hylian_elf wrote:

Wookienopants wrote:

Ok now I have to play this. I think it looks fantastic

It’s shit. You’ll love it.

I really hope I do just to spite you lot

Damn straight

acemuzzy wrote:

I actually think this is a bad game.

I have gone back to that game so many times, wondering what it is that Moot sees that I’m not seeing. I can see why Moot likes all the things he gets too much flak for liking, but this? I don’t think I’ll ever get it.

I've been pondering this, and think it comes down to two points... - he thinks "trial and error" is good gameplay, and gets perverse satisfaction from persevering through it (laced with some early-90s nostalgia) - something akin to Trump voter's disbelieving the election results, where if he acknowledged this game was actually shit it would open up too many other big questions about his whole gaming philosophy that his brain just won't - maybe can't - go there; it's a defence mechanism TLDR: he's moran

The first part is right to an extent, part of the appeal of the series is trial and error.  None of the Donkey Kong Country games are the sort of platformers you can barrel through without any knowledge of the layout....but how many truly great examples of the genre allow you to do this after the opening stages?  I'm keen on all the DKC games I've played (1, 2, DKCR and TF), and despite being blown away by 2 when I played it for the first time recently I'd say Tropical Freeze is easily the best in a series that has no low points based on what I've seen (I've only played about 15 minutes of 3 so far).  The head bopping is legit - jump on an enemy's head to bounce, time the input at the correct moment for a higher bounce, giving you two controlled bops to play with - and that's probably the reason why I've also played games that mimic the template (Yooka Laylee and the Impossible Lair and Kaze & the Wild Masks were also games I enjoyed).  Brett up there doesn't seem to like the fact that the characters are heavy, or don't behave in the way he thinks they should (or that the levels are difficult), but that's a bit like saying Sonic runs too fast, or Meat Boy can't kill enemies by jumping on their heads.  Much like any other platformers worth their salt the Donkey Kong Country games have their own feel.  BUT IT'S NOT MARIO is a rubbish complaint.     

I can explain the appeal of the minecart and rocket stages easily enough - I like (auto)runners, and both types of stage in DKCTF are essentially bitesize runners - which is a genre that mixes memorisation with reactions.  This might also explain why I adore the chase sequences most people hate in the Ori games - long sections light on checkpoints that need to be learned by chipping away at progression, dying and starting again.  Very few players will smash through those first time, and that doesn't make these sections SHIT or whatever, it just means they're an acquired taste (and not generally the way games behave these days).

Live A Live (Switch)

I think I got the bad ending, because, um... the planet exploded. I'll try the last story again, and get back to you.


[tbd]

Live A Live (Switch)

I think I got the bad ending, because, um... the planet exploded. I'll try the last story again, and get back to you.

Got what I'm assuming is the middling ending, in that the world didn't explode, but the big bad just kinda... went away? I'll take it. On to the next game.

A real love letter to the 16-bit RPGs, including the bits that aren't fashionable any more. It really made me want to go out and buy Final Fantasy I-VI. I can't say too much here, because a lot of the joy comes from the "Ohhh" moments, but recommended, over all.

Pro-tip, if you want to save time, but still not watch the world explode:
[8]

You play the weirdest stuff, and I love it.

"a moot"

Humanity
I've been chipping away at this in little bursts since it came out.  I know some of you bounced off it, but once I was past the initial feeling of remoteness, I ended up really loving it. 

Every time I started to get a bit bored, it would throw something new in the mix. There are moments where it strays from puzzler, to becoming almost an RTS.  There are even brief boss bits where it dips its toes into bullet hell (these are by far the least effective moments). I went in expecting scrappy Lemmings style comedy puzzling, when in reality this is a surprisingly elegant beast. (Some solutions, with thousands of humans leaping across under, and around each other are beautiful simply to look at.)

Having finished it, I went back in to do the "Seven Wonders" needed to get the platinum, a couple of which made me appreciate levels anew. The are various bits where I had concluded that the game left things to luck, but going back in I realised I simply hadn't spotted something.

The plot is perfunctory, and silly, but at times oddly stirring as well, frequently threatening to tip into genuine profundity.

It's a hard one to score, as I can see many finding it too clinical, but it ultimately got nicely under my skin in a way very few puzzle games do.

[9]

Prize Fighter (Mega CD) - This… isn’t the one. This is basically a live-action FMV take on Punch-Out!! with the live action sequences directed by one of the stunt co-ordinators of the Rocky and Raging Bull films and four very credible Hollywood stunt actors playing the role of the four opposing boxers (fun fact: the director and three of the boxers have also worked on the Star Trek franchise during the course of their careers). Your digital boxing gloves are super-imposed over the image and when you connect there is a brief cutaway to a video sequence showing the hit connecting.

There are also RPG elements as you can direct points to each fist and your stamina, and you gain additional points for winning matches. Unfortunately, this is where half the issues with the game lie. The boxing gameplay doesn’t feel great. Perhaps if you were into boxing you would be able to intuit the openings and the appropriate move to use (to be fair, this was published as a Sega Sports game) but I never felt I really knew what I was doing. The difficulty curve feels really harsh at first and it is very difficult to win your first match. As soon as you’ve done that, the difficulty immediately breaks. Subsequent matches with Opponent 1 are very easy and Opponents 2 and 3 are a breeze with a bit of preparation. The final boxer is significantly harder and requires tedious grinding of the third match to build up enough power for it to be do-able. Then you get a perfunctory ending sequence.

There is a little boy with this apparently psychosomatic trauma-induced disability who appears during the FMV sequences and it feels like the game is building up for him to finally be able to walk again after you defeat the final opponent, but this doesn’t happen, perhaps because they decided very late in the day that the whole plotline is a bit weird? Anyway, I generally found this to be not great. [4]

Ever tried the Jurassic Park MCD game? Probably awful now but I always fancied that one.

tin_robot wrote:

Humanity  [9]

Nnnngg, I dug the demo, but not enough to buy it, but now...

Blue Swirl wrote:

EvilRedEye wrote:

OK, I think that’s enough Mega CD for one weekend.

Never!

I’m genuinely struggling not to fire up the ol’ Mega Sd again.

Mass Effect 1
For the umpteenth time.
Waiting for Starfield got me wanting some Sci Fi RPG. I really wanted to play ME2 but couldn't bring myself to start a new character at the start of it, what am I a PS3 schmuck?

Anyway it's still brilliant even with its flaws. Such a fantastic universe and story. I mainlined it and got through pretty quickly. No desire to redo side quests except for Squad members.

I'll start up ME2 tomorrow night I think but I don't think I'll get far before Starfield. Especially as it's the MK1 beta this weekend. I kinda want to max out ME2, all side quests etc.

Strong agree, apart from the fact that I settled on [8].