Vidya Gaems General

DYRE

Kinda unfortunate that these music games inevitably have to use new music to start up as opposed to existing intellectual property.

But... most music games use existing songs.

glennmagusharvey

Well, I guess the only real data point I have so far is Sequence, which has its own music.

DYRE

But Stepmania, Osu, Frets on Fire, etc. are all based around playing existing songs in them.  They don't include any copyrighted songs with the initial download of the game, but you're still expected to go download songs, most of which are copyrighted, not-originally-made-for-the-game, not-really-legal-to-distribute-but-nobody-cares songs.

And obviously a lot of commercial music games use licensed music.

glennmagusharvey

I don't know about Osu, but Stepmania and Frets on Fire are both freeware releases.

On the other hand, Sequence is a commercial release on multiple platforms including Steam, and from what I can tell, Tuba Croc seems to be aiming for that as well.

RocketDude

@Crimson, a page or two ago: I agree. I just kinda stopped caring about the fighting, wondered what was going to happen next, and I damn well didn't feel too proud at the end. I also did the same ending as you did.

Eelektross

In Lower Norfair. Just dropped down a looooong chute.

Ah well, I can always Space Jump out of...

-doors close-

Guys, I don't like where this is going.

Eelektross

RIDLEEEEEY

Tips:

• When he's ramming his tail against the platform, run under him and use the Charge Beam.


• When he's airborne, use the Space Jump and Missiles. Use Super Missiles only when he turns red.

glennmagusharvey

SMet Ridley battle is frenetic and probably the toughest of all the SMet bosses.

Eelektross

I know.

God, I've died like how many times now?

Schitzo

I would usually always beat Ridley on my first try. but with only 1 or less energy tanks remaining.

I think the boss that gave me the most trouble (as a young-un) was Draygon.

nohaynicklibre

@Glenn



Actually, the creator wants Tuba Croc to be a free game

MadassAlex

Just played the first few bits of Dishonoured (the "u" in there is correct spelling damn you all). 

I can't say I'm particularly impressed, and I wasn't even in on the hype. All I knew was that a lot of gamers were looking forward to it, and my younger brother got it for his birthday, so I decided to give it a whirl. Perhaps it gets better later, but we've been over that point enough times to know that a game's story doesn't have to start quickly, but its gameplay absolutely must. 

 

The setting is somewhere between early 20th century and Early Modern. Really cool. What isn't cool is how much the gameplay potential of that setting seems to have been wasted, especially given the game's genre -- stealth (or so it seems to insist). There are some great examples of first-person stealth games, but they tend to be the exception, and I don't feel the first-person perspective does Dishonoured any favours. Stealth games hinge on the player being able to observe their surroundings effectively, and while there's a support skill for that, the map design suggests it may not be enough. 

 

Apparently, your right-hand equipment slot is always filled with a sword. Excuse me for being predictable, of course, but this looks like it would've been a great opportunity to actually have some interesting swordsmanship going on, but it's essentially the crowbar from Half-Life with a parry. This is another place where a third-person perspective would have given the game more room to work creatively, turning combat from a rote process of parrying an enemy and riposting into something active and interesting. Real close combat is a whirlwind of shifting positions, but like many games, Dishonoured has this way of making close combat exceedingly static. This is a big deal when one of your two active items is always a sword. 

 

The story's no great chops, either. In terms of premise and plot progression, there's really nothing wrong with it at all, but the execution leaves it stale and boring. Perhaps the biggest issue is the characterisation; there's some rote work, going through the motions, but the game never provides the illusion of the characters being actual people. This has never been a strong point of video games in particular, but it's by no means impossible, and games with strong characterisation, or at least the illusion of such, are becoming increasingly common. 

 

I knew full well this game wouldn't live up to the hype, but there's a difference between failing unrealistic expectations and those expectations essentially being lies. Is it decent? Sure. It's fine. But it doesn't really emote to me, and the general gameplay system fails to hold my interest. People apparently compare it to Deus Ex, but I think the more pertinent comparison is Bioshock. That might sound like a positive, but Bioshock worked because of its very specific context, and Dishonoured by no means has the focus, control or genius of Deus Ex at its disposal. 

 

Mind you, this is only the beginning of the game. But the beginning of the game merely passes the test of basic competence rather than justifying a AAA budget and the marketing campaign that's been following it about. From what I've seen, people after an action-stealth game would be better off with Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Metal Gear Solid or Thief. Dishonoured just makes me dispassionate. 

glennmagusharvey

^^ oops, I derped, then.  For some reason I got the feeling it was intended for Steam or something.

Saigyouji

Beat Mega Man Battle Network: A Slow Descent Into Insanity. It started off mildly amusing, but it ended up as some kind of digital self-flagellation, which I beat out of sheer bloodymindedness.

The difficulty is horribly unbalanced, the dungeons range from vaguely tolerable to Power Plant (more on that in a second, since it's the moment my mind snapped completely), the internet (one of the two overworlds) is ridiculously hard to navigate, with no map, to the point where the credits sequence has Mega Man getting lost in it, there's mandatory grinding for random drops, and there's a metric ton of backtracking.

Anyhow, the Power Plant: Approximately halfway through the game, you hit this dungeon. Approximately 75% of the paths in the dungeon are invisible, and in some cases, pass over visible paths. And no, you don't really have a way to tell which path you're on in that case except for running into a just as invisible wall. Secondly, for this dungeon only, you don't heal after battle. In a game where the only healing items are battle-restricted and depend on the luck of the draw. Thirdly, there are trial and error puzzles which involve putting batteries into slots and hoping they light up bulbs to reveal paths (not the invisible ones, sadly). The problem with this is that each battery can only be used up to twice before having to be recharged, and most of the puzzles contain 9 slots and 3 bulbs (with the last couple having 12 slots). The game doesn't tell you if a battery is in the correct slot, short of turning a bulb on, so you have to test every single slot manually. And the dungeon ends with two bosses, back to back. To top all of this off, the entire dungeon is timed. I can honestly say it is one of the most painful things I have ever experienced in gaming.

Well, I guess being able to take out the final boss with the Buster alone is cathartic at least?

Eelektross

You know, upon reflection Super Metroid's ending was the most brilliant thing ever.

It thwarts the sense of loneliness you experience throughout the entire game, then suddenly takes it back. At least, that's the non-spoilery version of that.

Alkthash

The game has been out for what, 20 years? It's okay to spoil stuff that is that old. 

Eelektross

So the entire game is based on the concept of loneliness, right? It's about travelling a big-ass alien world all by yourself, right? Good. Remember this.

Halfway through Tourian you fight a big-ass Metroid. Everything seems right: there's even the Hostile Incoming theme in the corridor before. The thing is that nothing you do seems to be hurting it.

The Metroid sucks you to your last hitpoint, then just when it looks like it's all over it gets away from you. This is 'cos this Metroid is the same Metroid that "imprinted" on you waaaaaay back in Return of Samus.

Now, as many of you may have realized, some Metroid bosses are like Zelda bosses. You have to figure out where, when, and how to hit them. So it's pretty easy to assume that it is possible to damage the big-ass Metroid: you're just doing it wrong. This is the first sign that the game isn't afraid to thwart your expectations.

Much later, when you're done with the (surprisingly easy) Mother Brain first phase, she collapses. You think it's all over, but what's this? She's growing a goddamned body? This starts the second phase. Take note: more thwarting of expectations.

When you've dealt enough damage to her, Mother Brain decks you with a giant-ass Rainbow Beam. Just when it looks like it's all over (because Mother Brain certainly didn't imprint on you or anything), the Metroid returns and saves you from Mother Brain.

I'd like to highlight that last bit. Remember way back, when I said that the game was all about a sense of loneliness? The ending says fuck that shit. It completely destroys the message that's been hammered in your skull for the entirety of the game and substitutes a new and better one: Samus is not alone anymore. And that's what makes the Metroid's death sequence so painful. It isn't just because it saved your ass, it's because it did what no-one else did for Samus: it was there for her.

Noimporta

Beat Mega Man Battle Network

People hate on 4 a lot, but the first one is definitely the worst of the bunch.

Well, I guess being able to take out the final boss with the Buster alone is cathartic at least?

My memory is a bit fuzzy, but didn't the Hub patch only raise your charged buster to 96? Or was it Bass' aura the only one that got to 100?

Saigyouji

The Life Aura goes down momentarily on its own when the LifeVirus is about to attack. Presumably to account for the possibility of you having no 100+ damage chips for some unfathomable reason.

Noimporta

Right.

ClockworkUniverse

People hate on 4 a lot, but the first one is definitely the worst of the bunch.

I got into the series with 2, and I have to ask: is 1 seriously worse than Network Transmission?

ClockworkUniverse

So, I decided to get back to Ultima IV, but I can't find my notes. Might keep notes in the form of a liveblog/journal from here on.

Noimporta

is 1 seriously worse than Network Transmission?

Not owning a gamecube or reliable means of emulation, I can't answer that.

ClockworkUniverse

Oh, okay.

Basically, the problem with Network Transmission is that it tries to combine the gameplay of the classic Megaman games with the RPG system of Battle Network, and the result is disastrous.

Crimson

1 is nowhere near as bad as 4. 1's biggest problem was that it was really bare bones and little too easy. 4 is just  a complete trainwreck.

3 is easily the best of the lot though.

ClockworkUniverse

I didn't actually play 4 either. I just played 2 and 3. They were both really good.

DYRE

Network Transmission was a disaster, but comparing it to the main Battle Network games seems a little silly, since it's completely different.

ClockworkUniverse

Yes, but it is technically a Battle Network game, albeit a spinoff.

Forzare

So I finally played Episode 4 of The Walking Dead.

Just, oh my god.  That game.

There's pretty much no way I'm not going to cry in episode 5.

Choices:

Spoiler:

Killed the boy myself, talked Vernon down peacefully, took Clem, left Ben to die, showed my bite.  Kenny, Omid, and Christa all decided to stand by me at the end.

ClockworkUniverse

Spoiler:

Had Kenny kill the boy, took Clem, saved Ben, showed bite. Final group: Ben, Omid, Christa. Kenny wouldn't help me because I didn't help him murder a guy that one time.