General Gaming News.

CriticalGaming

Elite Member
Legacy
Dec 28, 2017
11,227
5,682
118
I've never played any Soulslike games, so this could be wrong, but: could it be a matter of the novelty factor of the first game means that it is remembered more fondly since when it came out nothing was like it, whereas the other titles have merely iterated on the same formula, which leads to a technically better game but without any of the novelty factor that came with the first game?
It's 100% the novelty of it being the first game. That isn't to take away from the stuff that DS1 does absolutely wonderfully, things like the world building, the lore, the specticle of everything. The bosses are really famous but ultimately most of them are not very interesting.

The thing about DS1 is that it puts on a very interesting 1st impression. Ringing the first two bells and then Andor Londo. However all the shit beyond that is actually pretty terrible. The Duke's Archive, the catacombs, the lava zone i forgot the name to with a bunch of half-monster and copy pasted Taurus and Capra demons. MOST of DS1 is actually fucking awful.

But the first 10 hours is pretty cool. And I bet most people don't ever get beyond that, so that's the impression of the game that they are left with.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BrawlMan

BrawlMan

Lover of beat'em ups.
Legacy
Mar 10, 2016
29,386
12,230
118
Detroit, Michigan
Country
United States of America
Gender
Male
I'll contest that: King's Field was the OG Dark Souls.
You have before, and you are not alone on that.


Though for SSFF, it's Shadow Tower. Obviously, KF came out first, but the one we got in the States, was actually KF2, relabeled as KF (another Final Fantasy number change situation). The original never came out in Japan.
 

Trunkage

Nascent Orca
Legacy
Jun 21, 2012
9,042
3,035
118
Brisbane
Gender
Cyborg
I've never played any Soulslike games, so this could be wrong, but: could it be a matter of the novelty factor of the first game means that it is remembered more fondly since when it came out nothing was like it, whereas the other titles have merely iterated on the same formula, which leads to a technically better game but without any of the novelty factor that came with the first game?
It's definitely partly true. Dark Souls is also more integrated as a story where DS2 is disparated and different and becomes the Last Jedi of the series. DS3 has by far the best combat but its story is Rise of Skywalker - just iterating and referencing rather than telling a good story

This is really unfair as a comparison because DS3 is way better than most Star Wars

For old BG series, I forgot to add that you spent most of the time swinging swords and not hitting anything, Morrowind style.

Yes, I know this is realistic. It also wastes my time

Many high level enemy you could not even hurt without a +1 enchanted sword. In the Witcher or DS, having an enchanted sword made things easier but you can kill enemies with a ladel if you are talented enough. This is much better
 

Trunkage

Nascent Orca
Legacy
Jun 21, 2012
9,042
3,035
118
Brisbane
Gender
Cyborg
It's 100% the novelty of it being the first game. That isn't to take away from the stuff that DS1 does absolutely wonderfully, things like the world building, the lore, the specticle of everything. The bosses are really famous but ultimately most of them are not very interesting.

The thing about DS1 is that it puts on a very interesting 1st impression. Ringing the first two bells and then Andor Londo. However all the shit beyond that is actually pretty terrible. The Duke's Archive, the catacombs, the lava zone i forgot the name to with a bunch of half-monster and copy pasted Taurus and Capra demons. MOST of DS1 is actually fucking awful.

But the first 10 hours is pretty cool. And I bet most people don't ever get beyond that, so that's the impression of the game that they are left with.
You know what, I would copy that... with the side note that I completely missed Capra and Taurus Demons due to picking the skeleton key

The later areas were interesting but underdeveloped. And the story front loaded
 
  • Like
Reactions: BrawlMan

BrawlMan

Lover of beat'em ups.
Legacy
Mar 10, 2016
29,386
12,230
118
Detroit, Michigan
Country
United States of America
Gender
Male
DS3 has by far the best combat but its story is Rise of Skywalker - just iterating and referencing rather than telling a good story
If I ever pick one DS game to play, III would be it, and I would have 0 regrets. I'm here for gameplay, so it would not bother me in theslightest.

This is really unfair as a comparison because DS3 is way better than most Star Wars
TRUE DAT! All of the No More Heroes games are better than most Star Wars. And the first two games have tons of SW references.
 

BrawlMan

Lover of beat'em ups.
Legacy
Mar 10, 2016
29,386
12,230
118
Detroit, Michigan
Country
United States of America
Gender
Male

Uh oh.


I find it funny GameSpot of all sites are calling out AAA companies now. Where the fuck were any of you with the Kane and Lynch fiasco? None of you have the high moral ground. Fuck off.



 
Jun 11, 2023
2,889
2,118
118
Country
United States
Gender
Male
I've never played any Soulslike games, so this could be wrong, but: could it be a matter of the novelty factor of the first game means that it is remembered more fondly since when it came out nothing was like it, whereas the other titles have merely iterated on the same formula, which leads to a technically better game but without any of the novelty factor that came with the first game?
The older games can still be enjoyable, but not because they play better. It’s like watching older movies in a way. The technical flaws and shortcomings are more glaring looking back, but one can still appreciate what they were able to accomplish before all that iteration.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BrawlMan

CriticalGaming

Elite Member
Legacy
Dec 28, 2017
11,227
5,682
118

BrawlMan

Lover of beat'em ups.
Legacy
Mar 10, 2016
29,386
12,230
118
Detroit, Michigan
Country
United States of America
Gender
Male
Bad move. Embrace it like Keanu Reeves. Remember that interview for Cyberpunk when he was asked what he thinks of people modding the game to bang his character and he was just, "Neat".
Everyone is different. If they said person or persons are uncomfortable or not, they have the right to express their honest feelings on the matter. I couldn't blame the ones not comfortable with having an AI use their voice in porn. They didn't consent. Not exactly a "bad move". Keanu is a cool guy that takes things in stride, but I can see the negative side to this as well. I have no stake in this, but we all know at least someone or a few will take this too far on the gamer side, if action actually happens. Which I doubt because it's Bethesda.
 

CriticalGaming

Elite Member
Legacy
Dec 28, 2017
11,227
5,682
118
Everyone is different. If they said person or persons are uncomfortable or not, they have the right to express their honest feelings on the matter. I couldn't blame the ones not comfortable with having an AI use their voice in porn. They didn't consent. Not exactly a "bad move". Keanu is a cool guy that takes things in stride, but I can see the negative side to this as well. I have no stake in this, but we all know at least someone or a few will take this too far on the gamer side, if action actually happens. Which I doubt because it's Bethesda.
I just know that the rule of the internet is that if you tell them not to do something.....they just gonna do it harder.

"Banny game make people wanty game more." -Yahtzee.
 

BrawlMan

Lover of beat'em ups.
Legacy
Mar 10, 2016
29,386
12,230
118
Detroit, Michigan
Country
United States of America
Gender
Male
I just know that the rule of the internet is that if you tell them not to do something.....they just gonna do it harder.

"Banny game make people wanty game more." -Yahtzee.
I'm more than aware of that. I hope they can move on from this, but more than likely some of the voice actors are going to fight on this, and I am not going to rag on them about it.
 

meiam

Elite Member
Dec 9, 2010
3,592
1,821
118
I like the early soul game a lot more than the later one because they heavily shifted the way the gameplay work as the series went on, in a direction that I feel made everything very cheap and uninteresting. Early game (demon/dark) stamina management is super important and so is positioning because dodge/parry has few i-frame, enemy have relatively low level of attack tracking and stamina regen slowly with each attack taking a large amount. But as the series progress it becomes all about timing the dodge/parry window to the enemy attack, stamina become so plentiful they might as well remove it altogether and enemy attack will track you no matter where you are, to the point that they'll just spin around like ballerina in completely unnatural way. On top of that, to raise the difficulty they start giving enemy really weird attack pattern where they'll purposefully stop their attack mid sequence or do weird little dance so that it becomes non obvious what the timing is, this really destroy the immersion to me because it becomes clear that the enemy are gaming the system rather than actually feeling like real character/monster in the world.
 

BrawlMan

Lover of beat'em ups.
Legacy
Mar 10, 2016
29,386
12,230
118
Detroit, Michigan
Country
United States of America
Gender
Male

BrawlMan

Lover of beat'em ups.
Legacy
Mar 10, 2016
29,386
12,230
118
Detroit, Michigan
Country
United States of America
Gender
Male

Good on Capcom. Hope to see some quality MM games again
Mega Man 11 was pretty good. As long as they don't make the same mistakes they did back with Mega Man X6 to X8, nor milk it like they did with the original series, I'm sure they'll do great. Speaking of Capcom.....

 
Last edited:

bluegate

Elite Member
Legacy
Dec 28, 2010
2,379
979
118
Mega Man 11 was pretty good. As long as they don't make the same mistakes they did back with Mega Man X6 to X8,
X8 was pretty much Capcom heavily course correcting after X7 and was a pretty decent X game.

Unless I'm missing something, I wouldn't count X8 as a mistake on their part.

If Capcom wants to start their new Mega Man era with a bang then they should do a remake of Mega Man Legends, it was a game way ahead of its time with its semi Open World nature.
 
Jun 11, 2023
2,889
2,118
118
Country
United States
Gender
Male
I like the early soul game a lot more than the later one because they heavily shifted the way the gameplay work as the series went on, in a direction that I feel made everything very cheap and uninteresting. Early game (demon/dark) stamina management is super important and so is positioning because dodge/parry has few i-frame, enemy have relatively low level of attack tracking and stamina regen slowly with each attack taking a large amount. But as the series progress it becomes all about timing the dodge/parry window to the enemy attack, stamina become so plentiful they might as well remove it altogether and enemy attack will track you no matter where you are, to the point that they'll just spin around like ballerina in completely unnatural way. On top of that, to raise the difficulty they start giving enemy really weird attack pattern where they'll purposefully stop their attack mid sequence or do weird little dance so that it becomes non obvious what the timing is, this really destroy the immersion to me because it becomes clear that the enemy are gaming the system rather than actually feeling like real character/monster in the world.
That’s what happens after a half dozen games using the same basic formula. Sekiro was a bit different direction with the deflect focus but every new Souls game was iterated to be quicker and have more responsive combat. Having that meant the slower, more deliberate enemies of say, Demon’s Souls through most of DS2 would’ve been cake walks. Hell, just going back to those games as they are emboldens players to be more aggressive than they might have been before, but the combat mechanics aren’t quite up to par to support that.

Maybe someday FROM will make a Souls type game without iframes and combine the old with the new. It’s possible but probably very difficult to balance properly, while also being fun.
 
  • Like
Reactions: meiam and BrawlMan

BrawlMan

Lover of beat'em ups.
Legacy
Mar 10, 2016
29,386
12,230
118
Detroit, Michigan
Country
United States of America
Gender
Male
X8 was pretty much Capcom heavily course correcting after X7 and was a pretty decent X game.
I meant more so as a frame of reference. X8 is better than X6 and X7, but it was pretty clear that X5 was the final game in the timeline. Inafune even reccomend starting from X-X5, and the immeditealy jump to the Mega Man Zero series.

If Capcom wants to start their new Mega Man era with a bang then they should do a remake of Mega Man Legends, it was a game way ahead of its time with its semi Open World nature.
I rented MML back in the day. Decent time. I never got around to Tron Bonne nor Legends 2. Anything is possible at this point, but I have feeling the next game will be another OG series game.