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

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

On the topic of mini consoles, I also recently got a Neo Geo Mini since the international version is available for just under $60 online (though it's about $80 when you add a controller which is sold separately). While the release got mixed reviews, it seems to be that hardcore Neo Geo fans who were lucky enough to experience the original console are a bit disappointed since the emulation, while mostly well done, leaves some games not being perfect ports of the original, and the controller pads are decidedly lower quality since the analogue stick lacks the micro-switches built into the original (this was clearly done to keep the cost down).

That said, as someone who never experienced the original, I can't tell the difference, and honestly I haven't tried a single game yet that doesn't run and control smoothly. Naturally, a majority of games on here are fighting games so this isn't a collection for anyone who really doesn't care for that genre, but I personally love those old-school style games regardless of how badly I suck at them. However, there are a good number of other arcade classics on here. I myself have been playing the shit out of Metal Slug and Blazing Star, as well as Sengoku 3 (one of the best 2D beat-em-ups of all time, BTW), though I already own and have played the PS4 version. Same with Garou: Mark of the Wolves. I also dabbled a bit in Magician Lord (which is surprisingly fun and I may come back to it later) and a few other obscure retro titles.

Personally, I'm really loving this mini so far, and between this and the Genesis, I'm pretty set on good 16-bit classics for a while.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I just beat MMX3, which I have mixed feelings on because this was fun to play in terms of having the same great mechanics established in the first X game. However, it also inflated the difficulty in really annoying ways that hampered a lot of that fun. I do still like it overall, but I probably wouldn't go back to replay it like the first two.

I'm excited to start X4, though, which I hear is arguably on par with the first game. After that, I'm aware that the series takes a nosedive in quality, but I'll get around to that eventually.

[Foggle]

I also got a Neo Geo Mini for around the same price late last year! It's a pretty nice little box, my only disappointment is that the Metal Slug games have the blood turned off. Of course, I already have 3 other ways of playing those uncensored anyway. I love old SNK games even though I suck at them, I don't think anyone has ever done pixel art better (at least, not consistently). The Anniversary Collection and ACA Neo Geo series are great investments as well.

I was interested in the Genesis Mini but I think the collection I have on Steam has pretty much the same games. There's definitely some novelty to owning the actual hardware but since I didn't grow up with the console I didn't have any nostalgia to push me over the edge into buying it. Now, if they ever released an N64 or PS2 Mini...

Speaking of classic Sega games, Saturn and Dreamcast emulation are actually really good now so I've been checking out a bunch of games I've been interested in for well over a decade. I would prefer to own physical copies but since they're so expensive and don't display well on modern televisions I'd rather try before I buy y'know (not that I even own an actual Saturn...). I'm already collecting PS2 and original Xbox games anyway.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I also got a Neo Geo Mini for around the same price late last year! It's a pretty nice little box, my only disappointment is that the Metal Slug games have the blood turned off. Of course, I already have 3 other ways of playing those uncensored anyway. I love old SNK games even though I suck at them, I don't think anyone has ever done pixel art better (at least, not consistently). The Anniversary Collection and ACA Neo Geo series are great investments as well.

Which version did you get? I got the international version, which defaults to Japanese text, but you can switch it to English in the settings. Though, all of the games themselves are Japanese text and audio only, but being non-story focused arcade games and all, that's hardly a dealbreaker for me, personally. This version absolutely has blood and now censorship in any of it's games that I'm aware of, but it does sadly lack Metal Slug X and a few other notable SNK arcade classics.

Speaking of classic Sega games, Saturn and Dreamcast emulation are actually really good now so I've been checking out a bunch of games I've been interested in for well over a decade. I would prefer to own physical copies but since they're so expensive and don't display well on modern televisions I'd rather try before I buy y'know (not that I even own an actual Saturn...). I'm already collecting PS2 and original Xbox games anyway.

You may already be aware of this, but Retro RGB is really good about giving out modern solutions for how to get retro consoles to look good on modern TVs that don't involve overly complex procedures.

As for me, I did things the hard way with my Gamecube with trial and error, but I finally found an S-video to HDMI transfer pack that looks quite good in 720p with an automatic 4:3 aspect ratio presentation.

[Foggle]

Oh yeah, I bought the western version since it had all the Metal Slug games in it, that must be why.

Thanks for the recommendation, I'll definitely have to check it out. I have an HDMI converter cable for my PS2 but everything is still super washed out with it. Thankfully I was able to snag some official component cables for my Xbox, which still seems to be the best way to play it.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

So, as someone who found The Last of Us to be a fairly average game that got by on high production values, I had no plans to play the sequel and didn't even bother to keep up with any news on it. I just figured it'd get heaped with praise like the first game or something like Nu God of War and that I'd just harmlessly ignore it (nothing against anyone who genuinely loves either of those games, obviously).

But, wow, a good portion of the fanbase is turning on this one harder than people did on The Last Jedi, so I checked out a plot synopsis of the game to see what all of the fuss is about. I was already expecting something akin to the first game that was more invested in pushing themes and characters with the appearance of depth and groundbreaking concepts than in actually telling a good story, but if what I've read about it is true, it's like on top of that if you combined it with one of those edgy comic books that tried to amp up character deaths for shock value in a desperate attempt to seem mature. To be fair, I haven't played the game so it's not like I'm really qualified to critique it, but based on Naughty Dog's track record from this past decade it's not too hard to believe.

[Mustang]

I'm in the same boat as you. Even though I'm a fan of the Uncharted series (not hardcore or anything) but when it comes to TLOU I'm the complete opposite. I have no desire to play it at all, but, like you, I decided to check out all the noise and to my surprise I see people going ham over review scores and endings and whatnot.

Honestly, I have no input on anything revolving around Last of Us, but I am shocked that even folks like Easy Allies (Huber of all people) is catching all types of hell. For the most part, I roll my eyes every time Huber talks (nothing against him, but he's too hyperbolic for me) but even I acknowledge that he's genuine when it comes to these type of games because he's always into them (for sure he can be bias, but "shrugs"). I seem to recall his favorite genre is survival horror and story driven games.

[Dr. Insomniac]

But, wow, a good portion of the fanbase is turning on this one harder than people did on The Last Jedi, so I checked out a plot synopsis of the game to see what all of the fuss is about.

I read the leaks and watched some of the scenes, and I'd compare it to a Star Wars movie where a kid whose parents worked on the first Death Star when it blew up brutally murders Luke in front of his friends as revenge, and Luke's loved ones go on a merciless road of rampage until they refuse to kill that character because "revenge is bad or something", even though they've killed countless other characters in the movie.

I just want to say I hate the cliche where the main character spares the main villain's life for moral reasons even though they've already killed countless henchmen. Even shows I love like Avatar do that shit.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

The whole "but revenge is bad, y'all" cliche really irks me when it's done so poorly. It's the most obvious message in the world but I feel like pretentious writers love to use it to try and seem subversive and meaningful without understanding a bit what they are actually saying with it. The way TLOU2 uses it seems to be that Ellie sparing Abby at the end is some sort of profound revelation when it doesn't actually absolve either of them of the terrible things that they have done. That's something that even a movie as flawed as Spider-Man 3 seemed to have a better grasp on than this game.

An example of the "revenge is bad" theme being executed well is in one of the First Law spin-off books by Joe Abercrombie, in which Monza's revenge scheme does ultimately succeed by the end but fucks over a ton of innocent lives in the process and leaves the main character with a ton of regrets and guilt but not a lick of actual satisfaction. It displays the violence and carnage that goes along with vengeance without betraying the characters, portraying all parties as nuanced and layered, and actually understanding how to tell a proper story in the process. The cutscenes that I've checked out of TLOU2 on Youtube as well as the common criticism I hear is that the plot has a really sloppy structure with no sense of direction and characters wandering in and out of situations without any real point or cohesion. While I'm not a big fan of the first game, personally, I'll give it credit for at least understanding the basics of how to tell a structured story-line with a sensible path of progression for it's characters.

More than anything else, though, I think it's perceived as just outright bad by even the biggest fans of the first game because of how poorly written it is. A big reoccurring complaint that I see in comments and videos is that the writing seems "contrived" and "forced" to make situations like this happen. This video explains that point pretty well: https://youtu.be/OkvLu4DlY8k

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Been playing The Wonderful 101 Remastered on the Nintendo Switch. This game's controls definitely have a learning curve and I utterly suck at reacting to the Unite Morph QTEs or figuring out what the game wants me to do at key moments. That said, I can put up with all of it because the base combat is so good. It's a key aspect of what I've come to realize about all character action games. It doesn't matter how many combos or advanced techniques you can do, but rather how engaging the core mechanics feel. If it's not already fun on a base level, it won't be fun to get any better at the game and learn more about what it has to offer. TW101 clearly does not have a focus on Bayonetta-esque combos nor does it have any mechanics that are too complex for anyone to be expected to perform. It instead designs simple gameplay mechanics and cleverly designs the levels and enemies around those mechanics, and then trusts the player to intuitively use the tools that they have to engage with their obstacles. Thus, the simplicity of the game works in it's favor, though of course there is tons of nuance and layers of depth to the combat despite it's relatively simple nature.

My one and only major gripe so far is the very questionable, and IMO, poor decision to mandatorily have an arcade-style continue system in the game where the player just picks up literally right where they left off when they choose to continue, otherwise have to reset the entire level if they don't want to. Whatever happened to just basic checkpoints? It feels unsatisfying to die and then pick back up anyways without having to win a fight cleanly from beginning to end, but it's just as frustrating to restart an entire mission when you're far enough into it because of how long they tend to be for an action game. I don't mind dying and being fairly punished for it, but I absolutely can't stand screwing up and having to self-inflict an extra hard punishment on myself, or just treat it like nothing happened. I get that it hurts your ranking at the end if you use continues, but it still feels trivial at best. Plus, that system actively de-incentivizes players getting better at the game, which is really counterintuitive to a character action game like this which is all about learning it's mechanics. Having to restart at a checkpoint is one of the oldest video game tropes of all, but it exists for a reason: it incentivizes players to learn the mechanics of a game to maximize the gameplay's potential. A continue system that treats a game over like it never happened will never help players improve and thus won't get them to truly appreciate the gameplay unless they go out of their way to do so (which is kind of what I'm doing right now).

Also, a minor complaint is the forced shoot-em-up sections in a melee-based action game. However, this is a Hideki Kamiya game, so it's pretty par for the course at this point.

Of course, nedless to say my complaint doesn't change the fact that I really enjoy this game so far on the whole, and will likely replay it several times over to really try and master it. It's amusing how a kid-friendly superhero game for Nintendo has simple yet thoughtful and creative gameplay that can be so engaging on a clearly restrained budget; meanwhile most modern AAA titles with high-budget presentations score perfectly on review outlets despite completely derivative and uninspired gameplay in most cases.

[Mustang]

Finally got my HitBox back, but at what cost? I don't even feel like playing any of these fighting games right now with everything going on and whatnot. Anyway, I haven't had this thing since the beginning of the year. Probably would've gotten it sooner if it weren't for CoVid.
That being said, I'll probably focus on fighting games a lot more until Ghost of Tsushima comes out.

Right now, though, I just went through training mode as Dudley and Ryu in Ultra Street Fighter 4. Both of them definitely needs work.

Probably tackle a little bit of DBFz tomorrow or a little bit later on tonight/overnight. I think the shell I'm gonna tinker around with is Adult Gohan and Yamcha. There's a lot of characters I want to fidget around with as my point character, namely UIGoku, Vegito, Hit, Cell, Beerus and maybe Piccolo (Bardock, Base Vegeta are no brainers but I want to build a team for them separately)

Might even fire up some Tekken 7 and Guilty Gear Xrd tomorrow.

As for single player games I played a little bit more of Trails of Cold Steel 2. Finished some more side stories. Still not ready to finish this game off lol. I need to hurry up though because I want to get my hands on ToCS3 and I want to finish that up before ToCS4 comes out. I also have Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Nioh 2 (hell, I still need to finish the 1st one) to get through too.

[Mustang]

Trails of Cold Steel 2
Good God, this game is long. I beat the final dungeon or so I thought. Turns out there's an epilogue and then another damn final dungeon. Seriously, if there's a flaw to JRPG's it's this excessive padding. On the plus side of things I've grown attached to the core cast of characters and quite a few of the side characters. Hopefully I won't be too fatigued to finish this because it's definitely time to move on, especially since I have Ghost of Tsushima waiting for me. I've been hearing some great things about that game and from I've seen of it, it might be my GOTY.

Anyway, fighting game wise, it's still been Dragon Ball Fighterz and Tekken 7.

[talonmalon333]

Mario Odyssey is excellent!

Considering how much I loved Galaxy when it came out, this might be the best successor that I could have asked for. I might still prefer Galaxy and its sequel by a hair, but this feels like the perfect utilization of the more open ended platformer concept that 64 did. I especially like the desert and city lands.

[Mustang]

Finally beat Trails of Cold Hard Steel 2. Very long game. Might give the Persona series a run for length. This one tugged on the strings a little bit. I don't really get emotional for a story, but this one almost got me. Since it's the same cast from ToCS1 these characters left a memorable impression on me. Makes me kinda regret some of my choices I made in my left time. None of them individually hold a candle to the likes of a, let's say Dante, Vergil, Cloud, or Sephiroth, but as a collective, you just don't want much to happen to this group of characters as they are kids at the end of the day.

I'm still not entirely sure how quartz and arts work. I mean I get Impede, Action and whanot. I mainly used other folks setups for my characters. I get what role the majority of the characters can play, but not entirely sure how I'd go about it myself. I mean once you figured out that 4 particular characters go well together it kind of makes you wonder is there a reason to go a different route, especially because 1 character does their role so well that there is no one else that can handle that role. Sure anyone can heal, but no one can really replenish CP and to me that 1 character is detrimental. I tried experimenting a little bit but found myself lost w/o said character.

Story wise, it was entertaining. Typical anime type stuff although I do wish the main character was one of the other characters. Nothing against Rean, but most people know I like the characters that're moody / edgy.

That being said this series has been great. I have ToCS3 on deck but it's probably going to be a while before I get to it. I'm a little burnt out on JRPG's and I have Ghost of Tsushima next.

Speaking of, I played roughly 20 minutes of it. I can say much from the little bit, but so far it's good.

[Avaitor]

So I'm still playing Animal Crossing every day. It's a nice, calming way to help ease some of the tensions brought on by COVID, and it's just a lot of fun to fish.

But I do agree with the criticism that it's not really finished. I don't even mind that some features are deliberately missing when you time jump, like holiday specials, since it encourages keeping up year round. What bugs me is how the building system and furniture collections feel incomplete. On the former, there are a lot of items that are available in different colors, yet you're not able to change the color yourself even if you have paint. The inability to make more than one item at a time also stings. As for the latter, it seems like I've seen every item I can buy thus far, since looking online, it doesn't seem like I'm missing much. I like to collect musical instruments and clocks for my house, but I think that I have everything I need there.

What really hurts is the villagers, and their dialogue. A big part of the franchise's charm is how you're able to build connections with your neighbors, and have fun conversations with them. Here, whenever I try to talk to my villagers, I seldom get more from them than a "it's nice of you to check up on me!" They'll still ask me to run errands for them occasionally, and I understand that it's a badge of honor to receive a portrait of them, which has happened once so far, but they're hardly distinguishable at this point beyond their species and the handful of personality types scattered around the characters.

Ah well, I'm still having fun with the game. It does make me want to find my copy of the original GCN version and dust it off for old times sake. We'll see if I do.