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Dood Trigger™
Chris of Duty in RE6. Just hit Chapter 4.

The first chapter is incredibly boring... dark rooftops, dark buildings, and let's not forget the dark streets. For a Call of Duty-esque campaign, this sure takes forever to get exciting. Nothing happens in this level, man. Just plain-flavored corridor fights. Maybe I should have picked Piers because at least his rifle is cool. But whatever.

I think the J'avo have a badass concept with the limb mutations, and they would've rocked with RE4-5 mechanics. But RE6 is faster paced and less methodical than 4-5 (and Dead Space, which surely was a key inspiration), so you end up just shooting them wherever you aim and the result is always in your favor.

Chapter 2 is IMO a bit more fun at least (and you can see things!). It has Not El Gigante, the introduction of those cocoon enemies, and a couple of decent sections in the snowy city. It also touches more on Chris' story, which is surprisingly personal.

Chapter 3, aka Invisible Enemies Are Never Fun, was a mixed bag. There was the shared fight with Jake and Sherry, which I'm sure would have been better as Piers with the rifle. Using the Grenade Launcher to drop the chopper was okay. Invisible snake was bleh. Then there was the jeep. That freaking jeep. I was so happy when Piers took the wheel, but then halfway through they switched seats. Dammit, haha.

I think I can finish tomorrow.
Beat DMC5 on normal this weekend. Fantastic action game. Gonna replaying on harder difficulties next.
red chamber dream
Quote from Opium:
Quote from arkarian:
i recommend reading online about the battle system. the game doesn't do a good job of explaining it, and once i read about how the systems work, i had a lot more fun with the combat


Can you recommend a source?

dunno, i would just google xenoblade combat tips
red chamber dream
or if you search xenoblade best builds, those kinds of guides usually explain the combat
red chamber dream
or do what i did and play as riki, and just heal everyone else while they do the fighting :D
Dood Trigger™
Finished Chris.

Yeeeah, that was... meh-ish? I try to enjoy this game, but it's hard to forget that I'm playing dull shallow fights in dull shallow rooms most of the time. It certainly wasn't terrible, just... insipid.

Also, RE6 gunfights are no fun. The cover mechanics in RE5 are basic, but the rooms in that game are designed for you to take advantage of the system. Like, it makes sense to hide behind this wall because now you can see/protect yourself from this and that enemy. RE6's idea of a gunfight is to simply spawn J'avo from all sides.

Enjoyable parts in Chris' campaign IMO:

- Chapter 2 (Edonia/snowy city) was no masterpiece, but coming from the drab buildings and literally zero things happening in Ch.1, it was alright. Giant boss wasn't bad

- Similarly, the jump from Chapter 3 (more dark dirty buildings) to 4 and 5 (ship, underground lab) was decent as well, with a less obnoxious flow and some interesting moments. The last chapter was pretty climax-y with HAOS. Too bad these compliments are directed more so at the pacing and cinematic set pieces than the actual combat scenarios

- I have to mention this even though I didn't experience it this time: Piers' rifle is genuinely useful, since Chris doesn't find a proper ranged weapon until Chapter 4. And Piers has that crazy final boss mutation thing. I really should have picked him

- Bits of story and cutscenes were neat. I like the bar intervention, the ending and the idea behind HAOS

Jake tomorrow. I remember his campaign had the most WTF variety segments, but I liked his melee moves. We'll see...
Dood Trigger™
Wesker Junior, Chapter 4.

His campaign doesn't start too bad... aside from forcing you to do the exact same Gigante fight as Chris. But you get a freaking Magnum within 10 minutes of gameplay, and the enemy placement isn't a total disaster. The only part I can't understand is the Ustanak turret chopper bit. Is the whole fight just shooting down the choppers? 'Cause it took a while...

Jake's melee is cool. If you have Melee Lv.3, double combat meter and something like J'avo Killer, you pretty much breeze through these fights without a single bullet fired.

Chapter 2 is the infamous snow storm... and... yeah. Hard to defend this part. I found the snow maze items relatively fast, but then it took forever to find the stupid cabin because well, the radar straight up lies to you. It says the exit is 80m closer, then 70, etc., but this initial track leads to a dead end. What you have to do is backtrack aaaall the way to the start of the area, and then the radar tells the truth. (To be fair with the game, I could have noticed that the cabin path was near the start, but hey, the radar shouldn't mislead you.) The whole chapter took 50 minutes to beat, and I wasted 20 minutes in this one map. :(

Cabin fight was shorter than I remembered. Maybe last time I played the game I didn't leave immediately when the exit opened. Snowmobile was trash, just trial and error. Then there were a few stealth rooms feat. The One Way to solve them. More chase scenes. And that was it, we got naked captured.

Chapter 3 was... nice? I like the White-Out prison escape, and the Chinese mansion is one of the few truly open parts of RE6 -- it's a big place, you don't need all tokens to beat it, and the path itself isn't strictly linear. I had 3 spare tokens in the end, and I recall being able to open a secret room with more of them... dunno if I'm imagining things.

With all the WTF variety annoyances of Jake's campaign, at least it feels shorter than Leon and Chris.

Will finish tomorrow.
Edit history:
arkarian: 2019-03-14 06:19:08 pm
arkarian: 2019-03-14 06:18:22 pm
arkarian: 2019-03-14 06:17:44 pm
red chamber dream
so ... assassin's creed unity is good. like, really great

by far the prettiest and most alive world in any ac game i've played. the crowds, animation, and sound work especially are incredible

i wish this were one of my first ac games so that i'd be more willing to do all the sidequests and explore thoroughly. but it's still the same formula as previous games, and i'm not getting any younger, so i'm mostly sticking with the story missions. but the gameplay feels like the most refined version yet, and honestly, it's close to perfection. the free running and combat are the best yet in the series

if you've never played any ac game, this is the one i'd recommend. my personal nostalgia aside (and i haven't played syndicate), it's the best ac game (of the original formula anyway)
red chamber dream
it's pretty funny, considering it had such a terrible launch
I like turtles.
MM11 is simultaneously pretty easy and still very frustrating. The double gear trivializes most of the fighting (in a good way, it's actually a clever way to help you learn patterns), but the stage hazards - while better than average - still contain a lot of cheap shots that I'd have hoped Capcom knows better than to do by now. At least the vanish blocks only appear twice and neither time over spikes/bottomless pits.

At first I was a little salty that I didn't particularly love it, but then it occurred to me that I didn't really like ANY Mega Man game I've played the first time through it, even the ones I consider my faves. Knowing a workable stage order and being ready for the aforementioned cheap shots are basically mandatory for enjoying these games.
Dood Trigger™
Yeah, the stage route is an important part of the process. On the plus side, these games get more and more fun in replays.

MM11 does feel like you have to master the level, like every room is a puzzle. Other games have a nicer balance of challenging enemy placement >> breather corridor >> challenging platforming >> room with free items >> mix of challenges >> etc.
~

I've replayed all modern RE games the past 10 or so days, except RE4 which I'm doing next. I also replayed REmake 2 (Claire A/Leon B). This game is just so well crafted. The map, the gameplay mechanics and the enemies work really well together. There's not a moment where you're not planning your next move and considering options (and being tense!). I think this is up there with my top favorite REs.
risk of rain 2 has arrived, and I did about 4 hours online multi with a friend, managed to unlock 2 characters although I never really got comfortable enough with the controls to really feel like I was playing to the best of my ability.

it's okay, although I've struggled to find the best way to control it now it's in 3D ... accurate 3D aiming implies using the mouse, but you also need to be able to move in four directions and have ready access to four abilities at the same time as well as jump and sprint, so using the keyboard does tie your fingers in knots. playing with a xbox pad solves that problem, but you can't target things as accurately.

I also tried a Steam controller and that may actually be my preferred compromise, but I'm not sure.
Dood Trigger™
About to start The Last Guardian for the first time.

I also bought Metal Gear Solid: Legacy Collection, and the only MGS game I've played was 1... this'll be fun.
good luck. i got stuck and gave up a few hours in :/
red chamber dream
in the last guardian? that game literally plays itself if you wait long enough lol
Dood Trigger™
Thanks ryu!

Started The Last Guardian.

This is my first Team Ico game. I'm not quite immersed in the artistry that these games are known for (yet), but I like it okay. The visuals are pretty, and the world has a nice, quiet atmosphere (although it is empty as hell like all Team Ico games from what I've heard). It does totally feel like a last gen game. Maybe even PS2 era.

The controls are very clunky. I get stuck in the environment a lot. Thankfully this isn't an action oriented game, would have pissed me off for sure. Sometimes the dogbird doesn't understand that it needs to be in the right position for something, which gets frustrating af. I don't mind the minimalist gameplay, but I wish the controls and Trico (the beast) were better implemented. It's weird how this is literally all there is to the game and yet it feels like they should have spent a lot more time polishing it.

Also, the puzzle difficulty seems flat so far. Mostly it's just climbing on the beast to reach something, doing basic platforming, aiming the mirror (well, not anymore). Doesn't feel like a gradual challenge. But I assume there's still a lot of game to cover.

Just learned how to issue commands to the beast. That one command jump up to the building with the enemy spotlights... that was infuriating.
I like turtles.
I finished OoT for the first time ever this week. It's long been one of the most overrated video games ever for me and I've tried probably three or four times before this to play through it. Usually get bored and quit somewhere between sneaking into the castle and Jabu Jabu. But this time I gave it one more shot with the 3DS version.

I had a much better time. Possibly this is because I'm more patient now than I used to be, but I suspect it's more that the game is more playable and appreciable when it isn't ugly as sin and when it has a framerate above the high teens.

Obviously I can't fully appreciate that everything this game does was new at the time, and it had to make it all up from whole cloth. The dungeons were surprisingly neat and the overworld/optional content (I didn't do 100%, mind) was pretty underwhelming. Everything seemed way too linear to me as a post-BotW player, but even compared to Zelda 1 and ALttP, it was far stricter about making you do things in the proper order. I enjoyed the story and characters more than I thought, which I think was - again - made possible by the new graphics not making my eyes bleed.

Anyway I just watched an Any% speedrun, also for the first time. What a meme.
Dood Trigger™
Finished The Last Guardian. That was about a 13 hour playthrough.

I feel the same as when I started: the concept of the giant beast following you the entire time is interesting, the game looks pretty and it has a comfy atmosphere. It's not the most super fun game to play, though. The controls are mad clunky, the puzzles rarely wow'd me (for a game that's just about that), and I wish Trico was quicker to respond.

There were specific parts I enjoyed, like when you have to drop the huge stained glass eyes outside the ruins. That whole sequence was very well put together. And I did get a little more used to the beast's behavior in general. But the game's issues persisted. Whenever I solved a room, it was more of a feeling of relief than anything.

(Screw that cage elevator, btw.)

Still glad I played it. I think 7/10 sounds about right. I would easily give it an extra point if the controls weren't trash, because the adventure itself was epic. In my experience at least, the bond between Trico and the Boy became very real as the game progressed, and there were some truly breathtaking moments and set pieces. The ending was satisfying too IMO.

I was always more curious about Shadow of the Colossus than this, though. Gotta try it someday.
red chamber dream
i think i'm right there with you on the last guardian. there's a lot of good ideas and even some good execution in that game, but there's too much "meh" to make it great
red chamber dream
would definitely give sotc a try considering you liked tlg
Dood Trigger™
Yeah, I'll definitely try SotC. It looks amazing.
I gave up on tlg but it sounds like I was pretty far into it before stopping.  I got really annoyed with how you constantly trip over pebbles, and the creature not doing what you want it to.

Love Ico and SotC though.
Dood Trigger™
Replayed The Evil Within the past couple of weeks. Here are my (revisited) thoughts. There are some spoilers ahead.

Still an awesome game, IMO.

Great
- The sheer variety of levels and set pieces is ridiculously impressive. You're seeing new things and playing different gameplay scenarios from the beginning until the very end, and all without losing the focus of survival which RE6 failed miserably at. As a friend said, it's crazy how they somehow made these giant detailed rooms that we often only pass by once.

- For a modern style linear horror game, I think TEW does the survival really well. You can't Rambo this game, everything requires thought, and while Sebastian does have access to a multitude of weapons eventually, the game still makes you conserve ammo and consider options at all times.
Crowd control is interesting too, because anything worth using to deal with groups is scarce (matches, grenades, bolts), and context moves were made less abusable. You can't knife + roundhouse kick 8 enemies here. I still have more fun with the RE4 gameplay, but I can appreciate TEW's unique style for what it is.

- The atmosphere and imagery are excellent for the most part.

- I like that the DLCs weren't just more of the same, even if the main game is still better. I enjoyed all three extras.


So-so
- The idea of being in a world made of someone's consciousness/memories is very intriguing and reminds me of Silent Hill in a way. I'm not as invested in game stories as I used to, so maybe I missed a lot of detail here, but my impression is that the story in TEW could have been much better executed. Maybe it tries to hammer the scientific side of things into our heads a bit too often, I dunno. My first time playing this I was expecting The Architect from The Matrix to appear at some point and painstalkingly expose the entire mystery in a way that made it even more confusing/tedious.
I also don't care for the character development, if there was even any. That may or may not be an even bigger problem. I just haven't thought about it enough.


Evil
- The main beef I have with TEW is the purposely imprecise controls and unforgiving hitboxes. Unlike the actual design changes that felt more conscious (trickier crowd control, no OP roundhouse, etc.), these just feel like a nasty 'gotcha!' to RE4 vets. Stuff like the timing for matches, random 0% gun accuracy, pixel hunting for item pick-ups, lack of i-frames, and Seb's movement which kinda makes him look like he's drunk.
As much as those things can contribute to the tension, I don't like the constant feeling of struggling with the game's engine. This is especially apparent after playing Resident Evil 2 Remake, which has very smooth and responsive controls, and the collision is (mostly) fair.

- Instances of forced slow walking, slow door opening, waiting for dialogue, etc. They're generally short moments, but come on, I've seen these, let me play the game!

- Also, the PS3 version is buggy af. Textures not loading properly, stuttering, long load times. I'm tempted to re-buy the game on the PS4 just because it probably doesn't have as many technical issues.


I'm not good with grades, but I'd say TEW feels like an 8 point something out of 10. Maybe it'll be a 9/10 when I get a version that performs better. Right now I wouldn't place it on the same level as the survival horror juggernauts, but it's a really damn great time.
red chamber dream
sounds like it's worth playing, thanks for the insights
I agree with most of those statements. What annoyed me the most was that some parts of the game require near perfect play, and replaying those sections until you get it right can get real frustrating. Loved the environments and atmosphere, especially when the game went full horror.