Welcome new members (introduction topic)

Heya! So if you're new, come in and say hi!

PS: This topic got a bit out of hand about The Evil Within, we moved this discussion to the Evil Within boards. Please introduce yourself here if you're a new member!

Hey Roy, I seen u r chums with dick Benedict, that's cool how I found u both separately.

I'm playing evil within and will finish that soon so I will play vanquish again and learn some stuff. I didn't know u could do so much.

Evil within is a mess of a game n a damn shame given shinji mikami has directed re4, god hand and vanquish, which r some of my favourites.

Yeah Bick/Dick and I go way back to the Ninja Gaiden days, but we really connected in the time he first attempted Vanquish and Metal Gear Rising. Me being the knowledgeable chap at those games I helped him out a lot with those titles at the time and he helped me with God of War recently. How do you know him?

Evil within is a mess of a game n a damn shame given shinji mikami has directed re4, god hand and vanquish, which r some of my favourites.

The game was disappointing to me too. Never got into it, managed to beat it once and tried it again; it clicked a bit more when I knew how the game worked and started using melee and smart usage of matches but it never really hit me though. I am hoping the second one works better for me but so far the game has had two big no-no's for me. Namely:

* a 'multitool' bow, which I just find really lacking. Weapon has no impact or feeling of power.
* instant death 'what do I do' situations, where you just have to figure out what the designer intended or die. Not my type of fun.

Goes to show that even legends like Shinji aren't perfect.

Almost beaten evil within im playing it now, it has many issues that stem from poor design choices and forced game trends, such as last of us type stealth which is slow, clunky and very basic.

its very much a poor mans re4 considering how much it steals from it, just about everything it taken from re4 and its done poorly.

movement is clunky, imprecise and many many animations are too long leaving u open to attacks, especially when u seem to have no iframes on anything, so u can be struck while in a sneak kill, stun state from a grab or other attacks.

many bosses and even mobs have unclear encounters such as the blood man in the burning barn, which isnt a boss fight so much as it is survive them plus infinitely spawning mobs for x amount of time. too much reuse of mobs and bosses also, not very many enemy types at all. i do like the idea of the false rubik clones who use insta kill claw lady attacks as they have a disctinct look and visual/audible cues,tho its usually quite cheap given how clostrophobic most areas r alonside other mobs its a real pain in combat.
mobs seem to not react clearly to your attacks as sometimes they have armor and dont even budge, powering through your attacks.

Enemies with guns r also an unfair type due to hitscan, especially with how much liberal use these types get late game.
re4 mobs had flaming crossbows so u could see them easily and avoid them even if in their line of sight, along with them only firing to shots then a reload with distinct visual and audible cues. bum within gun mobs dont seem to need to reload and only need to point at u to fire and can do so in short succession.

it seems to follow many trends around the time of its release, i get the impression it was altered greatly and rushed due to these elements, it feels so dated, like the exact year it came out.

cross bow was poorly implemented, tacked on and lacks impact, another recent game trend alongside forced walking sections which destroys player agency replay value and game flow. i hate this exact trope, these r GAMES not FILMS. please just let me actually interact with a given game, ill decide if i want to walk.

I have a way to put this, a simple rule of thumb for specifically action games;
gameplay is gameplay and cutscenes r cutscenes, dont mix the 2 if its intrusive to the game as a game, as this can ultimately hurt both aspects and overall design as well. its why titans of old r so respectful to the player as they didnt waste your time with things that intrude gameplay.

Going to reply more in-depth tomorrow, but I approve of this post beyond all else. Good point.

Especially this one:

Gabriel Phelan Lucas wrote:I have a way to put this, a simple rule of thumb for specifically action games;
gameplay is gameplay and cutscenes r cutscenes, dont mix the 2 if its intrusive to the game as a game, as this can ultimately hurt both aspects and overall design as well. its why titans of old r so respectful to the player as they didnt waste your time with things that intrude gameplay.

Tnx roy, glad to be contributing to the community in some small form, its nice to discuss these things with a fellow gamer.

ive noticed mobs have long grab animations that track u for an obscene amount of time, unlike re4 mob grabs where short and could be avoided easily with proper spacing, i managed to get grabbed by a mob while vaulting some cover which is unfair, i then wiggled out of the grab and was then placed on the side i had vaulted to.

this issue of being grabbed and attacked during animations extends to how u can be grabbed and attacked off ladders even when part way up them, this is unfair in the case of laura who primary and seemingly only attack is an insta kill grab.

ive just been stuck on the opening section of chapter 13, a mob that wields a explosive sticky crossbow can easily tag u and then stun lock u. actually its how they can tag u with a bomb bolt and then u will get hit again, i did so whilst getting up.
oh and not to mention the bloody DEATH ROOMBAS.
its becoming quite tedious to say the least and im trying to enjoy it despite these haha.

What I really hate in games is moments where "I don't know what the game wants me to do", where you have to do a very specific thing otherwise nothing will happen. Evil Within seems filled with scenarios where enemies spawn infinitely or a boss has infinite health until a certain event is triggered which really tunes down the experimentation. I recall after Shadows of the Damned thinking "okay, Evil Within will be the true next Resident Evil 4" - and in some instances it really is. Some encounters and areas are a joy to play when the mechanics kick in and you're in the zone but this is a very rare feeling for me. It's one of the few games that I sold.

I agree on the bow and stealth. Everything feels very 'this is popular now, so put it in'.

Going by Evil within 2 gameplay trailer i think it might come closer to what it could have been, i was thinking sort of re4 hook man demo but full game.

mob types look more varied than 1, cant see them too clearly or know their function but they seem to have greater types than 1, which mainly has the same mob type with little variation(fat guys, masked guys, steel masks, shotgun guys, sniper guys,crossbow guys, melee guys, invisible guys, ruvik clone guys lots of the same sort of guy). overall its bosses r lacking in design and r poorly communicated whats needed to beat them when most its simply shoot them dead with no thought. they see too much reuse also with the keeper.

the aethetic looks more defined as opposed to the generic saw/hostel grimy grunge basement torture porn look. which i find lacking since it has a setup of being supernatural horror and most areas and mobs look so ordinary its hard to remind myself its supposed to be a surral horror game.the last areas of chapter 15 r visually interesting in how the whole sky box and area is filled with eyes and brain textures.

the wax liqued look 2 has is more recognisable and has potential for some surreal areas and creatures.

core gameplay from what is shown it still looks to have crossbow, stealth so they may have designed them better.

also i dont think mikami is directing so i hope he is working on something if he can, its an awful waste to not use such a skilled director, guess well have to leave that to bethesda.

really it needs to be allowed to develop its ideas and mechanics to something other than re4 or last of us rip off.

shadows of the damned i played a few times and enjoy grasshopper games, its a solid game and i wasnt lamenting it not being re4 as it has personality with its cast and world. definetely a much better game than evil within, it had more focused gameplay and bosses. its iterative but solid.(i dont think it was originally intended to be a shooter like re4 but EA changed it to that)

i dont think anything will be quite like re4 its the peak of resident evil and understood what made re work so well overall, namely tense combat with limited movement and resource management, while adapting and expanding to those things with less puzzles as the series by re2 was more linear and action oriented by that point(3 even had a dodge move).

but heres hoping evil within 2 can be what it could be.

One thing that is important, we have to let go of Resident Evil 4 getting a spiritual successor. I think the biggest reason I disliked Evil Within was that it was more a Last of Us spin-off than a RE game which I was hoping for. I think if I saw it more as a new type of game I would've liked it a lot more.

I must say the wax liquid caught my eye too. Really unique to see a white-styled horror game as they usually try to focus on dark and red colors.

One thing I must note that I both loved and hated was the plot twist. I liked the concept but saw it coming way too soon, I think it was around chapter 2 or 3 that I realized we were in a 'brain'. So when the game started hamfisting it in and everything I was a bit "yeah duh...". Also took a lot of tension away from me to realize it 'wasn't real'.

Did you play Resident Evil 7?

I did play re7 its a nice return to form for re with re6 being the logical conclusion of action re games(with full on manual dodging, slides, melee moves and counters), its a very short and limited game to say the least.

the intro sequence was overly linear forced walking sections with no replay value.
bosses such as jack chainsaw fight where a tad unclear as one might get the idea to use the chainsaw to cut the door bars, tho i never had this issue. bosses where decent fun.
Final boss is really a qte cutscene boss, which im always sad to see the final boss be so lame or nonexistant(evil within was a turret shooter and rocket launcher and thats it) when id rather have a final boss like azel(i consider angra to be more a cathartic beatdown for beating azel), armstrong and vergil3 who r a true test of player skill.

i liked the blocking mechanic which is useful for close quarters, its strengths lie in its environment design for the main house.

mob types r very limited but work for baker estate due to how condensed it is, the ship section and salt mine areas ran out of mob types and reused the 3 main ones(4 if including the big arm regular molded) which enforces how limited it is in scope, the last 3rd is more a basic fps than anything.
i do like how mia section went back to having no resources.

madhouse was a decent change for mostly jack house sections as its the most intricate level design and sees the most changes(mob changes, more cages and some changed item placements).

im happy with its outcome and look forward to re7dlc.

also note how re4 used trip wires and bear traps for village sections and nowhere else but evil within uses them insesantly.

The mental aspect of evil within needed to have more play as this would allow for it to have its own world to use rather than re4 and last of us, which it does mimic too closely to be considered its own realised take on them imo, it would allow for more bizarre and unconventional mechanics, mobs and bosses to use, which is where its potential lies, maybe more use of impossible space like the saferoom. something like silent hills otherworld transitions would work as it sort of does that but not enough.

i agree with how it being purely mental was lame and it would be better to allow for interpretation like silent hill 2 and jacobs ladder do. 2 might turn this around and have some sort of reality altering device and maybe a whole city or more under its influence possibly causing actual magic to occur in the real world making it both.

as what would the excuse of sebastian being effected by brain experiments after 1, trauma? another experiment? magic?

We moved this discussion to the Evil Within boards. Please introduce yourself here if you're a new member!

Since I haven't really introduced myself yet...

I'm Birdman. Around the internet I usually use a variation of that name. It comes from an old PS1 game called Galerians. Think RE1 with psychic powers instead of guns. One of the bad guys was named Birdman. There's a sequel called Galerians Ash on PS2 which is more an action game with dodge rolls and stuff.

I never heard about Galerians before so I decided to look for a video. Damn that looks a lot like Resident Evil. That type of genre was really popular way back when. Like the more magical elements, looks cool.

Cool to know the origins. Always thought you were just a big fan of this movie:



The origins of my names is a bit funny. Royta comes from Roy from Smash Brothers - who was my main at the time (when I was like 12). Loved playing as him and just his design and style (red messy hair, fire element etc.). I still know all his Japanese quotes by heart. Raeng is because on Gamefaqs Royta was already taken and my novel at the time 's main protagonist was called Raeng. You can find the horrible book here: http://shop.lecturium.nl/boek/3112/voda-and-norwath--a-stone-of-the-world. Still, I finished it, of which I am really proud. And managed to get it published which is no mean feat when you're 16.

The first game has a fantastic atmosphere. I wouldn't really class it as horror but at times it definitely sits on the borderline. Definitely give it a shot if you get the chance.

If not they made an anime/CGI movie of the first game which is really cool.

I might make a topic on the second game. I got a ton of boss fight videos (for both games) and it was one I put a lot of time into delving into the mechanics of each power.

Galerians I think I've seen before, yeh magic re type.

Well Gabriel Phelan Lucas is just my name but I use ninja Lola cheese or Lola suplex queen sometimes, Lola is my cat we best buds since we where kids, queen is cus she is real sassy(she also happens to be black make of that what u will;) suplex cus they rad(gene n Leon know it) ninja n cheese r just random words I threw together. All a bit silly really.

So bird man do u check game mechanics n glitches a lot from what I seen. That's neat stuff. U seem dedicated to it I respect that a lot.
I'd love to have something to show u guys but I'm not good enough or dedicated enough to do such stuff, also I'd have to get stuff to record n learn that but that's not hard since my dad knows editing tech stuff.

Tho I'm glad to be contributing to the community in some way.

Roy how would u pronounce Raeng, u r from Netherlands right? I from England.

yeh magic re type.

Psychic power, but I guess magic would look and play the same lol. I'll make a topic soon.

So bird man do u check game mechanics n glitches a lot from what I seen. That's neat stuff. U seem dedicated to it I respect that a lot.

Yeah I focus on those and now and then post actual gameplay though I don't have any decent recording equipment at the moment. If it's PS4 recording then no problem,but for older stuff all I have is an ancient dvd recorder and I'm done with that.

Gabriel Phelan Lucas wrote:Roy how would u pronounce Raeng, u r from Netherlands right? I from England.

Jup Netherlands. And no clue haha. It's an old Greek term that I managed to find as my mom used to have a greek-dutch dictionary. I just went through it and found the word Raeng and said "Yes! That's my character's name". I pronounce it as RENG (like BAAANNNNGGGG when an explosion happens, but with an R instead of a B). What country are you from Grabriel?

I'm English with Irish grandparents on my dads side(not really relevant but I can get an Irish passport so I can be back in EU).

I do like how more grounded internet folk can be from Hollywood stars who r often insane, but that's humans all round anyway haha.

Nice to just chat about stuff ya know, u guys r cool doods glad I found this site n am interacting with the community now I'm quite the shut in, so I don't have many friends I keep up with other than my relatives n sibling n my cat(who is my best friend) haha.

I always say: "if you're not a little bit insane, you're not human". We all have our quirks, irrationality and illogical definitions - just the way we are! 

And it's cool the way you spend your life, you have to live it so as long as you're happy that's great and good on you. Glad you're liking it here! I must admit I had my doubts opening this forum with the fear that it would just be me talking to myself but so far it has been pretty cool! How did you find it? Stingermagazine I mean.

its a very informative and insightful site, lots of actual talk about things in game design that don't get much discussion, things only those in the know discuss that doesn't get much attention to it in the mainstream.

very clear and respectful also. Maybe some more gifs for relevant visuals.

i actually found your site simply looking at god hand azel images n the writing below an image piqued my interest, im sure i would have found it another way given your links to other places like bick benedict.

Could you add a devils third page? Next to team ninja.

Gabriel Phelan Lucas wrote:Could you add a devils third page? Next to team ninja.

It's an Itagaki game, not Team Ninja. You can make a topic in Various Action Games if you want : )

hey roys back. how ya doing buddy?

I'm good man. Recovering from jetlag and bad sleep, I'll post an update tomorrow on how my trip to Japan was!

Hello action people! ^__^ I always get kind of nervous about introducing myself, but here goes nothing.

I love action games in general, but especially character/stylish action games. I was first introduced to the genre as a wee lass with Onimusha: Warlords and the first Devil May Cry. DMC in particular kind of just hit the reset button on my expectations for games, especially with regards to combat, character control, and atmosphere.

I've gotten into the Ninja Gaiden games recently (thought Black was pretty much perfect, Sigma was a messy port, NGII is equal parts brilliant and god awful, and wanting to play Sigma 2 and NG3 next) and I ended up finding a link to you guys when I was lurking on NG Realm (the Ninja Gaiden: past to present article)!

Outside of action games I love a lot of survival horror (RE2 and 4, Dead Space 1 and 2), RPGs (both western variety like The Witcher 3 and eastern like the Shin Megami Tensei and Shadow Hearts games), stealth games (Metal Gear, Mark of the Ninja, classic Splinter Cell), and more simplistic, story-driven stuff (Hellblade, Uncharted, Everybody's Gone to the Rapture).

I usually just do a lot of lurking, but I love these types of games and after lurking for the past few days you all seem really friendly... so hi... :)

Oh and you can call me Erica if you want.

Welcome bird. Great to have you here.

Ha! Onimusha and DMC1 are also the first games that got me seriously into the genre. Onimusha was one of the first PS2 games I played.

Love horror games as well. I mainly play Fatal Frame series, RE4, Parasite Eve 2 and Haunting Ground.

Another bird! ^__^ Thank you! I have always wanted to play Haunting Ground but have never been able to get a hold of it.

Welcome Erica, always great to see another bird find a nice place to nest : )! Have to say it always makes me feel a jump of joy to see a new user around, so thank you for joining in! Welcome!
(and the welcome members topic actually has a usage now haha!)
What was your username on NG Realm? I can't recall a Strangebird there.

Really cool to read how you were introduced into the genre, I loved Onimusha but didn't discover it until a few years back when I bought the Genma remake of Warlords for the Xbox.

I agree on NGII being...godly and stupid haha. That games really took one right step for every wrong step, Sigma 2 might just be what you need. Sigma 1 was really a 'one step forward, one step back' kind of deal. But Sigma 2 was more 'two steps forward, one step back' of a deal. It really fixed a lot of the games main issues (framerate, unresponsive controls, ranged combat emphasis). NG3 is...special. Though the remake Razor's Edge is kind of the true sequel to NG2 (being both amazing and aweful at the same time).

You get massive bonus points for mentioning classic Splinter Cell. Which is your favorite?
I really miss the banter between Sam and Lambert : (

Again, great to have you and feel free to lurk or join in on any or every talk there is!

I was sent to here by Birdman. I'm a glitcher and a (reluctant) speedrunner who likes taking an in-depth look into games. My most known work is probably from the God of War-series, but I also frequently try out bad or otherwise infamous games out of curiosity. So, hello.

Holy shit Akheon? Long time no see man! Cool that you found your way over here! Many happy returns, always enjoyed your GoW content : )

Yay AKheon!

Hello everyone,

I just discovered that Stinger Magazine had a forum, so I decided to join in
I know about Royta/Raeng from a Ninja Gaiden related forum, and from his youtube channel.

The games I play the most are Dark Souls, Bloodborne, Nioh and the Ninja Gaiden series. Actually, my nickname is related to Ninja Gaiden 2 (Xbox 360), Dark Blood is the name of a red ninja suit you unlocked by beating the default difficulty level, and it was the one I used the most. The Achronim "NG" stays for Ninja Gaiden. I want to point out I'm not a really good player, but I actually like games that require to develope some knowledge and skill.

In the past I also played a lot of 2d shmups, from old school ones to modern danmaku, and also other arcade and 16 bit console games. I'd also like to go into action survival horror games like RE4, or maybe some shooters like Gears of War, but what I find myself playing all time is NG, souls likes and the occasional shmup or arcade sidescroller.

I always wondered where the name came from (I always like knowing the origins haha), good to know!
Welcome to the boards Dark Blood :) Hope you enjoy your stay!

I always wondered where the name came from

I have to say, I was not satisfied about "ninja noob" but I'm also extermely lazy and uncreative at finding nicknames, so I went with this one, but I'm not happy with it either, since most people don't get the reference and just think of it as a childish nickname :-|

Ha! Yeah it does remind me a bit of an old friend of mine whose old email adress was something like xox_rockername_hero_xox1988 haha. Still, who cares what others think. It's not what the name says, but the person behind it says

Hello all! I'm new here. I am a student with the hobby of programming. I recently approached the action genre and I decided to start creating my own action game.

I joined this forum so that I could find inspiration and some advices about the project I'm developing! Of course I'm also a gamer!

Welcome!

That sounds interesting. Hope we can help out in some way.

What do you play?

Ah Delvix, great to see you here! We met on Reddit! Please, take your time to read through the forum discussions or start your own! There are some pretty insightful talks on Lollipop Chainsaw, Ninja Gaiden and God of War on display. Happy reading, and enjoy the talks! 

Birdman wrote:
What do you play?

I started with Metal Gear Rising on the PC; I'm not a fan of the Metal gear saga but I was attracted by the settings and characters (cyborg ninjas? My favourite thing). The combat system is not perfect but it was certainly very fun to play, I fell in love with it instantly. That's how I approached the action genre. I wonder why I didn't do it before. I continued with Dante's Inferno and god of war both for PSP. I liked Dante more, but I should also try the other god of war titles for ps2. I also played Killer is Dead and Onikira on PC. KiD is very fun to play and watch, but has some flaws. Onikira is mediocre.

I recently purchased Bayonetta and Nier:Automata on PC, they are the next ones I'm going to play. I have high expectations for both (Platinum games ftw). Afther those, I'm going to try No More Heroes 1 and 2 and Red steel 2 for wii. I also found some indie action games that look interesting: Furi and Icey. Going to purchase them once I've filled my pocket again.

Metal Gear Rising really is a special beast, poored I think my most hours in any game into that title. Such a great experience. If you liked it I highly recommend Vanquish as well, it might seem like a shooter but it is so much more.

In terms of God of War I can recommend the first and second. The first laid the foundation while God of War 2 basically just perfected the combat. Really well worth experiencing.

I'm surprised to read your lack of Devil May Cry (especially considering your avatar having a striking resemblence with its protagonist). Ninja Gaiden Black is also really well worth it. Loved Killer is Dead too, managed to snag a top 5 spot on its leaderboards for the longest time but saw I sank to 14 over all these years. Great visual style too.

Considering your games, I assume you play mostly on PC?

Yes, PC is my main platform but I also have a wii and a PSP. I should get a PS2 from a friend of mine soon.

The Playstation 2 is a gold mine for inspiration in the genre, probably the most action titles are available on the system.

How's it going, guys. I've been browsing the magazine for a few months now and only recently noticed that you had a forum. Decided to join up after a few days of lurking here because it seems pretty chill and the discussions are interesting to follow.

As far as games go, Sports, Racing and Platformers are probably the only genres I don't bother with. Games that I've enjoyed over the years include Resident Evil; Silent Hill; Onimusha; Extermination; Command & Conquer, and Mass Effect.

As for actions games, I played a few of them when I was much younger: God of War; Devil May Cry; and Onimusha, like I said, but I was never serious about challenging myself with them. That's a recent development that started when I played Nioh for the first time while watching XLH Gladiator (man, I love that guy). Ever since then, I've been picking action (and A-RPG) games to try out, like Tales, Darksiders, and Ninja Gaiden.
Unfortunately, I have a bit of a temper when it comes to challenges, so I've been settling for playing them on the highest difficulty setting I can access for now, but I'm hoping to discipline myself enough to start challenge runs on any games that I really enjoy.

Hopefully, I'll be a regular here. Thanks for reading.

Welcome Cryoshock. Hope you enjoy the forum.

Hey, I stumbled upon this site purely by chance, if I recall a user linked one of my videos here. I thought I would introduce myself as it were. I have been playing games since the early 90's and I used to be really stubborn as a child.

I remember trying every genre and if I did not like the gameplay or if I was terrible at them I would not play the genre, although I have got better over the years at games I would have never touched them back in the day.

My gaming preferences are generally those that have solid gameplay and depth. If I can visually see myself progressing as a player and being rewarded for my efforts, I tend to dedicate a lot of time to this style of game.

Wow, I blinked when I saw that we'd suddenly gotten two new members. Welcome!

@cryoshock
Outside of your lack of interest for platformers, we're pretty much kindred spirits! Been a while since I've seen some love for the old CnC, such great games. Which one's your favorite?

In terms of action games, great to hear you managed to get into it after Nioh. I think Souls and Nioh are pretty good games to get into the meat of things since they are so open in their design (builds and such), but they leave an itch only few games can scratch. Which one are you working on now? 
If you're ever up for a challenge run, make a post. We'll gladly go talk about it!

@phorus1987
Hey man! I'm actually subscribed to your channel, think you'll see a few of your videos floating around on the Ninja Gaiden side of these forums. Still diving deep into Sigma 2? Welcome!

Thank you, I appreciate the support. Yes I am still trying new things on NGS2, the game has become part of my daily routine for the past 4 years or so. There are still challenges I would like to attempt, as a matter of fact I just uploaded one. I cannot believe I am still playing the game to be honest but it is a testament to the games quality and the servers still being open has kept me invested after all this time.