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

Started by Foggle, February 28, 2014, 02:18:41 AM

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Mustang

Crisis averted. No more disconnection issues (for now). Got a Wi-Fi extender and so far it's been good. That being said, still no games that's really jumping out to me. Octopath Traveler 2 is the 1st real game that stands out and I'll get that next week.

Still continuing the training in BlazBlue Central Fiction. I'm jumping back and forth between Valkenhayn and Jin (I love my sword characters, especially the ones of the samurai draw style). Hazama and Litchi I'm thinking about tinkering around with as well. Even before I really got heavy into the game, back when it was Calamity Trigger, Hazama has always been that cool character I would've tried from the start. Litchi on the other hand is someone I started taking interest in recently. High-Low, Left-Right mixups, I love them. Both characters oozes them (Valk, again is a mixup monster). And then there's Susanoo and Hakumen. DAMAGE!!!

As happy as I am about Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom coming to Evo I don't know if I'm really going to jump back into it. I love the game. Love the community (especially now), but at this point right now the only team game I'm willing to put time into is Dragonball Fighterz. Family over community. The nephew is interested in DBFz and my brother-in-law plays from time to time. If enough people can talk me into coming back to UMvC3 I probably will though.
Street Fighter 6 - Ken, Cammy
Tekken 8 - Hwoarang, Lee, Kazuya

Mustang

BlazBlue Central Fiction
More training shenanigans. Besides extensive Jin training, I dabbled with other characters and found out real quick that some of them aren't for me at all lol. Litchi and Hazama in particular. These are Tekken characters lol (I'll throw Valkenhayn in there as well). I'm for learning characters that have so much utility but damn, all 3 of them? At the same time? OH HELL NO! I have a mean habit of jumping from character to character, but doing that with them I won't learn anything because movement is key to 2 of them (Hazama and Valk) while Litchi is essentially 2 characters in 1. It got overwhelming real quick because they require so much attention individually that you'll have no time to go to another character. So I've decided to main Jin fulltime. I think I recall saying once before that he has all the tools needed to deal with any situation even though he fell from top 10 to probably top 15. He's just one of those characters that's as good as the player. Meaning if you suck, your Jin sucks. I highly doubt it but I may try to dabble with Hakumen from time to time.

No Mahvel yet, but they're definitely tempting me.

Edit:

In between Training mode and Combo Trials with Jin. I'm on Hard Combo #6. Low and behold these damn microdashes and high jump canceling. They are the bane of my existence. Microdashing itself is not a problem. Microdashing into a crouching attack into a standing attack into high jump cancel is the problem because of timing. Even then, I'm starting to get the timing of the microdash. But that damn high jump cancel, a simple down, up and you get your high jump. So what's the problem? IT'S DOWN, UP, that's my problem. It's the same reason I stay away from charge characters. Down/Up, Left/Right kills me all the time. For the most part, it's me trying to high jump cancel from a diagonal down position to a diagonal up forward so Jin can move towards the character so the attack hits. I'm doing this on pad btw. I'm settling on pad since the type of controller I need don't exist yet. Hitbox murders my hands. Stick murders my hands. Pad kills my thumbs but at least my hands are still alive. Dammit Jin. You lucky you cool lol
Street Fighter 6 - Ken, Cammy
Tekken 8 - Hwoarang, Lee, Kazuya

Dr. Ensatsu-ken

You know, I still have a very skeptical stance on video game remakes. A lot of times I find them unnecessary and they tend to be more geared towards pleasing a modern crowd at the expense of the more intricate aspects (whether perceived as good or bad by said crowd) that made them special in the first place.

That said, even a jaded player like myself who tends to prefer the classics can't help but gush over how fucking good the RE4 remake is. Like, it pays all of the respect to the original while also doing so much of it's own thing mechanically to the point of having a gameplay style like nothing else on the market (except for the original, obviously). You can't compare it to any other third person shooters because at it's core, RE4 has always been a stylish action game (having more in common with Mikami's later game God Hand than with something like The Last of Us or Gears of War) with a horror theme in disguise as a third person shooter. Getting in close to kick or suplex enemies is just as important as the actual shooting, and there is so much variety in how you can tackle any given situation. I love how you can use the traps that enemies lay for you against them, for example, and at no point does the game have to hold your hand for you to capitalize on any of it's hidden depth. It actually makes so much more sense in retrospect how Vanquish was the natural next step of what Mikami wanted to do with this kind of gameplay style.

This right here is what I wish more AAA games in the industry would strive for. It makes me feel justified in why I find games like The Last of Us, Uncharted, or the modern God of War games (for a moe melee focused equivalent) to be so mediocre. Just my opinion of course, but those games don't hold a candle to the amount of detail in this game's mechanics that makes it feel so versatile. I could see myself coming back to this multiple times throughout the next few years. I haven't even beaten my first run yet, but it's definitely not a one-and-done affair. I can say that much for certain.

Funny thing is I'm finally going through RE2's remake at the same time. I just finished the Police Station portion of Leon's campaign, and since 4 is a direct sequel to 2 in terms of Leon's story, it's also a great example of how varied Capcom's games are even within their own series. The two, aside from having an OTS perspective, couldn't play more differently and actually reflect Leon's character quite well from story to gameplay. In RE2, he's a rookie cop who finds himself in a situation which is way over his head and he's just struggling to survive while trying to do the right thing. In RE4 he's has 6 years of intense training in-between and is a mercenary bad-ass, and the gameplay reflects that in how he takes on hordes of enemies so effeciently as if he were John Wick.

It's games like RE2, RE4, and DMC5 from a few years back that really solidifies why Capcom games are so fucking awesome in a way that very few other publishers can even begin to compete with. Now imagine if a new Ninja Gaiden game got shown this kind of love from Team Ninja....

Foggle

I wasn't expecting much but after playing it I totally agree with everything you said about the RE4 remake! It's really, really great, and while I don't think it outdoes or replaces the original, it's probably the most pure fun I've had with a new AAA game since Rift Apart. For every part I was sad they altered or cut, there was an entirely new or improved sequence that made me smile. I especially love what they did with the Krauser boss fights, lake section, Ashley (post-water room), and mine cart ride. I very much hope RE9 is a continuation of this gameplay style, hell, even make it about Leon having a big dumb adventure again.

Mustang

I'm not a fan of Resident Evil at all. Lord knows I can't take the gushing (I'm sorry, Huber wore me out with this franchise), but I can take it as long as it's coming from anyone except Easy Allies lol.

Semi-jokes aside, I do watch people play it though and I do respect the franchise. I don't necessarily have a beef with the game, but the genre as a whole I hate being limited (My rationale won't let me enjoy horror at all. Be it games, movies, books, etc). I hate sluggish movements. Making my character run slow just to amp up the intensity, that don't get me excited. But I get it. Like I said, Resident Evil has my utmost respect (along with probably Dead Space) for what it's done for gaming (and content these days)

I might have my PS5 come next Saturday if things play out right. Not entirely sure what I'm going to get on it though since everything that I'm interested in can be played on the PS4. I'm really getting it just so I can give my brother my PS4 so that he can finally experience some of these games. He's very much into the Batman's so I want him to try out Spider-Man, and he's a huge fan of Red Dead so I know he's going to enjoy Red Dead 2. And then both he and my nephew are heavily into Yugioh so we'll probably jump into Master Duelist, as far as I know you can crossplay between the 2 systems, so there's that.

If I play my cards right, not only will I be able to acquire a PS5, but a little bit after rent I may be able to acquire a Switch as well just in time for Tears of the Kingdom. There's been quite a few games that came out specifically on the Switch that I'm interested in, mainly speaking of Shin Megami Tensei 5 and the Fire Emblems. I've never played them but I've always wanted to. Then there's Xenoblade Chronicles 3 that I'm interested in as well. I can get behind this cast of characters. The cast in the previous games, not so much.

Other than that I have to continue waiting for Final Fantasy 16 (which I think is not going to live up to everyone's expectations).
Street Fighter 6 - Ken, Cammy
Tekken 8 - Hwoarang, Lee, Kazuya

Dr. Ensatsu-ken

The thing about RE4 is that it's not really survival horror like it's predecessors though. It's more of a straight up action game with a horror theme. It's like if you sent John Wick to go up against a hoard of brainwashed villagers who have succumbed to hostile parasites.

For me the appeal of this game, like most games that I like, is in the insane combat depth and just how versatile your strategies for any given situation cam be.

Mustang

I'm aware. I've seen it through its many re-releases and ports/remasters, and I've seen this one. Unfortunately, this is one series I cannot be talked into (Believe it or not I can be talked into souls) let alone, genre (like I said, my rationale won't let me enjoy it. I think too logically. The moment I see a person going somewhere they shouldn't I've already checked out)
Street Fighter 6 - Ken, Cammy
Tekken 8 - Hwoarang, Lee, Kazuya

Mustang

Currently testing out my PS5. Not too shabby so far. The controller feels weird though. Not really digging the buttons. If I'm playing a game that requires multiple presses (mashing) I feel like the buttons would get in my way a little (like it might get stuck in the long run). I guess I won't really get the full experience until I get a game suitable for the PS5. All the games I currently have leftover are fighting games and subpar JRPGs.

In the meantime, BlazBlue: Central Fiction, I still haven't been able to hit that damn combo with Jin lol. And with the buttons feeling extra weird at the moment, high-jump canceling is going to be a bigger hurdle. Oh well. I got quite a few games with combo trials to carry me over for a little bit until I get Final Fantasy 16. 4 of them are very extensive so it's going to be a while and a lot of pain for me lol.
Street Fighter 6 - Ken, Cammy
Tekken 8 - Hwoarang, Lee, Kazuya

Mustang

Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3
As I said in the fighting game thread, people really know how to reel me in with this game. All it takes "come get this work" and it's on. That being said, until the big throw down (more or this in a bit), I've been doing quite a bit of combo-theory practicing for a point Vergil team. I know team Clockwork (Vergil, Doom, Strider) might be the strongest point Vergil team out there, but I wanted to test the waters a little bit. Angelic (seasoned vet of UMvC3) really opened my eyes a couple nights ago with his Vergil team. He's using Vergil, Morrigan, Shuma. While I hate Shuma, I can also see that his beam works well with Vergil and that got me thinking about other beam characters. Right now I'm testing out Vergil/Ironman/Doom (want to get away from Doom but that might not happen since he and Vergil are best buddies). It's kinda messed up that it's either Vergil/Doom or Vergil/Dante. Nobody has the vertical assist that Hidden Missles or Jam Session provide because I definitely want to break away from that mold, but oh well.

Ultra Street Fighter 4
So why am I coming back to this when I said I was done? You see, a lot of the times I stay humble and let these kids bark back n forth, but when you want to bring me back to "war-mode" I come back to this. It was all in good fun until you want to start coming at old heads like we don't know our shit. For some reason it's never 18-21 year olds. It's almost always these damn 25-30 year olds that think they hot shit.

Guilty Gear Strive
And this is the game we decided to collide in. He has 1 tournament under his belt in this game and quit, while I have training mode under mine (fuck around and find out you don't mess with training mode monsters)

So what happened? Well, all this talk about Street Fighter 6 and the cracked Beta and whatnot. People saying those who got it should be banned when it comes to tournaments. I'm no tournament player so this don't affect me. Me being me, coming at it from an "indifferent" viewpoint, cause there's all this talk about how a cracked-beta player will dominate and whatnot. I see the point and I get it. Like I said, me being me, I say, "day 1, beta-player vs Justin Wong, I'm not betting against JWong", and my mans responds with he'll take beta player free. Cool, I respond with "fundamentals carries you a long way in Street Fighter" and he goes into all this option-selects, drive rushes, so on and so forth. I said John Choi didn't need any of that in SF4, fundamentals crosses over no what matter what Street Fighter game you come from. He goes on this tangent about old people. Usually, I'm cool on this but folks need to watch their tone.

Granted, I'm a nobody, but at the same time I'm like "who you talking to?" All you got is Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 and Dragon Ball FighterZ under your belt. I've been in the scene since 07-08 with Alpha 3 and SSF4. There's a reason why Street Fighter players (as bull-headed as we were back then) would tell Marvel players to STICK to Marvel. Slow the game down and you wouldn't know damn thing. Push blocking and reflecting teaches you bad habits because all you do is MASH (LIKE A FUCKIN SCRUB). There's a reason why Punk, Justin Wong, and Latif (granted, Latif is a GG player 1st and foremost, but I know him as THE VIPER player that beat Daigo) went a dominated Strive at the beginning. Their FUNDAMENTALS CARRIED THEM! Ain't no way in hell should Justin Wong of all people be beating folks in their own game. Street Fighter fundamentals can be applied in every single fighting game you can name.

So there you have it. I'ma bust his ass in Strive in a 1st to 10, and then I'ma go back to being humble. This warmode of me aint right, cause the hood part of me just come right out.

OoooooH!!! I haven't been this heated in a minute. Saturday can't come fast enough.
Street Fighter 6 - Ken, Cammy
Tekken 8 - Hwoarang, Lee, Kazuya

Mustang

Aw yeah, I'm back. Wow 9 hrs. Lot's of fun. Did I need it? For sure. Got my mind off a lot. I'm no tournament player anymore, but going to my local just felt good to get that peer-to-peer interaction going again. Win or loss, I would've given the update btw. That being said

Guilty Gear Strive
That BUSS-ASS happened. Again, I won't mention names because he's a "pro" (DBFz and UMvC3 player) and decided to show up. My Sol vs his Sol. 10-3 my win. I was already coming in hot (like "you mad bro" kinda hot. So much going on in the personal life). So my man's take the first 2 games and look at me to get the crowd going. I'm like, "bet, bitch". Next thing you know it's 4-2. I'm telling him, don't let me get 6 wins. 4-3, he tells me he still in it. 5-3, I just stare at him. 6-3, YOU FUCKIN SUCK!!! I told you don't let me get to 6. At this point, he's not nervous, but it's getting to him. The T.O. (tournament organizer) plays Destiny Awaits (I call it Byakuya's bankai song lol). The timing was too good. I shake my head laughing at him (The T.O. knows that I don't pop-off so he knows I'm too heated)  and continue the set. 10-3, I shake his hand and tell him "don't disrespect the OGs. May not be able to keep up with the 3v3 team games but we can still buss yo ass in any 1v1 game". I could've been a savage and told him to "take yo ass home", but at the end of the day, I kept it within the game. It's just trash talk. He know it, I know it.

That was the big one. I played 2 other sets. Went 8-10 against a Happy Chaos player. And 10-6 against a Zato player. Btw, no money was involved. I'm more of a bragging rights type of guy. I don't need your money. There used to be days where sets were ran 24/7, some was grinding/training, some were to handle in-game beefs (street shit couldn't be handled), and bragging rights or just trying to be the best. Nowadays money gotta be involved to get sets ran. I'm not with that. Things can turn left real quick. I'm not from the streets but I'm from the hood (what you hear/heard about Detroit is probably true and I've probably seen it), and when things turn left it's usually because of either women or money.

Anyway, ran a couple of 1st 5's in 3rd Strike and UMvC3 (yeah, he got his get-back lol. 5-1'd me). Overall, it wasn't EVO, but tons of fun.

So what's next? Not sure to be honest. I've practically did a 180 on most of these fighting games (dropped them). Trying to get back in shape or learn some of these games is too much. There's too much digging that I gotta go through, not to mention Street Fighter 6 is right around the corner. Discord's not for me. Just give me my guides and players to follow and keep it pushing. If I ever get the chance to upgrade to PC gaming I'll make the jump to MvC1/2 and CvS2 and commit to those while waiting for Project L. Those old school games that a lot of us grew/came up on, I can get a lot of mileage out of those games, especially if you're telling me that I can get a chance to run sets against the likes of a Smug, Justin Wong, and Maximilian. Right now I'll probably just play 3rd Strike and UMvC3. Might throw in a little bit of Alpha 3 as well.
Street Fighter 6 - Ken, Cammy
Tekken 8 - Hwoarang, Lee, Kazuya

Mustang

Turns out my chances of getting that gaming PC is brighter than ever now. I found a couple at Amazon between $500-$650. Basic and cheap, yep, I'm not looking to do that hardcore gaming on it. Hell, the only games I'm planning to play on it are the oldies on Fightcade; X-Men vs Street Fighters, Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighters, Marvel vs Capcom 1&2, Capcom vs SNK 2, Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3, 3rd Strike and King of Fighters 13 to be more specific. Anything beyond that on Steam, I'm not entirely sure just yet. Good ole Guilty Gear X2+R will be a must, but after that I don't know. There's not a lot out there I'm willing to take a leap on. Among Us, Jackbox and Uno might be some must haves so me and my family can all play games instead of just me and my nephew or me and my brother-in-law. I can probably start streaming around that time as well, but I have something planned for that (IF I ever decide to become a streamer), but right now, I'm gonna keep it real simple and basic. But, again, I gotta play my cards right. Might be able to get it before the year ends or next year when taxes roll around.

Having said that;

Nioh Collection
I just bought this (I know, should've/could've kept the PS4 version, but I wanted my brother to experience them). I've been craving a bit of Nioh and since it's going to be a little bit before I get my hands on another Switch and Tears of the Kingdom I gotta make this PS5 useful for something and Nioh 1/2 are the games I can sink my time into until Final Fantasy 16 (Yep, you see that right lol. I'm not skipping Street Fighter 6, but I'm skipping Street Fighter 6 lol). I probably should've brought Nioh 2 because I want to try out the claws, but me being me, I gotta show some love to the original. I almost always gotta start with the original first. Get my ass handed to me a couple of times and then probably move onto the 2nd one.

Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3
Not being able to play like I want to on the PS5. Dualshock controllers are terrible for me these days. Whatever, it's just training mode anyway. That journey to finding the perfect point Vergil team might be impossible due to my stubbornness. There are just some characters in this game I am not touching, and Shuma Gorath is one of them along with MODOK and Sentinel (along with quite a few others). And even then, all the teams I keep coming up with needs either Doom or Dante lol. There's one idea in my head that I'm toying around with; Vergil, Dormammu, Magneto (I think most people would do the reverse, Mag on point with dark Vergil anchor), but the idea in my head is if you kill Vergil you still have a scary duo to contend with which is why I keep landing on Doom because Doom just makes everyone better (Not to mention you realize just how strong the Doom/Vergil, Dante/Vergil, and Morridoom shells really are). Even though I don't plan on competing I do think Vergil, Dorm, Mag (can probably drop Mag for Strange) can contend with some of the top tiers. The overall goal for this whole thing was to not use Strider (Team Clockwork is goated). To be honest I don't like Strider. I love ninja's but not him. Don't care for his design nor playstyle. I might have to scrap the whole idea though. At the end of the day I still have Wolverine/Spider-Man May Cry teams to fall back on, especially when I get tired of the Doom/Vergil shell.
Street Fighter 6 - Ken, Cammy
Tekken 8 - Hwoarang, Lee, Kazuya

Mustang

Nioh 1

Ooh, boy, I'm feeling the rust lol. Not that I was ever great before, but I at least was at a point to where I felt comfortable running in guns blazing a bit without any fear. Right now I'm kinda creeping by everything lol. I did happen to beat Hino on my "first" try. Before that, I died to the wall statue cause I forgot how to get out of the screen with the gestures lol. As far as controls go, still feels weird, but it fits I guess. As far as the build, not sure what I want to do yet. I'm bouncing back and forth between Katana/Dual Swords and Katana/Tonfa's. Kinda want to keep Ninjutsu and Onmyo balanced until I figure out which direction I want to go, although I'm leaning towards Ninjutsu. Having said all of that, I'm not there yet, but I'm not sure if I'm looking forward to this fight coming up down the road that involves a certain person that thinks he's superman lol.
Street Fighter 6 - Ken, Cammy
Tekken 8 - Hwoarang, Lee, Kazuya

Mustang

Spider-Man
Even before the Sony's State of Play video of Spider-Man 2, I was already thinking about booting this game up again. I don't know, just had the urge to play it. I'm having fun with it. Sure, it doesn't have the best combat. Hell, it's combat, is probably the weakest I've played comparing to Arkham, and probably it's biggest weakness, but whatever, you know. Sometimes you just feel like playing one of them games that'll put you in a good mood and this one is doing it for me at the moment.

I'll probably end up getting FF16 next week. Money not right this week.
Street Fighter 6 - Ken, Cammy
Tekken 8 - Hwoarang, Lee, Kazuya

Mustang

Spider-Man
Main story is complete and finished The Heist. Currently doing Turf Wars at the moment. I think I know what it is that's making me enjoy this over the Batman games. Even though they're relatively the same, it's not the combat. Combat in Batman got this beat. I like Batman overall as a martial artists, whereas Spider-man, just feels like he's flailing all over the place. Nah, I enjoy Spider-man because of everything else (except the stealth as other characters). But then again, I'm bias because I enjoy most of Marvel's main characters story over DC. Anyway, the sections that I don't enjoy are where I have to chase things and put under timers, so, yeah, Taskmaster and Screwball stuff are no, no's for me. I could dig their section if you just take away the timer. Let me enjoy my games without the duress of being timed. That'll make me not want to ever play again. Anyway, I do plan to do a new game+ just to see what carries over and whatnot.

I've practically given up on Twitch at the moment. For some reason the sound is so low and I can't hear anything on this laptop when watching videos (yep, speakers are at max and I don't like having to use headphones on my computer) so I'm all Youtube now (on my tv and phone only)
Street Fighter 6 - Ken, Cammy
Tekken 8 - Hwoarang, Lee, Kazuya

Mustang

Spider-Man: Miles Morales
Shorter than expected. I think the original games was about 20-30hrs. This one might be about 10-12 hrs. Feels about as long as a summer blockbuster movie. I thought it was cool. I think I prefer the original over this one to be honest. I think that's because I don't know Miles and I grew up with Peter. Not to mention I'm not aware of any of Miles enemies so I don't know if more could've been done here or not. Even on a gadget level, the original just have more going for it. I understand that Miles venom powers was more of the focus but there was stuff I was wishing I'd have from Peters gadgets over Miles. The suits might've been put to better use here than in the original. That's about the only thing this one excels at. Still a cool game though. I think people might've been overrating this one a tad bit as well, but the message was loud and clear, and I did like the message as well.

Street Fighter 6
Installing as we speak. I'm only playing Ken and Juri. I may play a bit of Ryu, Chun and Cammy just to see what they're like, but I have no desire to try out the other characters just yet. I may hop on rank, but like other fighters I may skip rank altogether. Looking at how people are treating rank with 1 and dones, whether they win or lose, I'm not digging. From one of the Youtuber's I watch perspective, he seem to run into a lot of 1 and dones in Platinum rank. So I may skip rank completely and send a bunch of invites and create a room/lobby or something of that nature.

Don't have Final Fantasy 16 yet, but I'm sort of back to playing games as you can see. My funk has tethered a bit. Been enjoying my time in the open world games (at least in the case of Spider-Man's) and probably will fire up Ghosts of Tsushima (against my better judgment) and hop into that world until I get my hands on FF16.

After FF16 might be Legend of Heroes: Trails into Reverie.
Street Fighter 6 - Ken, Cammy
Tekken 8 - Hwoarang, Lee, Kazuya