Has anyone played FF7 Remake? I do very little gaming nowadays, but I was feeling nostalgic for PS1-era RPGs so I gave FF7 Remake Interograde (what a weird name) a couple hours of my time the other day. It's kind of cool being able to revisit the characters and the story of FF7 and my god does everything look gorgeous (I have spent entire uninterrupted... minutes just staring at the details on the underside of Midgar's plates) but I couldn't ignore how absolutely horrid and lame the writing was. I don't remember the writing/dialogue being this cringey in the 1990s. I'm guessing I was probably just a stupid kid back then and didn't know any better.
Another thing that gets at me is how the game assumes knowledge of the original story. None of it seems like it would make sense or resonate unless you're already a fan and played the original.
It doesn't make sense to me that a game that took millions of dollars to develop would have such glaring issues. A lot of it feels it could've been written by a kid.
Anyway, I want to finish it, but I probably won't because I don't have the attention span for gaming anymore; my brain (like the brains of many...) has rotted to absolutely nothing from excessive YouTube and Reddit consumption.
FUCK, this game is good. I was hooked immediately. At its very opening, it effectively draws in the player by dropping them into a high-stakes hostage negotiation. The player can investigate the aftermath of an attack to gather information before talking directly to the hostage-taker.
Androids, AI, sentience, free will, civil rights for robots... all of these are subjects that sci-fi has thoroughly explored, particularly recently, with the (very annoying) rise in AI hype. Hey, at least all those tech-bro dipshits finally shut up about NFTs. Detroit: Become Human is 8 years old, so to its credit, this is long before the most recent trend took off.
None of that matters, though: the developers at Quantic Dream are brilliant at story-telling. You can take any well-trodden subject and with enough talent, create a masterpiece. On paper, a lot of the scenarios the game puts you through are rather predictable: you're an android who has to decide whether to obey an unethical order (like ignoring your owner beating his daughter instead of intervening), or decide whether an android life is worth the same a human life. But the skill at which Quantic Dream develops these characters and introduces you to them is enough to keep them riveting. Even if, at their essence, the ideas here aren't new, it's gratifying to play a game that engages your heart/brain, not just hand/eye coordination.
One small criticism of the game is that it's rather "point-and-click". There isn't very much action. Most of the controls are just inputting buttons to inch the character along a predetermined track. However, there are different decisions the player can make to explore different branches. This is my first play-through, and I'm not certain how far along I am, so I can't say for sure how much variation you can really experience. I imagine the core chapters are the same, but there are slight differences, and decisions from earlier chapters influence later chapters.
Ideally, you would unlock completely different plots based on decisions you make, but I know how quickly that can scale up, so I'm sure the basic plot still be the same. I'm okay with that. My playthrough now is mostly a non-violent MLK approach to fighting for androids' rights. Next playthrough, I'm gonna go full on Black Panthers on these carbon-based fuckers. Also, fuck Connor, goddamn Uncle Tom, he's like a slave whipping other slaves in antebellum South. I feel good foiling him and stopping him from killing other androids (though part of that is my pacifistic nature, if you can believe I have one).
I haven't loved a game this much since Control. Swear to god, all I do when I play games nowadays is complain about how much they suck and "only an idiot would play this game" *plays it for another 20 hours*. It's rare that I come across a gem like this. It's especially a breath of cold water because it's on the heels of months of playing old, janky Nintendo Online games. Which are still fun, but man, they really make you appreciate the progress we've made.
Nightdive did it again, and released a very well done collection of Heretic and Hexen, plus their expansions. They've also added two new episodes, one for each game.
The music, as with Doom + Doom 2, has been fully remastered as well as having SC-55 recordings available for the authentic experience. It even has an FM synthesis option. These games, much like Quake 2, are notable for not being quite as well regarded as their predecessors and having a number of common complaints. As a result, maps, weapon behavior, and enemy AI have all been tweaked to address the most glaring complaints aimed at the games. There are options when starting a new game or using level select to turn these adjustments off if one prefers to go in with the authentic experience, but frankly I personally recommend keeping all of them on, just like with Nightdive's Quake 2 remaster adjustments.
Notably, the PS1 version of Hexen's FMVs have been included as well. I'm not sure if they did an AI upscale or if they did what they did for Quake 2 and completely rebuilt and rerendered the cutscenes from scratch, but based on some of the visuals I see when looking at youtube compilations of the PS1 version, I suspect it's the latter. Either way, the addition is much appreciated.
Much like Doom + Doom 2, they've added in a gallery of development content to peruse. They also have full multiplayer options, including split screen, LAN, and their online servers. Cheat codes are handled in a similar way. You can permanently "unlock" the cheats in a menu if you remember the old codes, or just flip a switch to toggle all the cheats in the menu as available. It depends on what you'd rather do. Some of the cheats no longer work (namely debugging related ones), and some have had their activation codes altered likely for copyright reasons (Rambo got changed to GunsGunsGuns for example, and ponce (which is apparently a slur in some countries) to HealThySelf). In most cases, you can use either the heretic or hexen version of the code as they both are fully functional. The level skip code won't unlock anything because there's now simply a level select menu, but the code can still just be input in-game as before.
The full suite of gameplay and graphics options from Nightdive's previous efforts are available, for all kinds of enhancements or purist interpretations.
Heretic and Hexen are notable for implementing vertical aiming. While it doesn't grant a full 180 degrees of vertical aim, it provides enough to do the job without completely distorting what's being rendered due to the 2.5D nature of the game engine. It was originally keyboard bound, but this version assigns it to the mouse as with most games since Quake. To aid in aiming, it also adds in an aiming reticule, but these older games tend to be a lot more forgiving when it comes to aim, so auto targeting should help especially with the vertical axis. No, port additions like "jumping" aren't present here, as it breaks level design, even with the tweaks this version brings.
All in all, it comes recommended, even if there's clearly still a little work to do as with all Nightdive ports. I should add that if you own either Heretic or Hexen on either Steam or GOG, you already own this. Nightdive and Id have been very good about making sure not to double-dip their customer base. Also, if you still want access to the DOS originals, they are still fully available. If you bought them before, you can still redownload them, and if you buy the new remaster, you get access to the old versions too.
So... does Tendocity intend to comply with UK law? We have questionable content for minors, like violence and such, and by the letter of their laws, we MUST require ID.
I submit that for most of us, our ID is the age of our profile on this site, old enough to drink in most cases... but requirements for new profiles is something etoven now must consider, or geoblock the site in the UK.
I'm being a bit tongue in cheek with this, but that's the literal reality now.
So, about a month after launch, the Switch 2's big 3d platformer is here, and it's fantastic! It's also very highly interesting thematically.
I mean, this game was made by Nintendo of Japan, by a Japanese team, the same team that previously made Super Mario Odyssey back in 2017. Yes, even Nintendo has the 'development times take far, FAR too long now' problem that plagues this industry. They did exceptional work but it seems to have taken a long time.
That team made a game that mixes Mario Odyssey, Donkey Kong Country, the Mario vs. Donkey Kong games, and more all into one. The core gameplay is primarily influenced by Mario Odyssey mixed with a more beat 'em up-focused platformer, while the setting is more an NCL take on Donkey Kong Country and some elements mix in classic DK / Mario vs. DK series elements as well, most notably a version of Pauline. That is not something we have ever seen before! Previously, Japanese DK games were always either a generic theme or a classic series / MvDK theme, while Western-made DK games used the DKC theming. This game mixes all of those with a bunch of Mario, stirs it in a pot, and makes something both familiar and utterly unique with it.
So yes, simultaneously, this game both continues some elements of the MvDK line except without Mario, while also being the first Donkey Kong game since Nintendo sold off Rare that is both Japan-made and goes for anything like a DKC aesthetic. Recall that US-based Retro made the two DKCR games. Their DK was quite familiar to Rare's, but this one is different, while also being similar enough to that DK to make most DKC fans happy. Some DKC characters appear here (I won't say which for spoilers), and so do some MvDK characters, most notably Pauline. We've never had both of those character sets in the same game before. Storyline-wise it seems that no attempt was made to actually make this combination make sense timeline-wise, unfortunately, so we'll probably just need to make something up to explain this away, but ignoring outside titles, the story within the game itself is fine enough.
Visually, this game is both familiar and new. Donkey Kong himself has a redesign. It was inspired by the DKC design but with a cuter, and chunkier, style, perhaps to tie his style in more closely with that of the Mario characters. Personally I think I like the DKC design a bit more than this one, but this design works and fits the character well. Pauline is different as well, though given how this Pauline is younger than any version of the character before -- she's supposed to be 13 but looks maybe even younger than that -- that is no surprise. The other Kongs and monkeys who appear in the game have a distinctly DKC-inspired look but done by a different artist. It's both familiar and weirdly different, if that makes sense.
Really, all around this is pretty fascinating stuff. I know I"m not talking about the gameplay here, but that this kind of thing was made at all is almost as fascinating as the amazing game is! Sure, story-wise this plot doesn't make any sense at all as DK and Pauline's ages do not match with what they should be and nor do other story details, but the attempt they made here at making a new origin story that combines all the past timelines into one is noble. I think that probably counts for more than staying truer to the old DK/MvDK/DKC story timelines would.
However, thinking about this also makes me sad that Nintendo got rid of Rare -- I stand by that losing Rare was Nintendo's worst decision ever -- and in some ways I like the style of those games more than this one, but DK Bananza is a fantastic experience that I am loving. There's nothing like Nintendo, nobody else makes games like this at this level of quality, not even close. There have been many 3d platformers made over the decades but the number that approach the quality of top Nintendo releases like this one is in the low single digits. Donkey Kong Bananza evokes that feeling of wonder and pure fun that the better Nintendo games of the past have. This game isn't 'something familiar done well' like Odyssey, it is something both familiar and new. It is the Mario answer to Red Faction thanks to its semi-destructible world, the Donkey Kong answer to Mario in a way we kind of have never seen before (DK 64 obviously owes a lot to Mario 64, but its more direct inspriration was Banjo-Kazooie...), the Japanese hybrid of Mario's cuter designs with Donkey Kong Country's renders, the first top-flight, big budget 3d platformer made since, well, maybe Mario Odyssey (unless you count Kirby and the Forgotten Land), and so much more... it's something special.
But how does the game work? Well, as DK, with Pauline clinging to your back, you run around and jump, attack, and smash. The core original mechanic here is a voxel engine allowing the destruction of terrain, hence that Red Faction reference before. I could also mention Starfighter 3000 for 3DO here, that's another older title in the destructible-terrain field. As in Red Faction, in DK Bananaza some terrain is destructible and some is not. This ensures that critical stage infrastructure stays there so you can't just rip through stages to easily skip chunks of the game. Metal terrain can't be destroyed, while stone or mud easily can and concrete can but only with a powerup. Also, when you leave a level, or layer of the underground world you are exploring in the game, the game resets all terrain damage, so what you do is not permanent. I'm sure some people dislike this but I like it, I'd prefer to always be able to explore the undamaged version of a stage...
On that note though, while the destruction is fun, I've never been one to really like destroying scenery in games. 'Destroy everything in the Travelers Tales Lego games for bits' never inteerested me much, for example... I don't know, destroying everything sometimes makes me feel bad for the stuff I'm destroying, what is the point of ripping it all apart? Similarly, in this game so far I generally don't want to destroy everything, just some things. Most of the time I've left the stage mostly intact while going for destruction where I see obvious stuff to collect, want to explore a bit, or just I just decide to break stuff for a while for some reason. Whatever playstyle you have on destruction, I think that you'll like this game; you do need to destroy some things to proceed, but don't need to rip the levels apart wholesale to do so.
Regardless of ones' opinion on that, often there is a layer of metal close below the dirt so in some areas there isn't too much to tear apart, but in other areas you can shred large sections of stages. It's a good mix that Nintendo chose to keep this game focused on not just breaking things but also its primary focus, the platform action. Because, while jumping puzzles are not as emphasized in DKB as they would be in a Mario game, there are many platforming challenges, such as 2.5d minigame sections, lots of traversal sections where you are hanging below vines while avoiding obstacles, having to throw objects at enemies in order to defeat them or proceed, and more. The little minigame bits are, I think, a DKC/DK64 callback, as they are done in a different way from how they would have been done in a Mario game. It's great that they are here.
Overall, I'm a few hours in now, and so far every element of this game is brilliantly done and extremely well designed. The levels are great, the controls are pretty much flawless, the graphics are beautiful, and so much more. This is not a forever game, it's a single player title with a limited runtime, but I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts. I am glad I bought a Switch 2 at launch, between Mario Kart World and this Nintendo really is firing on all cylinders with truly special experiences that feel special and new regardless of how many games I have played over the years. Nobody else makes games like Nintendo can.
This is going to sound glib, and it is... but seriously, MS if you don't want to make a bunch of games, maybe stop buying every single game company in existence?
Everwilds is Neverwilds now. Perfect Dark is truly perfectly dark, because it'll never see the light of day now.
This is where it's heading. MS is positioning their next XBox to essentially run on regular Windows, have access to multiple stores, be more or less "open", and just... basically use the exact same executables as the PC releases... that is, literally just running the PC version of the software without it needing to be "ported" exactly, just to add in features supporting XBox specific stuff like parties and the like... which many PC releases already do now.
I can't honestly think of a single way this is bad at this point. What it means is that I don't need to buy the next XBox, not even as a collector. They've essentially moved to making gaming PCs with XBox branding, and I'm all for it. Of course, now that 30% of Windows 11 code is now created by AI, and more and more staff are being let go at MS, on top of forcing AI into things, I'm growing more and more averse to anything MS related anyway (as well as Google for that matter), but this particular idea seems like a good one.
Sony, ball's in your court. Will the PS6 basically become a fancy Linux box, running exactly the same executables as the PC games, in just this same way? If so, we'll only need one or the other, or just a fancy PC. That'll make things far easier, and cheaper, for us as a whole, while these titans of industry, who have been selling their consoles at a loss for a few generations now, won't have to worry about that any more either.
Now, I have my doubts Sony would take that step, since they won the past two generations (against MS at least, Nintendo won overall with their Switch), but the very fact it's a possibility is telling.
Nintendo? No way on earth. Nintendo do their own thing and would never concede it, unless absolutely forced to. That said, things like the Steamdeck and NVidia Shield, and MS's own upcoming take on Switch style hardware with that Steamdeck concept of just being a portable PC (only running Windows instead of Linux, of course), well, Nintendo doesn't really have much to offer to make their hardware stand out at that point. It'll be just their games alone. So far, that's been enough, but if they erode their fan's good will further like they've been doing lately... they may push themselves into a corner.
Anyway, Sony and Nintendo adopting that strategy is purely speculative on my part, but MS at least seem to be taking the plunge.
Capcom did quite well with this, and I'm curious how much of Nintendo's direction was involved. It's curious why they enlisted Capcom in the first place. I kept trying to sniff out whether it had a different feel and in the end, I don't think I'd have been able to tell that it wasn't a first party creation.
I like the big/small gimmick. The Kinstone system was kinda neat. I was a fan of controlling multiple Links and solving puzzles that way. The way they brought it out in the final battle was fun. The villain wasn't terribly inspired but I mean it's Zelda. It's not like Ganon isn't much more than a stock bad guy.
What I didn't like: that the shield had to be wielded as the secondary weapon. No no no. Every other Zelda I've played (outside of the 3d versions I guess) let you just carry it around. If they wanted it to be a toggle (which I wouldn't have minded), I think they could have used the L button for that. It feels a little odd that the only use of L is to swap Kinstones but whatever.
Zelda 2
Still underrated imo. The knights that raise/lower shields and their swords are fun as always, even if the blue knights are obnoxious. I don't in the least mind that this is a side scroller. I'm a fan of being able to jump and stab downward. The only other Zelda game I've seen that be a thing is Minish Cap, and iirc I got it later on in the game and hardly used it.
Still making my way through this and it's fun to revisit.
Link's Awakening
This is pretty fun but for some reason it didn't gel with me. I beat maybe 4 dungeons before my attention wavered. No real desire to go back to it. I'll give it credit for giving Link the ability to jump with a special item. There was something about that I liked. Why DOES Link never jump, apart from walking off a ledge? It's like he sees all the legwork that Mario does and is too shy to attempt the same and focuses on swordplay instead. Where's Mario's sword? Yeah, that's what I thought.
Link to the Past
Solid game, though it feels dated. I played through it and they definitely improved upon many aspects of LoZ 1. I never played it as a kid, so the other Zeldas have a sense of nostalgia that is missing here. Still, I can see why it was popular in its time. I even revisited a thread here recently that suggested LttP was overrated. I'm inclined to agree but given that it was a pioneer of its time I think it deserves grace. It's like criticizing Citizen Kane for not holding up.
It feels more like a museum piece than something I'd replay. I can't say the same for other Zelda games: Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask are still fantastic. I suppose nostalgia could be driving that but I don't think so.
