Last Game You Finished And Your Four-ghts

Can confirm that DP2's performance isn't that bad now, at least compared to the first game. It's the least of the game's problems, anyway.

I know that Jim Sterling, who was a big DP1 fan, said the frame rate was unplayable in DP2 originally. Fair dos if they've patched it though - and you're right, there are bigger fish to fry.

Buskalilly wrote:

Balladeer wrote:

The hard lefties on my Facebook feed seem to spend more time attacking the centre than the right.  I'm never quite sure why.  Because they think that's where their friends are more likely to be?  Because they've given up the right as a lost cause?  

I kind of feel the same, I fucking hate Centists!
Its hard to explain. Part of it is the dishonesty and cowardice. "I'm not political" is a huge political statement, and a pretty right wing. "I think everything is fine because I'm in a privileged position and don't care about other people".

Most of the targets I know are actually centre-left, so are political, but I'm guessing not enough!

Paper Mario: Origami King

I enjoyed my time with this. It had a grand adventure feeling, lots of exploration and secrets, and a great cast of characters with some fairly emotional moments.

Spoiler:

was of course a highlight, and kind of marked a turning point for the game. Up to that point, I thought it had witty jokes and some nice locations, but that moment really got to me and I found myself invested in the story and characters quite a lot after that.

It's far from perfect, of course. The combat system didn't quite land for me. Of course there was the timing-based Super Mario RPG standard fare, but before any attacks could be landed, there was always the not especially fun puzzle mechanic. It was rarely satisfying when I did get the right answer, and it was never clear what I missed when I didn't, so it was never exciting. It's a matter of personal preference, of course, but it wasn't for me.

It could only have been made worse by a traditional RPG level-up system. If I had felt compelled to do these battles to be able to progress, or that I had to nail the puzzle and never use any items to max XP, I would have found them infuriating. As it was, I had more than enough cash for all the items, weapons and upgrades I needed, found the heart pieces to increase max HP and strength, and I never felt guilt if I walked around a foe.

Writing: 10
Graphics: 8
Music: 8
Sound effects: 7
Longevity: 8
Exceptionalism: 9
Imperialism: 6
Pontification: 5
Immolation: 80889
Gamefeel: 6
Ludonarrative Dissonance: 4
Paper: 9
Origami: 10
Meaning of Life: 42
Peening of Wife: 69

Overall Score:
10/10

That's nice to hear as I do still plan on getting Paper Mario.

---

THPS 1+2


I've technically finished this since I've hit 100 percent on the main challenges for each game but it's so damn good I've decided to go for the plat trophy, I never realised how much I missed playing an arcade-y score attack style game until I booted this up 3 days ago - this is how games are meant to be. A simple idea in concept but it's executed brilliantly and thankfully they've absolutely nailed the feeling of the originals here so if you played them this is an easy recommend but even if you somehow haven't I'd still recommend this because it doesn't pretend to be anything it isn't and it's just great video game fun through and through.

At the minute this is easily my game of the year.

That's good to hear you've enjoyed it and I have liked what I've played but what you say about highscores etc makes me realise how much that I miss a story of some sort in games.

The_Jaster wrote:

THPS 1+2

I never realised how much I missed playing an arcade-y score attack style game until I booted this up 3 days ago - this is how games are meant to be. A simple idea in concept but it's executed brilliantly and thankfully they've absolutely nailed the feeling of the originals here so if you played them this is an easy recommend but even if you somehow haven't I'd still recommend this because it doesn't pretend to be anything it isn't and it's just great video game fun through and through.

That's brilliant to read that these remakes turned out so well, and it's really heartening to see that it's reviewing so positively in the press and on forums like this. I definitely agree that "this is how games are meant to be". I played through THPS2 on PSone around Easter time and loved how tight and pure it was. It's sadly just a game too many for me to buy just now, but I'll get round to it after Super Mario 3D All Stars, Crash 4, FIFA 21 and the rest.

Yeah I'll be picking up THPS at some point between now and Christmas. I really miss them kinds of games and it's great to hear it got the remake it deserved.

masofdas wrote:

That's good to hear you've enjoyed it and I have liked what I've played but what you say about highscores etc makes me realise how much that I miss a story of some sort in games.

It can definitely work for a lot of games but for me that is where the THPS series started to go downhill when they shoehorned in a story mode from Underground (IIRC) onwards.

The Cappuccino Kid wrote:

The_Jaster wrote:

THPS 1+2

I never realised how much I missed playing an arcade-y score attack style game until I booted this up 3 days ago - this is how games are meant to be. A simple idea in concept but it's executed brilliantly and thankfully they've absolutely nailed the feeling of the originals here so if you played them this is an easy recommend but even if you somehow haven't I'd still recommend this because it doesn't pretend to be anything it isn't and it's just great video game fun through and through.

That's brilliant to read that these remakes turned out so well, and it's really heartening to see that it's reviewing so positively in the press and on forums like this. I definitely agree that "this is how games are meant to be". I played through THPS2 on PSone around Easter time and loved how tight and pure it was. It's sadly just a game too many for me to buy just now, but I'll get round to it after Super Mario 3D All Stars, Crash 4, FIFA 21 and the rest.

I remember you saying you had played one of them recently so that's probably a wise move to leave it for a while, also games like these fit perfectly with the trophy/achievement systems because after an hour or so of doing post game stuff it doesn't feel like a grind at all. Most are connected to challenges you would do anyway as long as you like the game enough.

gjones wrote:

Yeah I'll be picking up THPS at some point between now and Christmas. I really miss them kinds of games and it's great to hear it got the remake it deserved.

It really is a perfect Christmas game

The_Jaster wrote:

masofdas wrote:

That's good to hear you've enjoyed it and I have liked what I've played but what you say about highscores etc makes me realise how much that I miss a story of some sort in games.

It can definitely work for a lot of games but for me that is where the THPS series started to go downhill when they shoehorned in a story mode from Underground (IIRC) onwards. 

Yeah, the series had already had it's greatest moments by the time T.H.U.G. came around. That and T.H.U.G. 2 are still all right though. I would be quite interested if they got remastered like 1 + 2 has been (but only after 3 + 4, natch).

Yup they were definitely still good games but the story mode was just unnecessary for me.

Maybe even a new one, even if a simple story like with FIFA or Madden like you try becoming a Pro Skater and not doing silly stunts like the THUG games

Agreed with Jaster, a Story Mode isn't required for something like Tony Hawk's. 

~



I've had Donut County for ages now, but it's only tonight that I've got round to starting it...and then finishing it in a oner. You play as a hole in the ground which grows as you start small, then steal bigger trash, homes and all sorts of inhabitants in Donut County. The game's Wikipedia game describes it as "reverse Katamari", and I think that's quite apt. 

Although it's pretty short and very easy, I enjoyed the puzzles, graphics, music and gameplay enough to give it my recommendation. It's 70% off on the eShop right now, I think it's £3.29 or something like that. For full price, no chance, £10.99 is a total scadge. But for it's current sale price, it's a nice (albeit inessential) way to spend an evening. 7/10, if on sale.

I paid full price for Donut County, played till I got the Plat for how long I played (3hrs) and quality was well worth getting.


Chapter 3 of Dontnod's Tell Me Why came out on Thursday and I just got around to playing this evening, meaning I'm done with the episodic title.

I was pleased with the game after Chapter 1 but now all is done, it's certainly in my Top 10 this year and if you've liked Life is Strange then you will like TMW and if you don't like LiS then you won't like TMW, simple as that really or you did like LiS but for some reason can't handle playing as a Trans Man yet can a Teen Girl.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Justice for All



As I've mentioned elsewhere, this is the first time I've played JfA (whereas I had played the original PW:AA on WiiWare). Overall, I liked it! But it isn't as consistently good as the first.

It's made up of four cases, all of varying quality:
1. A policeman murdered in a park - it's fine, hobbled by having to reintroduce the mechanics to potential newbies;
2. A doctor murdered in a spirit channelling incident - overall a good case, although with some annoyances;
3. A ringmaster murdered in a circus - a fun defendant but a bad case, with weird logic and dialogue, and really poor pacing that made it a bit dull;
4. An actor murdered at an award ceremony - a REALLY good case, one that hit the sweet spot of balancing batshit logic and plot twists that makes sense in context.

The cases see the return of multiple characters from previous cases as well as introducing a bunch of new faces who I just know are going to appear again (looking at you, Franziska and Morgan), and there were a good number of intriguing twists and turns - although unfortunately they were largely limited to cases 2 and 4, with cases 1 and 3 being a bit uneventful and a bit shite respectively.

Overall, not quite as good as the first entry, but good nonetheless. Case 4 was peak Ace Attorney, and I think it may be my favourite case overall so far (even better than the last two of the first game). I hear Trials and Tribulations is a bit more consistent (albeit still with peaks and troughs) so looking forward to getting stuck into that. It's only taken me over a decade!

Yep I'd agree with all of that pretty much. Was one of the annoyances in case two this, perchance? Also HOW GOOD IS CASE FOUR!? And what did you think of Franziska? The prosecutor hierarchy is a topic of Much Debate...

Enjoy T&T Rum! I mean, I think you will, but please post about it lots. It's one of my games of all time and it'll be great to follow you on your journey.

I didn't mind Ini or her dancing! Although it would have been better if she did dance in time with the music. The annoyances in that case were more based around what evidence you were supposed to present at specific times - I found myself being a step ahead a few times, which was faintly irritating (and not meant to be a humble brag). I also remember getting annoyed with the bullet holes found in different bits of evidence and how "definitive" that was supposed to be.

Franziska I found slightly too two-dimensional for too much of the game - she was essentially the third iteration of the "perfect prosecutor" personality trope, following Miles and Manfred. I liked how she evolved slightly towards the end... but then there was a bit that I think was meant to read as vulnerable which I didn't like so much (when she got teary-eyed in the epilogue - possibly because it was too similar to Edgeworth's "oh woe is me, I am tortured and a good person really" journey we'd already been witness to (ha witness joke)).

God, T&T is so good. I'm jealous of you, Rum!

I have to go back to Justice For All, and just get over how shite that circus case is. Thing is, I've been saying that for ten years now. 

~



On paper, Hotshot Racing on Switch ticks all of my boxes. It’s eShop listing describes it as “a blistering arcade-style racer fusing drift handling, razor-sharp retro visuals and an incredible sense of speed” - and that's fair comment, it undeniably has all of these things going for it. Yet that same eShop page claims that all of this combines “to create an exhilarating driving experience”. About that…

There’s four big issues that spoil Hotshot Racing for me. Firstly is the lack of content. For single players, there’s the typical single race and time trial modes, as well as the main Grand Prix. Yet this Grand Prix mode is nothing more than four tournaments, each being four races long, each race being three laps long, around circuits that typically take forty seconds to go around. There’s just not enough here for anybody to get their teeth sunk into.

Another letdown is that these sixteen tracks are extremely simplistic and straightforward. Few of them afford you any opportunity to race stylishly, skillfully or precisely - and that’s surely what an arcade racer has got to fundamentally be about? Hotshot Racing’s physics and drifting system is brilliantly done, successfully mimicking the likes of Ridge Racer and Virtua Racing, but it’s tracks don’t show them off. There’s occasionally some dressing on the side, but all of Hotshot Racing’s tracks are made up of very basic straights, bends and hairpins. The tracks all feel the same, they’re so lacking in distinctive or interesting features.

The lack of any online community hurts Hotshot Racing as well. It’s only just out and you’d think that this is when most folk would be playing, but I’ve not found any games yet. I must have tried ten times, and waited about the lobby for nearly an hour combined. I was away doing other things (I’m not that sad) but still, nobody joined, ever.

I’ve saved the most annoying issue for last though, and that’s the overpowered AI. Hands down, the rubber-banding of the AI cars is the worst I’ve ever seen in a racing game. The combination of the unreasonably aggressive rubber-banding and the game’s slipstreaming mechanics are to blame for my feelings about Hotshot Racing. Not only does slipstreaming provide a huge speed boost to any racer, but the space behind a car where slipstreaming is possible is stupidly massive. The AI is just too good for the game’s good, so building up a lead is literally impossible, and it’s pointless to try. Conversely, it’s too easy to fall behind. The AI are way too unforgiving on Hard and Expert - one nudge is all it usually takes for you to crash, and that doesn’t just ruin your race, but your whole Grand Prix. That fucked me over just too many times. 

There’s a great game bursting to get out here. Yet the light content, humdrum track design, lack of an online players and it’s ungodly frustrating AI badly hold it back. I’m disappointed. Hotshot Racing should be better than it is. 6/10.

Ooh - guys - I finally played one of the obscure PC games I got on that big itch.io Equality Justice Charity Fund bundle

Spooky Ghosts Dot Com

Thoughts I can give - but this is a prime example of the other discussing going on about review scores and ratings.
This is a really bloody charming Metroidvania - it is both Metroid-y and Vania-y, down to the haunted mansion (and its map), and your blast-y upgradeable gun for shootin' them ghosts. It's quite simple, but plays really nicely - a "does what it says on the tin" approach. All the Halloween spook tropes are there, but in a very cute and silly manner. Plus you pet cats for... actually I don't know why. The difficulty is very well balanced too - bosses are seemingly-impossible at first, but beaten a couple of goes later.
Ultimately, I wanted more, which I guess is a good complaint to have! However, it takes about 1.5 hours to 100%, and is clearly an early work from someone who perhaps had grand plans for a bigger project. This is perhaps a bit unfair, as it's something I recognise in myself - however, I wouldn't then charge people ≈$5 for it (it's also on Switch and Steam). I don't know if I'd recommend it at even that price, given the amount of cheap/free stuff we're presented with nowadays - however, if it goes down to <£3, at that stage it's practically free, and worth chucking change over for. Hopefully the chap there goes on to do bigger projects.

I'm not sure he really gets what music is, though

'Spooky Ghosts Dot Com' sounds like something you'd call a game Jim! And you were moderately keen on it, and it's from someone who wants more resources, and you can pet cats...

...if it 'mysteriously' goes <£3 in the next few days we'll all know who's behind it.

The Cappuccino Kid wrote:

There’s a great game bursting to get out here. Yet the light content, humdrum track design, lack of an online players and it’s ungodly frustrating AI badly hold it back. I’m disappointed. Hotshot Racing should be better than it is. 6/10.

I had my eye on this one and sounds like I'm not missing out. Thanks for the review!



I've just completed Ghost of Tsushima and put a bit of time into getting the Platinum trophy (it's just collecting and doing everything). I've yet to play Red Dead 2, but Ghost is the prettiest open-world game I've ever played, and having played it in Japanese (with subs) it's incredibly engrossing. There's some genuinely touching moments and the stories are strong - the duel fights are a nice, tougher twist on the usual swordplay and I like that it addresses the slow transformation of your character from a hero, into a monster that's no different from the enemy. Combat-wise, it's basically Assassin's Creed with a beat-em-up style stance system and it's satisfying, and simple to master. The use of stealth made me wish for an open-world Splinter Cell game but I imagine urban environments would be more difficult to pull off than a largely rural one. But yeah, this is a must-play if you have a PS4. It's so pretty, yet brutally violent as you see blood splatter against a crisp, snow-filled field, or decapitating someone amongst a pile of red leaves. The weather and wind are magnificent and is part of the gameplay too. Well worth checking out.

9/10

I played through Spiritfarer with my girlfriend and we completed the main story last night.

I wrote elsewhere that I was worried about potential pacing issues, but felt that there was more than enough variety and novelty to see me through. Well, I think I was wrong. If you were to divide this game into 3 acts, then the first act really is great; fresh, just enough mini-game variety, intriguing characters and some philosophical moments. The issue is, most of the game's charm and wonder are frontloaded into that act. By act 2, the character quality dips alongside the mini-games. And by act 3, I was ploughing towards the ending because nothing had changed.

Now, in a game about life and death perhaps you might be wondering - is this trajectory some sort of artistic statement? Well at times, yes. There are moments of psuedo fourthwall breaking moments woven neatly into the fabric of the in game universe, and occasional flares of storytelling which force the player to consider things like materialism and the meaning, or lack thereof, of life. This resonates harmoniously with the slow paced resource gathering, traveling and crafting which sees you caring for wayward spirits aboard your ship - as care for these entities en route to the great beyond. This is a game that gives you time to think despite simultaneously making it clear that everything ends.

Still, much of Spiritfarer revolves around the essence of a character, as opposed to anything you can really sink your teeth into. Take our silent protagonist, she's kind and helps people. And that's about as much development as she gets. For sure, there's more to her life that we learn as we move through the game, but ultimately her character is little more than an aspect, or a single trait. And that's about the sum of Spiritfarer's parts, by the end, the echo of something that could have been so much more, but which is content to largely settle on something less than incisive.

The score, artwork, theme - all of these things are done very well. But there isn't enough substance here to make the whole better than pretty good. This game certainly has its moments, and some of the character arcs are very sad. But again, those standout arcs are frontloaded. As things progress, everything dips, you have too much of everything and nothing to do. Many characters who pass on hope that you, the protagonist, will live in a certain way... but you can't apply any of their advice in game, there's nothing you can do. I'll spoiler why this is a problem

spoiler:

So the tl;dr. Spiritfarer has a really strong opening act, but peters off the more you play it. It poses philsophical questions, but typically only in the broadest of strokes and without much intent to do anything with those questions. You're given an unchanging protagonist that doesn't mesh particularly well with its philosophy and an ending that, whilst still sad, is also arbitrary.

Maybe that's the point, that life and its end is arbitrary, but I'm not convinced Spiritfarer conveys it's message in a way that's particularly inspiring.

I sort of recommend it. I do think it would be something that an inquisitive younger mind could really get something out of if they're into philosophy. I imagine people who are happier with broadstroke storytelling would like it too. But I compare it to something like Disco Elysium, which covers pretty much all the questions this game poses and far more, or things in other mediums and I just don't know if it's enough for me.

First time finishing Super Mario Sunshine tonight. I got too scunnered with it on the GameCube nearly twenty years ago, but I stuck with the Nintendo Switch re-release, and beat the final boss with 74 Shine Sprites collected. That'll do me. 

This is a seriously turbulent game, swerving between incredible elegance, being seamlessly avant-garde and then completely and utterly falling to pieces, all at the drop of a hat. In cold 2020 light, it's easy to decry Sunshine as being rushed, unpolished and gimmicky. However, on balance, I can't be angry at it, and in fact I find all it's faults to be strangely quite endearing. It can be a total pain in the arse, but it's a likeable total pain in the arse.

I think that there's a lot of people that look down on Sunshine because it didn't reinvent the genre like Super Mario 64 had done in the mid-to-late '90s. Yet if you take Sunshine for what it is, I think you'd be massively entertained. 8/10.

I've seen some YouTube channels playing Sunshine recently and it does appear to punish you for plummeting from high areas (which then means climbing up again) whereas Galaxy just threw you into space and you started again. I, probably like a lot of folk, remember the good bits. Kicking fruit around the hub area, gawping at the water physics, cleaning that fish boss' teeth and that mad rollercoaster level. Despite this, I have no intentions of returning to Sunshine, it was fun but you're right - proper 8/10 game. Yet I remember all the magazines at the time giving it 96%, 94% etc. These were Nintendo mags, mind. So most stuff was injected with an extra +5% - except Turok 2. That had an extra +25%.



I blasted through Metal Slug 3, one of my favourite games. Although, I enjoy playing it on the easiest setting with 99 lives because I am both a) not particularly great at it and b) it's a dirty DIRTY game full of cheap insta-kills.

For some reason this game is considered the best one of the series and I need to play through the others to really put that statement to the test. Yet, the shooting, animation and "feel" of the game is nice and satisfying. Real chunky sprites that fire chunky bullets - while a random bloke announces "MACHINE GUN" when you pick up a new weapon. The word I'm looking for is "character" - which is why I've always preferred King of Fighters over Street Fighter. The animation and detail is phenomenal for the time, being part of the Neo Geo line of arcade games priced the same as most consoles. Metal Slug is just pure fun.

However, it's cheaper than David Dickinson's chippy. You don't have a life bar, so if you get shot you die. Usually you have five lives and then you're hit with the "Continue?" timer - designed to make you pump change into the arcade cabinet. I don't think I'd ever finish the first stage (there are 5) as the bosses are brutally difficult. Granted, with repeated plays and if I spent time working out patterns I'd improve, but Metal Slug is something I like to throw on and mindlessly disperse bullets across the screen. 99 lives was a perfectly fine way to play this, until you reach Stage 5. Then the game turns into a STUPID blend of instant, unavoidable deaths and Ikaruga-like bullethell. That last stage can absolutely do one. Also, many people like the second level of this where you are given the chance to play as a zombie, but it's not fun in my opinion. You're too slow to jump or even move, and in turn, shoot a lot less bullets. It's a gimmick that ends up returning in Stage 5 and really shouldn't.

Despite this, I do enjoy the game and I should really put some time into getting good (as Mas would say) but that final stage is my idea of hell. I'm not a schmup guy - it feels like a stressful test instead of a fun moment, but that's part of its arcade roots showing.

A great game at its core that's flawed, unless you're a sadistic bastard. 8/10

Hm, I'm not sure whether Muss' review makes me keen for or wary of Spiritfarer. On the one hand it reads like he's about to smash a 6/10 or an 'Unsure' on the end of it; on the other, I might be just the sort of sap who's happy with that sort of 'broadstroke storytelling'.

'Likeable total pain in the arse' and 8/10 sounds about right for Sunshine, on a first playthrough anyway.