Chatting about games

Never knew there was so much history with the music. Learn something new everyday!

RE4's development and content is really a fantastic example of how a game is made. I did the math one time and I think they made the current build in about 13-14 months iirc which is nuts considering the attention to detail and quality that's in there. But I think Mikami re-used a lot more from the previous builds than we think, one could assume the castle is ripped for instance. Same for the Island or at least parts of it.

There was an old post on Gamefaqs more than a decade ago that had logged the game's animations, and it turned out some were from other Capcom games it seemed, probably to save time. I don't recall which though.

I think I can get my GC controller working with RE4 if I use some software to make the game think it's a 360 controller. I've found a mod on Steam that says it changes the controller layout to match the original GC controls and updates the button prompts too - is this the layout you were referring to KSub?

https://residentevilmodding.boards.net/thread/978/darksamuss-ps-x360-button-mods?page=1&scrollTo=7430

EDIT: Posted the wrong link...whoops!

Gregorinho wrote:I think I can get my GC controller working with RE4 if I use some software to make the game think it's a 360 controller. I've found a mod on Steam that says it changes the controller layout to match the original GC controls and updates the button prompts too - is this the layout you were referring to KSub?

That one looks great! Although I'm not really in the know when it comes to modding stuff - I hope it's not a mod that is meant to work on the 360 pad, otherwise you would have to run with X on the GC pad, which would be clunky as hell.

But this layout is definitely the correct one with the GC controller:

LT = Aim Knife
Z = Map
RT = Aim Gun
A = Action
B = Run
Y = Status/Inventory
X = Command Ashley
Start = Options/Skip Videos

If you can get that to work, you're golden.

One last thing: On the Steam version, you have the option to choose between 30fps and 60fps (as far as I know). I would recommend choosing 30fps if possible, the game wasn't really designed around 60fps and the higher framerate introduces some unpleasant glitches and AI / pathfinding errors.

I know it's seemingly a lot of work, but trust me: it's worth it! :)

Pretty cool to see someone about to experience RE4 for the first time. Enjoy Greg!

>Twilight Princess
I think I have this on Wii. Played it for like 10 mins years ago. Always wanted to get into it.

I remember not long after release people were making all these mechanically blind comparisons to Okami because both have a wolf and digging.

Twilight Princess is a lot of fun, and I'd say it's the better game of the two though it lacks the 'impact' of the original. Has probably the most expansive moveset for the sword in any game in the series. Wind Waker is still my favourite though.

I'm excited to get going! I think I'll finish up with Spider-Man on PS4 before I get stuck in.

Assuming I can use the GC controller with the Wii version of RE4, is there any reason to play the GC release over the Wii one? As mentioned earlier, the Wii version features widescreen support and I believe an extra playable scenario for Ada, too. Is this worth playing?

Gregorinho wrote:
extra playable scenario for Ada, too. Is this worth playing?

No.

Separate Ways was cobbled together by a B-team to act as a selling point for the PS2, and it shows. It's bad. Very poorly thought out encounter design being the main problem. If you want to play with Ada in an extra scenario there's always Assignment Ada, which was a part of the original game and a much better designed experience overall.

With that being said, if you have the opportunity to play the Wii version, go right ahead! It has native widescreen support instead of the forced letterbox format of the GameCube, so that's definitely a plus on that front. It also has native GameCube controller support that wouldn't require any mod. I think it's a bit of a weird semi-hidden feature and you'll need a functional wiimote to start the game, but it works perfectly well.


TL;DR: Wii version is probably a better choice than the Steam one and even the GC one. Just plug in the GC controller and ignore Separate Ways.

Yeah I only played Seperate Ways at a friend's house since he had a PS2 and it didn't sell me on it, even thing it had some continuity issues iirc.

Anyone played One Piece Pirate Warriors 4?

What do you guys think about the Metal Gear Solid V? Is it worth it or is it too bloated? I watched some gameplay and it looks quite good, but I feel like the open world and base building are going to be timesinkers. Is it possible to skip those and focus on getting better ranks in the missions?

It's been a while since I've played it but I don't remember the base management being that obstructive - you're still expected to use the Fulton balloons to capture and recruit soldiers, but you don't have to spend that much time on the base itself, I don't think.

Despite its story flaws (the main one being that it doesn't bring the narrative full circle, when the marketing suggesting it would) I really enjoyed it. It almost definitely has the best core gameplay in the series, unless you prefer the deeper (but clunkier) MGS3.

It's probably worth noting that other players can invade your base and you'll get a great big raging alarm notification in the middle of missions telling you to go and deal with it. You can ignore it completely, but I'm far too bitter to let people get away with stealing my resources!

Again, I might be misremembering, but I don't think players can steal anything you collect during the single player - once you get your base set up it will collect resources itself. Other players can only steal your "extras", if that's the right way to put it.

Now that you mention I certainly prefer the MGS3. Just realized that the HD collection is available for the Xbox one. Don't know how it is playable without the pressure-sensitive buttons though. Thanks for the insight about the Phantom Pain, if the control style is too weird for the HD collection I'll pick the MGSV.

NiceNinja wrote:Now that you mention I certainly prefer the MGS3. Just realized that the HD collection is available for the Xbox one. Don't know how it is playable without the pressure-sensitive buttons though. Thanks for the insight about the Phantom Pain, if the control style is too weird for the HD collection I'll pick the MGSV.

I played through the HD collection on 360 back in the day - the only pressure sensitive action I can remember is shooting. On the 360 pad, I think you could click the left stick in to raise and lower your weapon without firing...I'm sure they coded in a solution to it, anyway. As for any other pressure sensitive actions, I can't remember how they were solved sorry!

No need to apologize! Apparently it is the left click doing many things in place of pressure. That might get complicated, but it is probably a question of getting used to it. This was certainly helpful! I think that I am gonna grab the HD collection.

The left stick click aiming is THE way to play mgs3. The pressure sensitive buttons were novel, but it didn't allow for quick reactions without accidentally firing a shot. Also it is 60 fps, vs 30 on ps2.
One of the best HD ports of all time.

It's a very solid port, but the cut content will always be an issue for me. Especially considering the royal treatment that MGS2 got at the same time.

hedfone wrote:The left stick click aiming is THE way to play mgs3. The pressure sensitive buttons were novel, but it didn't allow for quick reactions without accidentally firing a shot. Also it is 60 fps, vs 30 on ps2.
One of the best HD ports of all time.

That is a good point. Maybe people are just used to PS2/3 versions, which creates a a narrative that the other control style is not the proper way to play the game. The Xbox BC version is only viable option to myself because it's my only console. So anyway I got the HD Collection and skipped all the cutscenes played about 30 mins. I must say that I didn't have that many problems with the left click. Although I am more CQC-guy so that might help.

I don't think I want to play Pirate Warriors 4.

It's far too 'basic musou' by the looks of it. What I mean by that is the roster is huge and they play too similarly. They may have different damage, range and speed but it's all the S>T system.

Note that's just my observation from watching videos of every characters gameplay. I know people like how fast and cancellable everything is.

I want to talk about batteries for a minute.

I had two brand new and sealed original X360 charger packs, but neither of them can be charged. The cables still work but to play I need to keep them plugged in.

Recently I bought a brand new slim PS2, never used. It turns on but completely messed up due to the clock battery or something. I think something else might be wrong with it because I replaced the battery and it still won't work.

I had my eye on a new PS3 controller but experience tells me it'll be dead as well.

Does something happen when they're in storage too long?

Has someone played the TMNT Mutants in Manhattan? I can understand that the 30fps is the major bummer for some, but does it hurt the gameplay?

A lot of people didn't like it, but from what I know it is a fantastic co-op game. If you have 3 buddies and can huddle down it is really fun to dive into from what I've heard from players I respect. Downside is that it really is built around multiplayer, so if you go in alone you're faced with a title built around MMO styled cooldowns, bad enemy tells and dull enviroments. But co-op really elevates the combat and makes it feel like you're really just a bunch of turtle bros.

@Birdman
Batteries are weird. Keep charging them and they die, never use them and they die as well. But my knowledge about them doesn't extend beyond that sadly.

Thanks, I just realized that there is a topic for this game. Anyways me and my buddies grew up with the original TMNT-phenomenon so perhaps that could work well. I think that I am gonna get it just out of curiosity.

It's got some really interesting mechanics and I had fun in multiplayer for a while, but it was no fun in single player.

All right that is a shame. Might still get it though and occasionally pop it in with my friends and my son.

> Batteries

I'm no expert either, but I believe rechargable batteries will slowly drain on their own, even when not being used. The longer you leave it flat, the more the battery will struggle to retain a charge. Worst case scenario, a battery left flat for too long will just refuse to charge, like my iPod Classic (RIP). I'd recommend people charge their controllers/handhelds/whatever else every so often. That reminds me, better go charge my Vita...

I see a lot of conflicting advice on maintaining battery health, which I think is due to the change in rechargeable battery types. This might be complete BS, so it's probably worth doing your own research on it, but I think most devices uses Lithium-ion batteries now. The recommended way to keep them healthy that I often see is not to let them run flat - ideally, you should charge it back to full when it's between 30-60% capacity.

The advice I used to see for the old battery type was to let it drain completely and then charge it back to full. The reported danger of not doing this is the "battery memory effect", where your battery's maximum capacity would lower if you regularly charged it before it was flat. If you would regularly charge your battery when it was 20% full, the max capacity would drop to 80% of what it should be. Something along those lines.

As I said, all of that was from my hazy memory, and might be a load of made up nonsense. Hopefully not though

Whatever the charging method, it's definitely the case that they're somehow draining on the shelf and left long enough can never be charged again.

Thoughts?

There are a lot of factors to take into account.
- Could said change be optional?
- Who is making the complaints?
- Are these perceived problems within the player's control?
- What type of game is this?

You get the idea.

Spot on about the player's suggestions often creating new problems. If designing games was really that simple, it wouldn't be a job. Not to mention that I bet you that a good chunk of what players tend to suggest for solutions were already tested by the developers, and they decided to toss that, because it didn't work.

Interesting point about how you should be encouraging players to use a certain mechanic, as opposed to punishing them for not using it. Makes a lot of sense to me, but again, this sort of thing depends on what type of game is being made.

I just found another NG critique. I'm going to watch it later though.

Watched that video earlier. He is certainly not an expert and don't act as one. Generally he enjoys the games, but I got the feeling that he is not gonna explore the harder difficulties anytime soon. Which is a shame, perhaps he has a huge backlog or the contemporary disposable gaming have ruined the modern gamers and youtubers. The video is pretty positive, but as usual he spent too much time on on trying to make viewer laugh.

Played through two of Way of the Samurai 1's endings. Don't think I'm gonna do all of them because the unskippable cutscenes and repetitive combat are already trying my patience, but it's a good proof of concept game and I'm really excited to get to the more refined sequels. I also beat the Messenger, which I would describe as Jump Cancel: The platformer. It's fuckin amazing!

How is the Messenger, can you go into more detail? I was originally really interested in it, but later heard it was more of a metroid-vania title? Is that true?

It is certainly true. The first half (8-bit) is a tight linear action platformer, like an evolution of original Ninja Gaiden series. The latter half (mainly 16-bit) plays like your average Super Metroid-clone. To me that is not completely a bad thing. Super Metroid is one of my favourite games. However I feel like the change of focus hurts the game. Maybe there wasn't enough time for the devs to polish the metroidvania segment. It's apparent in unnecessary cryptic clues, long stretch without boss fights (my favourite parts of the game) and weird end of humorous encounters with the shopkeeper. Overall it's good game with nice ninja tools alongside the basic sword, but sadly the pretty idea of having the best of both worlds hinders the overall experience. Haven't tried the free DLC.

EmperorWu wrote:Played through two of Way of the Samurai 1's endings

I got this game last christmas from my brother but haven't played it much. Was thinking of just doing it on easy mode because of the combat and permadeath( there was permadeath right or am I crazy?), what do you recommend?

@NiceNinja, Metroidvania is weird for me man. I love Metroid. But every other game in that genre has not pulled me in and every time either feels like a rip-off or just doesn't pull me in. It's weird like that. Hard to describe.

Maybe the maternal feelings of Samus are resonating with you. Haha just kidding, crazy Yoshio Sakamoto talk. I used to be into metroidvanias especially when Nintendo wasn't putting one out. But nowadays I am tired of the genre. The market is saturating with indie titles which are either metroidvanias or roguelikes (or roguelites I dunno). I didn't even finish the Bloodstained. The Messenger had a brilliant opportunity to differentiate with fresh linear take, but sort of dropped the ball by following the trend.

I think that's also a bit because most Metroidvania's done really add a lot to the table imo and feel a bit like reskins. You don't have a morphball, but something very similar. Instead of offer a ton of new ideas if you get me.

@aeternalSolitude
Yep! If you die, you reset from the beginning. The game is only about an hour long but it feels padded out by unskippable cutscenes and slow movement like I said, and it gets really difficult, so I recommend starting on Easy mode

On Messenger:
Yeah I thought the Metroidvania shift was a bit annoying, there just weren't enough fast travel waypoints and getting some secrets was confusing in trying to figure out what time era you had to be in. I still highly recommend it, though, the new levels you get to after the time skip are even better and more challenging

I was looking through my old stuff and found this long forgotten, strange game called Majin And The Forsaken Kingdom for PS3. It's on 360 too I think.

I vaguely remember buying it because it was made by the same company that made Genji and Folklore. Just read that many of the developers from Game Republic moved to Tango.

Anyway I remember barely playing it. You play as some guy who frees this ogre thing then you go on some adventure. The ogre helps in combat and traversal. He can throw or lift you to out of reach places. You could feed him hidden berries to power him up.

In combat, I remember the enemies were these black oily demons and when you get damaged you start to become like them. The shit they're made of sticks and slows you down. I think the human character couldn't kill them; the final blow had to be a combined attack with Majin. Might be slightly off on that but there was some joint attack aspect. Might have been the only way to do real damage.

There are stealth kills but I didn't get far enough to see how much of a part stealth plays. I recall a few areas where enemies are unaware and you could lure them into traps. One early example is a ruin wall above and you can get Majin to stand behind it. Enemies are in the area below. You go down and lure them near the wall then call Majin to knock it down, taking them all out at once. Lots of puzzles. He gets elemental powers after each boss. I think I got to the second boss. I had the electricity one and was in some kind of ancient 'power plant' where you had to zap these things to open gates or something.

It was really similar to The Last Guardian except with actual combat. Now that I think about it, TLG was supposed to be released back then and was one of the reasons I bought Majin.

Since I'm on my PS3 now playing Lollipop Chainsaw, I might move on to Majin next. It's been sitting there for years.

Anyone ever play this?

What the hell? I can't find any sign of Majin on the store. There was a DLC pack I wanted.

I forgot how awful the PS3 store is. Who designed this? It doesn't even let you type in full names. I get to Maj before it takes away all the letters and gives me a list of any games starting with these letters. Majin is not among them. Tried on my laptop too and get no result. The US store still has it though.

Check on a webpage. Not sure about your region but it is on the US store https://store.playstation.com/en-us/product/UP0700-BLUS30472_00-MAJINSPECIALPACK

Oh Game Republic, how I miss you..

EU. Still can't find it.

That's super weird, but I cannot find it either on the NL store. Maybe it got removed / delisted for some reason (couldn't find any info on this though).

I also searched and couldn't find a word about it

Could be that it's still on the store somewhere but not being detected by the search.

I'm close to finishing (or at least putting it on hold until I can use a real PS2) my first KH2FM lv1 run, and I still want to play other action games. As some of you may know, the PC I'm using to play stuff is not powerful enough to emulate games like God Hand or DMC. So I was looking to see if I could play them natively by searching for PC ports. Sadly the DMC HD collection is too intensive for this machine, but there is still one last option.

Birdman:

Is the PC port of Chaos Legion any different from the PS2 one? Does one have worse aspects (mechanics, glitches, performance or whatever else) than the other?

It's known to be quite buggy. One notable glitch is when a single attack can hit like 20 times doing insane damage.

Not sure about performance. Would depend on your settings. I don't own it. This is what I've heard and seen in videos.

Wife is redecorating the living room, so all my consoles aren't hooked up. And of course right now I'm interested in replaying NGII again. Guess it's just me spamming Golden Sun on my GBA..

I'm giving Death end re;Quest a try. Had it sealed since last year.

The sequel us coming out around the end of this month so I might use my EB Games store credit on it if I like the first one enough.

Might make a topic once I've figured out the basics. So far the combat system is pretty unique.