Tiny insignificant details in games that really impressed you

[BrawlMan]

In Devil May Cry 3's 11th mission, the boss, who only has one eye, can be interrupted by attacking him in that eye. It isn't totally safe, though, since his blind flailing in that state can still damage you if you aren't careful, and you have to be pretty precise to make it work. I think it's also on a cooldown, but it's still a neat touch, and a useful way to handle the battle if you're good enough to activate it, and not get hit by it.

With Beowulf, the blind strategy is easy. If you have Agni and Rudra equipped, the basic jumping sword slash is quick enough to do, and will get you out of the way fast enough when you use enemy step or have air hike. If you have Royal Guard equipped and at level 2 or max, the air guard exploit is easy to parry that attack when he flails his arm around while covering his eye. Dude is still a pain in the ass, even when you know what you're doing or playing on Freestyle mode.

 

[BrawlMan]

Some interesting info about the bosses in The House of the Dead series. It's about how they are all the opposite of their Tarot Card names.

• Justice: In contrast to Lady Justice, this is a wild beast in a dirty sewer, incapable of logic and reason. It covers its face with its hand as if attempting to turn away from the truth.
• The Lovers: This is supposed to represent a healthy relationship, usually romantic but not necessarily so. The female spider is doing ALL the work, and the male spider is just a small, parasitic weak point. Basically almost completely useless (or worse, even) compared to its counterpart.
• The Empress: This is supposed to represent a woman (or any person but usually a woman) who is any combination of beautiful, elegant, motherly etc etc. A bringer of life, in some interpretations. A chainsaw is... well, I guess it depends on who you ask, but it’s not usually any of those things. The figure holding the chainsaw also twitches and moves erratically, lacking grace and civility.
• Temperance: Represents continence or self-control. The boss is a gigantic mass of fat, representing Gluttony. Pretty much self-explanatory.
• The Star: Supposed to represent hope and wonder, but the boss is something that can only bring despair.
• The World: This is supposed to be the culmination of the journey of life, being true enlightenment. The boss creates things that are temporary (made of ice) and continuously resurrects itself as if to deny itself a real conclusion to its own life.
• The Magician: Represents one with power and the determination to use it properly. However the boss misuses its power for evil purposes instead of good.
• The Tower: Represents unexpected change of events that often unwanted. The boss is unaware that one of their mouths get shot when opening it. The monster embodies what the card is known for: a bringer of catastrophe, also being stationed in one place almost until the end.
• Judgment: Represents rebirth, absolution, judgment and inner calling. The monsters believe themselves to be judges, juries and executioners, twisting the meaning of the card for their own purposes. They don't follow an inner calling, being completely subservient to Goldman, plus they do get a rebirth: a second chance to fight you again.
• Hierophant: Represents the deep importance of spirituality and religion, resembling a pope. The monster is none of those things, resembling more as a denizen from hell, and his actions are guiding the people towards destruction.
• Strength: Represents purity of strength, not only internal, but also external. The monster only focuses on the external aspects, completely forgetting the internal ones, only focusing on the brute strength and asserting his control through force.
• Emperor: Embodies advice, wisdom, authority and grounding. The monster is a tyrannical and megalomaniac who wishes to assert his authority to humans by subjugation, and also is overconfident and arrogant, underestimating his opponents, which leads to his defeat.

Source: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fridge/HouseOfTheDead

 

[thebobmaster]

So many little details in Alpha Protocol. As janky as that game was (no could be about it, it was janky), there was so much effort put into details like the order you did missions affecting later choices (Did you do the Hong Kong missions before Russia? Congratulations, you can have one of your contacts from Hong Kong poison the main boss's cocaine!), or a character you meet casually bringing up something you did in a previous mission...

Or my personal favorite, getting one of the characters to let you kill them in a boss fight. See, this guy is a professional through and through, and he'll cut and run rather than fight it out. Unless you are everything he hates, by acting casual every time you talk, sacrificing the chance to disarm a bomb to save the girl (he expected you to do the opposite), and getting enough intel on him to be able to get under his skin by calling out his past failures. Do all that, and he'll risk death just for the chance to kill you.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Masked characters’s dialogue is appropriately muffled in MK11, and not muffled when you choose a mask less skin. They basically had to record all their dialog twice, or hell maybe they just applied a filter to it.


Also, pretty much anything Strange Man puts out. Still data-mining RDR2 tidbits as of this month -

 

[happyninja42]

So many little details in Alpha Protocol. As janky as that game was (no could be about it, it was janky), there was so much effort put into details like the order you did missions affecting later choices (Did you do the Hong Kong missions before Russia? Congratulations, you can have one of your contacts from Hong Kong poison the main boss's cocaine!), or a character you meet casually bringing up something you did in a previous mission...

Or my personal favorite, getting one of the characters to let you kill them in a boss fight. See, this guy is a professional through and through, and he'll cut and run rather than fight it out. Unless you are everything he hates, by acting casual every time you talk, sacrificing the chance to disarm a bomb to save the girl (he expected you to do the opposite), and getting enough intel on him to be able to get under his skin by calling out his past failures. Do all that, and he'll risk death just for the chance to kill you.

Yes, AP had some great variations on their missions. The Hong Kong one being my personal favorite. The way they introduce that contact if you go see him first was just priceless. My personal favorite was when you break into a private military team, ala Blackwater, to steal some data. If you get in and out without being seen, and without killing anyone, the leader who contacts you after, is so impressed, that he is willing to work with you right away.

I also liked how they gave you little perks based on your gameplay, that further specialized your character. Oh, you got 100 silent, non-lethal takedowns? Congrats! Here's a 15% noise/detection reduction for you, making it even easier for you to be a tricksy sneak-thief.

I just wish the game itself had been at all engaging for me.


OT: I like games, that give you some kind of limited ammo, like arrows for a bow, and they actually show how many you have in your quiver. It's not just default "quiver with 10 arrows" skin on your back. No, they actually deplete as you shoot them, so you can keep track of ammo without having to look down at the HUD if you don't want to.

 

[Dalisclock]

OT: I like games, that give you some kind of limited ammo, like arrows for a bow, and they actually show how many you have in your quiver. It's not just default "quiver with 10 arrows" skin on your back. No, they actually deplete as you shoot them, so you can keep track of ammo without having to look down at the HUD if you don't want to.

IIRC, Red Dead Redemption actually changes the look of your gun belt depending on how much ammo you have. It's subtle but you can see the gunbelt/bandolier with differing levels of ammo.

And I can't remember if it's RDR2 or some other game, but there is a game where your arrow quiver does reflect various states of how many arrows you you have. It's either RDR2 or maybe one of the Newer Sassy Creed games? Horizon Zero Dawn Maybe? I know it's a game where using a bow and arrow is part of the game and is 3rd person.

 

[happyninja42]

IIRC, Red Dead Redemption actually changes the look of your gun belt depending on how much ammo you have. It's subtle but you can see the gunbelt/bandolier with differing levels of ammo.

I mean it's a game that decided accurate horse shitting and scrotum shrinkage due to weather was a valid use of resources, so it doesn't surprise me they would do a visual ammo tracker.

 

[Dalisclock]

I mean it's a game that decided accurate horse shitting and scrotum shrinkage due to weather was a valid use of resources, so it doesn't surprise me they would do a visual ammo tracker.

Wait, RDR2 wasn't a horse shitting and testicle change based on temp simulator?

I feel wronged somehow.

 

[wings012]

When games where you sit inside things with glass remember that glass is actually an object that can get dirty and you can see it.
View attachment 1788

Super late response, but I found myself browsing this thread.

This was a thing in Mechwarrior Online, to it's own detriment. I can't remember whether it was in general or if it was a specific mech, but there was so much trash on the glass and it reacted really badly with lighting that it would obfuscate your vision regularly. I think they fixed it eventually but I haven't touched the game in too many years.

 

[BrawlMan]

Yuzo's many influences for the music he made.

​

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Super late response, but I found myself browsing this thread.

This was a thing in Mechwarrior Online, to it's own detriment. I can't remember whether it was in general or if it was a specific mech, but there was so much trash on the glass and it reacted really badly with lighting that it would obfuscate your vision regularly. I think they fixed it eventually but I haven't touched the game in too many years.

Reminds me of the mech level in Killzone 2 that has a similar effect when the glass gets cracked and the thing starts smoking and sparking.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Wait, RDR2 wasn't a horse shitting and testicle change based on temp simulator?

I feel wronged somehow.

If it’s any consolation, I feel equally wronged about using the greet system wrong the whole time, because apparently the game is actually a snow message simulator -

 

[Bob_McMillan]

Speaking of visual ammo, I've always appreciated how Battlefield approaches reloads. Some reloads may differ given how much ammo is left in your gun. There was a pistol in Battlefield 1 where reloading ejects all remaining shells in the magazine, and the number of shells was consistent with how many were supposed to be in the weapon. Staged reloads also are great, although I wouldn't call them insignificant. They really should be in any modern FPS game.

 

[Dalisclock]

If it’s any consolation, I feel equally wronged about using the greet system wrong the whole time, because apparently the game is actually a snow message simulator -

View attachment 3641

Maybe we know why the one dude could never find Gavin. He never tried snow messages.

Poor dude, I found him wandering in Tall Trees during the epilogue, still calling out for Gavin. They say he's still out there wandering the world to this day, calling out for his friend....

 

[Casual Shinji]

In The Last of Us 2 (yeah I know, shut up), there's an optional moment in a book store where Dina draws attention to some gay, harlequin styled novels. One of which you can pick up and read the back cover of. However, when you put it back you'll find it missing as soon as you turn around. At first I thought I automatically stashed it in my backpack, but no, Dina took it. I reloaded that section to try and catch her in the act, but I only saw some quick movement of her arms and the book already missing. This is actually a nice call-back to the first game when Ellie picks up the robot at the toy store for Sam, but only when you're not looking. Though with Dina this never comes back up again, so if you didn't catch it you'd never know it even happened at all. Dina stashes some porn and it's a great little moment that's extremely easy to miss.

 

[laggyteabag]

Speaking of visual ammo, I've always appreciated how Battlefield approaches reloads. Some reloads may differ given how much ammo is left in your gun. There was a pistol in Battlefield 1 where reloading ejects all remaining shells in the magazine, and the number of shells was consistent with how many were supposed to be in the weapon. Staged reloads also are great, although I wouldn't call them insignificant. They really should be in any modern FPS game.

Im not the biggest fan of either BF1 or BF5, but some of the weirder guns of the time period have been so faithfully recreated.

 

[Bob_McMillan]

Im not the biggest fan of either BF1 or BF5, but some of the weirder guns of the time period have been so faithfully recreated.

Good lord that spread on the BF1 LMG took me back... and not in a good way. I get that they wanted to emphasize that these fully automatic weapons were experimental, and to balance the other non-automatic guns, but it really did just create sloppy feeling gunplay.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Spoiler: Meanwhile in RDR2

Stuck in a rut...

Vampire porn?...

Making a point...

Grave persistence

Etc...

One of my favorites though would have to be one of the stranger encounters where the guy’s been bitten by a snake. I gave him a tonic and some whiskey I think, then he said You sure are a good fella, I really owe ya one! or something to that effect. I of course thought *yeah sure, whatever* and eventually forgot about it. Then a few playing sessions later, a couple guys were talking on a bench in Annesburg, and one of them says, Hey! You’re that fella that saved my life! He’s the guy I told ya about! Tell ya what, next time you’re in the gun store, tell the clerk it’s on me.

Other games have done similar things but this managed to feel more personal, even though it’s still a scripted occurrence.

Or for something more low key, finding random spots where you can just sit and take in your surroundings. I particularly like the ones at Caliban’s Seat (fittingly the first one I found), Granite Pass, Monto’s Rest, and Manteca Falls.

 

[wings012]

If it’s any consolation, I feel equally wronged about using the greet system wrong the whole time, because apparently the game is actually a snow message simulator -

View attachment 3641

I found myself attempting to draw snow penises in Monster Hunter Iceborne. The snow wasn't quite as well done as RDR2 so it'd disappear before you could do anything too elaborate.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

I found myself attempting to draw snow penises in Monster Hunter Iceborne. The snow wasn't quite as well done as RDR2 so it'd disappear before you could do anything too elaborate.

That was probably the built-in censorship feature. Anyways it wood er, would, give new meaning to the title, Monster Hunter Icebone!

*sigh*. How old am I right now...reminds me of Super Bad.