WHAT GAMES ARE YOU PLAYING THESE DAYS

[odditude]

i must say, i dislike being roughly no one.

heh, i'm delighting in the rude awakening provided by red dragons.

ss hero mode: ancient cistern. fuck you, spiders! fuck me, it's a hexalimbed stallord!

[Gonzo]

There was once, in the dark days of dialup internet, a zboard troll who used the name IMTHEBESTATGAMES.

Oh god that's fucking going back a long time, I had actually completely forgotten about him until this post. Thanks for that.

[Gil_Hamilton]

Moral of the story: Roughly no one = at least 3.

[Yuber]

Also, you don't have to be at all good at games to dominate the shit out of FF6.

You saw the part about that being an ancient reference, right?

There was once, in the dark days of dialup internet, a zboard troll who used the name IMTHEBESTATGAMES.

He was a video game god and none could beat him, or so he claimed. Racing, fighters, puzzles, you name it he was the best in the world at it. He was so good at games because he was bipolar, which means he thinks faster than normal people. Anyone claiming that wasn't what that word means was clearly brainwashed by... someone.
He discovered his super powers by playing FF2 on his SNES. It was the hardest game he'd ever played, because he never realized there was a menu screen and he beat it with starting equipment. After that, he was unstoppable.

There's more to the story, but that's the gist of it.
The statement about FF6 being easy reminded me of him, and thus I made a stupid joke that roughly no one gets.

I knew it was a reference of some kind, but I thought you were also criticizing me for bragging. I'm incredibly new here compared to most of the regulars, and I bet that guy's posts were hilarious to read, although I feel a bit sorry for someone who would brag online and pretend they're amazing at games. looool @ not knowing there was a menu; surely he made that up to make himself look more skilled. Did he even know that FF2US was a shitty, dumbed down version of the Japanese version? I still consider the J2e translation vastly superior to the GBA/PSP and DS RTs of FF4 because it's a lot funnier. However, the DS version's menus & battle system are so much better that it's a bit hard to go back to OG FF4 though.

I'm not a fan of the "casual" or "hardcore" label but if I had to put myself somewhere I'd say I'm a moderate right in the middle. Those labels are just as silly as labeling people liberal or conservative for having one belief that doesn't conform to a party platform. This rant is unrelated to your post; I just hear those retarded labels get thrown around way too often. It's superficial nonsense that means nothing.

Unrelated: Even though I laughed at Sabin's train suplex, I completely lost it for like 10 minutes the first time I watched him get confused and suplex himself. He jumps up and smashes his head into the ground and it's pretty much the funniest thing possible in that game. I wonder if he can bum rush himself too?

Lemme guess, Golbez after you pwn Calcobrena, right?

Cast slow on Golbez as soon as the battle starts. It'll make this fight considerably easier.

Yup, but I beat him after 2 deaths. Shit caught me off guard because that battle was a joke in the original. I always cast slow on bosses but thanks for the tip man. I'm still at the Feymarch/Phantom Beast world because I'm finishing up FF6 and going back to CT before I continue 4DS. Slow on bosses/hard enemies plus Omnicasting haste will be my general strategy once I finally get the OC augment. I've already been warned about the red dragons in the final dungeon, but I bet those fucking death masks are twice as obnoxious in this version considering how aggravating they were in the original.

If FF6 ever gets remade in a similar style to 4(highly unlikely), I hope it gets a massive difficulty increase because when I played it in grade school I SUCKED at it yet it was still easy. You should not be able to kill the final boss in 1 turn, especially considering how strong it's(don't wanna spoil) supposed to be story-wise. Sabin MUST still be able to suplex trains and himself too.

[grinvader]

dark days of dialup internet, a zboard troll who used the name IMTHEBESTATGAMES.

sh will forever live in our hearts

and/or spleen

[Yuber]

I was hoping I could read some of his posts, but after a search I got nothing. I guess you've had to reboot the board a few times, but I bet that shit was hilarious to read.

Also, Sabin/Mash's original design by Amano looks a lot like Guile from SF. Urets battre!


sunic upooha!

[Gil_Hamilton]

I was hoping I could read some of his posts, but after a search I got nothing. I guess you've had to reboot the board a few times, but I bet that shit was hilarious to read.

Yeah. Not just reset the board(which has happened more times than it rightly should've, hooray for script kiddies being adopted as board mascots!). We're not running the same software, or even the software that replaced the software.

I think we were running Ikonboard back then?
Woulda been about a decade ago now, in any case. Well past any reasonable post retention policy(Not that ZBoard has ever subscribed to reasonable post retention policies).

[kode54]

That troll wouldn't per chance be related to a certain other troll account that exists now, a certain someone who dominates at everything but Tetris, would it?

[Gil_Hamilton]

That troll wouldn't per chance be related to a certain other troll account that exists now, a certain someone who dominates at everything but Tetris, would it?

I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about.

[adventure_of_link]

only game I've been playing lately is final fantasy 7.

[Yuber]

I finally bought DQ8(new) from a dude on amazon for a bit under $35 including shipping. I should get it on the 17th since I used cheap standard shipping, so it'll give me time to finish CT. I haven't progressed at all in FF4DS due to playing CT, so I'll alternate between DQ8 and FF4DS. I assume the main reason it's still so easy to find is because of the FFXII demo.

FFXII is a great game, but the story kinda fizzles out at the end. I absolutely HATE the random treasure chests too, but 13 makes 12 look like the best game ever. Of course in my one and only playthrough of FF12 I missed the Zodiac Spear because I didn't use a guide and opened a chest I wasn't supposed to. What kinda retarded nonsense is that?! At least I have the Tournesol, Excalibur and 2 Masamunes; it took me fucking forever to find all the items to make that damn sunflower. This is the original version, not International btw. Once I upgrade my gfx card I'll finally be able to play XII International. I never killed Yiazmat either; it seems like too much of a pain in the ass and I was too tired of the game at the time to do it.

I'm really excited about finally getting my hands on DQ8. I have no idea why I didn't buy it back when it was released; I think I was only interested in FF12 at the time and didn't care about the demo. I bet I'll enjoy DQ8 much more than than FF12 because I love traditional turn-based battle systems.

Unrelated, but I think turn-based/ATB systems could still be popular in JRPGs if more companies substituted a CT-style system for random battles. A game with a more refined(like being able to switch weapons in battle), slightly faster version of CT's battle system would be incredibly fun. Nothing against action or MMO-style combat, but I love ATB-based battle systems. FFX had a nice system as well, but there's no need for random battles.

only game I've been playing lately is final fantasy 7.

Once I finish DQ8 and FF4DS, I should replay FF7 as well. As annoying as the fanboys can be, I absolutely love FF7 and it was the reason I bought a PSX. The summon animations completely blew me away in 1997 and they still look cool today. It's not my favorite FF(6 is), but it's still a great classic that everyone even slightly interested in RPGs should play at least once. I'm buying an old CRT just so I can play older games like FF7 without using epsxe. PS1 games are unbearable on HD monitors without high-res filters and/or shaders.

edits: typos/grammar

[Gonzo]

Just started getting into Doom RL today. I could see myself getting hooked on this game, it's tense, awesome fun and has a bitching soundtrack(just like the original doom).

[Yuber]

Doom RL looks pretty interesting, and I didn't even know it existed before your post. From the few videos I looked up on youtube, it seems like an interesting concept. I hate to be a graphics whore, but I wish the characters had nice, smooth animation. I'm sure I could still enjoy it since I have no problem playing old NES games.

I checked the tracking info for my DQVIII order and it's in my home town, so hopefully it'll arrive tomorrow; the town I live in isn't very big. It's Fedex though, and at least in my experience USPS priority mail is generally more reliable than anything Fedex or UPS has to offer. Using USPS PM, I usually receive packages in 2 days if my order ships from the mainland 48. I hear DQ8 is a very long game with tons of secrets, so I'm hyped.

edit: DQVIII arrived yesterday(16th) and thankfully it's an actual new copy with the FFXII demo included. I've only tested the disc out so far, but it's gonna be awesome playing a great RPG I've never experienced. I'm gonna finish CT first so I can concentrate more on DQ8 and FF4DS & alternate between the 2. I'll probably put FF4DS on hold for a bit so I can immerse myself in DQ8's world for a while and get the hang of it. The game is gorgeous and Akira Toriyama's cell-shaded artwork looks really cool.

[grinvader]

I am not the only one here pleased by this:



It's still in demo phase (you can play up to shortly after the first gamma) but it's pretty ok for what it aims to achieve. Uses a custom engine pretty close to zero mission's, so walljumps are not crippled and no running speed. Some brand new moves too, mainly charged bomb tricks - maybe others later on in the game. New content too, tries to patch some continuity holes.
Kinda weird underwater physics though... oh well, who cares when global genocide is on the plate.


redrum

[Yuber]

Damn, that looks awesome. I'll wait until it's complete so I can enjoy it with minimal bugs. I really miss 2d Metroid although I'm not at all experienced with the series other than Super Metroid and a bit of Fusion and Zero Mission. I've never even played the Prime games.

[Gil_Hamilton]

Damn, that looks awesome. I'll wait until it's complete so I can enjoy it with minimal bugs.

At the rate he's going, it may be out before ZSNES2.

I really miss 2d Metroid although I'm not at all experienced with the series other than Super Metroid and a bit of Fusion and Zero Mission. I've never even played the Prime games.

I don't miss 2D Metroid. I miss Metroid made by someone who actually understands and respects the franchise.
Sakamoto had a chance to prove it wasn't his fault. And he fumbled his first game in the producer's seat in an even more spectacular manner than Izushi's GBA outings.
Bring back Makoto Kanoh! He knows his Metroid and he's not dead.


My canon, for reference: Metroid, Return of Samus, Super Metroid, Metroid Prime.
Anything else is somewhere between sub-par and a complete blight on the name, and I refuse to acknowledge it happened.

[Yuber]

I'm certainly no expert on the series but I had fun with ZM and Fusion, although SM is better in every way imo. I don't own a GC or Wii, so I could either buy a used Wii+classic or GC controllers to play prime and various other exclusives, or just use Dolphin once I upgrade my computer. My CPU is rather shit as well, so I'm gonna have to upgrade quite a bit before Dolphin will run near-perfect.

Doesn't Prime 3 have forced motion controls? I could be wrong, but I absolutely abhor motion controls and if they're required to play a game, it's a dealbreaker for me. If it does, I suppose I could use Dolphin and map my 360 controller as best I can in order to try and use a "traditional" control scheme, but man I wish that silly motion trend would die already. I would've bought a Wii if every exclusive gave you the option of using a standard pad like Xenoblade. If there's a way to play MP3 in Dolphin with a more tradition scheme, I'd love to play the whole trilogy.

I'm not a fan of gimmicky peripherals(WiiU gamepad, Kinect, Move, DS stylus etc) in general, not just motion controls. If they're 100% optional, fine, but if they're forced on people I'm not buying your system/game. Thankfully my slow computer can at least run DS games at full speed with filters and vsync.

[Gil_Hamilton]

Doesn't Prime 3 have forced motion controls? I could be wrong, but I absolutely abhor motion controls and if they're required to play a game, it's a dealbreaker for me. If it does, I suppose I could use Dolphin and map my 360 controller as best I can in order to try and use a "traditional" control scheme, but man I wish that silly motion trend would die already. I would've bought a Wii if every exclusive gave you the option of using a standard pad like Xenoblade. If there's a way to play MP3 in Dolphin with a more tradition scheme, I'd love to play the whole trilogy.

I'm not a fan of gimmicky peripherals(WiiU gamepad, Kinect, Move, DS stylus etc) in general, not just motion controls. If they're 100% optional, fine, but if they're forced on people I'm not buying your system/game. Thankfully my slow computer can at least run DS games at full speed with filters and vsync.

The use of both accelerometer and lightgun functionality in '3 is integral.
At least partially in response to people bitching about the lock-on mechanic in '1 and '2.
I strongly doubt you will find a coherent solution for dumbing '3 down to a standard gamepad.
And while '3 has it's faults(the game seems almost like it was tailor-made to disappoint me, in truth), they are largely unrelated to control.

Your platform that anything that isn't a gamepad is inherently bad is as poor an argument as mine that first-person shooters sucked because you couldn't see behind you was(I was a dumb kid with strong opinions).
It all comes down to how well-considered the usage of the available functionality is. And '3 put good consideration to the available functionality.


Also: Metroid Fusion is dog shit. Runny dog shit.
If it didn't bear the Metroid name I would still be disappointed with it, but less overtly malevolent.

[grinvader]

But where does other m rank on the dogshit scale ?

[Yuber]

My dislike of gimmicks is 100% pure opinion, not something that is correct or incorrect dude; forced gimmicks as a whole just annoy the living shit out of me. Like I said earlier, if different control schemes like motion/touch controls are 100% optional and a "standard" gamepad can be used, I have no problem with it. If motion or touch-based controls are the only way to play a game and it's forced down my throat, I'm not interested. I play games for relaxation, not so I can flail around like a retard trying to control a game. It's never a bad idea to give people options.

My opinion isn't based on how responsive or unresponsive those control schemes are; I simply prefer to play games with a pad. They're not inherently bad control schemes but motion and touch controls just aren't my thing. Xenoblade did an awesome thing by giving us options, and there are a lot of great Wii games that I'd be interested in if motion controls weren't required.

What do you hate so much about Fusion? Sure it's no Super Metroid but it's not as horrible as you make it out to be. Maybe it's like me with FF13; I consider that game to be pure shit in every way other than visually. I'm also not really into Metroid like you seem to be so there may be some big fuckups I didn't notice.

I still haven't done more than test DQ8, but I'm gonna start playing it in earnest once I finish CT. When I get a new game I really want to immerse myself in, I can't have more than 1 other game I'm playing or I find it hard to focus. DQ8 with no guide/FAQ is probably gonna take me a LONG time to finish.

[Gil_Hamilton]

My dislike of gimmicks is 100% pure opinion, not something that is correct or incorrect dude; forced gimmicks as a whole just annoy the living shit out of me.

Your premise that certain input paradigms are inherently gimmicks is 100% wrong.
And opinions CAN be wrong.

Like I said earlier, if different control schemes like motion/touch controls are 100% optional and a "standard" gamepad can be used, I have no problem with it. If motion or touch-based controls are the only way to play a game and it's forced down my throat, I'm not interested.

So you have no problem with less-conventional input mechanisms as long as developers make poor use of them to ensure they can dumb the game down to an overglorified Super Nintendo controller so you don't have to use them?
That's called having a problem with them.

I play games for relaxation, not so I can flail around like a retard trying to control a game.

You do realize that '3 requires motions of a few inches at it's worst, right? Not "flailing around like a retard"?
It's not even a game that's fun if you flail about wildly. The controls assume you are sitting around on a couch and making small motions.

It's never a bad idea to give people options.

It is when the option requires you to compromise how much use you can make of available functionality.

My opinion isn't based on how responsive or unresponsive those control schemes are; I simply prefer to play games with a pad. They're not inherently bad control schemes but motion and touch controls just aren't my thing. Xenoblade did an awesome thing by giving us options, and there are a lot of great Wii games that I'd be interested in if motion controls weren't required.

As I said, options are not appropriate if you want to make any sane use of accelerometer/lightgun functionality, as making them optional will require a significant compromization of the standard and most versatile Wii input device.



The first steps towards a holodeck should not be compromised by "this should always be dumbed down to the point that it can be mapped to an SNES pad with no loss of functionality."

What do you hate so much about Fusion? Sure it's no Super Metroid but it's not as horrible as you make it out to be.

For one, it's not just linear, it's linear in an actively spiteful way. Got a new toy? Wanna go play with it and see what you can find? NOPE! Lockin' all the doors! Get back on the plot rails! You are forcibly and blatantly directed by the game and have no real freedom at any point.
There's actually one point where the game will mock you for figuring out a way to DO WHAT IT TOLD YOU TO, because you jumped off the plot rails in the process of trying to do what it told you to do.
It will also berate you for staying on the plot rails and doing what you're supposed to do instead of what it told you to do.

For two, the first Metroid with a strong focus on plot... reads as if the people involved were all unfamiliar with the franchise and based their entire story on a bullet list of events and features without context or details.
Which is partially explained by it coupling tightly to Metroid 2, a game that Fusion writer Sakamoto was never involved with. But only partially. They're still trying to figure out all the retcons needed to make Fusion work(above and beyond the ones Fusion itself made, though I'm pretty sure Fusion requires at least one retcon to be plot-compatible with ITSELF). And the final boss was little more than a slap in the face to anyone that ever cared about Metroid lore.

Three, the expansion items all became stupid puzzle games. It's not about finding things through exploration, it's about figuring out what convoluted sequence of events is needed to get to the items you can clearly see from the start.

And making ANY boss immune to the limited-ammunition missiles but weak against the infinite ammunition beam is not just bad Metroid, but goes against EVERY video game design decision ever. Which is why I did that fight a dozen times before finally getting frustrated and hitting GameFAQs to find out how many missiles it took, only to find out it doesn't take missiles at all. It is a deeply-ingrained assumption that the limited-ammo weapon is stronger than the infinite-ammo weapon and should thus be reserved for fights that require the power. Like bosses. If one is to challenge it, it must be done so thoughtfully. Not haphazardly.

I'm also not really into Metroid like you seem to be so there may be some big fuckups I didn't notice.

HUGE fuckups. The entire game was just incredibly anti-Metroid.

[Yuber]

We'll have to agree to disagree on motion and touch controls. I wasn't talking about MP3 in particular since I've never played ANY of the Prime games, but more about how motion is implemented as a whole. I could see myself being interested in games like Skyward Sword, DKC Returns and many other games if MCs weren't required. As for compromising, there are a lot of people who prefer using motion in Xenoblade due to being able to input commands more quickly/better multitasking. Again, it's opinion and taste; some people want to stick to "standard" and/or "boring" control schemes and don't want a goddamn holodeck. I wanna be able to relax, have a beer, and play a damn game. You call having options dumbing down innovative control schemes, but I say "Keep it simple stupid", one of my favorite sayings.

If a dev/game is ambitious enough, it could have multiple control schemes/play styles that satisfy everyone. I'm far from the only person who dislikes motion and/or touch controls, and since it's an opinion, it's not correct or incorrect no matter how eloquent and well thought out your arguments are. Different strokes man.

So, any opinions on Ultimate Ghosts n' Goblins? I only recently got into the series by first beating the Genesis(US) port on professional mode as practice, then beating the much harder arcade version a couple times. Hard as hell, but the gameplay is very solid and responsive and if I die, I can only blame my own incompetence.

[grinvader]

there are a lot of people who prefer using motion in Xenoblade due to being able to input commands more quickly/better multitasking.

They must be pretty sad then, since there's no motion commands in xeno.

[Gil_Hamilton]

Again, it's opinion and taste; some people want to stick to "standard" and/or "boring" control schemes and don't want a goddamn holodeck. I wanna be able to relax, have a beer, and play a damn game. You call having options dumbing down innovative control schemes, but I say "Keep it simple stupid", one of my favorite sayings.

Making accelerometer and lightpen input optional necessitates a crippling of any usage the developer will make of it. It simply doesn't map well to a gamepad if you do any meaningful use of it.

Also, you can relax and have a beer with a Wiimote just as well as with a conventional gamepad. It really takes very little motion at all.

Tangentally, I didn't say innovative. That would be vastly overselling the current state of affairs.
I said unconventional.

If a dev/game is ambitious enough, it could have multiple control schemes/play styles that satisfy everyone.

That's easy to say, far harder to do. It doesn't even work well with a joystick(my weapon of choice) VS gamepad, much less with fundamentally different input devices. To the degree that joystick manufacturers don't even pretend to offer a fully-functional device anymore.
Even simple stuff, like gamepad cursor substituting for a lightgun, works pretty poorly. That the gamepad worked better on my Dreamcast says more about the quality of the lightgun I owned than the validity of substituting a gamepad.






On-topic again: playin' Saint's Row 4! Alien bastards can suck my dubstep, because I'm the president of the great United States!

[blackmyst]

Doesn't Prime 3 have forced motion controls? I could be wrong, but I absolutely abhor motion controls and if they're required to play a game, it's a dealbreaker for me. If it does, I suppose I could use Dolphin and map my 360 controller as best I can in order to try and use a "traditional" control scheme, but man I wish that silly motion trend would die already. I would've bought a Wii if every exclusive gave you the option of using a standard pad like Xenoblade. If there's a way to play MP3 in Dolphin with a more tradition scheme, I'd love to play the whole trilogy.

I'm not a fan of gimmicky peripherals(WiiU gamepad, Kinect, Move, DS stylus etc) in general, not just motion controls. If they're 100% optional, fine, but if they're forced on people I'm not buying your system/game. Thankfully my slow computer can at least run DS games at full speed with filters and vsync.

First of all, motion control aiming for shooters, while not quite PC-mouse level, is infinitely superior to using an analogue stick to drunkenly wobble the aiming reticule in the general direction of an enemy, hoping to hit something with the built in autoaim all console shooters have, which is made specifically to negate analogue stick control issues.

Analogue stick aiming is to motion control aiming what d-pad aiming was to analogue aiming around 1998. You're either crazy or just afraid of change if you want to keep using the older method.

And second of all, "gimmicky" control methods as you call them, being standard in new systems (something pretty much only Nintendo does) is the only thing driving innovation forward. Sure some things catch on, some don't! But if it weren't for new things becoming standard features in consoles you'd have never had the d-pad, the analogue stick, shoulder buttons, or rumble in the first place, because optional peripherals don't get games made for them, and never catch on. This bone-headed attitude of "I'm not gonna buy it if they force me to try something new" is exactly the kind of thing that causes such stagnation in the games industry.