Favorite Games Ever (Besides Ninja Gaiden, Obviously)

[Foggle]

I remember not having too much trouble with the alpha demo, which was supposedly harder than the full game, except for the lightning cat boss which took me something like 6 hours and made me want to die, so hopefully I'll be okay! I don't think the ki pulse mechanic was in yet, though, which I remember having trouble grasping during my brief attempt at playing the beta demo. But yeah, I'll ask for help if I need it!

Not sure if I'll get to start it for a while unfortunately, but hopefully soon.

[Mustang]

It's the small attention to detail that really sells me on Nioh. Low stance for both the katana and spear when dodging to the left and right, you see William add a spin. That spin to me looks too sick when you're actually dodging attacks. Take it to a fighting game perspective (mainly Street Fighter, or Street Fighter 4 to be exact). When you see good movement / spacing / fundamentals it becomes a treat to watch or partake in. Same thing here for Nioh when it comes to that movement and you take control of a fight. So good. DON'T GET ME STARTED ON THEM TONFA'S. Talk about gushing lol.

If William would've wiped the blood off his katana before sheathing it I would lose my mind XD (with a rag or his sleeve)

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

It's the small attention to detail that really sells me on Nioh. Low stance for both the katana and spear when dodging to the left and right, you see William add a spin. That spin to me looks too sick when you're actually dodging attacks. Take it to a fighting game perspective (mainly Street Fighter, or Street Fighter 4 to be exact). When you see good movement / spacing / fundamentals it becomes a treat to watch or partake in. Same thing here for Nioh when it comes to that movement and you take control of a fight. So good. DON'T GET ME STARTED ON THEM TONFA'S. Talk about gushing lol.

In general, I love the animation loops in Team Ninja games. Even their older games put most modern games to shame in this regard. Even in the first Ninja Gaiden on the XBOX, Ryu's movements were so fluid and precise, in addition to how the enemies and bosses moved (with maybe a few exceptions), which made every successful attack, block, or dodge maneuver feel so natural without needing to use something as gimmicky as a QTE to achieve that kind of cinematic flair. Even bad Team Ninja games like Ninja Gaiden 3 still have gorgeous looking animations. In fact, those animations hold up so well that if you pay attention, Nioh, a game from 2017, still recycles certain animations that were used way back in 2004's Ninja Gaiden (the sword stab from the back is a prime example of this).

With Nioh in particular, though, I love how William's movements in particular will vary in both small and subtle as well as large and noticeable ways depending on the weapon that he's using or how heavy his armor set is. Like, with the axe, for example, they don't just carbon-copy his katana motions but instead create all new animations for his arms to take longer arching swings, whereas the tonfas (which I love) use realistic elbow-based movements. By far, though, the dual katanas are godly, especially with their version of the parry maneuver. I love parry mechanics in general, and parrying with the dual katanas is one of the most satisfying examples of that mechanic in all of gaming for me.

Another great aspect of the animations, though, is not just William's movements, but also how the enemies move. All different enemy types and bosses have unique and easily identifiable offensive and defensive maneuvers, and in particular this game does enemy tells in a way that actually kind of manages to outmatch other top-tier titles in the genre like Bayonetta and Dark Souls. Whether the telegraphing is quick and minor or slow and obvious, it never feels unfair when an enemy lands a blow on you because there was always a clear visual cue of what they were about to do (in addition to clear audio cues, as well). This is something that they forgot about in Ninja Gaiden, starting with some bosses in NG2 and arguably getting even worse in the third game. Glad they they rediscovered their gameplay design roots in that regard. Additionally, though, the way that enemies react to and sell your attacks is also another hallmark of what makes Team Ninja animations such a cut above the rest. Like, just throwing a shuriken at a normal human enemy has them come half-way to doubling over as they clutch their stomach in pain. It's a quick animation so that they can recover quickly, but just that much effort put into that little detail really makes even the smallest and seemingly most insignificant of weapons feel like it has some use and power behind it. In general, though, the way enemies reel back to different degrees depending on the severity of the attack helps add layers of satisfaction to the combat that many other action titles just don't have.

If William would've wiped the blood off his katana before sheathing it I would lose my mind XD (with a rag or his sleeve)

The one thing from Ninja Gaiden 2 that they didn't recycle. It would be so perfect for this game.

[Foggle]

Yakuza 3 hit the PS4 yesterday with a completely redone English translation and all the cut content from the PS3 version restored! Yakuza 4 is coming in October and Yakuza 5 is coming in February along with a physical release of all three. This means that, in only six months' time, the entire main series will be available on the PS4, including the new pseudo-sequel Judgment.

I can't believe how far this series has come in the west. I'm so happy!

[Mustang]

Decided to update.

01 - Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
02 - Nioh
03 - Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
04 - Street Fighter 3: 3rd Strike
05 - Ninja Gaiden / Ninja Gaiden 2
06 - Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition
07 - Mass Effect 2
08 - Halo Reach
09 - Shenmue
10 - Final Fantasy 4

It's been a full year since I've done this. I probably could've went another year but I figured, what the heck, I'm bored anyway. And I like updating this from time to time

01 - Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
02 - Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
03 - Mass Effect 2
04 - Persona 5
05 - Ninja Gaiden 2
06 - Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition
07 - Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
08 - Nioh
09 - Final Fantasy 8
10 - Halo Reach

Decided to take fighting games off completely since they're so niche and I think that genre deserves it's own top 10.

So what happened? As much as I hate nostalgia, that's what happened pretty much. I went on down to memory lane (especially with Majora's Mask and FF8) and remembered how much I actually like those games. As I've stated once before, I want the whole nine in my games and MM still delivers and still keeps me entertained along with having fun in it's gameplay. I still go back and forth between DMC3 and DMC4, and what used to edge 3 over 4 for me was that I could play as Vergil, but he's in DMC4:SE along with Trish and Lady (who I'll never play as) so I don't really have much of a reason to go back to 3. With that being said, I only go to both NG2 and DMC4 for when I'm having a bad day or feeling like cutting ish up (I usually go to the Musou games for that too) so those might end up off the list some day (no time soon though).

Top 10 fighters inbound probably next weekend

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I've actually been wanting to replay Halo Reach after it recently got re-release for the PC, but don't have a good enough PC to play it on.

I'll go back to any main series DMC game that isn't 2, but I'd still rank 3 as my favorite followed by 5 right after it. As much as I love style switching, I feel that 3 had the best overall game design out of any game in the series. My problem with 4 is that too many annoying gimmicks make it so that I rarely ever replay any of Dante's missions except for his second to last mission which is perfect since no bull-shit gets in the way of having fun with the combat. Either that or Bloody Palace mode. The time limits and stupid grabboid enemies (among other things) really hold me back from just getting to enjoy the combat for what it is.

Cool to still see NG2 on there. I'll always be biased toward NGB, but you can't go wrong with either of the first 2 games.

And speaking of Nioh, did you ever get around to beating it? I can't remember how far you got the last time you posted about it, but I recall you being around the halfway mark several months back, which is the last time I heard your progress on it. Some of the best content actually comes post-game, though.

[Mustang]

Nope, I think I last left off beating the bug boss and on my way to Umibozo. It wasn't at any fault of the game either, but like other games for me, gets shafted for fighting games.

[Mustang]

Favorite Fighting Games

01 - Street Fighter 3: Third Strike
02 - Ultra Street Fighter 4
03 - Guilty Gear XX: Accent Core Plus R
04 - Marvel vs Capcom 2
05 - Guilty Gear Xrd Revelator 2
06 - Street Fighter Alpha 2
07 - Street Fighter x Tekken
08 - Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3
09 - Street Fighter 5: Arcade Edition
10 - King of Fighter 13

UPDATE

01- Street Fighter 3: Third Strike
02- Ultra Street Fighter 4
03- Marvel vs Capcom 2
04- Street Fighter x Tekken
05- Guilty Gear Xrd Rev2
06- Tekken 7
07- King of Fighters XIII
08- Guilty Gear XXAC+R
09- Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3
10- ?

Obviously the big change is xTekken to #4. Been going to the locals recently and getting back into that game has been a blast. I still like Capcom's implementation of the Tekken characters. A lot of the characters just felt good. Till this day (same can be said for any old game) new tech is still being discovered.

As of 12-24-2019, #10 is still up in the air and I've removed SF5 completely. Don't get me wrong, the game is fun and despite my hate for the community and E-League, it's a good game (it took Capcom's fighting division a while, but the game bounced back quite nicely), but I don't have any attachment to the characters and for me that's costly, because at that point I'm no longer having fun. I thought Zeku and Laura would be those characters that fill the void because of no Dudley, but they aren't. Anyway, with Granblue Fantasy Versus coming out and I've yet to dabble with Under Night, BlazBlue CF, and BlazBlue Tag like I really want (let alone Garou and CVS2) so I'll leave the 10 slot open for now.

[Mustang]

Sorry, another list, but I just like seeing opinions of others change (if they've have changed) throughout. There's been a lot of decade talk as of late. The last one I left off on was IGN, but they have a long list going through each year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykqKtbXret0

Max went with fighting game of the decade and while I do respect it, I do have a little problem with it. The bulk of the games that he did not choose is kind of the reason why he receives a lot of criticism in the 1st place. He does admit that he has not played a lot of those games due to him not being into them, however, since going on this Terry crusade he's been revisiting a lot of the KOF games and decided to put KOF13 in there. No problem with that whatsoever. My only critic to fix that is to do the same with other titles that haven't been played just to make it a little more fair. That being said, I do respect his choices.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyMngFPFUt8

The Playstation Access crew on the other hand went from year by year. I have to do some research first and then I'll edit this.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

So everyone's favorite, IGN, just released a list of the top 10 action games of all time: https://youtu.be/FlUWXdzxZO4

Now, let me just start off by saying that, right before I got to their #1 spot, I found this to be a surprisingly respectable list considering the kinds of journalists actually making it. Hell, I give them massive credit for including Vanquish on the list, which most people wouldn't even think to consider as a character action game before categorizing it as a TPS, but I fully support it's inclusion on a list like this. MGR is a good choice as well, but I wouldn't put it higher than both Bayonetta games and Vanquish, myself.

You all know I'm not a God of War guy, but I won't throw a fit over including one of the older titles on this list....key words being "older titles" in this case....

Ninja Gaiden Black and 2, as well as DMC 3 and 5 also got fair representation, here, and I'm especially glad to see Black in their top 3 (as it should be).

Then I got to their number one pick, and I'm not going to say it here because I want you all to watch it and would like to know if you facepalmed  as hard as I did....

Just keep in mind, not only did this game make it onto this list over titles like The Wonderful 101, Viewtuful Joe, Zone of the Enders 2, God Hand, Astral Chain, Shinobi, Onimusha, or any number of other potential titles; it also made it as the greatest action game of all time, according to IGN. It's funny how it took me only a few seconds to remember why I can't take IGN seriously anymore.

[Foggle]

Of course it was that lmao

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I had to internally chuckle when he said that it's an "evolution of the genre."

And I've played the game in full....it's actually genuinely clunky with more attacks hitting you from off screen than in Ninja Gaiden 2, but apparently it's the best that the genre has to offer somehow....

[Mustang]

I haven't played it in full, but that's got to be a joke. It's entertaining at best, but far from the best action game. I'd probably say the bulk of that list is better than that game if we're talking pure combat. Crazy part about this is I actually like the game, but I hate bullshit like this because "the story" trumps everything else. I love story, but that shouldn't be the end all be all.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I would also argue that, presentation aside, the story has plenty of it's own issues, not the least of which involves most of Kratos's character development being off-screen from before the game's story takes place.

[Mustang]

Sure, but even with those issues, I wouldn't exactly say any of the games on that list has a better story (admittedly, this could be me being enamored by the presentation), but I still stand by the notion that GoW is #1 only for its story even though IGN's trying to spin it as being a total package type.