I finished this game it was fun, but there's cheap enemy and boss design late game. I think the game gives you unlimited continues, so I am not too frustrated about it.
What are you currently playing?
- Thread starter Nick Calandra
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Playing a Metroidvania by Double Fine called Headlander. You control a disembodied head floating around a funky 1970s style space station with the ability to take over machines and robotic bodies with distinct abilities. There's some combat but being a Double Fine game it is at its heart an adventure/puzzle game and you'll be primarily figuring out what sequence of actions will deactivate a laser or get you through a door. It's fun, has a neat aesthetic, it's pretty original and the humor is on point.
It's the only stealth game I've played, so I don't have much to compare to. It was compelling enough that I started playing it yesterday to alleviate some boredom and finished playing it today since I got hooked, and since it was 95 % gameplay that got me going I would say that aspect was good.
If you're interested in the game, I might have a key for it. Check the Free Digital Keys thread.
@Old_Hunter_77
Double Dragon II PC Engine - A great port the NES version, and better than the NES version. The latter that's already a great port and better than the arcade version. DDII PCE is much tougher too. The soundtrack is glorious and God Tier! This is my first time playing this specific version!
Double Dragon II PC Engine - A great port the NES version, and better than the NES version. The latter that's already a great port and better than the arcade version. DDII PCE is much tougher too. The soundtrack is glorious and God Tier! This is my first time playing this specific version!
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I'm still playing Final Fantasy XVI, and, remember that I called it the "Shadow the Hedgehog of the Final Fantasy series"? I just played a boss fight where you're running on a track towards a gigantic boss while avoiding obstacles like Sonic; and I was just thinking "I didn't mean it literally!". It's funny when the game catches me off-guard like that...
I've been playing more Panzer Bandit. The PS1 Guardian Heroes game. There is no co-op, but it's not big deal for me, but I am playing on a Miyoo Mini+ any way, so solo works fine for me. Makes a great on the go experience. I'm on the third stage and lost one life from the stage 2 end boss. You can select the first four stages in any order. There are 8 stages total, so I got ways to go. I picked Kasumi. the ninja girl that wields two kunais.
This game almost plays like a fighting game. You have a weak attack, heavy attack, special attack/range attack, an attack button that hits enemies surrounding you, an EX-move, and a super move button, if you have a full power meter. You press up on the d-pad to jump. Unlike GH, you can only shift between two planes instead of three. The game has block/parry mechanic that only activates by attacking neutral position. Great game, but it is tough!
This game almost plays like a fighting game. You have a weak attack, heavy attack, special attack/range attack, an attack button that hits enemies surrounding you, an EX-move, and a super move button, if you have a full power meter. You press up on the d-pad to jump. Unlike GH, you can only shift between two planes instead of three. The game has block/parry mechanic that only activates by attacking neutral position. Great game, but it is tough!
Decided to spin up Doom Eternal, which I bought around the time it came out and then never got around to playing. Holy crap. This game's freaking awesome and I regret not playing through it sooner. About halfway through the second mission so far and I'm already hooked for life.
Mmmm, waiting to see how hooked you’ll still be once the platforming kicks in. I haven’t played this one, but it seems to be the biggest divider.
- Apr 1, 2009
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I've been playing some more PS1 classics and gems.
I am halfway through Panzer Bandit, then I tried Mad Stalker: Full Metal Force, a single plane mech brawler game that is really fun. Then there's game called Crisis Beat. The game was published by Bandai and giving Sony PlayStation their own Die Hard Arcade/Dynamite Deka (Cop). The game is literally Die Hard on a cruise ship taking place on Christmas. The differences being you have four playable characters and terrorist aren't doing a glorified robbery. Remember how Squaresoft was trying to be all cinematic with The Bouncer and be like an anime-action movie? Crisis Beat beat them to the punch back in 1998. Lot's of games were trying to be cinematic around this time, but CB is even more serious and melodramatic with its story than even The Bouncer. CB know how to have fun in its gameplay, but the story you might barely care.
Gameplay wise, the game has aged surprisingly well for a 1998 3D brawler. You have a light and heavy attack, a jump button, and special health draining move when surrounded or you know you're about to take some damage. The game has this weird "Lock-On Counter" System where if you position an enemy just right at environmental hazard, it will usually kill them in one hit, and you get bonus points. Though wouldn't call that counter, because that would involve the player actually parrying something and not just knocking a bad guy into a Christmas tree or knocked off the cruise ship. I noticed the problem with this game is depth perception is a biatch when the camera is zoomed out too much at times. Making it harder lands hits whenever stages does this. I am playing on a portable console, so that's not helping much either.
All I have to ask: Is why Bandai? Why didn't you release this game in the States? My brother and I would've co-opted the shit out of this game. I would have bought the game. This game only came out in Japan and Europe. They could've brought the game over and not lose money at all. This game is better than all of the 3D brawlers released on PS1. Especially Fighting Force.
I am halfway through Panzer Bandit, then I tried Mad Stalker: Full Metal Force, a single plane mech brawler game that is really fun. Then there's game called Crisis Beat. The game was published by Bandai and giving Sony PlayStation their own Die Hard Arcade/Dynamite Deka (Cop). The game is literally Die Hard on a cruise ship taking place on Christmas. The differences being you have four playable characters and terrorist aren't doing a glorified robbery. Remember how Squaresoft was trying to be all cinematic with The Bouncer and be like an anime-action movie? Crisis Beat beat them to the punch back in 1998. Lot's of games were trying to be cinematic around this time, but CB is even more serious and melodramatic with its story than even The Bouncer. CB know how to have fun in its gameplay, but the story you might barely care.
Gameplay wise, the game has aged surprisingly well for a 1998 3D brawler. You have a light and heavy attack, a jump button, and special health draining move when surrounded or you know you're about to take some damage. The game has this weird "Lock-On Counter" System where if you position an enemy just right at environmental hazard, it will usually kill them in one hit, and you get bonus points. Though wouldn't call that counter, because that would involve the player actually parrying something and not just knocking a bad guy into a Christmas tree or knocked off the cruise ship. I noticed the problem with this game is depth perception is a biatch when the camera is zoomed out too much at times. Making it harder lands hits whenever stages does this. I am playing on a portable console, so that's not helping much either.
All I have to ask: Is why Bandai? Why didn't you release this game in the States? My brother and I would've co-opted the shit out of this game. I would have bought the game. This game only came out in Japan and Europe. They could've brought the game over and not lose money at all. This game is better than all of the 3D brawlers released on PS1. Especially Fighting Force.
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Honestly? As someone who still likes the original Mirror's Edge, and who loves the campaign of Titanfall 2, I don't think the platforming in Doom Eternal is any issue at all. Especially not when I consider what I believe its purpose to be: that it's meant to 'free your mind', in a sense. Using your traversal options to get from one combat arena to the next prepares you to use those options in live combat, without having to consciously remember that you have them. Honestly, it's harder for me to keep track of all of my weapons than my double jump, air dash, and any environmental mobility enhancers like boost pads or swing bars.
Final Fight 2 Rom Hack Version - This version allows the players to fight 5 enemies on screen making it much more fun than the original version. There's no reason to go back to vanilla Final Fight 2. Nothing is more stratifying than doing a spinning pile drive on 4 or more dudes! I picked Haggar for my playthrough.
Played a game of Evilhack. Was going pretty well and I was getting established. But then I god hit with a wand of death on the first zap in the big room. Sucks because that game had the potential to be an Evilhack streak since I won the last game I played of it two years ago. Would have been nice. Could have been prevented but I made a misplay by guessing on the Sokoban door and ended up with a helm of speed instead of an amulet of magic resistance or reflection. Dang.
Also started Death Stranding. This game is bizarre. Like it was written by someone with schizophrenia or something. Also it's nice that the game displays how many ml of urine is currently in my bladder. Very useful feature. Also these names: Die Hardman, Fragile, Deadman. Probably sounds better to Japanese people.
Also started Death Stranding. This game is bizarre. Like it was written by someone with schizophrenia or something. Also it's nice that the game displays how many ml of urine is currently in my bladder. Very useful feature. Also these names: Die Hardman, Fragile, Deadman. Probably sounds better to Japanese people.
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I haven't played it but I remember someone comparing to Celeste, but in 1st person.
After Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak, I took a couple days to decide what I want to play next and I decided to check out MAFIA: THE DEFINITIVE EDITION.
I'm about 2 hours in and so far I'm enjoying it. It feels like an affectionate homage to Gangster films like Goodfellas and The Godfather but set in the 1930's during "Age of Gangsters" but in a semi-open world. And I mean that while there is a big map to drive around in and do missions, it doesn't seem to be any side activities, but rather the city is there for the missions to be set in and to give the game a sense of verisimilitude.
So far the plot is fairly grounded and in line with what I'd expect: Tommy Angelo lives in 1930's "Lost Heaven"(which is either New York or Chicago or maybe a combo of both) making a hand to mouth living as a cab driver during the beginning of the great depression. One night he's waiting for a fare and two mobsters show up in the middle of a gunfight and force him to be their getaway driver, which eventually ends up with him joining up with the gang. It's organized as a series of missions separated by weeks, months or even years, which show Tommy rising in the gang's hierarchy while introducing the player to the mechanics(Tommy doesn't get a gun until mission 3 or 4, when they go to collect protection money from some of the local businesses).
At the same time, while the gang tommy joins up with seems to be the "nicer" of the gangs shown and the leader being seemingly more reasonable(There's a cut scene where the other mob boss gets into a traffic accident and beats the other driver to death in broad daylight, in front of two cops who just watch, with a tire iron. The other guy apologized for the accident, despite being rear-ended by the mob boss), the game doesn't gloss over the fact you are a mobster and your co-workers aren't exactly saints. During the protection money mission, there's a conversation on the drive where one of the other guys is going on about bashing a guys head against his shop counter and the bloodstain still hasn't washed out, only to have the same guy go the same shop alone, followed by a couple minutes of sounds of things breaking and the guy talks about how he basically just beat the shit out the same guy again to let off steam. Its a stark reminder that these are not good people and Tommy is not a good person for willingly choosing to associate with him. Tommy doesn't seem to be at all bothered by this either, but then again, he was more then happy to get revenge for his cab getting smashed up earlier by the other gang.
The plot and characters seem well written and the story is well paced, so it does feel like Tommy is getting drawn in realistically and becoming part of the family, as well as him developing a relationship with the other members of the gang(notably Sam and Paulie) who by this point are beginning to resent him for rising so quickly in the gang compared to them. It's fairly subtle but the fact Paulie occasionally bitches about the fact they've been in the gang far long then tommy but they're still doing shit work like collecting protection money while Tommy gets some of the cooler stuff and is better liked by the gang leader feels like foreshadowing to something like Paulie eventually turning on Tommy out of envy.
Probably the biggest annoyance with the whole game so far is the mission "Fair Play", which is a 3 part mission. Long story short, there's a big race coming up and a lot of bets were placed. To help fix the race, tommy is going to steal the car of a hot shot driver the night before the race, drive it across the city so a mechanic can sabotage it and then drive it back to to the racetrack before anyone notices it's missing(thus the time limit). You have about a 3.5 minute time limit to drive it there, 3.5 to drive it back(and don't drive too fast because the engine is now prone to overheat due to the sabotage) and once those are done, you get the icing on the cake, once the race is ready to start, you're told that the driver your guys all bet on got beaten up by the other gang while you were out sabotaging their car and they need an experienced driver ASAP(If they had anyone else they wouldn't be asking you), so you have to win the race now too. And suddenly now the game is a racing game and you have to take first to finish the mission in a 1930's hot rod that doesn't exactly turn on a dime and you've only gotten to drive on this mission so far. The saving grace is there are checkpoints after each leg of the mission so you don't have to re-do the entire mission if you lose the race, which I had to replay the race about half a dozen times because it's pretty easy to wreck and fall so far behind you can't catch up. So yeah, that mission sucks and it's the biggest flaw in the game so far. Allegedly the AI also cheats with rubber band AI and I believe it as often as it feels like I'll be in the lead and suddenly the #2 car will suddenly pass me for no particular reason.
I'm about 2 hours in and so far I'm enjoying it. It feels like an affectionate homage to Gangster films like Goodfellas and The Godfather but set in the 1930's during "Age of Gangsters" but in a semi-open world. And I mean that while there is a big map to drive around in and do missions, it doesn't seem to be any side activities, but rather the city is there for the missions to be set in and to give the game a sense of verisimilitude.
So far the plot is fairly grounded and in line with what I'd expect: Tommy Angelo lives in 1930's "Lost Heaven"(which is either New York or Chicago or maybe a combo of both) making a hand to mouth living as a cab driver during the beginning of the great depression. One night he's waiting for a fare and two mobsters show up in the middle of a gunfight and force him to be their getaway driver, which eventually ends up with him joining up with the gang. It's organized as a series of missions separated by weeks, months or even years, which show Tommy rising in the gang's hierarchy while introducing the player to the mechanics(Tommy doesn't get a gun until mission 3 or 4, when they go to collect protection money from some of the local businesses).
At the same time, while the gang tommy joins up with seems to be the "nicer" of the gangs shown and the leader being seemingly more reasonable(There's a cut scene where the other mob boss gets into a traffic accident and beats the other driver to death in broad daylight, in front of two cops who just watch, with a tire iron. The other guy apologized for the accident, despite being rear-ended by the mob boss), the game doesn't gloss over the fact you are a mobster and your co-workers aren't exactly saints. During the protection money mission, there's a conversation on the drive where one of the other guys is going on about bashing a guys head against his shop counter and the bloodstain still hasn't washed out, only to have the same guy go the same shop alone, followed by a couple minutes of sounds of things breaking and the guy talks about how he basically just beat the shit out the same guy again to let off steam. Its a stark reminder that these are not good people and Tommy is not a good person for willingly choosing to associate with him. Tommy doesn't seem to be at all bothered by this either, but then again, he was more then happy to get revenge for his cab getting smashed up earlier by the other gang.
The plot and characters seem well written and the story is well paced, so it does feel like Tommy is getting drawn in realistically and becoming part of the family, as well as him developing a relationship with the other members of the gang(notably Sam and Paulie) who by this point are beginning to resent him for rising so quickly in the gang compared to them. It's fairly subtle but the fact Paulie occasionally bitches about the fact they've been in the gang far long then tommy but they're still doing shit work like collecting protection money while Tommy gets some of the cooler stuff and is better liked by the gang leader feels like foreshadowing to something like Paulie eventually turning on Tommy out of envy.
Probably the biggest annoyance with the whole game so far is the mission "Fair Play", which is a 3 part mission. Long story short, there's a big race coming up and a lot of bets were placed. To help fix the race, tommy is going to steal the car of a hot shot driver the night before the race, drive it across the city so a mechanic can sabotage it and then drive it back to to the racetrack before anyone notices it's missing(thus the time limit). You have about a 3.5 minute time limit to drive it there, 3.5 to drive it back(and don't drive too fast because the engine is now prone to overheat due to the sabotage) and once those are done, you get the icing on the cake, once the race is ready to start, you're told that the driver your guys all bet on got beaten up by the other gang while you were out sabotaging their car and they need an experienced driver ASAP(If they had anyone else they wouldn't be asking you), so you have to win the race now too. And suddenly now the game is a racing game and you have to take first to finish the mission in a 1930's hot rod that doesn't exactly turn on a dime and you've only gotten to drive on this mission so far. The saving grace is there are checkpoints after each leg of the mission so you don't have to re-do the entire mission if you lose the race, which I had to replay the race about half a dozen times because it's pretty easy to wreck and fall so far behind you can't catch up. So yeah, that mission sucks and it's the biggest flaw in the game so far. Allegedly the AI also cheats with rubber band AI and I believe it as often as it feels like I'll be in the lead and suddenly the #2 car will suddenly pass me for no particular reason.
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Wasn’t me but I remember something like that. If the search function worked on this site it’d be fairly easy to find out.
Finished Headlander. It's pretty good and well worth checking, out especially since Adult Swims are (supposedly) getting delisted from stores this year. Is it a great Metroidvania? Not really. Is it a great Double Fine/Tim Schaefer game? Well you're competing with Grim Fandango and Psychonauts. But it's a solid, pretty original game with simple yet engaging moment to moment gameplay that does just about everything right, makes the most of its core concept and is over before it gets too repetitive. Everything about it is infinitely likable. And it ends with Invader Zim singing about murder over the credits.
I completed Panzer Bandit for the first time! I used Kasumi and was able to beat the final boss on my first try! The game has an ending that says to be continued, but Fill in Cafe (developers of this game), filed for bankruptcy in 1998! So no sequel! The game is not long either and has 8 stages total. The first 4 you can select in any order. PB is the greatest of the Guardian Heroes clones. It's GH without the RPG elements and is even more like 2D fighter in brawler form. The final stage is just one big boss rush, but you don't get any health refills until after beating all of the old bosses. That's stupid and not needed. I do recommend this game on emulation, because copies of this PS1 brawler are expensive as hell.