Video Games – The Next Level

I played through Ratchet and Clank (which I keep calling Jak and Daxter in my head).

Dave, I think this might be a fun one for you and your kids if you haven’t already.  It’s not long – there are about ten planets which take about 45 to an hour each to get through and a ton of mechanics to use ‘just for the fun of it’ (Such as a gun that turns enemies into sheep, another one that turns them into 2d sprites.  Especially fun is a grenade which makes all your enemies stop and breakdance).

It’s not particularly hard.  I found some sections were a little tough or sometimes frustrating, but nothing unmanageable, and it’s generally the usual platform fare or an on-rails section.

It’s quite funny and charming.  One of the tools at your disposal is a little cute but murderous robot that floats around saying things to the enemies like “I wish for you only to DIE stinky alien!”.  It’s very silly saturday morning cartoon stuff.  I remember you saying your kids liked the Sonic film and it’s absolutely that sort of humour.

I had a pretty good time with it, and finished it in less then a week only playing a couple of hours a day (not even every day).  You can probably pick it up pretty cheap too.

• This reply was modified 4 years, 6 months ago by Dave.

Mr Zurkon is absolutely the star of the game for me.

Ben, I know you found the last boss to be quite tough and I can see why but I think it’s a challenge a focused 12 year old would really get a kick out of trying to beat.  Personally, I found some of the late game grind rail sections to be a little frustrating.  I don’t think anything in the game is insurmountable.  They even throw really obvious shortcuts into the racing games so you can easily beat the racers if you don’t want to do the tracks properly.  I think the challenge is probably on par with something like Super Mario Odyssey (perhaps a little more advance).

I’m looking at picking up Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire.  Its on special for around 50 bucks.  I had a really good time with Divinity Original Sin 2 last year and this is probably as close as I’ll get to that.  The only thing holding me back really is that it’s reportedly not as intuitive a console port as Divinity.

• This reply was modified 4 years, 6 months ago by Dave.

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Ben

Yeah I actually did get the RYNO right before the two final bosses and I didn’t have any issues with them because of it.  I actually had more issues with quark because there’s a set amount of times you have to stop the groovibomb before you can beat him.

The RYNO is stupidly overpowered.  I think it’s meant to be used specifically for the Challenge mode!

That’s a shame about Deadfire – can you elaborate? I had more or less convinced myself to purchase.

Original Sin 2 is probably one of my favourite gaming experiences of last year.  It’s very worthwhile.

Ben wrote:

Didn’t know that, thanks.

Actually, I might be wrong, I know they were released for a handheld, the Vita I think, but they might’ve been developped for console…

Yup, seems that’s what it is… anyhoo, yeah they do feel like handheld ports for sure, so that might not be a good thing =/

But still, I enjoyed them warts and all, but yeah, it’s not for everyone, specially for people used to the regular games.

Ben wrote:

Far Cry 4 I may, may, come back to this but I suspect not.

Oh, no! I loved this game; so much so that upon finishing it the first time I immediately fired it up again from the start (rarely do that – havent touched Spider-Man since finishing its story). The music is great (though that’s the one aspect that is improved in the sequel), the map is huge and there’s always so much to do.

Opening up the map and liberating outposts, I could do all day. I generally avoided using the vehicles as not only are they clunky to control, it’s more fun on foot. All the upskilling and upgrading of items from hunting different animals is a clever way to get you to explore and utilise different weapons.

FC3 and FC4 are 10/10 for me (but FC4 is a little bit better), and FC5 is a 6/10.

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Ben, Bruce

Wait, how long have you been a mod, Dave?!

Last night I decided to give Sonic Advance a proper go. I ended up with a copy when I bought a spare GBA off eBay a few years back and it’s never seemed worth selling it, so it’s been lurking amongst my collection, looking perfectly nice with the sleeve I made for it, but barely played, because I’m not really much of a Sonic fan. Would this be the game to finally convince me?

No, not so much. My problem with it, and Sonic generally, is that there’s a fundamental mismatch between how the game is designed and what it wants to be. Sonic wants to be a pseudo-racing game, all about going fast and looking cool, speeding through loops grabbing rings with their pleasing sound. Which would be fine, except the general game design rarely matches that. Sure, you get a few moments of almost auto-playing wonder, rushing through areas that you barely glimpse. But then you grind to a halt as the game remembers it needs to offer some challenge and you’re left to fumble about a bit. Sonic (and co’s) inability to walk up an incline is maddening, especially as there’s no control to just start running and there’s often not enough room to get a run up, so you’re left to trying to walk up it as much as possible and then jump it, which doesn’t always work.

Getting around in any way other than running along a path is a chore, which is why it’s weird the game is, from the off, filled with so many side-paths, optional routes and secrets. Well, I assume it is – there seems to be quite a lot of architecture suggesting so, that you simply zoom past at speed, along with side-routes just out of reach thanks to an array of street furniture to funnel you on, that the speed sections will throw you directly into. The controls really don’t allow for much exploratory platforming and the game is always trying to shepherd you with bumpers and pins. To indulge in delving the game’s secrets you have to actively play it “wrong”, fighting against its every attempt to rush you through sections, which is silly, because the rushing through things is the best bit.

Worse than that though is that the game will frequently punish you for going fast. Most speedy section end in you being flung into the path of an enemy and unless you already know it’s there (by trial and error replay memorisation) you’re inevitably just going to slam into it and lose all the nice rings you’ve just built up. This is a general trend with enemies in Sonic; there’s frequently no way you could fairly know of and react to their presence (there are many that lurk just above the edge of the screen, which may be down to the GBA’s screen dimensions, if you’re being charitable). You’re just left to smash into them and recover. The ring pseudo-HP health system does mollify that somewhat (I think that’s actually the best design element of Sonic), but it’s still pretty frustrating getting clobbered by an enemy you haven’t seen.

Sonic really feels like a game that wants to be Unirally but feels obligated to also try and be Mario, without really managing either well.

Dave signed his soul away some time ago.

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Dave

Dave wrote:

(I particularly like how that photo makes it look like we’ve got him guarding our booze.)

Handling lockdown well there with two empty multipacks of cider!

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Dave

New project. Constructing another slightly larger pyramid on top of the pyramid.

As ludicrous as that sounds, let me explain. The only way to get to the top of the pyramid is by tedious jumping. So, I’m going to put stairs on the pyramid. Structurally that means I’m going to build another pyramid on the pyramid. Luckily, I have a shit-ton (eight double boxes full) of sandstone and smooth sandstone.

And it’s not like I got a job or anything to mind. Just me and my games….

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Dave

Kingdom Hearts was a fun game. A really, really fun game.

Everything released since has been, to me, impenetrable garbage.

Dave wrote:

My problem with it, and Sonic generally, is that there’s a fundamental mismatch between how the game is designed and what it wants to be. Sonic wants to be a pseudo-racing game, all about going fast and looking cool, speeding through loops grabbing rings with their pleasing sound.

I think this is a fundamental misconception, but one that seems really persistent where Sonic is concerned. Even from the earliest Sonic games, the concept has always been that of a mean platformer with lots of challenging slower sections, mixed with occasional speedy setpieces as payoffs. It’s never been all about speed.[/quote]

It’s not though, is it? Literally everything about Sonic, from the name to the advertising to the character is all about going fast. If you were to ask anyone what one thing they know about Sonic the Hedgehog it would be that he’s the fastest creature alive/obsessed with speed etc. So to have a game(/games) where going fast is actually a trap to hinder progression through and exploration of its levels, and that is built around careful pixel-perfect platforming despite the fact you can’t control the character properly at low speed is well, kinda stupid.

It’d be like me creating a game called Jimmy the Flying Pangolin – starring an eponymous Pangolin wearing old aviator goggles and bomber jacket, natch – which had an elaborate and entertaining flying mechanic that served to only ever throw you in the path of unseen anti-aircraft batteries and lead you into dead end aerial mazes. Sure, I can claim the game was always intended to be about ground based exploration, but it’s not exactly serving expectations of how I’ve sold it, is it?

Dave wrote:

Martin Smith wrote:

It’s not though, is it? Literally everything about Sonic, from the name to the advertising to the character is all about going fast.

If someone hadn’t ever played the games, then yes I can see how they might think that.

Similarly they may be disappointed by the sparsity of practical plumbing advice offered by the Mario series.

You mean people who only know Sonic from how it’s sold and advertised every time?

Edit: and on the Mario note, most Mario games feature him exploring new worlds via pipes, so I’m not sure that it’s particularly misleading for people expecting a plumbing element.

• This reply was modified 4 years, 6 months ago by Martin Smith.

The truth is probably in the middle.

The history of platformers is that they were originally side-scrollers and so were designed so the player had to think and act quickly.

The two main entries in the 90s, Sonic and Mario, took different approaches when the side-scrolling element was removed.  Sonic does seem to urge the player forward more than Mario.  That’s not just done via the loops, but also with his checking his watch and tapping his shoe when you’re idle. Sonic has far more verticality and is, obviously, animated to be faster. It’s clearly marketed this way too.  With that said, the game does have plenty of sections with Mario like methodical and tactical platforming (where the screen isn’t moving at the pace of a side-scroller) and those familiar with the gameplay know this, and recognise these parts as an aspect of the games pacing.

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Bruce

Dave wrote:

The Sonic series has always since its inception been a mix of tricky platforming and speed elements, but you’re saying that you think it clearly wants to be just a speed-based game and the platforming elements get in the way? And you’re basing this on TV adverts and multimedia characterisation that play up the most exciting aspects of the games, rather than on any previous experience with the games themselves?

Yeah. You keep getting hung up on this idea that, because you’ve played them for so long, you know what they actually are, as though this invalidates my point, but it doesn’t.

My point is that what they present themselves to be, through, yes advertising and multimedia, but also big featured chunks of the gameplay and, as Tim says, smaller characterful elements in the game like Sonic tapping his foot impatiently, is a game about going fast etc. Which it then punishes you for (with enemies you can’t avoid etc) and presents you with the tricky platforming you’re so keen on. It’s a total bait and switch: those adverts aren’t an accident and they’re not isolated cases. Pretty much every advert for a Sonic game is built around presenting it as a game about looking cool and going fast and that’s clearly what Sega wants Sonic to be and be thought as. But as you keep saying, it’s not and has never been. It’s an identity crisis, exacerbated by the fact that – in my opinion – the tricky platforming bits don’t play that well, in part due to how the game is built around the going fast bits.

Anonymous wrote:

Bloodstained, Ben, the mechanic really is basically Dark S0uls (which largely is based on the earlier stuff like Castlevania) so much so that I gingerly recommend that style of game if you liked this. It’s really not dissimilar. You can run through areas to get to the next safe point and grind a bit until you’re confident enough to take on the “area boss”. I’m only three hours in, but it does seem pretty fun so far.

Now I wouldn’t have linked those two!

A quick bit of googling shows there is commentary on this elsewhere and it’s usually Bloodstained fans saying the game is much easier and nothing alike.

I still think they are alike for the following reasons:

1. The game world is build around progressing to save rooms which are basically the equivalent of DS bonfires.

2. When you die you lose the experience and items gained since your last save (I think).

3. The bosses are skill checks.  The first boss seems tough and becomes easy once you learn the mechanics.  This is exactly the same mechanic in every Soulsopurne game ever and you’ll always find plenty of “first boss” guides showing you the ropes.

4. You can grind to overcome. Both games encourage you to grind to get to a level youre comfortable playing at.

5. Generally enemies and bosses will make quick work of you if you’re not attentive.

Ben, if you like the progression mechanic here you might want to check out Code Vein which is a little gentler Dark Souls clone (not too gentle though). Also, it’s anime and about vampires. I think if you can play through MHW you have the ability to get through that too.

If you do, just remember that the game expects you to try and retry until you learn how to beat the baddies and play.  Similar maybe to racing on an videogame track – you won’t know the corners at first but by the tenth lap you’re a master!

Well, I thought I’d make the suggestion.

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Ben

Hahah I did pick up the tone.  You always have way more of a backlog then me (I really don’t keep one to be honest, if I don’t have something to play I’ll have a look on the store and buy something I like the sound of).  It may be one to add to the list, although I do think you would find it frustrating in parts, but no less then Monster Hunter or Devil May Cry (or indeed perhaps Bloodstained).

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Ben

Your face is a backlog

1:1 scale, I presume?

The answer is you build Death Star I and then encapsulate it in Death Star II, not unlike how I built a bigger pyramid made entirely out of stairs to encapsulate my original pyramid.

The diameter of the first one would be one hundred and forty thousand blocks. I don’t think you could even render enough of it to see that its curved at that point.

#flatdeathstar

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Dave

Dave wrote:

30 blocks across

Pfft. My enchanting pyramid (inside the pyramid (inside the stairs pyramid)) is 30 blocks across.

Ben wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Hahah I did pick up the tone.  You always have way more of a backlog then me (I really don’t keep one to be honest, if I don’t have something to play I’ll have a look on the store and buy something I like the sound of).  It may be one to add to the list, although I do think you would find it frustrating in parts, but no less then Monster Hunter or Devil May Cry (or indeed perhaps Bloodstained).

Those three are interesting in that:
DMC5’s spike was at the end.
B-RotN was hardest on the first level, where your options are most restricted
MHW has spikes all over the place!

I think it’s really telling how these games play with different experiences.

So far, in Bloodstained, I’ve faced five bosses:

I did not find the first area, or boss, tough at all.

The first skill check for me was at the second boss (Zangetsu) and he is by far the toughest encounter for me to date.

It took me until the third boss to learn how to play properly (Craftwork) by using the dash and jump and shards.

I beat the next area, and fourth boss (the one that gives you double jump) with barely any effort.

The next area, Twin Dragon Tower, I found to be quite tough, because of the stupid poison toads, and it wasn’t until I played a bit more cautiously and warped back to Arandtown that I managed to get through it.  The boss of that area, I played maybe three times and then beat, and the time that I defeated it I was barely sure how I did it.

That’s my experience so far.  It’s pretty similar to most experiences I had with Soulsborne games.  On the old board, there’s a serious of posts from me about Bloodborne which pretty much echo this.

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Ben

Minecraft Grievances #323

I had four llamas and two llama pups. I log out for a while. I log in again. Suddenly there’s only two llamas.

Are they cannibals or something? Anyway, I beat the remaining two to death with a hay bale.

Next time I have llamas I’m not going to settle for cheap knock-off cannibal llamas that I stole from the trader. I need the real deal. Wild llamas.

Anonymous wrote:

There are llamas on my pyjamas

My haybale and I are coming for it.

ugh… I started doing a house/base/whatever in Fallout 4… it’s annoying enough, but then I had to fucking do everything all over again because the game REALLY doesn’t help you at all… u_u

You forgot to take into account the vengeful llama factor.

My excuse is angry squirrels and cascading trees and I needed something to counteract the coffee.

Dave wrote:

Minecraft Dungeons

I have no idea what this is.

My PC broke last week and I’ve done a shitload of work setting up an economic plan where I could afford a new one so i can probably not afford it, whatever it is.

I’m anxiously awaiting java Edition 1.16, the so called Nether patch.

Civilization VI is free in the Epic Games Store, for the PC people out there.

Dave wrote:

I never really played any of those games, that whole thing passed me by. The only game in that area I ever enjoyed was Dungeon Keeper 2, which was amazing.

I’m not inclined to put those games in the same category.

Diablo is a hack-n-slash loot-based dungeon crawler.

Dungeon Keeper is a strategic base-building game with elements of combat. It’s almost as if you play the enemies from Diablo.

Dave wrote:

It was tons of fun.

It sure was!

There was a short era here in Sweden where popular video games were translated into Swedish. The radio group Rally, mostly known for their parodies of contemporary (and classic) pop/rock songs not entirely dissimilar to Weird Als body of work, read translations of all dialogues in Diablo and it was… not en pointe. Griswold had a thick Gothenburg accent and sounded like a parody. Cain the elder sounded exactly like a young man badly impersonating an old one. And so on.

I’m not sure if it was Rally, but someone read translations of Dungeon Keeper 1 & 2, and it was absolutely loaded with translation errors, rendering parts of the game really hard for some people. I remember specifically the line “your creatures are falling in battle” being translated into something that instead meant “your creatures are in battle”. It was robbed of urgency.

I really don’t like translation errors. It’s why I refuse to watch english movies with subtitles when I have the option. [/rant]

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Dave

Reminds me a lot of the Red Alert (1&2) soundtrack.

Well, bye bye Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep.

When the end came, it was quick – it took a rusty katana, plunged it into it’s guts and if blood loss didn’t kill it, blood poisoning would. It went from zenith to nadir very fast. A glorious space fight of tearing through Heartless that was incredibly fun is followed by… 3D platforming bollocks of the worst order. There’s no indication of where you should go, the camera is abysmal and you will press the jump many times only for the game not to register it and plunge you back to the floor. I just don’t have the tolerance for this anymore so yeah, it ends there.

Other flaws were bringing big enemies immune from frontal attack but who rarely turn around. And while the camera was better across the combat, the enemy technique remains little more than break lock-on and hit from off the camera.

As to its melding and command deck, that remains incomprehensible to me. It says its explained but try and do one and it blocks everything – not that it’s that easy to use. Also, I’m not a fan of the whole ‘buy stuff and combine it to get random outputs’, which this is. There are better synthesis systems, one is in FFX.

The battle menu is easier than Kingdom Hearts, but it’s not that much easier. It’s not helped by it removing a used ability from the list, so you can’t easily see it charging.

Kind of a shame really, had enjoyed up to just under the halfway point but after that it kept doing self-inflicted and then decided to go with, well, what it went with.

I’ve got a ridiculous (physical and digital) pile of games to play but I’m adding Maneater to the list after just your initial comments @DaveWallace. I’m going to tell a mate about it too – he’s a big shlock horror fan and I know this will be a must buy for him.

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Ben, Dave

Anonymous wrote:

Do you have  physical copies, Ben? If so, I do recommed the mass effect 3 route: smash them, bury them in the yard, build an outhouse on top, burn the outhouse.

It’s not going to kill the spirit of the games, they are long dead. You killed them with the above reviews.

Fun reading, but I’m sorry about your lousy playing experience regardless.

Nah, the series is loved by millions, some reviews here by me won’t change that and there are certain unique factors active for me that most playing them won’t have.

They’re digital copies but economically £26 for the entire series is pretty good.

EDIT: Well, that was fast.

Kingdom Hearts 2

Is harder automatically better? No and this game proves it.  It’s certainly harder, but it’s not better.  The QTE bollocks of the re-skinned Darkside boss didn’t help either – as did the badly explained reversal idea that boils down to ‘spam button, spam attack, alternate between them’.  I took it out but I can’t say I had a clue about what it was doing or how it was effective, there was so much graphical clutter on the screen.
This is after all those crappy minigames at the start that pay sweet fuck all too.

Finally, there is the “Struggle”, an idea to which the logical and entirely justified response is to slaughter everyone in the town because they’re a bunch of sick fucks.  It does the usual bollocks, OK first fight though I already despise the whole orbs concept.  Then the second one they whack the difficulty way up, as you take on a dwarf steroid junkie and lose.  The rest of it? Why should I care?  Will there be a sense of ‘pride and accomplishment’ or just a sense of it being a complete waste of time with the difficulty contributing nothing?  Based on that first boss, it’ll be the latter and I’ve other games to spend my time.  This one doesn’t want to be played? That’s fine, it won’t be.

Onto Kingdom Hearts 2.8, place your bets as to how long it survives.

Ah, well, given the design choices, I’m quite certain they were soulless to begin with, so no spirit left to kill.

I don’t want to jinx it, but I am enjoying Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance so far.