Messages

91

Classic Video Games / Re: How Many Of You Forum Attenders and Viewers Still Play Retro Video Games

« on: October 02, 2022, 03:32:46 am »

I do struggle when it comes to playing classic games. I think it is mostly due to so many new releases coming out that keep me busy enough to dip back into classic games I haven't played yet - I mean I already have a PS5 backlog

Another part of it is accessibility. I still don't have a decent method to play PS2 titles on a HD set up, so sadly a lot of games form that era are left behind - Which is very annoying as there are so many I have yet played! Also, even when it comes to playing games on a PS3, the machine is so slow and clunky. I've tried rebuying official controllers and got some trashy immitation, so I'm not encouraged to play that much either - to the point where if a 360 version of the game is backwards compatible i'll rebuy that.

Companies need to do a better job with backwards compatibility. The PS+ Premium line up is a joke so far, your better of with just the Extra tier. But even with that there are so many gamse that miss out on BC or getting a Remaster that unless they just let you put the disc in and play via Emulation there isnt a decent way to play.The only reason I still play PS1 games from time to time is because I modded my PS Classic - I mean I own 100+ PS1 games so it's more for convience and better upscale abilities more than anything.

But I do find it hard to go back and replay games as of late due to having so many newer game on the backlog to experience.

92

Modern Video Games / Re: Nintendo Direct 9.13.22 thoughts?

« on: September 13, 2022, 01:50:25 pm »

As someone who isn't an Nintendo fan I was quite happy with what was shown!

Delighted to see Fatal Frame IV finally escaping the Wii! Hope the Physical Edition gets a proper distributor this time...

Also, nice to see Octopath Traveller II is appearing on PlayStation this time! Weird though, as the 1st game is on Xbox but not this one...

Happy with the Crisis Core Remaster - Although the trailer was spoilerific! Still not won over by the voice overs this time...

Interested in the Tales game, I do have the PS3 Remaster to play....

Overall decent show!

93

General / Re: September 2022 - Recently Added to Collection/Recently Purchased New

« on: September 13, 2022, 05:01:11 am »

I don't often get Digital Stuffs but there were a few good items for dirt Cheap this Month

PS4
- Castlevania Anniversary Collection
- Dead By Daylight: Silent Hill & Resident Evil DLC
- Max The Curse Of Brotherhood
- Memoranda
- Metal Gear Solid V: Defintive Edition
- Scarlet Nexus Season Pass
- State of Mind

94

Modern Video Games / Re: Assassin's Creed Blowout

« on: September 13, 2022, 04:35:58 am »

The AC series is so bloated now that I don't even know how to approach it & I got as far as Brotherhood!

Also the typical Ubisoft/ac open World Formula doesn't appeal to me - Go to vantage point, seek out icons on the map, rinse and repeat. But I should say I am quite fatigued with the open world genre as a whole!

I kind of wish the series either started a new story Arc or released stand alone titles. I was interested in Black Flag but being tied to the rest of the over-arching story is intimidating... So the news of them announcing 4 games has put me off the series further I'd afraid.

95

General / Re: August 2022 - Recently Added to Collection/Recently Purchased New

« on: August 31, 2022, 03:42:02 am »

Not much this month

PS5
ArmedFantasia and PennyBlood - A KickStarter for Spiritual Sucessors to Wild Arms & Shadow Hearts! Pledged for the Physical Edition of both!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/doublekickstarter/armed-fantasia-and-penny-blood

PS4
Final Fantasy XV Deluxe Edition
Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age - Steelbook Edition (These were both Cheep cheep!)
Star Wars Jedi Knight Bundle
Star Wars Racer & Republic Commando Bundle (2 releases with 2 games on each disc)

Xbox One
Halo Wars 2

PS2
Dino Stalker - Didn't realise I was missing this after replayng Dino Crisis 1 & 2 recently, got it for a decent price on eBay.

96

Hardware and Tech / Re: Steam Deck is Glorious - Change my Mind

« on: August 13, 2022, 06:29:32 pm »

I haven't got one yet, I wanted to see how people fared with it before making the jump to get one - I've always been a console gamer so Steam isn't something I am very familiar with.

Have they released the dock yet? That was also another reason why I didn't jump in as I was hoping to get that component too.

It handles XEmu okay? One of the other points of interest is emulation. I am very eager to get a decent PS2-HD setup as, sadly I can't play my 250+ PS2 games I own due to them looking rubbish on a HDTV. If the Steam Deck can handle PS2/Xbox Emu without drops and gets the dock for a TV then I will be quite eager to get one!

97

General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2022

« on: August 07, 2022, 05:23:09 pm »

39. Jet Set Radio HD(Xbox One X) 07/08/2022
I want to like this game, as far as art direction and style goes this game is a 10/10 and looks phenominal for 20+ years. But sadly the controls for the game are a hinderance every chance it can get - Almost everytime I would try grind on a rail or jump over a ledge, I'd fall flat on my face. This is post Tony Hawks so there is no excuse for the controls to be this awful, it's a shame they didn't try tweak the controls or just make the rails more clingy.

I haven't played the sequel, I can play it on my 360 I think and would be eager to do so if the controls are fixed because I really do consider them a problem - This isn't someone complaining at a game that has aged poorly either! I had the original Drreamcast version back in the day and felt the same way but I was determined to beat it once and for all! I'm glad I have but gosh did I suffer with every second of gameplay on this one.

98

General / Re: How important is to have different editions of the same game in your collection?

« on: August 06, 2022, 02:05:06 pm »

This is a matter I am very particular about - Especially in this age where many games launch and mess and release DLC later.

My current plan is to hold out on games untill they dip mid price, unless it is something massive that I just can't wait for - Currently Final Fantasy XVI is all that comes to mind for that.

When a game is announced/launched the first details I look for is whether it has a Seaon Pass or not, if so I will hold off and hope for a Complete Edition. If that never occurs after waiting for a year or so, I  then will keep tabs on the DLC/Seaon Pass and how it fares on sales.

Complete Editions are a must! If your game has Story releated/Essential DLC you better release a Complete Edition on disc a year later! Of course the fear up until release is 'Is the DLC on disc or not?!' A question which often doesn't get an answer prior release and devs need to be more up front about - Or put the content on a new disc and do the job right!

HD Remasters - This is where things get tricky. when a game is Remastered, I often still keep the original in storage. So if it is a PS3 game remastered on PS4 the PS3 copy is off the shelf. The same goes for if I have physical games on PS+ I have a seperate box just for these (Which tells you have much I have o_0).  I do this to keep the preffered version of the game accessible and lessen my shelf space for other titles. I have gotten better at selling my PS4 games that have PS5 versions, but still struggle to let go.

Ports - Following what I previously mentioned sometimes I will have the same game on two systems of the same generation - Most commonly with the PS3 & 360 games. The 360 versions are often backwards compatible which makes them a bigger priority to the PS3 versions - I've even gone to a lot of effort to replace PS3 games with their 360 port due to the pleasure of BC.

As for Collectors Edition content, I think often it is overpriced these days and don't get  the CE's - The majority of it is just tat really. I do often settle for a nice steelbook Edition on big Playstation releases. I loved  the PS3/PS4 Editions which would have the plastic transparent slipcases over the steelbook. I don't like have Steelbooks on my shelf bare - missing t he PS5 Logo Strip and Info, just looks off in comparison to evertynig else there.

99

Classic Video Games / Re: What is the best PS2 launch title?

« on: August 06, 2022, 01:42:57 pm »

Tekken Tag Torunament by a LARGE margin! It's mechanically Tekken 3 (My favourite entry!) but with top ter PS2 graphics! - Really, despite being a launch title the graphics for the character models were already comeptitive to games near the end of the systems life-cycle. The new Tag mechanic was engaging and eboydn that it still had Survival Mode - Which sounds obvious but Tekken 7 was so bare bones it barely had any offline content. It's the first game I played on PS2 around a friends houser and I remember how jaw dropping it was to this day!

Beyond it's launch I think it was 2001 when the system really shot for the stars and delievered hit after hit - Final Fantasy X, Metal Gear Solid 2, Grand Theft Auto 3, Silent Hill 2, ICO, Jax & Daxter, Max Payne, Onimusha, Shadow Hearts, Shadow of Memories, Xone of the Enders, The Bouncer, Gran Turismo 3, Devil May Cry and more! What a year!

100

General / Re: July 2022 - Recently Added to Collection/Recently Purchased New

« on: July 26, 2022, 06:15:04 am »

More interesting month then the last:

PS5:
Back For Blood
Final Fantasy Origins: Stranger of Paradise - On the fen ce about this but at least I can play it online I guess...

PS4:
Fade To Silence
Journey to the Savage Planet
Mass Effect Trilogy Legendary Edition
Resident Evil Triple Pack (RE4,5 & 6 - PSN)

PS3:
Trinity: Souls of Zill O'll

Xbox 360:
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Wii:
Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles - Really surprised how good Code Veronica's story was presented!
Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles

101

General / Re: Travelling abroad with your videogames

« on: July 21, 2022, 02:45:06 pm »

Isn't this what portable consoles are for?

I've had to pack all my games in boxes recently as my apartment is going under renovation this month and I have to leave the place for 4-5 days. I've kept my PS Classic to plug in a TV and 3DS games ready - the carts in a case that contains about 20.

If you're really insistant on keeping them in plastic cases, maybe you swap the discs you want to bring with other movie cases that have multiple disc slots, to condense it a bit. I know you can get CD wallets but I also know they can matter discs with light scratches.

102

General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2022

« on: July 21, 2022, 11:59:12 am »

36. Dino Crisis 2 (PS1) 21/07/2022

A MUCH better game than the previous game, no more 2-keycard solutions for ever door or fingerprint scanning nonsense! This game ramps up the action to 11 and it benefits so much from it! I was surprised by the variety of extra mini-games involved which acted as a better mechanic to puzzles. The sotry was also much more compelling and I liked how the setting was thrown into the mix of time travel. The combat is very gun-ho and I killed more dinosaurs in the 1st couple of maps than the entire previous games. I did find that the increase of enemy encounters lead to being attacked by off screen enemies that would respawn quickly. But beyond that, combat was great and much more engaging. The ending was a bit of a let down, I reckon it could have done with a better epilogue sequence - As I heard neither 3 nor 'Dino Stalker' address the ending of this game.

Overall very positive though and I think if they remade DC 1 & 2 A proper follow up to DC 2's ending would be a great idea! But a lot of work still needs to be put on the predecessor and it's overbearing puzzle mechanics.

103

General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2022

« on: July 12, 2022, 07:03:52 pm »

31. Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles (PS3 on PS5) 12/07/22
This game really surprised me! Had a lot of fun playing it with my friend the last week but what i loved most was how it completely revitallised all of Code Veronica's awkwardness - No annoying Steve, or Super Human Wesker! The 8 levels within the game were a great presentation of VC and we might go back and play the other game too - Didn't expect the story to be so thorough within a light-gun game! The new story with Leon and Krauser was decent enough too. The weapon upgrade system was also engaging and we had fun maxing out the base pistol If you like RE and haven't bothered with this one due toit being an on rails shooter certainly reconsider it!

104

Modern Video Games / Re: The only upcoming games worth playing are Saints Row & Pokemanz Scarlet/Violet

« on: July 10, 2022, 03:36:44 am »

Couldn't care less for Pokemon, the series has barely evolved since the original games. Saints Row needed something done after how over the top IV & Agents of Mayhem became. I can't say I am too bothered by a Reboot but I appreciate it needed something.

Square-Enix are finally paying attention to their other IP's! Very excited to see what comes from the next Star Ocean & Valkyrie Profile titles, this is more of what I want to see rather  than throw away mobile games. Also excited replay Crisis Core again, a HD Port has been long overdue. I'll probably replay all the FF7 Compilation games after beating it too. Then of course the following year we have Final Fantasy XVI too which needs to be a big hitter and nothing of the dissapointment that the last entry brought to the table.

Beyond that, a few things here and there. Glad to see Klonoa get a remake and hope that succeeds. Then there is Resident Evil which is still thriving better than ever as a franchise - The additions to RE8 seems worth it. Then there is the RE4 remake, I still think they should have remade Code Veronica but still interested to see how it pans out.

105

General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2022

« on: July 04, 2022, 11:52:44 am »

30. Dino Crisis (PS1) 04/07/2022

Hit 30 games! Didn't think I'd make it even close to this figure at the end of the year!

As for the game... I think people who have the recent nostalgia really need to sit back and play it - It's far more archaic then any RE game. The game has far to much emphasis on finding keypasses to unlock doors, while this is the RE formula it's just to overwhelming in this game - You acually need 2 keypasses to unlock most doors and then figure out a word puzzle too proceed. Ontop of that there are also parts where you have to  scan dead bodies for their ID to forge their ID onto an ID Card - This gets confusing quick as you also need to know their ID Code... Most of the game just feels like this intrusive busy work gets in the way of the core selling point of the game THE DINOSAURS!

The dinosuars in-game are decent with a few varieties but the game lacks any real Oomph, there isn't really any true boss encounter until the end game - which is actually pretty underwhelming. Combat feels good at least and I like how you can move and shoot this time. The inventory managment is once again too complicated for its own good. The game has a MIX function in the menu to where you can mix items to get improvements but many items are simply parts to add on to main items and it once again gets a bit complicated adding '+' functionality to Med Kits or syringes which really could functon fine without all that added faffing.

The story is decent enough, One part I did like was the multiple decision points in the game, even if the last one is where the Endings take affect I still appreciated the different scenarios.

But sadly for me, this game is just interupted by far too much needless confussion and intrusive key items for navigation, it takes the RE formular to far and simply becomes less about the survival horror and more about the item management. I remember DC2 Is more action passed so I do look forward to trying that and hope for improvements.