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

[Avaitor]

I finally decided to hook up my 360 again, and I started to play the first DMC. At first, it didn't seem as hard as I was expecting, given its reputation. Then I hit the first boss.

I'm pausing for tonight, so I don't stay up all night and get more aggravated. But it is a good game so far. I'm liking the combat a lot, even though I'm using my blade a lot more. I'll use the guns to phase, but I mainly slash thus far.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Awesome! DMC1 is actually pretty short, so you could probably clear it in about 4-6 hours on your first playthrough. The game really isn't too bad once you understand enemy patterns and weaknesses. In particular, the Shadows are an enemy type that may seem tough at first until you realize how you're actually supposed to fight them (their namesake is a clue to how they behave in combat, *hint*hint*).

After that, I recommend skipping DMC2 (there is no need to play it for story, as it doesn't connect back to any of the other games, and the gameplay is atrocious), and going straight to DMC3, the best game in the franchise by far. If you enjoy DMC3, then 4 would also be worth your time as it's much in the same vain.

In general, though, it's imporant to note that the first DMC, while a definitive classic in my book, is very different in both feel and overall gameplay style from all of the sequels. DMC has a reputation for being a game series with over-the-top action and crazy-stylish combos, but what a lot of people don't realize is that it's DMC3 that first really started that whole trend. The first DMC has combos and such, but it's not so focused on going crazy with weapon switching and juggling enemies, so trying to approach it that way will be a quick way to get yourself killed. It really is better to approach situations with a lot more caution and reservation than you might expect for a game of this nature, and have a good grasp on enemy attack patterns and how to exploit them for max damage, especially when it comes to the bosses.

[Avaitor]

I was thinking of skipping 2, based on what I've read, and yeah, I think I'll at least put it on hold for now and go to 3 when I'm done with the first. Thank you. And additionally, thanks for that tip.

I got the trilogy for $2 a while ago. I can't find 4 for as good of a price right now, but if I keep on enjoying the games as I am right now, I wouldn't mind paying a little more. I'll let you know how I feel if I get to play more tonight.

Also, I didn't get a wireless adapter to connect to X-Box Live, so I can't update the console to play original X-Box games. I'm thinking of just bringing my original console back from home at this point, considering how much of a burden it's been getting to play Ninja Gaiden. I've additionally been wanting to go through Vice City again, so I would get use out of it.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Watching TS17's blind playthrough of Nier: Automota and how he struggled to make it past the first stage is one of the funniest things that I've seen in a while: http://youtu.be/nMf6kzOuwIM

Fair warning that he talks a lot of smack about the game during the first hour or so because of being booted to the main menu and being forced to play from scratch each time, but he also goes on to say that he will say all sorts of things during the heat of the moment when he's under pressure. So he initially seems to have this odd sort of love/hate-relationship with Nier, but either way, it's just really funny to listen to his commentary.

[Mustang]

Been working like crazy lately (7 days a week at the moment).

Mini rant incoming

Went back to playing Street Fighter x Tekken. It's crazy to think about the amount of heat this game got for the DLC stuff (rightfully so), but at least the game was complete, not to mention that the game is good/fun. Fast forward to today, Capcom throw in $250,000 and these same fans that murdered x Tekken are the same folks shilling hard for Street Fighter 5 and it's mind boggling. I've said it before, at its core, Street Fighter 5's game play is top notch, but they removed what was fun in season 1. The neutral game (I swear I'm growing so tired of hearing/reading about this) is what they're supposed to be focusing on but give me back the setups, high/low mixups, left/right mixups and vortex for that matter.

Anyway, as said, I went back to playing SFxT and this was how I wanted SF4 to turn out. 1-frame links were there, but they weren't needed (Except for probably Kazuya ). I suppose I could've done away with the tagging because it made the combos too long for me. I like stylish combos over long winded ones, but looking at it now I don't mind it here in xT because the most you're getting is 4-5 hits. And then there's the character roster. I know for certain I said that it's better to have a roster size of about 20-25 characters, but you tend to rethink things when you come across an incomplete game with great gameplay but boring characters.

Jin, Hwaorang, Dudley (of course), Steve, Ryu and Kazuya are the ones I'm playing. Jin/Dudley, Jin/Kazuya, and Jin/Hwaorang will be my go to teams.

[Foggle]

Watching TS17's blind playthrough of Nier: Automota and how he struggled to make it past the first stage is one of the funniest things that I've seen in a while: http://youtu.be/nMf6kzOuwIM

Fair warning that he talks a lot of smack about the game during the first hour or so because of being booted to the main menu and being forced to play from scratch each time, but he also goes on to say that he will say all sorts of things during the heat of the moment when he's under pressure. So he initially seems to have this odd sort of love/hate-relationship with Nier, but either way, it's just really funny to listen to his commentary.

Automata is really brutal on Hard difficulty, especially at the beginning. Unfortunately, Normal is also a little too easy unless you purposefully gimp yourself by not equipping the more OP chips. The game is still very fun regardless, but I do think they could have done a bit better with the balancing. Since there are no difficulty trophies, I'd wager the best way to play is to start on Normal mode and then switch to Hard once the game starts losing its challenge - that way it scales more like a proper character action game and less like an RPG.

Anyway, I'm pretty much finished with it now; I've still got a few side quests left to do as well as the superbosses, but that's about it. Don't take that as me implying it's short, as I dedicated a large portion of each day since Wednesday to playing it, to the point where I'm now sleep-deprived from staying up way too late every night.

In the end, it's not really a "normal" Platinum game or action RPG at all. The hack 'n slash combat is extremely well-developed and all the elements of a proper role-playing title are there, but while the original Nier had a penchant for throwing bullet hell sequences at you, this one is a bona fide 3D danmaku - the first of its kind that I'm aware of. Its difficulty level probably even rivals Cave shooters on the OHKO Very Hard setting. Even on Normal, the true final boss is basically impossible unless... well, I won't spoil it, but it's one of the finest moments in gaming history in terms of both absurdity and beauty. Not even exaggerating. You won't guess what it is, and it's utterly brilliant. Second best game ending of all time after its predecessor IMO.

As for the story, I found it both engaging and somewhat disappointing. The actual plot is - in a word - bizarre, while the themes and morals driving it are wonderfully conveyed. Unfortunately, the characters don't have as much dialogue or development as those of the first game. It's intentional, but I can't help feeling let down by this, as no one writes party banter like Yoko Taro and his team. There's still plenty of humor and memorable NPCs, but I never really felt a connection with the protagonists. Again, it's intentional, but it left me feeling a little hollow.

Also, now that I've beaten it, I would highly recommend playing the original Nier before this one unless you're okay with having the majority of its plot spoiled for you. The connections are only sly references at first, but by the end of the game it develops into what can more or less be considered a direct sequel, answering some of the questions left standing at the end of its predecessor and further developing the Drakenier universe into something even more twisted and perverse. You don't need to play Drakengard 1 or 3, though, as they're only vaguely alluded to in Automata.

Overall, I haven't enjoyed a game this much in a long time (and considering how much I loved RE7, that's really saying something). It's got a little bit of everything I love about the medium - tight melee combat, intense dodge-heavy shooting, platforming, exploration - with a lot of humor, a unique story, and a beautiful soundtrack. I'm not sure I prefer it over the original, as that one was a real lightning-in-a bottle experience that I don't think can ever be truly recreated, but it comes damn close.

Oh, and I'm sure it goes without saying, but it's not anywhere near finished the first time the credits roll. If you haven't seen Ending E, you haven't really played the game!

[Pharass]

Finished Night In the Woods yesterday. Great game, it definitely lived up to my expectations; its been awhile since I was this absorbed in a game.
The only real complaint I have (and its a minor one) regards the rather large amount of loading screens.

Some random observations:

On my next play-through, I shall try to do better at the band-practice rhythm-game, I kind of sucked at that.
There were times when I got the feeling that no matter what dialogue-prompt I picked, it would end up with Mae (the main character) screwing things up.

[Avaitor]

So apparently I can't save? I need to invest in a memory card and.or a wireless adapter so I can log into Live.

I'm so over this damn system. Every time I think I solve one problem, a new one comes, and I'm tired of all the investments. I'm just going to bring my original X-Box from home and forget about the 360.

[Foggle]

Nier Automata is selling really well in Japan! It almost hit 200,000 copies sold in its first week, which is about 3 times the amount the original did on launch. This makes it Platinum's second most successful game in their home country (after MGR), and it's even outselling Resident Evil 7 over there. This is great news, and means that a Nier Remaster and Nier 3 will very likely happen!

So apparently I can't save? I need to invest in a memory card and.or a wireless adapter so I can log into Live.

I'm so over this damn system. Every time I think I solve one problem, a new one comes, and I'm tired of all the investments. I'm just going to bring my original X-Box from home and forget about the 360.

Huh, I thought the Xbox 360 had a built-in hard drive. My launch console does...

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Glad to hear that Nier is doing so well in its home country. With the increasing amount of AAA Japanese games being made more to cater to an international audience, it's always refreshing to see a relatively big-budget title that doesn't give a fuck and just caters to its own fanbase, regardless of whether it has broad appeal or not. That's not a knock against games like RE7 or various other modern Japanese IPs, to be clear. I just appreciate that there are still a few games out there that aren't afraid of whether they would alienate a mainstream audience in favor of the director and developers bringing forth their own artistic vision of what they want the game to truly be and feel like.

I've been playing more of Nioh, each chance I get. I really can't stress enough how much I love this game's combat system. At any rate, I don't by any means think that the game is perfect, and I have my pet peeves with it as well as one or two major issues which hold it back from being as great as something like NGB, but I absolutely can't stand the backlash against this game. It happens with any game that gets a lot of buzz and good critical reception, and I'm all for making fair criticisms, but I see a lot of obnoxious comments that show how little of an understanding some people have of the game's mechanics, with people either bashing it for being too similar to Dark Souls (which it may be in regard to its general formula, but not at all in terms of actual gameplay mechanics) or not being enough like Souls game, which completely misses the point of this game being its own thing as a different developer's take on this unique sub-genre of challenging action RPGs.

One thing that I love about Team Ninja's design in this game is how they approach enemy and boss design. Mind you, it doesn't all work. There are some enemy types and bosses that I absolutely can't stand (fuck that goddamn Umi-Bozu fight), but the vast majority of them are both challenging and fun to fight, but as an added bonus Team Ninja really gives some of these enemy types s lot of interestinf personslity. For example, there are these wall demons that act like mini-bosses if you attack them and can unlock secret rooms or alternate pathways through levels if you defeat them. However, you can also completely avoid fighting them and get them to submit in one of two ways. One way is that you can find an alternate path that leads behind some of them. Now, their backs blend in completely with whichever wall they are a part of and you can easily overlook it, but observing carefully reveals a scroll attached to their backside, and upon removing it, they completely crumble. However even when facing them from the front, you can get them to peacefully leave if you select s proper specific gesture to use in front of them. You only get two tries, so it can seem like a bit of a crap-shoot and real luck-of-the-draw type scenario, but observant players will notice that almost all of them have Revenant graves lying near their location, and upon reading that Revenant's cause of death, it will actually give you a clue as to what gesture is the correct one to use in front of them. Those are two really interesting alternate ways to deal with a unique and interesting enemy type, and without having to resort to any sort of fighting.

Another interesting aspect of this game though is how Team Ninja designs almost all bosses with clear weaknesses. While some bosses can be a bit too much like attack sponges when fought normally, many have Mega-Man style weaknesses to one of the various different kinds of Guardian Spirits which you can acquire and equip throughout the game. But what I especially like is scenarios like this: remember that optional Tachibana Muneshige fight that I was talking about a while back? Well, you can fight him the normal way, like this, and prevail through use of good timing, spacing, and management of your stamina. However, you can also defeat him like this (@ 10:54). Fucking brilliant. Team Ninja really rewards you for taking risks, experimenting, and thinking outside of the box in certain instances, and that's just damn good game design. Where the hell has this development team been the last decade? Because they certainly can't be the same team thst churned out half-assed drek like Metroid: Other M or Ninja Gaide 3/Razor's Edge. This seems like the next logical game that the Team Ninja that made games like NGB, DS, 2, and DOAU would make.

[Avaitor]

So apparently I can't save? I need to invest in a memory card and.or a wireless adapter so I can log into Live.

I'm so over this damn system. Every time I think I solve one problem, a new one comes, and I'm tired of all the investments. I'm just going to bring my original X-Box from home and forget about the 360.

Huh, I thought the Xbox 360 had a built-in hard drive. My launch console does...

I don't know what the fuck is going on, but I think there might be a problem with this particular 360.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Out of curiosity, how old is your 360? The first one that I got died on me after just over a year, but the one that I got to replace it in 2008 has ran smoothly for me to this very day.

[Foggle]

I'm not sure I would consider Nier Automata to be big budget. I mean, it's certainly got more money invested in it than the previous games (especially Drakengard 3, which feels like it cost about as much as a happy meal), but it still feels like a low-to-mid budget game. Unless you mean that it has a relatively high budget in comparison to other niche Japanese titles, in which case, yeah, I'd definitely agree. There are a fair few bugs, but it's bursting with content, and it's got that nice Platinum polish to it. Someone on Reddit described it as the best PS2 game of the decade (paraphrasing), and I think that's spot on. It really feels like a high-tier sixth generation game in a lot of ways. I feel the same way about the original Nier, but some might find that opinion a bit contentious.

As for Nioh, I'm surprised to discover that Hayashi was one of the game's directors. Maybe he's finally figured out how to make a satisfying combat system!?

[VLordGTZ]

So apparently I can't save? I need to invest in a memory card and.or a wireless adapter so I can log into Live.

I'm so over this damn system. Every time I think I solve one problem, a new one comes, and I'm tired of all the investments. I'm just going to bring my original X-Box from home and forget about the 360.

Huh, I thought the Xbox 360 had a built-in hard drive. My launch console does...

I don't know what the fuck is going on, but I think there might be a problem with this particular 360.

There were two different models of the 360 at launch: 360 Pro and 360 Core.  The Pro came with an an internal hard drive while the Core did not have a hard drive and required memory cards for save data.  The one that you have is probably the Core model, Avaitor.  Honestly, most 360s prior to the Elite model are pretty bad due to a combination of low storage and a high chance of breaking down.  Ideally, you want either an Elite, S, or E model.  I bought a 360 S about 6 years ago, and it's continued to run perfectly.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I'm not sure I would consider Nier Automata to be big budget. I mean, it's certainly got more money invested in it than the previous games (especially Drakengard 3, which feels like it cost about as much as a happy meal), but it still feels like a low-to-mid budget game. Unless you mean that it has a relatively high budget in comparison to other niche Japanese titles, in which case, yeah, I'd definitely agree. There are a fair few bugs, but it's bursting with content, and it's got that nice Platinum polish to it. Someone on Reddit described it as the best PS2 game of the decade (paraphrasing), and I think that's spot on. It really feels like a high-tier sixth generation game in a lot of ways. I feel the same way about the original Nier, but some might find that opinion a bit contentious.

To be fair, I did specifically say "relatively" big budget. As in, it's clearly not an indie game, and had a good chunk of money from video game studio producers for funding. It's not a mega franchise blockbuster like Call of Duty or something, but it still had some sort of budget to work with.

As for Nioh, I'm surprised to discover that Hayashi was one of the game's directors. Maybe he's finally figured out how to make a satisfying combat system!?

He co-directed the game with the same guy who he co-directed NG3 with. Though, from what I hear he was more involved as a producer for this game than as a director, and he's probably better suited to being a producer.

I don't think that he doesn't understand what makes a good combat system, since he also worked on the original Ninja Gaiden for the XBOX. I believe that KoeiTecmo in general just took a terrible approach with NG3, trying to water it down to being something completely void of any fun, all in order to cater to a mainstream audience who don't care about these sorts of games either way.