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

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Thanks for the recommendations. Is Onimusha 3 the one where they got rid of the tank controls? I have fond memories of the first 2 games, but I'm scared to go back to them and find that they haven't aged well, because tank controls should never be mixed with hack n' slash style gameplay.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I'd also suggest Contra: Shattered Soldier, Klonoa 2, Ratchet Deadlocked (I like it more than 1), Maximo: Ghosts to Glory, Sly Cooper & The Thievius Raccoonus, and Neo Contra if you're feeling feisty.

[Foggle]

Thanks for the recommendations. Is Onimusha 3 the one where they got rid of the tank controls? I have fond memories of the first 2 games, but I'm scared to go back to them and find that they haven't aged well, because tank controls should never be mixed with hack n' slash style gameplay.

It's been a long time since I've played it, myself (still need to pick up my own copy), but if I remember correctly, it plays just like the original Devil May Cry. Maybe consider grabbing one of Spark's suggestions instead, if you're unsure.

[Nel_Annette]

Having a blast with Kirby Triple Deluxe. The equivalent to Whispy Woods in this game actually subverted my expectations by being more challenging than I'd expect the first boss of a Kirby game to be. After I do this one, I think I'm going to give Return To Dream Land another shot. I only made it to world 3 in that one before I got bored.

But yeah, Triple Deluxe? You should play it. It's super fun, and the level design can be really clever with background/foreground stuff.

[gunswordfist]

I remember Onimusha 3 not having a jump button.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I'm up to Day 8 of NG3: RE. My god I hate the boss fights in this game. I mean I fucking despise them. These are Arkham levels of shit, each and every single one of them. I seriously had the urge to seek out and strangle Hayashi himself for putting this filth into a Ninja Gaiden game. Any semblance of challenge comes from straight up cheap bull-shit, due to unresponsive controls and horrendous design. And unlike in previous games, you are forced into these fights with without a health refill of any kind, and of course since this game lacks an inventory of any kind, you can't carry healing items to help you through the bulk-whit, so you are flat-out relying on luck to win the day each time.

At any rate, I re-visited the NG community which helped me get through NG2 on Master Ninja mode. They gave me some useful tips to deal with the regular enemies, so those are mostly a cake-walk at this point. After I clear this game, I may try some of the Ninja Trials, but overall I never plan to touch the story mode again. It's fucking abysmal, and Yosuke Hayashi should be ashamed of himself and quit game design as a career. He clearly doesn't understand a thing about what made Ninja Gaiden a great series in the first place.

[Nel_Annette]

World 5 of Kirby Triple Deluxe. The volcano-themed world. Now the difficulty is starting to go up (for a Kirby game). I'm actually starting to have trouble collecting the star gem thingies in one sweep of a level.

And while Kirby games on the GBA and DS had levels with floating water (the space levels, methinks), because this one is in 3D, these block-of-water-in-midair sections are reminding me more of Super Mario Galaxy 2.

[gunswordfist]

Anyone know a good site for downloading video game videos on your phone.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

So, the only somewhat slightly redeeming thing about NG3 is the Ninja Trials mode. These contain waves of enemies and get rid of all of the gimmicky bull-shit from the story mode. Some of the more challenging ones that I haven't gotten too yet seem to have boss fights, but the reassuring thing is that they are recycled bosses from NG2 and NGB, along with the one kind of decent boss from this game being featured in them, and as far as I can tell, none of the other horrid ones from this game are included (or at least I hope so). I'll be dabbling in this mode from time to time to get my money's worth out of the game.

It's funny because, in theory this game has a ton of replay value and is crammed with content that puts most other hack n' slash games to shame. The problem so that the base gameplay is so flawed at worst, and mediocre at best, that it's all for naught in the end.

[Rynnec]

Are any of the other Ayane levels any good? The one I played was the only time I remember having anything approaching fun in Razor's Edge.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

All the female characters are more fun to play as than Ryu because they actually have responsive controls. For some reason that's the one thing Hayashi absolutely had to fix that he flat out ignored. I can't tell you how many times I had to take unfair hits because Ryu wouldn't fucking evade when I made the input telling him to after I finished a combo.

The problem with Ayane and Kasumi, though, is that while being faster than Ryu, their attacks are also weaker, so you're better off using SOB maneuvers when enemies start giving you too hard of a time, which have been turned from a random mechanic to a grab counter in this game (which to this game's credit is actually a pretty cool mechanic once you get the hang of using it).

The story mode in this game is horse-shit, though, so it's only real value comes from this mode which was specifically meant to make up for an already beyond saving campaign. It doesn't compare to NGB or NG2, but it's entertaining enough so far to hold my interest, for the time being.

Still, you'd be better off just getting NGS2, which has far tighter controls and has 2 of the 3 playable female characters from this game (and they can be used in mission mode in that game as well). It may have taken out some of the coolest things from NG2, but it's still a far above average hack n' slash game by normal standards (and to be fair, NG2 could be more aggravating for new players at first). It also cuts out the projectile spam from NG2, which is among the few changes that most fans (including myself), actually approve of. It was really cheap and a big issue on the harder difficulties of NG2, though this game's MN mode replaces it with OHK grabs, which are equally as bad.

Oh, and NG2 still has my favorite combat in the series, and NGS2 is actually easier to free-form on, so I think you'd still enjoy it a lot. I just hear that Warrior mode is incredibly easy, so you might not encounter any challenge until Mentor difficulty.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Oh, and it's also worth mentioning that you can use Ayane and the other female characters on any chapter of the game using Chapter Challenge mode once you complete the game (but only on the difficulty that you complete it on). That's the only circumstance in which I may return to the story mode, as one of the other playable characters.

[talonmalon333]

What do you guys think of the Twisted Metal franchise?

[gunswordfist]

I want to get into the series. I was a Vigilante 8 fanboy back in the day and just played 4 and a bit of one or two of the previous Twisted Metals. I wish vehicular arena combat would make a comeback. I've been thinking that since last gen.

[talonmalon333]

Also, just to be clear, I'm talking about the main games, not counting Twisted Metal 3 and 4 which are just bad.

The original Twisted Metal was pretty good, at least for its time. But the thing is that 2 really improved on it so vastly, basically making every single element much better to the point where there is almost no point in playing the original nowadays. 2 essentially rendered it obsolete.