What Are You Currently Playing? 6.65: Neighbor of the Beast

[Mustang]

I respect that. You probably won't be able to get me to ever play another Mario game other than with my nephew but I still respect that. Other than Breath of the Wild and possibly Phantom Pain I don't really have a favorite from last gen. There are fighting games, sure, and I had fun with some of them, but none of them really compares to some of the old, and if I had the means I'd probably would still play those older games (GGXXACR+, MvC2, CvS2, Project Justice). But for the most part I've been through a gaming funk through the entirety of last gen. Got out of it here and there, but if it weren't for my nephew I'd probably quit gaming.

[Mustang]

New look. I can dig it.

Dragonball Xenoverse 2
I'm surprised I haven't thrown in the towel yet. I did manage to beat it fairly quick and I have 3 other stories to beat (Already beat the one dealing with Universe 6). My character is a Frieza race (got a 2nd character that's a saiyan whose moveset is going to take a little bit to get used to again) and his Ultimate Attacks are Super Ki Explosion and Emperor's Death Beam. They have been some life savors because the enemy A.I. can swarm and not let up at times. Which begs the question. Why do my A.I. allies suck when I pick them but as enemies they give my partnered allies the business? This has been the bane of me, especially when I have to baby sit partnered AI's. Next breaking point will cause me to break the game itself. There will be no more deleting and coming back later.

Brief update for DBFz. Turns out Vegito and Beerus works off each other quite a bit. Almost making a completely dangerous shell that I'm surprised no one uses. I know people hate Vegito and would rather use other characters but as a complete shell, the damage can go through the roof. Not to mention I love resets and they are reset monsters. Now I'm trying to find a 3rd character because as of right now I have 2 point characters but they can go anywhere on the team. 18 still might be the one, but I'm also thinking Videl could probably be a character that can fit this shell.

Edit1
Annnnnnnnnnd broken. What broke me? The damn RNG (I completely forgot about how random the drops are). So I'm at the 7 star PQ's, basically the DLCs at this point. All these fights are coming down to the wire where I'm leaving about 49 secs - 1 min left on the timer. I'm ending all these battles with Ultimate Finishes and getting Z ranks. How many times do I gotta see a chest piece or leg piece before getting the opposite? How many times am I gonna see arm pieces with no shoe pieces and vice versa? No doubt they're great for money. What's bad is what I really need them for is connected to playing multiplayer. I'm not replaying these missions with silly and corny ass rando's to get a chance at getting rare items and skills. No, Hell no. Luckily I'll be starting Persona 3 Portable soon though.

[Mustang]

Spider-Man
At first it started off with my nephew playing. And then he got stuck so I got him out of the spot he was in. Then my niece jumped in and wanted to try and got stuck. I got her out of it. Gave it back to the nephew and got stuck again. They're learning, but for the most part I think we're gonna just make it a tradition to play Spider-Man when they're around. I'm not out of my funk, but it did get me to play a long stretch of the game. Basically doing everything except the main quest. I still don't think this is a 10/10 game and I still don't think it's better than the Arkham games in terms of combat (especially, Arkham Knight's combat even though they're the same. I just prefer Batman over Spider-man). What it does beat Batman in is just about everything else. Traversal, they're equal (Not counting the Batmobile  ) ). One thing I really want to praise Spider-Man for though, is the suit collecting. My God, does it feel good to go around doing missions just to unlock suits/gadgets that actually does something to enhance the gameplay (even if it's minor). No grinding. Just collect and boom. Batman, DLC, suits does nothing.

To really get out of my funk I think I just need to reset and start over. Stop trying to buy everything day 1 and just play what I'm truly amped for, beat it, replay it a few times and then move on. I can't blame anyone, but I can certainly point fingers at Huber and this keeping up with the "zeitgeist" and trying to be apart of a conversation. Damn all that. Hell, there was once upon a time where spoilers never got to me. Nowadays I'm trying to avoid everything. Damn all that as well. I'll get to said games when I'm good a ready for them. All that being said, I need a PS5 in order to start over first though lol. I know I heard something about not needing to sign up for a first come first serve type of thing so that's good. Hopefully I can get one either by not the next pay day, but the one after that or taxes. 1st game for the ps5, not sure actually. 

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Hi-Fi Rush was a real surprise, but I downloaded it from Game Pass as soon as it was announced and it's an absolute blast. A DMC-esque action game based on music rhythm is a genius idea, and it makes sense that this is a kind of project that Shinji Mikami would use his studio to back, even if he wasn't directly involved with making the game himself.

With games like this, Bayonetta 3, Soulstice, Evil West, and the upcoming Wanted: Dead being released so close in proximity to each other, it really does feel like a small but pronounced little return to more pure-hearted straight up action games, which I have sorely missed in the modern era of gaming.

[Mustang]

Spider-Man
We did the big chase in the early game. They both like the game. Both are a little annoying to deal with in their own ways though. The niece asking these unnecessary questions while the nephew trying to extend his time before passing the controller. Both are having fun in their own little quirky ways. To be fair, yesterday I been up since 1:00am, so, it's not their fault, but when I'm sleepy I get agitated easily but everything's good. I kind of want to try them on Batman though.

Granblue Fantasy Versus
I've cooled off on Dragonball Fighterz for a little bit, but only because of this game, and it's probably one of those heat of the moment situations. I don't see myself dropping DBFz (like I have with UMvC3. Unfortunate situation, I'll explain when I update my top 10 fighting games), but I do see myself playing this more along with probably DNF Duel. Percival is the main of course, while Narmaya is the backup, but I'm thinking of adding Metera to the mix too. Bow and Arrow/Gun characters, I'm starting to find them on the interesting side, especially if they have setups/mixups like Venom/Beerus.

I did happen to see Hi-Fi Rush in action for a bit, and while it's not something I'd play, Microsoft definitely needed that and I applaud them for it. I'm not sure what year we're in with Game Pass, but you can definitely sense it that those who're for it are slowly starting to get annoyed with it, especially since it feels like everything keeps getting delayed.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Hi-Fi Rush is proving to be just that great of a surprise release. This is a full-on high-quality action game. It's like something that Platinum would make and the mechanics behind it are rock fucking solid. Take it from someone who has beaten multiple games in this genre on their highest difficulties (DMC on DMD mode, Ninja Gaiden on Master Ninja, MGR on Revengeance difficulty, and Bayonetta on NSIC). The game's combat loop is not necessarily as robust as something like DMC 3-5 or Bayonetta 1-3, but it's comparable to those and probably on par with MGR and Ninja Gaiden in that regard.

Also, the "Just" timing mechanic in this game is doable without being laughably easy and it does actually take some practice to get better at. I still only average out at B-ranks at this point.

Don't be fooled by the game's colorful and cartoony visuals (which I personally love, but that's an aesthetic and is subjective), the core game mechanics are still hardcore and have a seriously high skill ceiling.

I'd take this over another Insomniac Spider-Man game or new God of War game any day. Let's just put it like that (and I'm not even trying to knock those games, just express my personal preference). If you like traditional old-school style 3D action games like stuff made by Clover or Platinum or Capcom or even Team Ninja, among others, don't miss out on this one.

[Mustang]

I'd take this over another Insomniac Spider-Man game or new God of War game any day. Let's just put it like that (and I'm not even trying to knock those games, just express my personal preference). If you like traditional old-school style 3D action games like stuff made by Clover or Platinum or Capcom or even Team Ninja, among others, don't miss out on this one.

Talk yo ish.

Whether it was a jab or not, talk it. No problems here, but I will use this as a catalyst 

Jokes aside, from you I expect something like that. Truth be told, I would expect knife gouging, because I know exactly the little trinkets that you're talking about that most people that don't play the NGs/DMCs like you do or I used to won't understand. My first PS2 game(s) was DMC1 and MGS2. My first Xbox game(s) was NG1 and Shenmue 2. I remember the days when I put in countless hours playing DMC3 (The ORIGINAL DMC3. Not the special edition. If you know, you know), so yeah, I'm cut from that very same cloth, and I have no problems with that take.

Nah, my problem lies with this Souls/Borne/clone only crowd. Probably since the beginning of November (probably a little earlier) of last year I've been seeing/hearing these weird little takes about open-world and hard difficulty and whatnot. Taking little jabs here and throwing subtle shots here. Listening to my usual podcasts. This one in particular, Podcast Beyond (IGN folks. I know, mistake). I hear something alone the lines of "fans of open world don't like Elden Ring because it's too hard. That's fine, go play an Ubisoft game". These little shots are what's getting these "personality" folks in trouble and why everyone is on their heads. Out of all the open world games out there we choose Ubisoft? Like I said, this ain't the first time I heard something like this. Isla (Easy Allies) also said something along those same lines and then the trickle effect rolls down to youtube and reddit comments (Brian Altano was the latest one btw). So who exactly are playing Ubisoft games (I know people play them, and they make money but you get the point. Always the butt of the joke)? We don't dare mention Breath of the Wild or GTA huh? Spider-Man, Batman? No? I see you. How about Red Dead? Gotcha. Open world we straight up think Ubisoft? Got it.

This whole difficulty thing. Like I said, I expect the hammer of judgment from the character action community when it comes to games like Spiderman, God of War. Souls/Borne/clone, go sit the fuck down (I remember the days when no one bought Demon Souls) I bring up Nioh, you tell me too hard. I bring up Ninja Gaiden, too hard, never finished (wha?). DMC? Not my style of game... Cool, but we want to throw shots in the end right? Come join me in any fighting game. What was that? Too scared? Fuck outta here. But we want to pop off about Souls/Borne/clone being this, that and the other. I will never push back at anyone here for the takes on God of War/Spiderman/Batman. I think I been here long enough to know what yall prefer (somewhat  ). God of War in particular I consider myself neutral, but I know exactly what Dr. Ensatsu-ken is alluding to when it comes to the combat. If anything, the gushing, this bullshit here that these media outlets love doing across the board, on top of comment sections, ...yeah, but when it comes to these souls/borne folk, especially these new fans, man, and I know the FGC is toxic. I'll be the first one to tell you that, but this fandom here is something else.

All that out the way, if I had an Xbox S/X, I'd give Hi-Fi Rush a shot (musically, not me), because I am at that point in my life to try out things that I'd never try (minus survival horror. Limiting me will never be something I'd give into) just to see if it can reignite my interest in some of these games. I was watching XLH Gladiator at work earlier just to see if I can get that spark to fire up Nioh/Nioh 2, especially with Wo Long coming out soon.

Niece and nephew are coming through tomorrow and they want to see Miles Morales.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Heh, you know me too well I suppose from when I was way more unfiltered about my thoughts.

Truth be told, I only even mentioned those games simply because if you asked most mainstream journalists or gamers in general what the best action games were, you'd inevitably get answers like that. As for me, I played all of Spider-Man (2018) and it's DLC as well as all of the first God of War in the new trilogy. I played about half-way through Miles Morales and never finished it because if I'm being honest, I got bored with it. The same has kind of happened with Ragnarok though I may still go back to it, not sure yet (and I ever gave it credit for improving combat over the original, but not enough to be that interesting for me).

I do mean what I say that I respect the talent and passion of the developers behind those games, and you can clearly tell that the people making them really do believe in them. I also have no problem with so many people enjoying them the way they do. But to see them held in such high regard and barely (if at all) ever being criticized for their very clear shortcomings, whether it be limited combat, over-simplified puzzles or stealth mechanics depending on the game, or recycled and very uninspired (in terms of mechanics) enemies and bosses, it kind of starts to rub me the wrong way. There's that now infamous IGN list that ranks 2018's God of War as the best action game ever made, on a list with the likes of Ninja Gaiden Black and DMC in it, among other things. And it kind of sticks out like a sore thumb in how it feels so much less refined in it's combat that literally every other game ranked below it on the list. To the untrained player who just wants a good story and to have some mindless fun with the combat on the lower difficulties, I totally get the appeal. But anyone who really breaks down and experiments with the mechanics in these games would undoubtedly find out just how limited and boring God of War's combat is at it's core. Yes, you can do combos and such in it, but that in and of itself isn't what makes combat interesting. You can especially tell on the harder difficulties in which you are forced to play in the safest, most monotonous way, and enemies are complete unflinching attack sponges. It's challenging in the worst way because it comes off as tedious rather than something that you want to overcome.

I'm currently on my second playthrough of Hi-Fi Rush on Very Hard mode, and the key thing that I'd say puts this game on the level of your DMCs, Bayonettas, and Ninja Gaidens, is that there is a constant drive to want to improve at the combat. I'm now at a point where I'm more consistently getting A-ranks in my "Just" timings but now my time score is suffering a bit since I'm taking longer to finish fights because I'm trying too much to focus on timing my hits to the beat. I was constantly getting S ranks in that category before, but now I'm getting more A ranks. Of course it's completely possible to pull off a balancing act and get an S in all three categories, but it takes a much higher level of skill with this game's mechanics, and I feel really motivated to keep playing it until I get there. What it is that makes the mechanics in games like this and others of it's like is a completely different subject that would warrant it's own lengthy discussion or write-up, but suffice it so say that's why I find lacking in so many of the modern AAA action games from your Arkhams to your endless array of Ubisoft-esque open world games.

And as far as the Soulsbourne stuff goes, this is again a case where I don't inherently have a problem with it. I like the FromSoftware games that I have played in this genre, and I can honestly say that Elden Ring deserves all of it's praise. That said, like you, I have a bit of an issue with these sorts of games effectively having replaced traditional action games in the modern landscape of the medium. They often get compared due to their challenging nature and having technical combat mechanics, but they are still wildly different beasts. I like Nioh and it's sequel, but they are absolutely nothing like a Ninja Gaiden game despite being from the same developer (which in itself is made up of very different people than back when they made NG in the first place). With those game I do love the combat but even in this case it has a limit to how much I want to push myself with it due to having no real ranking system and being a bit too padded out for me to want to constantly replay it like I would with Ninja Gaiden Black or it's sequel.

Obviously it's just a matter of personal preference, but I will always find the versatility of encounters and mechanics in games like Hi-Fi Rush infinitely more interesting and worthy of replay value than a majority of what we see in the AAA scene of games these days.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Hi-Fi Rush is the type of game that makes me wish it was the early 2010's again when Spark of Spirit was on here and Foggle and Talon were online on a more regular basis just so I could annoy and pester them to play it like I used to for Ninja Gaiden or other games.

I also love how this game is mostly original tracks and doesn't overuse licensed music, but absolutely knows how to effectively use it when the time warrants. Like, look at stuff like this:  https://youtu.be/muEtpNhHygc

In the context of the scene in the story, you can't not get super hyped bashing in enemies while jamming out to Invaders Must Die by The Prodigy. The humor and attention to detail in the environment (even the plants are hopping to the beat) are on par with the best of Platinum games, and the combat action puts most modern games to shame, action or otherwise.

Sorry, but don't expect me to shut up about this game anytime soon. I fucking love it and it's easily creeping it's way up to being one of my favorites in the genre.

If you don't have an XBOX than play it on Steam. It's that fucking good.

[Mustang]

Spider-Man: Miles Morales
The gadgets. I love gadgets. I can see an Ironman game from Insomniac. That being said, this game, oh man, if this game came first or as a DLC package with the first game I'd have no problems with it. I understand it wasn't marketed as a 2nd game either, but at the end of the day this could've been tacked on as a $30 pass or whatever (Witcher 3 got what, 3 DLCs that could be their own games entirely, or something along those lines I heard) and I would've been fine with that. Miles Morales is definitely on the boring side. This could be because I don't know anything about him and I find origin stories on the boring side in general. This could also be that I'm in the same environment as the original game but with snow (which is why this could've been DLC). This could also be the portrayal of Miles in this game. Voice don't fit and I don't like him. This could all go away if I decide to continue because I'm only at the point where I just got my cloaking and new suit. Speaking of, everything is shinier. I like that. Again, I like the gadgets. Traversal is traversal, always going to like swinging around. That's just me comparing to the original Spider-man. If I were to go my usual way of comparing to Batman, heh, talk about getting reamed. Anyway, playing this is making me cautiously optimistic about Wolverine.

Frosty Faustings was Friday and Yesterday (It's been a long time for a 2-day tourney). I missed DBFz, but I did happen to catch BBCF, GGXXAC+R, and XrdR2. BBCF in particular caught my attention because of the player known as Monarch competing with Japan's best with a character that's suppose to be on the weaker side of the tier list. When it comes to this game I don't know what to believe. In anime fighters, zoners are considered weak because of so many ways to get through their zoning. I don't know if I believe that at all anymore, especially now. Outside of Johnny in Rev2, yesterday was the day for zoners.

Let me say this about Hi-Fi Rush as well. I see the love for it and I love seeing it get the attention of the outlets. I just hope it don't get brushed aside towards the end of the year like Sifu and Horizon did. If Tears of the Kingdom come out this year I can see it drowning out nearly everything for a long stretch until the next big hit comes out which will probably be Final Fantasy 16 (maybe?). Microsoft really needed something like this and I'm glad they got it especially with all this doom and gloom talk.

[Mustang]

BlazBlue Central Fiction
I've tried Jin Kisaragi and he's the usual sword character I'd go for. I enjoy playing him. He's very basic but tricky enough to where you cannot sleep on him. That being said, the actual main for me is Valkenhayn. He's the Yang (USF4) in this game. I say that because he does little damage (but wait, don't you usually prefer damage? Yes. Hear me out) and you have to put in work. So why play him? Because he's a mix up machine. 3 touches and your dead. A lot of people try to go for either a TOD or 2-touch. Valk on the other hand, his setups for high/lows are crazy and the fact that he's fast on top of that. Oh, forgot to mention he can turn into a wolf. It's that wolf form that makes him crazy fast and get them mixups. The way I play and the reason I went back to play GranBlue Fantasy Versus (to work on my neutral), his style allows me to play defensively while being able to turn it on in a blink. I went back to GB so I can work on my footsies. Sure, I can play a Street Fighter game for that, but an anime fighter, the limbs are smaller and faster than what you see than in SF and the way people just go ham in this game, GBFv helps prep for that.

[Mustang]

So my gaming fun has been put on hold until further notice. I don't know if my PS4 is dying on me or not. I'm still having connection issues because of a weak wi-fi connection and it's locking me out of doing anything. I'm bout ready to throw the sum bitch out the window. Google is giving me no answers. Playstation itself is giving me no answers. Typical bullshit about moving the ps4 closer to the router. No shit that will work, but I CANNOT PLAY GAMES IN MY FUCKING KITCHEN!

So yeah, in between a rock and a hard place right now. Got some choices to make. I can only go for one and even then I have to save up first as well as try to stay on budget with this inflation and my portion of rent. I can probably go for 2 but that'll probably involve selling most of my games. And what I mean by 1 or 2, console/pc (ps4/5 and/or Switch). Not to mention I need a new laptop on top of that. This one I'm currently using, Windows 8 expired on me and getting 10 is going to cost $200, so yeah, I'm in a money pinch at the moment.

On the bright side this could be the break I need to get outta my funk. I'm not completely bored yet but I'll be on Twitch and Youtube heavily for quite some time in the mean time putting up with bullshit. Great.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Hi-Fi Rush has taken up most of my interest lately, but I'm nearly done with my playthrough of Paper Mario on NSO, and this is a game I really wish I would have played back when it came out, it'd probably be 11 year old me's favorite game ever.

I'm not a huge JRPG guy but the battle system here is simple and intuitive but has a surprisingly decent amount of depth and nuance to it's mechanics.

I liked my experience so much that I actually went searching for a reasonably priced copy of TTYD for the Gamecube (it pisses me off how wildly overpriced retro games are online) and I finally managed to find one at a local retro game store. I can't wait to start playing it after I beat the first game sometime this week.

[Avaitor]

Thousand-Year-Door is even better, but I still haven't beat the game. That final boss is cheap, and it bugs me that I can't skip through the dialogue in between that fight. Otherwise, it's the perfect balance between turn-based combat and classic Mario platforming, doing everything the first Paper Mario did but slightly more refined and funnier.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I just started TTYD today and while I've barely made any progress so far, It definitely already has that same level of charm going for it from the get-go. I like that the action commands work just like the N64 game from the get-go and I've heard they expand throughout the game to allow for more advanced and skilled applications in combat as you get further. The only gripe I have so far is that they seem to have gotten rid of the spin-dash (maybe I will unlock it later) which is what I used to traverse environments at a faster pace in the original game. I can live without it, but Mario's standard trot is a bit slow for my liking.

Also, this doesn't have to do directly with the game itself but man, Nintendo knew how to make good hardware. I'm playing on a two-decade old console with a fair amount of wear-and-tear, but the game runs buttery-smooth and I haven't had a single issue with it since I got it two years ago. I cant't say the same for a number of other consoles, like my XBOX360 which broke down on me a few years back (and that was the revised model after the whole RROD fiasco).

Anyways, I look forward to playing more of this game over the next few weeks. I also need to get to Metroid Prime 2 which I have had sitting in my collection for well over a year now. Metroid Prime Remastered was great news, and I would have bought it if I hadn't played through the entire game on the Gamecube not that terribly long ago, and maybe the 2nd game will get a re-release, but I kind of feel like playing it on original hardware since I have that option available to me already (though I snagged the game for $10, which seems like a pretty fair deal). I also still have Viewtiful Joe to get through as well, which I'm excited to finally play one of these days.