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

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I played a little bit of Bulletstorm and Anarchy Reigns.

As for Bulletstorm, I was surprised by how far the prologue lasted. You guys all know that I'm not a fan of overly cinematic and scripted gameplay, so it was a but too long for me. Once I got to chapter 1, though, the game got a lot more interesting and allowed me to just have fun experimenting with its mechanics. I'd say that my only gripe with the game is that the enemy AI is practically non-existant, but that's not the type of game this is, anyways, and I wasn't expecting interesting enemies, but just interesting combat, which I've gotten so far, though hopefully the other weapons and upgrades can diversify it some more as the game progresses so that it doesn't become too repetitive.

With AR, I haven't touched the campaign mode or multiplayer yet. I just completed the tutorial. Mechanically, I really like the design of the combat. It seems very deep and nuanced, and since it's a Platinum made title, the controls are naturally super responsive, so just playing the game feels like a lot of fun. That said, I have yet to see how this will all play out against actual opponents to fight, whether they be human or AI-controlled. The quality of the actual gameplay pretty much hinges on that.

[Spark Of Spirit]

And I beat Circle of the Moon. That final boss was really tough even at level 52, but I finally made it through. Excellent game all the way through.

Next I suppose I'll play the follow-up GBA Castlevania.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Would you say that COTM is better than SOTN? I was thinking of trying it, sometime, myself.

As for Anarchy Reigns, I played through a Free Mission and the first story mission. Something about this game's overworld structure where you have to find missions, and just the general feel of the game, really gives me the vibe of a classic Dreamcast game. It's like if you took Mad World and combined it with JGR or JSRF. It goes without saying that I find that to be a good thing. Honestly I like what I've played so far, but I suppose the game may get tedious and/or frustrating later on, if all of the complaints that I've heard about it are true.

One thing that I definitely don't like about the game are the button mashing QTEs. You guys already know that I can't stand QTEs in most games, and I ESPECIALLY hate ones that force you to mash buttons. Like usual, Platinum does that really fucking annoying gameplay mechanic that they seem to love but everyone else hates, where when your character gets stunned, you have to break your controller apart mashing on buttons to get out of it. They really need to stop doing that (seriously, DMC4's answer to this problem really should be used in more games; it's fucking brilliant). However, what's even worse is when you clash with an opponent when you're both in your DT states (I know that it's called something else, but I forgot what it was, and it's basically just this game's version of DT, anyways), and the game forces a QTE button mashing mini game on you. Either this whole goddamn thing is based on luck or inhumanly fast button mashing is required, because no matter what, I always seem to lose at it except for the couple of times I managed to get it to work to make it past the tutorial (which was hell to do). It just really takes me out of an otherwise excellent combat system. That said, so far this was a minor gripe rather than a major flaw of the game, so it doesn't bother me too much yet.

Anyways, I should mention that I picked Jack over Leo for this playthrough, if only because he's voiced by Steve Blum (making it 2 games which I'm currently playing where he voices the main character, with the other being Bulletstorm).

[Nel_Annette]

My Poke'marathon is complete. Four games. I'm burned out. Back to Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring Of Fates after months away from it. Relearning these awkward controls.

Also, pretty sure I gonked my 3DS thanks to Smash. The controls stick gets stuck and struggles to move around like there's gum in it. It won't stay in the center anymore and it's messing with any game I play. Ugh.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I was just playing online with Rynnec in Smash and got kicked. Shame. I enjoyed getting stomped so much, too. 

Would you say that COTM is better than SOTN? I was thinking of trying it, sometime, myself.

Better than SOTN? I don't know if I can go that far. SOTN aside, it's the best Metroidvania in the series I've played.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Yeah, SOTN is a classic, so it's hard to top, but I've heard some people say that COTM is their favorite Metroidvania, so I was just curious.

Oh, and speaking of AR again, I had to mention that one other really minor complaint that I have (kind one that's really not a flaw, but rather a personal preference), is how the block button is mapped to the right trigger, which also works for evades. I feel like. Ninja Gaiden pretty much cemented the left trigger as the standard block button in third person action/adventure games that choose to use them, as well as for evades. It's especially jarring since this game uses the light and heavy attack sort of combat structure that Ninja Gaiden basically made popular, so it just throws me off. I'm going to see if there's a way to change the controls, though, as it would feel much more natural for me to have the special attack remapped to the right trigger and the block/evade mapped to the left.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Yeah, SOTN is a classic, so it's hard to top, but I've heard some people say that COTM is their favorite Metroidvania, so I was just curious.

Off all the Metroidvanias I've played, COTM feels the closest of a mesh between the open castle style and classic Castlevania's focus on the whip and sub-weapons with a pretty good (not overly hard, just tough enough) difficulty. It feels like a healthy middleground even if it leans closer to the Metroidvania style.

I see this as being the best pick-up-and-play Metroidvania of the bunch. Though I will be playing through the others, so who knows what my opinion will become?

[Foggle]

I don't mind the button mashing parts in Platinum's games since they usually seem to be in there as references to the pummel moves from God Hand. Chalk it up to nostalgia I guess.

I do hate being forced to mash buttons to recover from being stunned though, in any game. It never really felt too problematic to me in P*'s other titles, but it's especially bad in AR.

Honestly I like what I've played so far, but I suppose the game may get tedious and/or frustrating later on, if all of the complaints that I've heard about it are true.

It's not really so much that AR's campaign mode is bad, it's more that it's incredibly lackluster compared to Platinum's other games and the multiplayer mode - IMO anyway. Some of the missions were good, but I just never found myself having much fun with it, and many parts were either boring or straight up tedious. Also, the story, dialogue, and cutscenes were all generally awful, even by P* standards. That said, the BS is worth forcing yourself through if only for the amazing soundtrack and great boss fights.

Seriously though, play some of the multiplayer simulator mode. That's where the real fun is if you can't play online.

Either this whole goddamn thing is based on luck or inhumanly fast button mashing is required, because no matter what, I always seem to lose at it except for the couple of times I managed to get it to work to make it past the tutorial

You just have to be really fast. If you think the bots cheat when it comes to this mini-game, you should try playing online...

[Spark Of Spirit]

I started Harmony of Dissonance. I've never played this one before, so here are some opening impressions.

This game is ugly. The sprites miss the simplistic effectiveness of COTM and move really chunky-like. The character sprites also miss the classic Castlevania design and look really muddy. The main character is a Belmont with a whip, yet he looks and plays like Alucard from SOTN, which wouldn't be so bad, if I was not supposed to be playing as the grandson of SIMON BELMONT, and therefore expecting to play a character who, you know, plays like Trevor, Simon, or Richter, or even Nathan Graves from the previous game. Yet he plays and looks like the son of Dracula who is not even human nor uses a whip. This is more than a bit jarring.

The game also seems to be trying VERY hard to be like SOTN. The presentation, the way saving works, the menus, the character animation. It's clear what it's trying to be like.

As it is right now, I'm not very impressed. I'll keep playing, because it probably gets better as it goes, but the first impression has been quite disappointing.

The music is not very good, either.

[Rynnec]

I thought the AR's story was actually good (or at least the main Jack/Leo/Maximillian conflict), even if it lacked a lot of Madworld's humour.

And Spark, if Harmony ends up being too boring, I'd suggest skipping to Aria. The Chronicles of Sorrow games are very unique in that Soma is neither a whip-user or sword-wielder, but has a variety of weapons to use at his disposal.

[Spark Of Spirit]

And Spark, if Harmony ends up being too boring, I'd suggest skipping to Aria. The Chronicles of Sorrow games are very unique in that Soma is neither a whip-user or sword-wielder, but has a variety of weapons to use at his disposal.

I've heard a lot of favorable opinions about the Sorrow games, so I'll definitely try that one. Which ones do you like the best, if I might ask?

I just discovered that Juste has Alucard's backstep move, too.

What the?

[Rynnec]

My Metroidvania rankings would probably go:

Aria
Portrait of Ruin
Dawn of Sorrow/Circle of the Moon

They're all really good though, though I have yet to play Order of Ecclessia.

[Spark Of Spirit]

OOE was the one I heard a lot of good praise for. It apparently had a lot in common with Simon's Quest except with an actual way to know what you're supposed to do. It was near impossible to find here so I never got to play it.

I take it you never played HOD? So far I'm just not feeling it.

[Rynnec]

Never got around to buying a used copy of it. Haven't heard anything about its reception either, be it good or bad.

One thing that I should note, however, is when Konami re-released the GBA Castlevania's in a pack, Harmony of Dissonance wasn't included. Take that as you will.

[Spark Of Spirit]

One thing I like about it is that when you beat a boss, they drop an orb like the classic Castlevania games to give you your prize. That's something that would have fit COTM. Otherwise, not much to report on yet.