Tiny insignificant details in games that really impressed you

BrawlMan

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Yeah, I think one of my favorites, is pretty famous from the franchise, but it just felt so wonderful to come across it.


Just the fact that it says so much in the unspoken bits. How a lot of people, even at that point, don't grasp how spatial mechanics work, so you have to repeat it to them. How you will ALWAYS get gung ho jackasses who join the military to be holywood badasses, and how you have to put them in check. And that the destructive power of the weaponry at that scale, is catastrophic. Plus the drill sergeant's tone of annoyance and dismissal is just priceless.
I remember seeing that clip back in college. That is the best scene in this game.
 

hanselthecaretaker

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Kojima is often labeled as being full of *insert derogatory noun*, but even for what’s argued to be a technically incomplete game, there is an insane level of care and attention to detail which help make a case for his auteur/genius rep.

 

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Kojima is often labeled as being full of *insert derogatory noun*, but even for what’s argued to be a technically incomplete game, there is an insane level of care and attention to detail which help make a case for his auteur/genius rep.

You're not wrong, but that's what done him in with Konami. There's tons of detail, but Kojima was also very late and kept delaying. As much as I dislike Konami, they actually had a point in that regard. That still doesn't excuse the abuse they done to their employees beforehand, try to blacklist those that were quitting, nor scrubbing his name off the game despite the fact that everyone in gaming knows who Kojima is.
 
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Gordon_4

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In Mass Effect 3, before the final push in London, you get a chance to say goodbye to all your squad mates. The main ones in the FOB but all the other ME2 ones via a console. And it’s so amazingly emotionally affecting for what amounts to about 15-20 seconds of basically one sided dialogue. My favourite and subsequently always left for last was Zaeed Massani; the late, great Robin Sachs took a generic as shit grizzled merc and breathed some damn entertaining life into him with that rough as guts accent of his. And his last words to Shepard truly set the tone of what we’re there to do.

“Let’s gut the bastards”
 
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XsjadoBlayde

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Ratchet and Clank, the last one before this new one, allows you to unlock various cheats including changing the cosmetic look of the currencies you pick up everywhere you go. And the best one is the option to switch them to Zelda Rupees with all the colours: as whatever it is doing to my biochemistry to make my brain tingle with a strange pleasure when hundreds of them swirl around me in 60fps during the chaotic gameplay is a unique experience worthy of further research. Unfortunately, while the new game has the same unlockable cheat, it also seems to use more realistic reflections, muting the colour of the shiny gems overall which doesn't provide the same brain tingle anymore. Back to more sophisticated pleasures I must begrudgingly return to then, these definitely-not-stolen drugs won't take themselves.
 
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NerfedFalcon

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Genshin Impact has a thing where if you wait long enough or move after attacking, your character will 'sheathe' their weapon, vanishing it into thin air where it reappears on their back. The newest character added to the game, Kazuha, has a point in his basic attack combo where he pulls his weapon back into a draw stance; if you don't use the next attack, the weapon immediately moves to his back rather than taking a few seconds to get there.

His skill also has a vacuum effect that pulls enemies in and deals damage. If you do nothing and wait after using it, he'll do the anime-sheathe thing timed perfectly with the end of the vacuum effect.
 
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All the tiny details in Castlevania Bloodlines. The former wizards at Konami knew how to push the system to its limit. The rotation effects, and the animations of both John and Eric. I also love the bloody details that were included, as long as you're not playing the European version of course.



Also, this clip from X-Men versus Street Fighter.

 
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hanselthecaretaker

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Another mystery revealed -

I suppose that’s some form of karma for being plantation and almost certainly slave owners.


Also, Arthur nearly creates a time/plot paradox -


Last but not least, in a slightly different way this *almost* makes me think twice about shooting wolves -

Or at least wait until they’re done playing and decide I’m dinner. Much cuter than some pesky Pinkertons.
 
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hanselthecaretaker

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I’ve always felt that RDR2 had the most impressive horse mechanics I’ve witnessed in video games, but only now after nearly three years has light been shed on why -


It’s kinda crazy that in that same time span the most notable thing people knew about them is that their balls shrink.
 
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CriticalGaming

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I'm gonna suck FF7's dick some more because i like it.

But the way Cloud opens item chests in the game is pretty slick. Not only will he reach for the opening button with whatever hand is closer to it, but he will also reach around the chest from the back if you open the chest from the wrong side. That level of detail is crazy to me because they could have ignored all of that and nobody would have given a shit. But the fact that they literally gave Cloud a reach-around animation for chests is nuts.

That and the sheer amount of dialog given to NPC's in some areas. During the Hell House boss fight, the announcers have voice lines for every possible attack magic, every possible summon, and every possible combination of getting hit by attacks. No matter what they have a voice line for it, and that's absolutely wild considering that 99% of players will miss a lot of that dialog simply playing through the game.

During the Aps boss fight, the arena you fight him in is surrounded by sewer sludge water and if you set Aps on fire (with magic), he will jump into the water to put the fire out before jumping back into the fight. Something that does not occur if the player doesn't use fire magics during the fight.
 

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I love how in most old Konami Arcade Brawlers, you're allowed to kick/punch/curb stomp/stab enemies on the ground. It was a known staple for Konami and most brawlers from other companies rarely ever did this. Also, the level of environmental details in X-Men, Animorphic Force, Vendetta, and Violent Storm are insane.
 
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happyninja42

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I'm....I'm not sure what was different in any of those iterations?


OT: The fact that in the first Styx game (I'm guessing it happens in the second game too, but I haven't played it), randomly bumping into objects and making them rattle around, actually has sound effects to it, that will alert the guards. So you have to be extra alert to your environment, because bumping that table, might knock over a cup, and that will give you away. And very few games with stealth go that far with the environment.
 

hanselthecaretaker

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I'm....I'm not sure what was different in any of those iterations?


OT: The fact that in the first Styx game (I'm guessing it happens in the second game too, but I haven't played it), randomly bumping into objects and making them rattle around, actually has sound effects to it, that will alert the guards. So you have to be extra alert to your environment, because bumping that table, might knock over a cup, and that will give you away. And very few games with stealth go that far with the environment.
Watch Ellie’s mannerisms and sense of urgency depending on the enemy status differences. Mostly subtle but the fact they’re there based on how you addressed enemy NPCs in the area is really neat.
 

happyninja42

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Watch Ellie’s mannerisms and sense of urgency depending on the enemy status differences. Mostly subtle but the fact they’re there based on how you addressed enemy NPCs in the area is really neat.
Aaah, ok, level of enemy alertness alters her expressions of urgency. Nice detail, definitely not something I would pay attention to though.
 
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XsjadoBlayde

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Any game that lets me sprint up ladders automatically increases its moral value in my eyes. Yeah, sliding down ladders is pretty standard an option by now, but not speedy climbs so much. Yet that is the more tedious of gaming animations to endure after you've seen it a hundred thousand times by your tenth final boss run. It's partly why I forgive the soulsborne series when it gets on the nerves, for as long as those ladders are putting in the extra effort, so will I!
 
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happyninja42

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Any game that lets me sprint up ladders automatically increases its moral value in my eyes. Yeah, sliding down ladders is pretty standard an option by now, but not speedy climbs so much. Yet that is the more tedious of gaming animations to endure after you've seen it a hundred thousand times by your tenth final boss run. It's partly why I forgive the soulsborne series when it gets on the nerves, for as long as those ladders are putting in the extra effort, so will I!
I think for me, the issue is when they design the game to include so many damn ladders, and then force you to have to go up and down them due to quests or whatever. I've noticed that a lot lately with ME: Andromeda, when running around the Tempest. Sure the ladders are only 1 level long, but half the crew are on the 1st floor, and the other half on the 2nd. And they will often tell you go talk to them in this spot on the ship, and then the next step says go talk to them over here. And it will be on the other level...requiring a level change. But then I need to go back to the crafting station on the other floor. And now I suddenly get an update on another companion mission, and they want me to go BACK to the back of the ship to talk to them. And it's just....annoying. So yeah, games that either just don't design layouts requiring you to do that, or at least let you sprint up/down to save time, is better.
 
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BrawlMan

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It's really impressive that SOR4 has three mighty glaciers: Adam, Max, and Floyd. Adam can dash/evade around opponents, Max moves faster than Floyd and slide kick, and Floyd has the best grabbing range. Axel kinda counted at first unintentionally as they made him too slow before the patches. They did two updates to have him at the proper stats and speed he had in 2 & 3. So now he's a blend of an all rounder and power house.

Shiva gets turned in to a glass cannon a la playable Akuma, because he's busted enough already.
 

XsjadoBlayde

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Things that are a good in Control:
- When the difficulty is upped and you're having a tough battle with a damage sponge asshole boss enemy for ages, nothing quite beats the catharcism of realising when their health is low enough, you can just squeeze the last bit of life out of them as you 'force grab' their large, yet helpless fresh corpse and launch it full speed into the closest pile of explosives or distant concrete corners. Usually aided along with the passionate exclamation "ahah, finally, fuck youuuuu!"

- The comforting little "pitter patter" of the dualshock controller rumble when you move your character about is strangely therapeutic.

- 60fps explosive destructive physics carnage is very exciting, and you see so much detail not easy to spot on lower framerate, like I had no idea the distorted haze effect can be pushed about by the protagonist's physicality beforehand as if it were actual ghost smoke!

- Bickering scientists navigating bureaucracy within the documents is always good for a laugh.
 
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