able to alter the conclusion of the investigation by choosing HOW you handle the information is really frickin' cool. It's these kinds of games that make me sadder than disappointing failures like Anthem or Fallout 76.
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Post by TG Barighm on Aug 3, 2019 4:28:54 GMT -5
RECORE: Plays a lot like Ratchet & Clank, which means it's a third person shooter that requires a lot of shooting and dodging and puzzle solving and smashing crates to pick up shinies. Where Recore differs is its RPG elements, notably gathering up robotic parts to level up and customize her robot canine companion. Hopefully there are some other weapons besides the default rifle. The enemies are cool enough, so now I just need some weapon variety. Most of the game's faults seems to come from lack of polish. I've already encountered a few fun bugs, but so far most have just been graphical. Overall I'm enjoying the game. Let's see how it holds up.
Gives me an idea for a sci-fi campaign. Having a robotic companion you can customize would work nicely.
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Post by TG Barighm on Aug 15, 2019 5:21:31 GMT -5
RECORE: You never pick up another gun in Recore, and what you do later in the game is exactly what you do early in the game. Gets pretty tedious and some of the late game grinding is a little ridiculous. I did enjoy leveling and gearing the robots though. This could have easily been a much better game.
OWLBOY: They said it was a Metroidvania. It's not. Plays more like one of those old adventure shooters where you're in a ship and can shoot in any direction. Forget what it's called. Anyway, nice story and all, but avoiding enemies and solving puzzles doesn't really grab me.
XCOM-THE BUREAU: An old Mass Effect knock-off, except X-COM did the whole strategic thing way before Mass Effect ever did. The Bureau is easily a much smarter game than Mass Effect...but only because the game loves to spawn enemies behind you and your allies are dumb as dog shit. Still, if you don't mind constantly managing your squad, it is a much more challenging game and there are bits of gear and bonus abilities to manage. Under polished in some respects, too, but the game definitely succeeded at what it set out to do.
And added Mutant Year Zero to the list...which, funnily enough, is an X-COM clone, heh.
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Post by acathala on Aug 15, 2019 17:38:14 GMT -5
I just saw Mutant Year Zero. Looks okay.
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Post by TG Barighm on Aug 16, 2019 4:02:53 GMT -5
GOD OF WAR: Hmm...well, I like that it takes more cues from games like Dark Souls rather than adventure games like the new Assassin's Creed games did. So far there have been no forced stealth sequences which kind of bugs me about Horizon. Game is gorgeous. Completely blows Skyrim away in terms of nailing the Nordic themes. But, man, this game made my PS4 reach heat levels I've never heard before. The fan was just SCREAMING it was running so loud. I could actually hear it over my bed fan. Even the Assassin's Creed games didn't do that. This might have to be one of those games I leave for the PS5.
I'm starting to gather a fair number of these bite sized ARPGs. That's not really a bad thing, but they're starting to feel generic like ARPGs have become the new mainstream genre. At first I thought throwing down $20 here and there on these things was perfectly reasonable, but there always seems to be another one when all I really want is the next Dark Souls.
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Post by TG Barighm on Aug 24, 2019 3:25:53 GMT -5
MUTANT YEAR ZERO: So far I've found luck to be a HUGE factor in this game...and some rule breaking. Set up a perfect zone so enemies have to run through it? So what? You'll just miss every shot. But do they ever miss? Oh, no. Throw a smoke screen to block their line of sight? Sure! Oh, wait, but you can't shoot them when they stand on the edge of it and outside its border. Take a step to your right to regain your cover behind a tree? Nope. Need to complete a full revolution instead...into enemy fire. Survive all of that and still somehow reduce the enemy to one weakened unit? Oh, here's some wild dogs from ALL the way on the other end of the zone! Too bad! Game over!
It's a shame because the XCOM battles with Divinity exploration between them is a novel concept. Between fights you explore and loot and find gear and level just like you would in any CRPG. And the world is pretty rich. Just wish the game wasn't trying so hard to piss me off.
Added Gears 4, Hellblade, Crackdown 3, and Everspace to the list. Hope these games aren't too much for my humble little graphics card.
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Post by acathala on Aug 24, 2019 16:27:54 GMT -5
I suspect you'll like the story but hate the gameplay of Hellblade.
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Post by TG Barighm on Aug 24, 2019 17:04:08 GMT -5
I wasn't even going to bother with it, but it was free and it didn't look a stylish hack'n'slash.
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Post by TG Barighm on Aug 25, 2019 4:24:36 GMT -5
CRACKDOWN 3: This game is the point in the franchise where it has evolved into something more dynamic then just jumping around and shooting everything with blah weaponry. Within a couple hours of starting the game, I had picked up quite the assortment of weaponry including a grenade that allows me to duplicate items, which is a great way to build a pile of explosive items, I encountered all sorts of enemy units, fought bosses that actually did something different, and assaulted multiple strongholds that required different tactics to defeat. Attacking certain locations also rewarded me in unique ways such as one that spawned a train with a cannon that blew up enemy vehicles as it passed by. That came in handy, I tell ya. There are also fewer powers up, so I'm spending more time beating up baddies than jumping for shinies. Oh, and the controls are no longer so damn tight.
In other words, I'm actually enjoying this. Sometimes it's nice to just charge in and HULK smash your way to victory.
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Post by TG Barighm on Aug 26, 2019 3:28:49 GMT -5
EVERSPACE: I'm okay with the rogue-like stuff. Dying over and over again, but finding new weapons every time in a randomized universe and buying new upgrades and perks that stick with you every trip, works. And I'm okay with the third person controls. My only real problem with the game so far is the shoddy button mapping for controllers. These guys clearly hate consoles. Tried to remap it so I could do some barrel rolling but it's glitched and won't allow me.
GEARS OF WAR 4: It's...Gears of War. Really, what else is there to say here? Ultimately it's going to come down to how much I like the story and the campaign because the core gameplay mechanics are still the very best in the business. Well, at one time, any way. Not too many cover shooters on the PS4.
In case you're wondering, I'm not beating all of these games. That would be insane. I'm just playing them enough to get a feel for them. I've decided it really is better to have a few games that you enjoy so much they keep you hooked throughout the entire year rather than a whole bunch of games I feel are just "good enough", and I'm certainly not going to do the whole "I don't really like this game but I want to get my money's worth" thing anymore.
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Post by acathala on Sept 3, 2019 17:59:22 GMT -5
Greedfall looks interesting but I think I'll be waiting on the outer world's.
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Post by TG Barighm on Sept 3, 2019 22:01:00 GMT -5
It seems to be a combination of Souls-like and Dragon's Dogma, but with the trappings of a low budget game. Still looks promising though.
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Post by TG Barighm on Sept 24, 2019 22:31:49 GMT -5
Greedfall and Borderlands 3 added to the list.
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Post by acathala on Sept 25, 2019 5:03:00 GMT -5
Borderlands 3 is highly buggy, so you might want to wait a few months.
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