What are you currently playing?

[Ezekiel]

"Looks like I've got some things to do."

Now I know that Spyro has the lamest first line of a video game protagonist ever.

Enjoy the simplicity.

Charge/sprint with left button, best for metal enemies.
Blow fire with right button, best for soft enemies.
Glide by holding jump.
Roll left and right with bumpers, which I haven't put to use.
Rotate cam with triggers. (Big miss not letting the player center the cam behind Spyro by pressing both triggers.)

Burn these weird looking chickens (Everything looks cubic and charmingly weird.) to feed butterflies to your firefly, who then takes damage for you.

No upgrades, not needed.

A few fun flying levels to break up the ground gameplay.

I know that if they made this game now for the first time it would be over-designed (with either too many systems or far higher difficulty, since everyone wants to be FromSoftware), even from a smaller studio, and most indies can't because they don't have the money for a serious soundtrack. The squeezing and deforming of characters is above almost all indies too, despite it being 26 years old, because money.

 

[Old_Hunter_77]

Crypt Custodian

One of the strongest impressions from this year's big summer games fest showings, I didn't realize (or forgot) it would be out so soon, so I was pleasantly surprised to see reviews for it.

It is being compared to one of my favorite games Death's Door and that is because they're both indy action lite-metroidvanias that use cartoony graphics, animal characters, and text dialogue and are set in the afterlife. This game's graphics are even simpler and the mechanics are, like all the recent indies I like, stupid simple which means responsive and not buggy.

Of course there are big annoying boss fights because if you don't have those you're put in video game jail or something but other than that it's delightful. I also like that the objectives seem to be to make friends- I've defeated two bosses and each one gives me a friend. I don't think friends give you more powers or anything I think it is just literally the critical path of game progression. But since it's open world-ish / metroidvania-like there is some freedom of how you go about it. I gather this because in the menu part that shows my friends I have the first and third space filled, not the second. But the metroidvania part is that after defeating the first boss only did I get an air dash ability that let me get to new places.

I also like the skill tree, in that there isn't really one. You can get these points that increase how many trinkets you can equip, so I guess it's kind of like that Hollow Knight charms thing (HK has entered the pantheon of games being copied for sure, it's the second one I played in a week I'm comparing to it). Getting those points means exploring and solving some platforming puzzles.

Oh, and the weapon is a broom. 'Cause you're a custodian, you see. I like stupid stuff like that.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I got Crypt Custodian but I was replaying the Separate Ways DLC in between games so now I'm married to it until I beat it on Hardcore.

Apparently I can play RE4 and its remakes for the rest of my life but whenever I pick it up again I'm required to suck for the first 10 minutes of the thing. But I kinda like having to relearn a game's language. Sue me.

 

[Ezekiel]

Dang, Spyro the Dragon is already over. Finished with 77 percent. Brings the total number of PlayStation 1 games I've beaten to... one.

 

[Worgen]

Dang, Spyro the Dragon is already over. Finished with 77 percent. Brings the total number of PlayStation 1 games I've beaten to... one.

Was that the original or the remake?

 

[Ezekiel]

Was that the original or the remake?

Original. Don't know if I'm gonna play that remake. I like the impression of an idea in the old graphics, if that makes sense. Original looked more surreal.


Reminds me of this good post:

"For what it's worth, that is the All Stars version. They tried to bring it up to parity with World. It has more visual noise and color saturation, but I don't think these are improvements. Look at that garish melon sky, like Liberace was the art director. I prefer the austerity and cleanliness of the original. More is not always better. Plus there are changes in style/concept I don't agree with, for example:

"Two different vibes here. Often (in fact, most of the time) when game developers remake a game, they go for the most obvious, literal re-imagining of the visuals. "It's underground therefore we have to make it look more undergroundy caverny." From the surreal to the prosaic, and who wants prosaic Mario? It's like having Mario run around a normal human cit- huh, what's that?....

"World I don't have an issue with because it had its style out of the gate and it looks better than All Stars 3 anyway imo. But I never cared for Nintendo's color or design sense from SNES on, Yoshi's Island and Super Metroid being the exceptions, and not counting DKC because Rare."

 

[Worgen]

Original. Don't know if I'm gonna play that remake. I like the impression of an idea in the old graphics, if that makes sense. Original looked more surreal.

If it was done by a lesser dev then I can see that, but Toys for Bob are extremely good at what they do. While it is missing the interpretation you have to do for older graphics, it is still plenty surreal, plus, its got all 3 original Spyro games, thats enough Spyro to get sick of it before you beat them all.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Finished Separate Ways on Hardcore. Even on NG+ Saddler is a pain in the ass and after a few bouts remembered you can just buy a rocket launcher and be done with it, so that was that.

Onto Crypt Custodian - I was excited for this one because I like the dev and his other games; more to the point reviews are comparing it to Tunic, Death's Door and Hyper Light Drifter, which is how you get me to buy it day one (I think its Tunic-ness is overstated though). It's also basically the last Metroidvania of note releasing this year, unless Ender Magnolia comes out of Early Access soon-ish. Six months and counting.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

Finished Chapter 3 of TTYD. Now onto the part where in the original, you had to walk down the exact same road five times. I've heard they changed that in the remake, but I'm not clear on the details. Guess I'll find out soon enough.

At least the area has a good atmosphere, a decent villain, and the best party member going for it.

 

[Old_Hunter_77]

I'm about 30-40% through Crypt Custodian and what a delightful contrast from Ender Lillie, another metroidvania with cuteness. The reason I like CC and not EL is that while both require you back tracking a lot, CC combat is fair and easier to run through while EL makes it hard to explore.

My biggest thing I believe in with games is- exploration OR tough combat, not both.

 

[Bob_McMillan]

I'm about to play Arkham Knight, and it occurred to me one of the biggest problems with the game is the lack of meaningful Bat-family content. Then we get an entire game about Bat-family in Gotham Knights! A game without Batman. That also happens to be shit. And with how Suicide Squad is doing, its going to be a longggg time before we get anything close to the Arkham games again. Sigh.

Anyway, I stopped writing halfway and actually started on Arkham Knight. Goddamn, what a game. Oozing confidence in it's presentation, and well place confidence at that. I am a little put off by the wrong button inputs since I first played this on PS4, but its all coming back to me. Excited to play through this in between Monster Hunter sessions.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Really enjoying Crypt Custodian. Combat is very busy and bullet hell-y but the simplicity of the mechanics and the CLARITY with which the game visualizes incoming attacks makes for a fun, satisfying system.

Some MV hardliners don't like the Guacamelee thing of locking up players in a room and making them defeat X amount of enemies before opening the doors, and I get the sentiment goes against the stated mission of ability-gating... but I kinda don't care. If the combat's fun, it's fun. And here it's so much fun that it makes hitless challenges especially satisfying.

I'm about to play Arkham Knight, and it occurred to me one of the biggest problems with the game is the lack of meaningful Bat-family content.

In a game as overcrowded with characters as Arkham Knight I found the bigger offender was the lack of boss fights. I replayed it recently for the Platinum and I'm struggling to recall if you fight any major villain at all, glorified takedowns aside. I think Killer Croc was the only one and that was DLC.

I'm about 30-40% through Crypt Custodian and what a delightful contrast from Ender Lillie, another metroidvania with cuteness. The reason I like CC and not EL is that while both require you back tracking a lot, CC combat is fair and easier to run through while EL makes it hard to explore.

My biggest thing I believe in with games is- exploration OR tough combat, not both.

That's great to hear, I'm loving the game too. I think we tend to overlap on a lot of the stuff (Metroidvanias) we play but you didn't have much love for Ultros or PoP, I think.

 

[Ezekiel]

Tree Tops level is complicated. Can't figure out how to jump to these tops.

 

[Worgen]

Beat the bank in Persona 5.

Got an invite to Deadlock. Its interesting, got some great design, not sure about how itemization works, its kinda weird. Its kinda like an item build up system like league or smite, but... kinda not? Anyway, just played a couple matches, will take longer to figure out.

 

[Bob_McMillan]

In a game as overcrowded with characters as Arkham Knight I found the bigger offender was the lack of boss fights. I replayed it recently for the Platinum and I'm struggling to recall if you fight any major villain at all, glorified takedowns aside. I think Killer Croc was the only one and that was DLC.

Well, there was that boss fight with the Riddler. If you were clinically insane enough to collect all the trophies. Agree on the boss fight thing, but it bothers me less since Knight's minute to minute gameplay is already so fantastic.

 

[Old_Hunter_77]

That's great to hear, I'm loving the game too. I think we tend to overlap on a lot of the stuff (Metroidvanias) we play but you didn't have much love for Ultros or PoP, I think.

Maybe not much love but certainly much like (I'm assuming PoP = Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown).

PoP was like Tales of Kenza: excellent and fun visual combat, disappointing lack of interesting area and underwhelming exploration for games that were billed as "metroidvanias." But they were fun, I really liked them. I just quit at some of the toughest platform challenges.

Ultros was cool and interesting- went the other way, cool world and design, annoying combat. I did like it, though.

I beat Crypt Custodian. Here's how I know it's a GOTY contender so far:
- I am actually looking forward to post-game and will continue playing. I rarely do this, unless I use a guide or something like in Tunic.
- I got all the things- treasures, upgrades, abilities, etc. And I only used a guide for two puzzles that required matching patterns the game doesn't tell you, at least not from what I could see.

I was able to do that latter due to a simple, clever mechanic that I now demand every such game have: you can literally buy clues with in-game currency. For 200 bucks (I call every currency in games "bucks," here it's units of garbage you get from killing enemies and destroying objects which means you can farm for it if you need to) you buy a red dot on the map for an item. It doesn't tell you what the item is or how to get to it or how to solve any puzzle required or what other shortcuts you need, just which room/screen it's on.
So I put on a podcast and grinded it out- buy a clue, go get it, etc. Had a blast. This even included combat challenges that I skipped because I got tired of dying (and yes I did drop the difficulty to easy because I was more interested in exploring than gitting gud) but I did them all.

It is such a world of difference having a simple nudge, a direction- there is something around here and now you know that. This is what makes me want smack walls, jump into abysses, try wacky combinations of abilities. I'm not gonna do that at random spots on every inch of a game- respect to those who find all those wacky secrets like that but I can't be arsed.

 

[Old_Hunter_77]

Bought two games on sale on Steam: Tales of Arise and Afterimage

Both are anime as heck which I guess means I've let the few anime shows I watched in the past couple of years and Final Fantasy 7 remakes dull my aversion to the style enough.

I know the Tales series is super jRPG but I'm down for a big game with action after having played a small one. And Afterimage is a small game that I'll just keep on the back burner for now.

 

[Drathnoxis]

Think I'm done with TowerClimb. Finally managed to get past the lava level to the second floor of the ice level which has everybody's favorite ice annoyances (slippery floors, wind that blows you around, icicles falling on your head). Anyway, just as I was starting to climb up the wizard that steals your stuff appears. Well, I'm right near the bottom and he won't stop harassing you until you kill him or he hits you, so I drop back down and fight him, I hit him a couple of times but then he gets a shot on me and steals all my stuff... and that's it. I literally could not continue. He left me with two invulnerorbs and I used them both to item hop around overhangs and then I simply could not progress without either more items or some of the potions I'd been saving the entire game. So yeah, great game design, he might as well kill you.

Overall, I see why this one never really caught on and made it big. The platforming IS the game and it's awkward. You can get items, but you're more likely to kill yourself trying to get them or use them than if you just focused on avoiding enemies and climbing up as quickly as possible. The games I've done the best are ones where I had a spear and an inventory of junk for item hopping. Every single aspect of the game has little built in annoyances. You can get a sword, but you have to jump to swing it, leading you into accidentally jumping on spikes or off ledges or getting too close to enemies. There's a better sword, but I still found myself more likely to die with it than without. The range is also really short so you are far better off throwing a spear, except the spear also bounces off enemies when they die and can fall down, needing to be retrieved. Worse it acts as a platform, which is something that you will never, EVER, want to use it as, but means that picking it back up is 5x more difficult that it needs to be. The boomerang is a cool weapon, but can kill you if it picks up the wrong item or in the wrong way. I thought I might use it to pull an item out of lava, and after about a minute of trying to throw it at the correct angle I succeeded... and splashed myself with lava and died. Fantastic. Your basic climbing speed is absurdly slow and it takes rare items to speed it up. There are boots that make you move faster, but the super rare ones make you move too fast and mess up your jumps. Speaking of messing up jumps, it's annoyingly easy to waste your double jumps, since you can jump when you are at the top of a ledge you can jump for free, but just a little lower and it uses the double jump for nothing. Crafting is almost completely useless. It's completely random when the guy shows up so 80% of the time you won't have the items you need, or the money you need, or you're being chased by lava so you can't stop to sort through your inventory and just have to pass him by. Also, there are times when traps or enemies are covered up by foreground decorations or just offscreen. It's always fun to drop onto ground you thought was safe only to realize that there were actually almost invisible spikes behind that bush or a worm or something, or to be climbing up a one square passage only to find that there is a rat on the top who is going to drop on you before you can move out of the way.

The worst thing of all is that the game is plain unbeatable without items. There are segments that are uncrossable without a double jump and you can only do this with an item. This means that you can easily be soft locked the second you run out of items. Anyway, I just don't want to spend another hour trudging through all the early levels to get another shot at what comes next.

@NerfedFalcon did you actually beat this game?

 

[Bartholen]

21 hours into Mass Effect 2 Legendary, but I could have sworn it was like twice that amount. Certainly feels like it. This is one big-ass game despite the relatively short length for an RPG. I think it comes down to its streamlined, fat-free design: there's no inventory management, no consumables, no picking up new gear, and leveling up is stripped down to bare bones. And frankly I prefer that for an action RPG. In "more true" RPGs like Dragon Age Origins or Baldur's Gate 3 a ton of time is spent on inventory management, leveling up and speccing builds. And ME2 cuts all that fat out, focusing on the pure gameplay experience alone.

It's remarkable how much mileage the game gets out of its relatively limited selection of fairly small locations. Unlike in ME2, the economy is balanced extremely well, and there's reasons to revisit old locations multiple times. The extensive NPC background chatter breathes so much life and character into what in ME1 were mostly static and empty environments. The dialogue's all razor sharp. This is top Bioware, and easily the best game in the series.

 

[meiam]

Bought two games on sale on Steam: Tales of Arise and Afterimage

Both are anime as heck which I guess means I've let the few anime shows I watched in the past couple of years and Final Fantasy 7 remakes dull my aversion to the style enough.

I know the Tales series is super jRPG but I'm down for a big game with action after having played a small one. And Afterimage is a small game that I'll just keep on the back burner for now.

Arise is pretty so-so as far as tales go, I'd do bezeria instead, or wait for the heavily rumoured remaster of grace suppose to come out soon.