Messages

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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.

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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.

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

« on: July 01, 2022, 02:24:30 am »

Not much for me this month:
LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars - Xbox 360
Telltale Games Game of Thrones - Xbox One
Catherine Full Body Characters for Babel - PS4 (Never usually buy Cosmetic DLC but this is one of them games I really like and want to get gud at.)

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General / Re: What are you playing?

« on: June 23, 2022, 09:05:40 am »

Tinkering with the PS+ Premium selection:
Had a blast playing Tekken 2, if this is how PS1 games wil lwork the more the merrier! It looks so crisp and plays great too! Hoping we can get the classic Final Fantasy PS1 games on there so I don't have to put up with the lousy PS4 ports.

PS2 & PS3 games seem  the same as on PS Now, I was hoping the PS2 games would intergate the PS1 Emulator settings so I can stretch to widescreen but no such luck. They haven't released new PS2 games digitally for 5+ years, so curious to see if they now will continue this feature.

I was hoping to play the Spiderman game, while the PS4 version is there the PS5 Remaster locked behind THe Ultimate Edition of Miles Morales is inaccessible - Even when we have the PS5 version of MM. I'vbe heard god things about it so I will still try it out but this nonsense wouldn't have happened on Xbox.

A few good surprises, I have a years sub so i'll treat this as a trial run but realistically I only see myself having premium for 1 month every 6 months.

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2022

« on: June 22, 2022, 03:13:48 am »

26. Twin Mirror (PS4 on PS5) 18/06/2022
A lesser received game from DONTNOD - Life Is Strange creators. I personally thought the game was ok, it lacks the trendiness of LIS and can feel a little stale at times but if you like these type of interactive narratives you can still have a good time.

27. Draugen (PS4 on PS5) 21/06/2022
I'm very vigilant of walking simulators. The hurdles are as follows:
- The game needs to have a speaking main character that interacts with what is happening
- The game needs to have current events not just interacting with documents.
- The game needs to have a character model which actually picks up items in the world with their hands - No floaty objects.

This game passes the test on all that and you even have a companion with you similar to Bishock Infinite so it never feels boring. The game is set around two mysteries, one about your sister who has vanished on this island and the other finding out what happened to the village you end up on. It's well paced and genuinely quite tense at points. The story sadly doesn't quite deliver and leaves it up to the players to decide on what really happened to the village with the clues you gather... which isn't satisfying. But the experience was still decetn adn I'm glad to see the genre is getting better as a whole. If you liked Firewatch try it if it is on sale.

28. Resident Evil: Code Veronica X-HD (Xbox One X) 21/03/2022
I'm not a hardcore RE player but I like the series a lot more as a whole recently. I enjoyed replaying this game more than before but damn is it hard at points. I feel this is the point in the series where things got a little oot - certain characters getting superpowers which become comic-book silly. I did like the story regarding the Ashford family, it's quite compelling throughout and nice to have a human villian for the duration of the game. I still feel the game should have been remade next instead of RE4, it is hugely important to the RE series as a whole and could really benefit from being updated - And changing how annoying Steve is Glad we have the XBOX HD Port at the very least.

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General / Re: What happened to this site?

« on: June 22, 2022, 03:01:34 am »

A lot of people have more platforms for discussion on than just forums these days, they have social media at their finger tips or other apps like Discord which are more of a go-to for most people with Smartphones than accessing a traditional Forum Website. I personally don't use my phone for much of that and access the site when I am on my PC - Usually in the mornings before work/going out.

I think the website could use a little bit of updating, especially in being able to post images without having to do so first on another website like Imgur. I've also noticed the Twitter account is non-existant, so maybe it just isn't being advertised out there as much as it could? I think something as simple as even just posting additions the to monthly threads where people post their new items with a picture would help.

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Modern Video Games / Re: Capcom Showcase 2022

« on: June 14, 2022, 03:52:05 am »

The highlight by far was the Resident Evil: Village Gold Edition Announcements!

I was genuinely expecting a Lady D' DLC Prequel story, surprised they didn't push that after the overwhelming reaction towards her. As for the atcual DLC story, I like the idea of it but am sort of worried the story feels like a surreal isekai trip without much ground in reallity - I was shocked to see them push this for the DLC, I was sort of expecting this content to be explored for the next game.

Then there is the 3rd person mode... Daymn! I wonder how this will work, there is one particular scene where Ethan pulls a leaver which is going to be quite different, I like the idea I just hope the experience still feels catered to 3rd person.

I don't really play Merc's much, I  was hoping it would have had an online feature, but then I guess we'll see if they fix RE:Verse this time...

RE4R was barely shown, I still wish the ywere doing Code Veronica but it looks decent.

And I am thrilled to see RE23, RE3R & RE7 get PS5 enhancements for free! I noticed in RE3R that enemies in the distance had ratehr choppy animations, so hoping this is fixed in the PS5 version.

Capcom's dedication to it's ports of the RE series throughout the PS4 has made the series MUCH more accessible, I'm much more fond of the series now than I ever was to the point where it has become one of my favourite franchises! And even better news is it looks like they're going to make the PS1 titles accessible to owith the PS+ Premium Package (Which you can buy titles individually without the sub'.) - RE1 Director's Cut has already appeared on the USA Version.

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General / Re: What are you playing?

« on: June 04, 2022, 03:44:36 pm »

I'm playing SIFU... I'm not enjoying it! The difficulty ruined the experience for me and I've set it to Easy mode but is managable but all motivation for the game has already been lost. I'm getting a bit fed up with more and more games taking Souls inspired difficulty - Crash 4 was just exhausting to play, hated it from start to finish and from then on I have decided I am not going to put up with game dsign on purposefully being difficult. I should say I am all for higher difficulty modes if people want to take on the challenge but Normal difficulty on this game just tales the ****