What Are You Playing?

I never actually beat Super Mario Bros. 3 as a kid, so I've been working through that. I've also started dipping into the Shining series to get my Golden Sun fix, and to appreciate what the latter actually did to iterate on the former.

As a jaded old fart who doesn't play single player games anymore (I play some Rainbow Six Siege online from time to time, and that's it), is there anything mindblowing that I should look out for (If I had a console I'd play Bloodborne or Zelda, but that's it)?
Not sure if they're as mindblowing to others as they are to me, but some of the more interesting single player experiences I've had recently include:

Snakeybus (Snake + Crazy Taxi):

SEUM: Speedrunners from Hell (Quake + Super Meat Boy):
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
I am never playing Death Stranding :stop:

Not a unique sentiment for the game that figuratively and literally carries Hideo Kojima's baggage. Plus, it's neither fish nor fowl in the environment of massive AAA monsters and cute little indie pets. Still, I had a fine time with it while it lasted and can't say I've played another game like it the past few years, if ever. If an RE2 remake was otherwise the best game you played from 2019, as it was for me, you might owe it to yourself to look for something better out there... out in the hauntingly beautiful wilderness of a strangely Icelandic post-supernatural-apocalypse America, and you might as well deliver some lost packages while you're at it. Just... one... more... :magni:

As a jaded old fart who doesn't play single player games anymore (I play some Rainbow Six Siege online from time to time, and that's it), is there anything mindblowing that I should look out for (If I had a console I'd play Bloodborne or Zelda, but that's it)?

Hmmm, those would be the ones to play, I'd also recommend The Last Guardian if you had a PS4 and liked SotC (buy a PS4? =). For PC though, potentially mindblowing... Shovel Knight, Hollow Knight, Red Dead 2, Resident Evil 2, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night... I like these but don't know how much they would necessarily blow your mind. If you can't play Bloodborne, Dark Souls 3 is sort of the more general version based on the same engine (not the same experience, unfortunately), and if you wanted to approximate or substitute for the new Zelda, maybe Red Dead 2 or Witcher 3 for the open world and the first new Tomb Raider game for the climbing and environmental mechanics, etc.:shrug: Oh, and it wasn't my cup of tea, but Sekiro certainly fit the bill for many looking for a transcendent experience. I mean, how far back can we go? Alien: Isolation and Resident Evil 7 (short too) could be winners for you, and speaking of sci-fi horror, the aforementioned Death Stranding comes out for PC in July. It might actually be the closest to Zelda in terms of world exploration gameplay, and it's definitely going to try the hardest to blow your mind. =)


I should wax poetic a bit on the middle of this video, because the moment when Mads plucks that cigarette out of thin air and just savors a drag on it before throwing it away and similarly conjuring a gun out of hellfire did blow me away. More moments like these in games, please.
 
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I finished Tenchu: Stealth Assassins earlier this week. Wow. I can't believe I almost didn't play this game. It was awesome! I didn't really enjoy the supernatural turn it took halfway through, but I loved the gameplay. I can't wait to go back and play through it with Ayame once I'm all caught up with my list in about ten or twenty years, haha.

Next up is Spyro the Dragon!
It’s one of PlayStations best games, I even loved the sequel on PS.
 

Rhombaad

Video Game Time Traveler
I finished Spyro the Dragon last night. It was a fun little 3D platformer, which some beautiful, colorful graphics and pretty decent voice acting for the time (I love that Clancy Brown did voices for the Spyro and Crash Bandicoot games). The gameplay was simple, but surprisingly addictive. I'm looking forward to playing its two sequels.

Next up is one I'm really, really looking forward to: Fallout 2. :badbone:
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Next up is one I'm really, really looking forward to: Fallout 2. :badbone:

Are you sure you're ready for the greatest computer game ever made? I'm not worried about over-hyping it, for one cannot take the measure of Fallout 2, it takes the measure of you. I hope you're worthy, Chosen One. :daiba:


Final Fantasy VII - Now at Cosmo Canyon, where I was able to immediately switch Red's name upon learning his real one, which was pretty cool and the kind of thing I might do on subsequent playthroughs (or rename if that's an option, like in Chrono Trigger, e.g. Janus, Glenn, etc =). I don't recall that in the original so maybe it was an update to the PC version or maybe the Reunion mod (?). Speaking of which, I decided to stretch to a widescreen aspect ratio to fill things out. I was concerned everything would look squished, but that's hardly noticeable (actually makes the advanced character models more the proportions of the originals =) and the dividends are nice with those HD backdrops filling out the screen. Feels like a proper modern remaster now.

Final Fantasy VII Remaster - Having done just about everything in this game (I think I could still max out Warding materia or something), I'm probably done with it finally. I'm now doing simulator runs for fun, seeing how much I can optimize my party to beat down the Top Secrets, etc. Thinking of maybe editing a save to play as Red XIII, but it's so limited as to hardly be worth it (maybe on PC with a better mod, but part 2 will hopefully be out before I'd even consider buying and playing this again). Plus, I'd actually like them to do a DLC update with Red and an upgraded simulator that lets you program your own matches or runs (you versus multiple Bahamuts and Behemoths =). Fuck, I'm even considering picking up FF15 if the combat is similar enough. Anyway, I have to reckon with the fact that, despite all my reservations and complaints throughout, if this isn't my game of the year so far I'm probably putting my finger on the scale. It's at the very least a way stronger contender than I would have thought or it had any business being. I need to get back to my Half-Life Alyx and VR, or maybe Death Stranding hard mode... :carcus:

Oh, but before I take my leave of the FF7 Remake, I did map out all the upcoming locations that could be parts of Chapters in future Remake games:
  1. Kalm
  2. Nibelheim Flashback
  3. Chocobo Farm
  4. Mythril Mine
  5. Junon Village
  6. Junon
  7. Cargo Ship
  8. Costa del Sol
  9. Mount Corel
  10. North Corel
  11. Gold Saucer
  12. Corel Prison
  13. Chocobo Race
  14. Gongaga
  15. Cosmo Canyon
  16. Cave of the Gi
  17. Nibelheim
  18. Rocket Town
  19. Wutai
  20. The Keystone
  21. Date
  22. Temple of the Ancients
  23. Bone Village
  24. Sleeping Forest
  25. Corel Valley
  26. Forgotten Capital
  27. Corel Valley Cave
  28. Icicle Inn
  29. Snowboarding
  30. The Great Glacier
  31. Gaea’s Cliff
  32. Whirlwind Maze
  33. Junon Escape
  34. Mideel
  35. Mount Corel Reactor
  36. Fort Condor
  37. Mideel Rescue
  38. Underwater Reactor
  39. Submarine Battle
  40. Rocket Town Return
  41. Cosmo Canyon Return
  42. Forgotten City
  43. Diamond Weapon Attack
  44. Midgar Return
  45. Northern Crater
  46. Final Battle
So... it's at least conceivable they could do it in two more parts, which I previously didn't think possible; that is, if they combine more of these into single Chapters than they split up into multiple ones. Given their propensity for addition though, at least four parts is the safer bet, but three huge, jam-packed games would obviously be preferable if possible.
 
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Rhombaad

Video Game Time Traveler
Are you sure you're ready for the greatest computer game ever made? I'm not worried about over-hyping it, for one cannot take the measure of Fallout 2, it takes the measure of you. I hope you're worthy, Chosen One. :daiba:

It’s...amazing, so far. I’ve been up past midnight playing it several days this week. It’s so goddamn good.
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Oh, but before I take my leave of the FF7 Remake, I did map out all the upcoming locations that could be parts of Chapters in future Remake games:
  1. Kalm
  2. Nibelheim Flashback
  3. Chocobo Farm
  4. Mythril Mine
  5. Junon Village
  6. Junon
  7. Cargo Ship
  8. Costa del Sol
  9. Mount Corel
  10. North Corel
  11. Gold Saucer
  12. Corel Prison
  13. Chocobo Race
  14. Gongaga
  15. Cosmo Canyon
  16. Cave of the Gi
  17. Nibelheim
  18. Rocket Town
  19. Wutai
  20. The Keystone
  21. Date
  22. Temple of the Ancients
  23. Bone Village
  24. Sleeping Forest
  25. Corel Valley
  26. Forgotten Capital
  27. Corel Valley Cave
  28. Icicle Inn
  29. Snowboarding
  30. The Great Glacier
  31. Gaea’s Cliff
  32. Whirlwind Maze
  33. Junon Escape
  34. Mideel
  35. Mount Corel Reactor
  36. Fort Condor
  37. Mideel Rescue
  38. Underwater Reactor
  39. Submarine Battle
  40. Rocket Town Return
  41. Cosmo Canyon Return
  42. Forgotten City
  43. Diamond Weapon Attack
  44. Midgar Return
  45. Northern Crater
  46. Final Battle
So... it's at least conceivable they could do it in two more parts, which I previously didn't think possible; that is, if they combine more of these into single Chapters than they split up into multiple ones. Given their propensity for addition though, at least four parts is the safer bet, but three huge, jam-packed games would obviously be preferable if possible.

Given their importance to the story, sequences like Nibelheim or Temple of the Ancients absolutely warrant more than just 1 chapter each, given how long we spent in oh ... let's just say Wall Market, for example. I would expect Square to cut about half of these sequences so they can streamline the locations into something more manageable. I think they'll probably be making these for another 10 years or so, releasing something new every 2-3 years. And I guess we'll see if the market can sustain that insane model.

It’s...amazing, so far. I’ve been up past midnight playing it several days this week. It’s so goddamn good.
Dude if youre gonna check in on a game like Fallout 2, you gotta give us a bit more than a sentence :daiba:
 

Rhombaad

Video Game Time Traveler
Dude if youre gonna check in on a game like Fallout 2, you gotta give us a bit more than a sentence :daiba:

Sorry, I have a tough time being verbose. Plus, I was in a hurry to play it for a couple of hours this morning before my wife got up.

The pros:

1. No constrictive time limit this time around. Even though it was actually plenty of time, I still felt rushed during the first part of the original Fallout. This time I feel like I have a lot more time to explore and feel out the world.

2. The world is so much larger, and it feels like there’s a lot more to do. I’m only at Vault City, and I already feel like I’ve done more than I did during all of the original Fallout.

3. The story is more interesting and complex, or so I’ve heard. Like I said, I’m not very far in, but the execution I ran into in the desert has me VERY intrigued.

The cons...er, con: the graphics, the assets and a lot of the text from observations is reused. It’s not a big deal, and it’s not affecting my enjoyment of the game, but it’s still noticeable. That being said, I enjoyed the graphics from Fallout, so I’m enjoying the graphics from Fallout 2.

How’s that, hehe? :void:
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Glad to hear you're loving Fallout 2, Rhombaad, and the dated components aren't stifling the immersion (didn't think it would be a problem for you =).

Given their importance to the story, sequences like Nibelheim or Temple of the Ancients absolutely warrant more than just 1 chapter each, given how long we spent in oh ... let's just say Wall Market, for example. I would expect Square to cut about half of these sequences so they can streamline the locations into something more manageable.

One of my fears is they'll not so judiciously cut half the game after they expanded the first 10% of it into forty hours. I could see them reasonably streamlining or interpolating certain segments, especially redundancies in the Corel/Gold Saucer area, but I'm likewise afraid they may expand everything like they did Midgar, or greatly add to some parts to cut others at the expense of the story as a whole. There's no telling how that translates to Chapters because the sizes and content were all over the place, but in general they errored on the side of expansion. So, we'll see if that's still the MO outside of Midgar where it's already big enough a task translating that as is into this format.

I think they'll probably be making these for another 10 years or so, releasing something new every 2-3 years. And I guess we'll see if the market can sustain that insane model.

Yeah, it's still mind boggling. The only way I can wrap my head around it without a sort of repulsion is thinking of it as its own sub-series. Anyway, now that I'm finally free to move past some rehash from the 90s...


Mortal Kombat 11 - Oh well, I guess I'm just a 90s kinda guy, and this game definitely scratches that itch (it even includes Spawn, The Terminator, and Robocop =)! So, after fooling around with the 2011 edition of Mortal Kombat and MKX for fun this week, I had enough that I decided to give the latest one a try... and it paid off because I might like it the best since MKII! MKX was a little too much like MK3/UMK3 for my tastes, a lot of emphasis on running and combos, whereas 11, while still capable of that, rewards a more deliberate and methodical approach that harkins back to MKII for me, which is my all-time favorite.

More than that though, this is the sort of presentation I've always wanted out of these modern Mortal Kombats that was always a little underwhelming in that regard. The lighting and animation was never quite there, particularly where finishers were concerned, after the transition to 3D engines to have the same impact as the photo-based sprites of the first three games. It wasn't gory or horrifying, it wasn't campy or fun, it just looked sort of lame like some N64 polygons were flying apart. Even the hyperviolent X-Ray moves in the previous two games didn't quite go over with me, but here they and Fatalities do with true cinematic art horror flair. Everything else looks similarly impressive, you can tell the faces are performance captured actors and they even brought back Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa to reprise the role of Shang Tsung with smug perfection.

So, everything would be perfect, best looking and maybe best playing, at least to me, MK ever, but there's one catch... they didn't include my main! He's fallen on hard times anyway since MK4 when he went from the super cool secret ninja to jobber joke; of course, I'm referring to Reptile. This was actually the last thing holding me back from taking the plunge, I already had MKX with Reptile, I could just stick with that, but I wanted to try this one and that led me to look for alternatives, which showed me another strength of this game: customization.

Unlike previous entries where you had little control of your fighter beyond their moves and a few costumes, in this one you have hundreds of customizable options, including certain abilities and movesets you can assign as presets to characters. You can literally sub certain individual moves in and out. This was the key so I could both broaden my horizons while slavishly trying to recreate my old favorite character. =) I started with Scorpion, since he has an alternate green ninja suit, each character literally has like 70 different colored customs, you get from, maybe killing(!?), Reptile in the Krypt (basically a third person treasure dungeon crawl =). This is as close to an official Reptile skin in the game as you're going to get. Unfortunately, while it looks cool, outside of Reptile's appearance in MK1 Scorpion doesn't play like him at all (even Sub-Zero at least shares the slide move). No slide, no acid, no energy ball, and even with customization Scorpion's moves are so distinctively his own there was really no point unless I wanted to play as Scorpion, which I don't.

So, I tried another alternative without much hope... and it turned out to be a surprisingly great match! Noob Saibot has a customizable spirit ball that's kind of a compromise between Reptile's energy ball and spit attack, he has a slide attack, he has a charge attack, he even has moves like the backhand from UMK3/MK 2011 and the claw attacks from MKX! You can basically play him like Reptile with some other cool moves on top like a teleport. I was even able to customize him to look like a modern interpretation of Reptile, more consistent with the game than the designated Reptile skin the game gives Scorpion (there's a multiple different combinations that work too, even maskless). Saibot is also a sinister villain that started as a secret ninja and has interesting lore in his own right, meshing better thematically. I even threw in some headcannon lore that Saibot is possessing Reptile's body or working with Reptile's Revenant form (that's a thing in these games =), so everything fits quite nicely (maybe better than if they'd really included Reptile but made him like a dumbass again). If they continue adding characters in future DLCs and Reptile is among them, which I'm not counting on, then I will essentially have two mains for the game.

Anyway, having fun with it, I enjoy the different modes of play and building my character gives me a reason to play them (I know some people hate the grind of this, but it's not essential to enjoy the game, I just have nothing better to do =). I've played like 17 hours and haven't even touched story mode yet, just the various ladders and the Krypt. Hopefully that enjoyment... kontinues. :carcus:

I mean, how could it not with cheese like this still ahead of me:


 
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Walter

Administrator
Staff member
There's no telling how that translates to Chapters because the sizes and content were all over the place, but in general they errored on the side of expansion. So, we'll see if that's still the MO outside of Midgar where it's already big enough a task translating that as is into this format.

Casting aside my own doubt that they could pull off a decent FF7 remake to begin with (they did a good job with this, my own misgivings notwithstanding), I think they've fucked themselves by setting such precedent with Midgar. I just don't see how the perfectly blended story-location of Midgar naturally translates to the less focused globe-trotting stops along the path of the rest of the story.

I can envision Cosmo Canyon as like, a medium-sized town in Skyrim. But they're gonna blow that out of the water right? Because of what they did with Midgar. Likewise with Wutai, in my head it's maybe 3-5 prerendered CG buildings. But they've established it as a force to reckon with a megalopolis the size of Midgar. So it's gonna be H U G E!

In the end, I just don't have faith that they thought the structure of this thing all the way through. Otherwise they could have tipped their hat at some of those things. Instead what we have is Aerith saying "freedom." I think they capitulated to demand from fans, made this thing, and realized that idea by investing a lot of time making the Midgar section make sense. And it is mostly coherent as a single game, but that's because it's a scenario and a location that lends itself to a package. The rest ... just doesn't.

It would be like a company saying they were going to adapt Berserk, starting with a feature-length Black Swordsman arc animation. The first step in that campaign I can envision pretty clearly. BS would fit pretty neatly in a tight 90 minutes or so. But what's the next step? How would they package the Golden Age, and everything that happens afterward in a campaign that makes sense across several years?
 

Oburi

All praise Grail
I almost bought the new MK the other day (I bought NHL 20 instead because the lack of hockey right now proved to be an even bigger itch in need of scratching) but I still plan on getting it at some point. Glad that you seem to be really enjoying it. I haven't played many of the recent titles but I remember MK Deadly Alliance being impressive with it's story mode and the crypt unlockables. I've played a few of the games since then but it seemed to be more of the same without every really being as fun as some other fighting games that it had to compete with (at parties with lots of people Soul Caliber was always the favorite since basically any novice could pick up the controller and button mash and still pull off some new move that nobody had seen before). I miss Mortal Kombat though and the videos did look good.
 
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Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
I actually bought MK11 on release but haven't been able to really stick to it... I don't know why but learning the moves and tactics felt like such a chore. I should give it another shot.
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
I think they've fucked themselves by setting such precedent with Midgar. I just don't see how the perfectly blended story-location of Midgar naturally translates to the less focused globe-trotting stops along the path of the rest of the story.

I can envision Cosmo Canyon as like, a medium-sized town in Skyrim. But they're gonna blow that out of the water right? Because of what they did with Midgar. Likewise with Wutai, in my head it's maybe 3-5 prerendered CG buildings. But they've established it as a force to reckon with a megalopolis the size of Midgar. So it's gonna be H U G E!

They have one get out of jail free card here by just making it clear Midgar is the biggest city in the World (despite each sector's slums purportedly only containing like 50,000 people; is the population even near a million counting topsiders? =), and making everything else more true to its original counterpart. Cosmo Canyon can just be a town like you said, basically the size of one of the Midgar slums, same with Rocket Town, Wutai isn't a technologically advanced metropolis like Midgar, and we really only need to see a portion of it if they wish (doubtful now given the war subplot). To me that's a reasonable path, Midgar IS huge, and the world is collectively huge too, but not every area in it has to be, nor should be, comparable to Midgar. Basically, Midgar was the "world" in the first game and the sectors were the towns, now that can be the case with the actual world and all the towns in it. I'm not saying they will do this, I'm not saying they should, but it's a viable option as opposed to trying to match what they did with Midgar, which could be prohibitively impractical.

It would be like a company saying they were going to adapt Berserk, starting with a feature-length Black Swordsman arc animation. The first step in that campaign I can envision pretty clearly. BS would fit pretty neatly in a tight 90 minutes or so. But what's the next step? How would they package the Golden Age, and everything that happens afterward in a campaign that makes sense across several years?

Ironically, the real life answer is forgo that easily adaptable, tightly wrapped standalone story that also sets everything up and do an adaptation of the big, complicated flashback predicated on it, and which inevitably connects back with that foundational story you never told. Then do it AGAIN! Square should have made multiple games starting with Cloud's Nibelheim flashback and ending at the Forgotten Capital, only to abandon the project and start over with that game again. Tim & Eric: "Great job!"

I've played a few of the games since then but it seemed to be more of the same without every really being as fun as some other fighting games that it had to complete with (at parties with lots of people Soul Caliber was always the favorite since basically any novice could pick up the controller and button mash and still pull off some new move that nobody had seen before).
I actually bought MK11 on release but haven't been able to really stick to it... I don't know why but learning the moves and tactics felt like such a chore. I should give it another shot.

It's definitely less fighting game nerdy and more free form than MKX, though you can still go down that road if you wish (special canceling and zoning tutorial, wee), it's just not mandatory, so I would forgo the learning and just fuck around with a character you like in the towers until you get comfortable. I do have the advantage of pretty singular focus so I haven't had to learn a lot of moves because I've basically only played as two characters outside of Story Mode.
 
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Just finished Resident Evil HD Remaster. After completing RE3 remake I decided to go back and finally put this one to rest after starting and stopping the game probably at least 3 times over the course of my gaming life. I think it was a combination of the older game design and controls that were always holding someone like me back whose first RE game was 4. Going back to it now , however, I didn't find it anywhere near as confusing or frustrating as young me did. I guess I really have matured over the years! Being a "fan" of the series (how can I even call myself that having never completed 1 and 2) it was great to finally see and experience where the later games I enjoyed came from.

As the games progressed, it seems we were treated to increasing larger mutated flesh and goop beasts as the bosses. I liked how this game had giant snakes/spiders/sharks as bosses! I know that giant zombie animals have been in other early RE games as well, but it would be cool if they could return to some more grounded enemies/bosses in later games , maybe have them mutate or become more grotesque as a phase 2. Would be a nice call back.

Having conquered an older , tank control horror game I was feeling confident and have just started another game I've always been meaning to play...Silent Hill 2. I'm only an hour or 2 in but so far I'm LOVING the atmosphere and vibes. The sound design is fantastic and I'm just loving turning off the lights and melting into this freaky creepy game. I feel like I don't know much about the game going in...but at the same time sort of feel like I do? To anyone whose played the game does knowing something like The main character killed his wife (I think?) or that everything in Silent Hill is a reflection of his mental state really "spoil" much? Is it supposed to come off as a big twist or is it obvious? These are just generally things that have been impossible to avoid about the game over the years....I'm still looking forward to how the game unravels and so far just been loving the atmosphere like I said.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
As the games progressed, it seems we were treated to increasing larger mutated flesh and goop beasts as the bosses. I liked how this game had giant snakes/spiders/sharks as bosses! I know that giant zombie animals have been in other early RE games as well, but it would be cool if they could return to some more grounded enemies/bosses in later games , maybe have them mutate or become more grotesque as a phase 2. Would be a nice call back.

Yeah the "black goo" design is pure laziness, Griff and I were griping about it some weeks ago. RE2 (the original) struck a good middle ground on that front, with the G-Virus provoking constant mutations with various phases. Sadly that was basically the height of it.

To anyone whose played the game does knowing something like The main character killed his wife (I think?) or that everything in Silent Hill is a reflection of his mental state really "spoil" much? Is it supposed to come off as a big twist or is it obvious? These are just generally things that have been impossible to avoid about the game over the years....I'm still looking forward to how the game unravels and so far just been loving the atmosphere like I said.

Well yeah, I think it does spoil the experience compared to going in without that information. You can still enjoy it though.

FF7 Remake
I just wanted to say when that true Jenova music hits in phase 3, holy shit, it’s lit! “Let’s Go!”
The music might be the best part of the game. Can't lie, I really love FF7's soundtrack, it's a masterpiece, and they did a good job remixing it.
 
The music might be the best part of the game. Can't lie, I really love FF7's soundtrack, it's a masterpiece, and they did a good job remixing it.

Maybe I did not listen to the correct version. But the bike chase music that I listened to sounds so far off compared to the original. A few others too. Like chosen by the planet. But those are the most glaring. Others sounded alright.
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
So, I started story mode in MK11, but partway through figured I should play 9's and 10's first since they're continually referenced and I already have them, just never got around to the story modes...

Mortal Kombat (2011) - Pretty cool plot that reboots and retells the stories of the first three games in a single, mostly congruous, narrative. Has some pretty elegant revisions to incorporate more characters and events into the earlier stories for revelations that were originally tacked on later, especially Quan Chi, the Sub-Zeros, and various ninjas that have an actual role now. It even has some unexpected, though not necessarily thoughtful, twists; like Raiden accidentally killing Liu Kang before the ultimate battle with Shao Khan and then winning on some Elder God technicality... Like, what the hell? Anyway, the biggest twist is this isn't a hard reboot, but kind of a soft Star Trek 9 time thing where Raiden has sent himself a vision of the future and this sends him down a dark path that alters the timeline. Fortunately, it all pays off later, but it's a long road through...

Mortal Kombat X - This narrative jumps all around in time between 5 and 25 years after the events of 9, so the old characters become, well, old, and there's a next generation plot with four descendants of the previous cast. This one is probably the most serious, tight and focused story of the bunch, which doesn't say much given my previous description. In a nutshell, Shinnok is trying to take over Earthrealm and only the Cages can stop him because that dumb green glow when Johnny Cage does his super kick is some kind of special god-fighting magic, so he and his daughter Cassie stop him, respectively. Making the Cage's the focus over, say, Liu Kang, who is basically just an undead thug for Shinnok in this, doesn't appeal to me, but Johnny Cage is much less annoying in this one.

Mortal Kombat 11 - Easily the wackiest, most fun, and my favorite of the new stories, especially when they go at it Back to the Future Part II-style in Aftermath. I will dock points for the fact the base game's ending goes out on a cheesy note that gets retconned immediately at the start of Aftermath (not a great plan =). Otherwise, Kronika is fine as a villain, but top to bottom the best thing is the payoffs with old and young versions of characters, which easily have the most personality in this game, and the longterm payoffs dating back to the original. We get Liu Kang back as the main character of the base campaign, and he basically goes Super Saiyan God by the end, which is cool for longtime fans. The real star though is Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa's Shang Tsung in Aftermath, and I was tickled by not only the fact that he's so involved in the expansion, but arguably the main character overall. Fitting ends for him and Liu Kang as well, I was particularly thrilled with Shang Tsung's. It's nice they actually let you play as bad guys in the latter chapters of Aftermath, something I'd been wanting to do since the 2011 game. Anyway, I'm 90 hours into 11 alone and really just learning Shang Tsung, so no sign of slowing down.
 
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Been playing the Spyro Reignited Trilogy this week. Loved the originals as a kid. I've beaten the first 120% and the second 100%, started the third game yesterday.
 
Finished Silent Hill 2. This game very quickly shot up the charts as possibly one of my favourite games.

As much as I already talked about the atmosphere of the game, this only grew as the game went on. By the time you reach the history society/prison and you've jumped down more holes than I can remember, I was creeping my way around every corner totally psyching myself out. The prison especially had some super freaky sound design with some creepy chanting/mumbling voice that was apparently not connected to anything and a genuine scary as hell jump scare from a sound while leaving a bathroom. The music as a whole, both the relaxing peaceful songs and the freaky as hell ominous industrial stuff were so moody and awesome. Even knowing parts of the relationship between Mary and James going into the game, it was still an emotional climax and I teared but while Mary's letter was being read at the very end.

As a horror fan, I'm so happy to finally have played it and will be starting Silent Hill 3 soon.
 
Finished Silent Hill 2. This game very quickly shot up the charts as possibly one of my favourite games.

As much as I already talked about the atmosphere of the game, this only grew as the game went on. By the time you reach the history society/prison and you've jumped down more holes than I can remember, I was creeping my way around every corner totally psyching myself out. The prison especially had some super freaky sound design with some creepy chanting/mumbling voice that was apparently not connected to anything and a genuine scary as hell jump scare from a sound while leaving a bathroom. The music as a whole, both the relaxing peaceful songs and the freaky as hell ominous industrial stuff were so moody and awesome. Even knowing parts of the relationship between Mary and James going into the game, it was still an emotional climax and I teared but while Mary's letter was being read at the very end.

Glad you enjoyed it. The only thing I remember not liking about it were some of the long awkward pauses when some characters spoke. Sort of a product of the time I suppose.

I agree the music sets it apart in some ways from scary games around that time. Instead of it being majorly spooky. It has a decent amount of rock type melancholy songs you might find in something like an anime during that time.

With any luck we might get a new silent hill game revealed this week at the PS5 event. Hopefully it’s similar to the games you played. If it even happens.
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Still playing MK11, maining Shang Tsung now. Also played through MK1 today for fun and halfway through II before I quit. I'm ready for The Last of Us Part II.
 
hell yea im in the process of getting 2 berserk statues atm but im trying to get back into destiny and im ready for the last of us part 2 and ghost of tsushima:)
 
I've finished Nioh 2 two days ago, I got a great time just like on the first one. I'm looking forward to the first dlc in July.
I must get back to Final Fantasy VII Remake... I've only reached chapter 8.
Just started playing Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive edition on Switch but I also want to do again Silent Hill 3, it's been years since I've last played it.
 
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