Posts made by HoloGraphics

Less than a week away now!

I've done a fairly successful job at avoiding most videos so the experience will be as fresh as possible.

I just beat the game. I played on easy mode, which was probably a mistake. One thing that became rather frustrating for me was how often the game would pause the action for a cutscene, both story cutscenes and the level-preview type cutscenes. This became rather draining pretty quickly. I really enjoyed the combat and kept wanting to get back into the action. After beating the game, I am now playing on Son of Sparda mode, which already seems like a big improvement as battles seem to last longer and there are more enemy types in the battles.

For those who have played through the game on both easy and normal: how great is the difference between these modes?

Fantastic news everybody, the developers of the great "Hyper Light Drifter" have announced their next game!

Youtube Video

I can't wait to see more.

The nightcrawlers are pretty creepy. Those are the white, ghost-like creatures that look like a pair of legs.

If you watch TV at all, "Paranormal Caught on Camera" is an interesting show that just started airing on the Travel Channel. They have some footage of cryptids from time to time.

I have a technical question about Trackmania Turbo on PS4, wondering if anybody can help me:

Whenever I start races, the game screen will freeze for about a second right after the race starts. The game itself doesn't freeze, because I can hear the audio running like its supposed to, and when it unfreezes, my car is already a little ways away from the start line. It is very annoying and I have had to stop playing because of this. It is even worse on multi-lap races, as the freezing will happen each time I pass the finish line. I have no idea what could be causing this. At first I read that maybe it could be related to me having the game stored on an external hard drive, but the issue continues even if the game is on the internal hard drive.

What is the lowest critically reviewed game this gen that you enjoyed?

For me it is definitely "Rain World", which has a Metacritic score of 59/100 for the PS4 version (which is what I played on). The Metacritic score for the PC version was a 66/100, though curious enough, the total reception on Steam is "very positive".

I thought the game had amazing environments, a beautifully somber tone, and a really cool survival concept. If you are looking for a game that utilizes interesting, tough survival mechanics, definitely give "Rain World" a chance. It is one of the best games I have played this gen, no doubt. I hope the developers go on to make another project very soon.

Hopefully I will get to play Devil May Cry 5 by the end of the day. This month is going to be crazy in terms of game releases.

I've been playing ZeroRanger. It's a really fun, stylish shmup with some Kojima-esque moments in regards to playing tricks on the player. Highly recommended!

The "true" final boss sequence is really brutal though:

Spoiler: The game will delete your save file if you fail...I failed :(

I wonder what the performance will be like on base PS4.

For those interested in more metroidvania games, I recently saw "Touhou Luna Nights" pop up on the Steam store. I don't know much about the Touhou series and I haven't played this one yet, but it has some cool, detailed pixel art with very fluid animations. The general reception seems extremely positive.

@ezekiel

I agree with most of your points, although I think your angle is focused on western mainstream releases. Both "The Last of Us" and "God of War" are games that I do not have much interest in either, despite their enormous popularity. I also tend to not like the focus for games to be more like cinematic experiences. I am not saying that this aspect is inherently bad, I am sure there will always be developers who get it right and prove me wrong, but typically they seem to go in directions that I am uninterested in. This being said, I am mostly focusing on the smaller games with my post. Despite my apparent distaste for the way many western mainstream big-budget games are headed, there is still an abundance of titles for those of us who like a more classical experience.

When it comes to the physical media problem, it would be nice for all games to have physical releases. One of my points is that I believe digital distribution has opened the doors to more developers to create content. "Downwell" is one of my favorite games this generation, but is it economically viable to put a game that is less that 1gb on a 50gb Blu-ray disc?

I think the key aspect of this generation has been access. More and more game developers have access to get their products on the market. Purchasing products has never been easier thanks to digital distribution, so customers are given easier paths to access games, without being barred by games going out-of-print and hard to find. These, I think, are some positives that outweigh the negatives and controversies surrounding this generation.

Of course, the biggest positives are the games themselves. When I think of the great experiences I have had this generation, many coming from fantastic small studio games like "Hollow Knight", "Rain World", "Hyper Light Drifter", "Hotline Miami 2", and so much more, the more I believe that what has been done this generation measures up to some of the great eras of the past. Back in the Xbox 360 days, I remember looking at XBLA titles as a niche interest, a novelty in relation to "regular" 59.99 priced releases. Today, the definitions are changing. Simply put, "indie games" belong in the general discussion of games and not in a sub-category. I believe part of the reason we have seen so many quality releases this generation has been in response to digital marketplaces creating easier pathways for developers to sell games.

The many controversies of this videogame generation, from loot boxes to on-disc DLC, the biggest possible detriment of all is going to be in the topic of preservation. It is still very early to see what challenges will be faced, but with early signs like the closure of the Wii shop and games being taken off digital marketplaces for licensing problems, game fans should be completely aware of these issues. With the digital marketplace being so prevalent, it is paramount for the companies hosting these marketplaces to find lasting solutions to preservation concerns. Imagine a future where all games, past and present, were digitized and made readily available. Imagine if there was an official solution to finally digitize games that are entangled in licensing problems. Isn't it worth it for a developer's work to be readily accessible and not fated to be a rare piece of plastic that will only be experienced by game collector hobbyists?

But focusing on the pure aspect of the game experiences of this generation, I think videogames are in an exciting, transformative place at the moment. Do you agree or disagree with these sentiments? Do you think this is a great time for videogames? Do you see potential in what has changed in the gaming landscape?

The only games on my radar for March are Devil May Cry 5 and Sekiro.

I was a bit unsure of Devil May Cry at first, but after the demo, I am definitely going to pick it up. Sekiro is my most hyped game of the year, as I am a huge From Software fan. I really like what I see so far regarding the new combat mechanics.

It slipped my mind that Dead or Alive 6 came out today. I heard there was a demo, so I will have to check that out. Might pick this one up sometime in the future.

I also need to get back to 3D Dot Game Heroes.

Currently, I just started playing ZeroRanger and I am having a good time with it. Reminiscent of Downwell, which was one of my favorites from this gen.

Only one week left...I'm hyped!

I must have played through the demo about 8 times now. I've only really played the first and second DMC games, but I am excited to get back into this series.

Although I have only had the chance to play through RE2 remake twice (Leon A, Claire B), I agree that the re-playability element of it seems great. The pacing of the game feels so satisfying.

Wow, good stuff so far. I have never heard about either of these games. "Slay the Spire" is definitely going on my to-buy list. I find most Rogue-likes interesting and I am really liking the look of how the card-game mechanics fit into this one.

Sometimes it can be easy to overlook many smaller game releases that are coming out, but there have been so many gems this generation when it comes to indie games. I thought it would be a good idea to create a thread dedicated to all of the new and upcoming indie releases to bring more attention to some of these games.

To kick things off, today is the release date of "Devil Engine", a side-scrolling shmup, available on Steam and Switch, coming to PS4 and EXA(?) later this year. It is retailing at 19.99 usd. A free demo is currently available on Steam.

Youtube Video

I think the game looks pretty cool from what I have seen. I have tried the demo and I like the feel and style of the game, although it is extremely difficult. I am not too experienced with the shmup genre, so I am not sure how common some of this game's mechanics are, but I liked how the game offered various speed settings in-game and the burst ability (basically a bullet-dodging barrel-roll) was cool. I will probably hold off on getting this one until the PS4 release comes out, but I am excited for it. Last year I really got into a vertical-scrolling shmup called "Crimzon Clover", which sparked my interest in the genre. I am eager to check out more.

Is anybody else here hyped about Devil Engine? Thoughts?

@holographics

Nevermind, issue fixed. After clearing my history, the new picture loaded.

I am having an issue with uploading a user picture. The first time I uploaded a user picture, everything went fine. That is the picture that is currently displaying on my profile. I have however selected to remove that picture, because I did not know how small it would show up in forum posts. After removing the picture, I uploaded a different picture. For some reason, that new picture is not showing up, and I am stuck with the picture I first uploaded, which should have been removed from my profile.

@bam541

I have also been slowly making my way through Sonic Mania. I bought it a few months ago, but dropped it for a while and then got into Resident Evil 2. I agree that the music is awesome. Do you have a favorite music track from the game?

One issue I was having with Sonic Mania was regarding the level design. I don't remember the older Sonic games too well, but Sonic Mania seems particularly non-linear in design. When playing through a level, I would often feel frustrated by not having a solid layout in my head for the level I was exploring (Flying Battery Zone was especially hard for me). Did anybody else here feel that way?