What Are You Playing?

Playing the new Oddworld: Soulstorm. Picks up right where Exodus left off and it’s great. Missed this series so much.
Assuming you have gotten further in, how's it going? I also loved the old Oddworld games because of how unique they were. My personal favourite was Strangers Wrath.
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Sorry, it's my fault. I tweaked some settings between user categories and must have put in that limit for standard users by mistake, it's now much longer!

Well, I'm going to punish you by calling you a rude name, but edited into one of my old posts so you'll have to figure out which to see! Eh, you could probably look that up in admin controls... So I'll edit every post I can!

"We've officially removed the editing feature. You can thank Griff."

Count me IN!

I do wonder how "haunted" they'll make the castle, clearly it looks like they're playing on old fashioned werewolves, vampirism and cultists of course (is this essentially RE: Bloodborne, could Lovecraftian horrors be far behind? =), but most importantly for ghosts is how they explain them with some pseudo-scientific bullshit later on. "It was a virus that dissolves one's cells into a gaseous vapor, driving them mad!" I mean, there's already shit this stupid present in Resident Evil, people essentially becoming liquid, etc. Maybe aerosol ghosts would work best, and Umbrella could put them in spray cans for weaponization. =)

VIII seems to be a direct sequel to VII so it might be best to get through it first, yeah. At the same time, the storyline is as ridiculous as it's ever been, so maybe you don't need to care. :ganishka:

Yeah, I don't think it matters much, 7's plot was effective at the beginning for NOT being overly complicated, and the way it starts, it might as well be a sequel to a previous game you didn't play anyway, so 8 will seem all the same. RE7 was a great pivot for the series, and it's still worth playing for that experience, but now it's almost 5 years old and part of the relevancy of these games, and what's been consistently impressive about Resident Evil since at least 4 or CV, has been the visual impact, which unfortunately lessens over time of course. What I mean is one would probably get something closer to the "RE7 at launch" experience by playing this one than by playing RE7 now. Plus, it just seems more ambitious, like they already put a different spin on the classic RE house of horrors, now its time to do the same for RE4.

I do have one reservation though, the director of RE7 was also the director of the excellent RE: Revelations, whereas RE7's writer is directing this one. Not saying it's necessarily a bad thing, it's just a known good commodity exchanged for an unknown one in this regard. Hopefully his vision will serve this game as well as his pen served the last.
 
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Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
I do wonder how "haunted" they'll make the castle, clearly it looks like they're playing on old fashioned werewolves, vampirism and cultists of course (is this essentially RE: Bloodborne, could Lovecraftian horrors be far behind? =), but most importantly for ghosts is how they explain them with some pseudo-scientific bullshit later on. "It was a virus that dissolves one's cells into a gaseous vapor, driving them mad!" I mean, there's already shit this stupid present in Resident Evil, people essentially becoming liquid, etc. Maybe aerosol ghosts would work best, and Umbrella could put them in spray cans for weaponization. =)

What's sure is that whatever bullshit any one of us can come up with on the spot is cooler than what they've actually put in the game.

RE7's writer is directing this one.

Uh oh.
 

Oburi

All praise Grail
Assuming you have gotten further in, how's it going? I also loved the old Oddworld games because of how unique they were. My personal favourite was Strangers Wrath.
Actually I haven’t since I’m playing it at my buddies house on his PS5. One of those games we both want to see so we only play when we get together and unfortunately he’son vacation for 2 weeks. So that sucks. But the few hours I put in were great. Just like the first two. Strangers Wrath is sorta the odd one in that series.
 

Rhombaad

Video Game Time Traveler
Planescape: Torment: Really wish I’d played this on vacation. Having to wait until after work or the weekend to get just a couple of hours in at a time was a killer. This is one of the best CRPGs I’ve played yet, right up there with Fallout 2. The sad fact is, I probably wouldn’t have heard of it, much less played it, if I hadn’t embarked on this crazy mission of mine. Definitely one I’ll revisit some day. It’s too bad a direct sequel or a new game set in the same campaign setting was never made. I’m looking forward to playing the spiritual sequel one day, though (in about a decade...).
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
What's sure is that whatever bullshit any one of us can come up with on the spot is cooler than what they've actually put in the game.



Uh oh.

That's why I'm not overly concerning myself with the details of the plot in any case. Just send in the crones. =)

Planescape: Torment: Really wish I’d played this on vacation. Having to wait until after work or the weekend to get just a couple of hours in at a time was a killer. This is one of the best CRPGs I’ve played yet, right up there with Fallout 2. The sad fact is, I probably wouldn’t have heard of it, much less played it, if I hadn’t embarked on this crazy mission of mine. Definitely one I’ll revisit some day.

Yeah, this one was big back in the day; lots of best game ever plaudits. I've never been able to feel that way about it though. It probably doesn't help that the last time I played it was on my phone.

It’s too bad a direct sequel or a new game set in the same campaign setting was never made. I’m looking forward to playing the spiritual sequel one day, though (in about a decade...).

There's always the ye olde spiritual successor.

 
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Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
I have not played the RE Village demo yet. Based on what others have said I think that I’ll stay away from it due to spoilers. This video sold me on the game without the demo:

https://youtu.be/Gx4tDiKNNJU

:ganishka:

I think that had more spoilers than the demos honestly, I wasn't even aware of a couple of those characters before watching, but I'm glad I did. :guts: This makes me want a Puck-inspired God Hand puppet show.

:ubik: :slan: :femto: :void:
Don't be scared, tell us your dreams!
 

Rhombaad

Video Game Time Traveler
Yeah, this one was big back in the day; lots of best game ever plaudits. I've never been able to feel that way about it though. It probably doesn't help that the last time I played it was on my phone.
I hated Secret of Mana on iPhone but loved it on the SNES Classic. Sometimes the hardware does matter.

Yep! That’s the spiritual sequel to which I was referring. It looks pretty cool, even though it’s not set in the Planes.
 
Yeah, this one was big back in the day; lots of best game ever plaudits. I've never been able to feel that way about it though. It probably doesn't help that the last time I played it was on my phone.
Wow, it must've been hard to play on a phone. That probably would've ruined the whole experience.

Planescape: Torment: Really wish I’d played this on vacation. Having to wait until after work or the weekend to get just a couple of hours in at a time was a killer. This is one of the best CRPGs I’ve played yet, right up there with Fallout 2. The sad fact is, I probably wouldn’t have heard of it, much less played it, if I hadn’t embarked on this crazy mission of mine. Definitely one I’ll revisit some day. It’s too bad a direct sequel or a new game set in the same campaign setting was never made. I’m looking forward to playing the spiritual sequel one day, though (in about a decade...).
It's good you like it. The story is absolutely amazing, however I find the combat to be about as fun as hitting my head against a wall. Still one of the best PC games I have ever played.

By the way, can I ask about that crazy mission you mentioned? You got me interested there.
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Yep! That’s the spiritual sequel to which I was referring. It looks pretty cool, even though it’s not set in the Planes.

Whoops, I completely misread that last sentence as you still longing for a proper sequel/successor. :???:

Wow, it must've been hard to play on a phone. That probably would've ruined the whole experience.

Yeah, visually it's already a very small and fine, so playing it or the Baldur's Gates that way is a losing proposition. Maybe on a nice big tablet, but even then the touch controls are a compromise themselves.


Resident Evil VII.I.AGE - Well, my first unpleasant surprise was that the settings for the demos don't equate to what's required for the main game (how precise of them, since of course those weren't portraying the most intense events =)! So, after some adjustments I got it looking and playing fine, typical PC setup experience. After all these months of my wife providing "distance learning" on the PC, I practically forgot I could pull out my monitor and raise it to eye level. The screen is so close to my face now it's like pseudo-VR. :ganishka:

I'm almost past where the second demo ended, and what I'll say about the little extra bits between those events is it's a little bit too explicit and casual with all the werewolf stuff for my tastes. That goes for the other big bads as well, which isn't really conducive to scariness. Basically, they're behaving like the Bakers, but that doesn't work the same with what are essentially fantasy monsters like it does with psycho cannibal hillbillies casually amputating you at the family dinner table. I'll leave it at that for now, and we'll see where they're going with this.
 
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Rhombaad

Video Game Time Traveler
It's good you like it. The story is absolutely amazing, however I find the combat to be about as fun as hitting my head against a wall. Still one of the best PC games I have ever played.

I enjoyed the combat, but it was my first time playing one of these games as a mage (I usually play as a fighter or warrior, but I’m trying to expand my horizons a bit these days), so I had to really pay attention to what I was doing. Thank goodness for that pause feature.

By the way, can I ask about that crazy mission you mentioned? You got me interested there.

A couple of years ago, after trying to figure out what game to play next, I decided to go back to 1985 and play every great game (and a few stinkers, it turns out) I missed out on or never finished from the release of Super Mario Bros. (the first video game I ever played) to the present. I just hit the 2000s the other day when I started playing Wario Land 3 on Game Boy Color. It’s been a lot of fun.

Whoops, I completely misread that last sentence as you still longing for a proper sequel/successor. :???:

No worries! I figured that’s what happened.
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Hi. I'm just popping in here to say that this title:

village.jpg


is super dumb.
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
I was genuinely impressed they managed to keep up that title convention after what seemed like a "you can only do it once" trick with RESIDENT EVII_. It's actually perfect though, because it's the eighth mainline title, takes place in a village, and IS super dumb. At first I honestly thought you were playing and commenting on the game itself, which I might have agreed with even more. I do hope Aaz is right about the next title too, though they don't even need to cheat the spelling they have so many options:

RESIDENT EVIL...

CRUCIFIXION
INHERITR
IX
ENDOMIXIS
PHOENIX
MATRIX
DOMINATRIX
PANMIXIA
UNFIXABLE


And my (least) favorite:

RE
MIXTURE
 
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Rhombaad

Video Game Time Traveler
Wario Land 3: See my review for Wario Land 2. All kidding aside, the Wario Land games continue to be great. I love that you can’t die, and the addition of Vampire Wario was pretty cool. Watch out for those garlic vines! Highly recommended for fans of puzzle platformers and Metroidvania games.
 
Finished RE8 last night, and I’m currently halfway through my second time around. My initial reaction after finishing it ranged from “it’s not that bad” to “I really regret paying for this game.” My position has softened a bit as time has passed though.

The game is like an extremely gorgeous but irredeemably shallow person. The graphics are amazing. The setting/areas are absolutely beautiful and feel both real and full of life (at least the wilderness kind). The game itself is fun to play. But there’s not much beyond that. The story isn’t good and rapidly deteriorates towards the end,
at one point trying to be both meta and taken seriously.
The dialogue is trash. The characters range from lame stereotypes to passable, with the exception of
Chris who feels like he’s visiting from a far better sequel to RE7.
There are a couple of moments of true brilliance I loved, but they’re very few and most likely unintentional.

The game borrows a lot from other RE titles, specifically
RE4/5, 6 (specifically Jake’s story), and 7.
The superficial elements they borrowed are fine and fun, just like in their original games. But the elements they borrowed that were great in their original games fall flat here, and you can tell they didn’t understand what made them great.

To sum up, once that initial wave of crushing disappointment and sadness for what-could-have-been washes over you and the series fan part of you is deeply buried in your psyche or outright dead,
especially when you remember this is supposed to be the second game in Capcom’s “we’re going back to our horror roots” soft reboot (LOL :sad:)
, it’s actually a fun little game that really shows off the incredible skills of the graphic designers, like an art museum with a pinball machine you have to play to advance to the next room.
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
I haven't finished it yet so can't read your spoilers, but I concur with the thrust of what you're saying and hope I already went through my stages of grief during the first quarter of the game. I'm three big bosses in and have to say it's addictive but hasn't really felt like it's elevated any since the introduction of the big lady. Quite the contrary, she's thus far still the most interesting thing in the game. Everything that's come since really should have come first because it feels underwhelming by comparison. I guess they wanted a big opening to promote or they just don't know how to guage or pace their own material. So, I'm pretty accepting of it and on guard for whatever lame twists and letdown endings they can throw at me, though they could still limbo under my expectations. =)

Still, don't take it more seriously than it takes itself and it's a lot of fun. It's actually less silly than something like Last of Us 2 for not chasing prestige and taking itself so dreadfully seriously.
 
Finished RE 8 two says ago and just been mulling over my thoughts on it. All in all, I really enjoyed my time with the game. I think I was really hoping for big things from this one and was only slightly let down.

Sushi Fish, I'm curious about how many RE games you've played based on your criticisms of the dialogue and characters. While critiquing RE characters and writing is perfectly fine , I thought in comparison to lots of other games this was actually one of this games biggest strengths. I was truly shocked at how much I felt for Ethan and the story they told with Mia and his daughter. I mean, I was honestly expecting to feel next to nothing for them like I did at the end of 7, but really felt like they did a fantastic job.

I enjoyed the opening leg of the game, but really started enjoying it more once it opened up a bit more (though I would have loved it if it had opened up a bit more and allowed for even more choices and branching paths.

Getting in to things a bit more specifically Initial portion of the game spoilers The first major enemy encounter ( playing on Hardcore difficulty) was pretty stupid hard and frustrating, but after getting through that the difficulty seemed pretty fair/fun and only cheap in a couple spots. Loved the Castle and the stalking daughters/ Dimitrescu. Also loved the overall atmosphere of the castle too.

Second portion/ boss of the game spoilers Now the House Benevento had even more creepy and awesome vibes and REALLY loved what I felt was a big homage to P.T. That Baby monster thing was one of the freakiest RE creatures I had experienced in a while

Third section Moreau was honestly one of the bosses that surprised me the most. While I assumed he'd have the least character by a lot I really enjoyed his pathetic nature and the boss fight was really fun. Also his final design, talk about being reminded of Bloodborne/Sekiro!

As for the rest I felt at times that Heisenbergs section of the game might have been a bit long but I thought he ended up being a very cool and powerful character. I couldn't believe it when he literally refers to Chris as "a boulder punching asshole". After his big boss fight I was really thrown for a loop when Ethan DIES. I actually thought for a moment credits were going to play and a big sequel was going to be set up but then everything just goes off the rails. Really cool final boss fight. I genuinely felt for Ethan sacrificing himself and the post credits scene of Rose all grown up was shocking. Was this way in the future? Is she growing very quickly due to being some sort of "special" being? Protagonist of the next game?
 
That
boulder punching line
kind of perfectly encapsulates my struggle with this game. When
he said that I literally laughed out loud. I enjoyed it. It was a great line. But here’s the rub: Heisenberg shouldn’t know that happened. Self-referential humor is fine in a game that doesn’t take itself too seriously. But RE8 wants you to take it seriously sometimes and not take it seriously at other times, which comes off as bad writing. So I love Heisenberg’s line and hate it at the same time. And I like RE8 and hate it as well.

Imagine if RE7 was written like 8. Imagine the second time Jack chases you around the house he bursts through the wall, picks you up by the neck, and says,” And you thought Mr. X was annoying!” Wouldn’t you be confused by that line even if it’s a great reference? I know RE8 isn’t playing itself as straight as 7 did, but still...
 
That
boulder punching line
kind of perfectly encapsulates my struggle with this game. When
he said that I literally laughed out loud. I enjoyed it. It was a great line. But here’s the rub: Heisenberg shouldn’t know that happened. Self-referential humor is fine in a game that doesn’t take itself too seriously. But RE8 wants you to take it seriously sometimes and not take it seriously at other times, which comes off as bad writing. So I love Heisenberg’s line and hate it at the same time. And I like RE8 and hate it as well.

Imagine if RE7 was written like 8. Imagine the second time Jack chases you around the house he bursts through the wall, picks you up by the neck, and says,” And you thought Mr. X was annoying!” Wouldn’t you be confused by that line even if it’s a great reference? I know RE8 isn’t playing itself as straight as 7 did, but still...
Completely agree with your sentiments on that line. I laughed out loud and immediately realized it made no sense. I guess Chris was going around telling everyone of his feat after that battle !
 
I started Resident Evil 8 and well, it is bloody average. I'm three bosses in (just beat that fish fella), but the pacing seems all off. The starting sequence was probably one of the least enjoyable parts of a game I have experienced in a while. There is too much of a focus on the poorly written story, especially in the first hour. Story has never been a strength of RE titles and it shows with the poor development of every single character in 8. Hell, I laughed when Chris said "no Ethan" right after the death of Mia, a pivotal story event. Is Ethan a bloody dog? I also gave a good chuckle when that lady dies in the fire, because of how stupidly staged that scene was.

However, the castle sequence with Lady Dimitrescu was great. I love the gothic setting and exploration elements. Then, to my dismay, the game goes into this terribly cliché dollhouse section that isn't scary in the slightest. You just hide for a minute and then wait for the pursuer to despawn. They made a horror section incredibly boring, which I once believed was hard to do. This section alone made me lose interest in this title. It does get a bit better in the next section, but I still have a sour taste in my mouth.
 
If you’ll please allow me, there’s one thing about RE8 I have to rant about...

I absolutely love the Duke and everything surrounding him. I love his look, his personality, and his store. I love that they gave him so much detail that he spouts merchant-y/business-related Latin sayings (amat victoria curam) and even the rug in his cart that has his crest on it, which you see for literally a split second in one cutscene, has a Duke-like motto: L’argent defend le droit. I love that he references the Merchant from RE4 (I guess he’s officially canon now!), that they have some kind of relationship, and that they gave him a lamp that signals where he sets up shop like the Merchant’s torches. I love that he actively helps you, which is what I used to pretend was part of the Merchant’s motivation when I was younger playing RE4. I love that he has a Twin Peaks-esque aura of mystery when it comes to who and what he is. Hell, even his theme music is deliciously exquisite.
 
Hell, I laughed when Chris said "no Ethan" right after the death of Mia, a pivotal story event. Is Ethan a bloody dog? I also gave a good chuckle when that lady dies in the fire, because of how stupidly staged that scene was.

Then, to my dismay, the game goes into this terribly cliché dollhouse section that isn't scary in the slightest. You just hide for a minute and then wait for the pursuer to despawn. They made a horror section incredibly boring, which I once believed was hard to do. This section alone made me lose interest in this title. It does get a bit better in the next section, but I still have a sour taste in my mouth.
I guess different strokes for different folks. I laughed at those parts too (for the same reasons as you even) but is one of the reasons I enjoy the dialogue and cheesy tone of Resident Evil. It both plays things seriously while not really trying to be taken seriously and I love the clashing tone.

As far as House Benevieto goes, I really liked how the pace and setting were so changed up from the castle section. I already stated above but the allusions to P.T were great and I thought the pursuer enemy was one of the best and most off-putting creatures I had experienced in RE in a long time.
 
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