Just completed - The Bear and Badger

Blue Swirl

Moot_Geeza wrote:

Just saw it described as 'a narrative Wario Ware'...

I find this intriguing.

Moot_Geeza

If you've never played a point [in the direction you want to walk] and click [the interact button] game it's comfortably the best one, imo.

[Deleted User]

Isn't 'a narrative warioware' an oxymoron?

The best thing about warioware was it's immediate gameplay.

Moot_Geeza

You play memories - or interpretations of stories - as you progress, and the way the player interacts with them differs from tale to tale. The actual gamey elements are varied, so Wario Ware was used in the analogy for its mish mash of styles. It's a neat description of Finch thanks to the lack of narrative in WW, imo.

There must be a film with multiple tales told within one narrative, not quite Short Cuts style (simply perspectives), or Wild Tales (separated stories), but I can't think of one off hand. The way Kill Bill Vol.1 switches to the anime style for part of its story maybe, or Trick r Treat rings a bell but I'd have to refresh my memory. So it's that, with a dash of Bish Bashi

hylian_elf

Chopping fish was so best, yeah?

yourfavouriteuncle

hylian_elf wrote:

Chopping fish was so best, yeah?

What a section that was. It really worked get across the point.

Moot_Geeza

Absolutely. Take that section out and the game would still be best in class, but fish wins.

retroking1981

Moot_Geeza wrote:

There must be a film with multiple tales told within one narrative

Cloud Atlas?

acemuzzy

There are loads. We need @tempy to enumerate them.

Moot_Geeza

retroking1981 wrote:

Moot_Geeza wrote:

There must be a film with multiple tales told within one narrative

Cloud Atlas?

Not seen it. Maybe.

There's one I can almost remember but the more I think about it the further away it gets.

Facewon

Does 21 grams fit the mould? Actually, I wanna say the follow up from same director with Brad Pitt and blanchet had a similar steeze. Not sure if it's what folks mean though.

tigersgogrrr

Crash?

hylian_elf

Good call. Watched Crash in the cinema, good film.

Moot_Geeza

I was thinking more along the lines of a mishmash of styles, rather than the intertwined narrative thing. Like 'this bit is presented in a stylistically different way to that other bit'. An intertwined ABCs of Death sort of thing, maybe.

Tempy

You mean V/H/S

Moot_Geeza

Were they connected in that one? I remember thinking the first story was excellent. I meant ABCs in the way each section is very different, but (unlike ABCs) connected.

I may be reaching for something that almost exists but doesn't.

Moot_Geeza

Moot_Geeza wrote:

I meant ABCs in the way each section is very different, but (unlike ABCs) connected. I may be reaching for something that almost exists but doesn't.

Sort of like a film version of Edith Finch.

Tempy

The tapes in V/H/S are assumed to exist in the same world as the people watching the tapes, which is itself supposed to be a tape you're watching. There are a few things in some of the tapes that have crossover, the big house from the last one is definitely seen from the roadside during another.

I think the most direct analogue is probably 100 Years of Solitude though.

Moot_Geeza

Aha, nice one Temps.

Wariospeedwagon

A little more love for Edith Finch here. Was worried it was gonna be too kooky for its own good during the first story but no; that's exactly what I want from that kind of game.

Also:

South Park The Fractured But Whole

Pretty good and probably on par with the top tier fan service that was delivered in The Stick Of Truth. SOT existing is probably my biggest knock on this game though, it's a bit too much more of the same. IE exploring the town and meeting the regular characters is just not as novel the second time around.

Still it was pretty funny (with quite a few dud jokes, as you might expect from a 20 hour comedy game) and seems to have been a labour of love. It's very good at capturing the feeling of playing dress ups as a kid (albiet on a ludicrous scale). Then there are bits that are just fucking gross and also bits that I have no idea how they made it past the censors (in Australia at least).

Had a good time with it, though wish it was perhaps 5 hours shorter (it gets off to a pretty slow start and there are bits that add little more to the story than "Hey remember this character from the early seasons?"), and the battles get a bit tedious thanks to all the repeated animations. Worth a look for fans for the program.

JonB

Transistor
Very versatile combat and weapon systems with plenty of style. But in the end it could've done with more variety in its level design and enemy types to get the most out of it. There's a proper NG+ which seems like it'll really test you ability to use everything, but it's still the same locations and enemies.

Nice effort, but I still prefer Bastion.

yourfavouriteuncle

Resi 7 was finished on Christmas Eve by me and my 9 year old daughter. From now on nothing else will ever say Christmas more to me than slaying weird goo monsters with a young girl at my side.

The first third was about the best resi I’ve ever played but hen it had to go on and become actual Resident Evil so hmmm. It’s definitely great in places and never less than good so an 8. I think.

Apart from the fucking bosses (final one especially was just beyond stupid) which once again contrive to ruin a very well put together game just because we used to have to have bosses in all games. I know they’re meant to work as punctuation marks to the flow of things but there’s much better ways of doing it in a game like this.

Darent play it in VR. Not a fucking chance.

Bollockoff

JonB wrote:

Transistor Very versatile combat and weapon systems with plenty of style. But in the end it could've done with more variety in its level design and enemy types to get the most out of it. There's a proper NG+ which seems like it'll really test you ability to use everything, but it's still the same locations and enemies. Nice effort, but I still prefer Bastion.

I found something about Transistor really grated with me by the end. I'd had enough of the hubless story and the combat lacked a simplistic elegance Bastion worked with.

Blue Swirl

Bowser beaten in Odyssey, but I get the feeling that things are only just getting started.

acemuzzy

Valiant Hearts (PS4)

An ode to war. Not-very-hard puzzles, but powerful underlying theme brought home by various specific moments (and of course the historical facts it hands to you). That resonance was the only thing that elevated the game, really - so with my "I'm a fair reviewer" hat on I'm going to go with [7]. Worth a dabble though, but by the end, in line with its theme, I didn't really want any more.

Blue Swirl

Dear Esther: Landmark Edition (Xbox One)

For £1.60, I couldn't resist. Glad I took the plunge, it's a really interesting experience. It feels like going to an art gallery - I feel all zen now, but I definitely didn't "get" it.

[9] Shifting musical and visual tones out of [10] stanzas of existential poetry.

Blue Swirl

Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (Xbox One)

Overall, very good, but with some minor quibbles. While it couldn't decide whether it wanted to be Outlast or an FPS, it did a pretty good job at merging the two. Probably the closest to the original Resi in a long time, at least in terms of the way it felt, if not in camera angle.

Bad bits behind spoiler tags, because they were pretty specific.

Spoiler:

Now to decide if I move onto something else (Deus Ex: Mankind Divided and Final Fantasy XV are both looking at me from my Pile of Shame) or have another play through.

[8] Jump scares that you saw coming from a mile off out of [10] jump scares that made a little bit of poo come out.

yourfavouriteuncle

I think you mis-read a bit what to do on the number 2 of your bad bits. If it’s the bit I think you mean then you don’t quite fully do what you’ve just been ‘shown’ to do. I didn’t take any damage as I missed outa few of the steps that caused it.

JonB

I must've got lucky with that first spoiler bit, because I did it first time without getting caught, despite not knowing where I had to go.

My main issue with the game was that it didn't communicate very well when you're meant to be running away and when you're meant to be fighting, and if you're meant to be fighting should you be using regular weapons or looking for something situation specific. For a game where ammo conservation is an issue it needed to be clearer when guns were doing damage.

If you do continue with it, worth noting there's a free DLC episode to download, which adds another couple of hours.

If not, play Deus Ex rather than FFXV.

JonB

yourfavouriteuncle wrote:

I think you mis-read a bit what to do on the number 2 of your bad bits. If it’s the bit I think you mean then you don’t quite fully do what you’ve just been ‘shown’ to do. I didn’t take any damage as I missed outa few of the steps that caused it.

I can't remember exactly, but I think

Spoiler:

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