Fabulously Olivier
-
Posts
6,409 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Posts posted by Fabulously Olivier
-
-
6 hours ago, Zapp Branniglenn said:
oh my. That was not one of the PSP games. Ascension released exclusively for the PS3 in 2013 as the final game before the reboot.
It's also the series' only attempt at online multiplayer. Will the reboot ever be man enough to put a team deathmatch mode back into the game?
Fair. I fixed it. Also I "completed" God of War 2 now. As in, I beat the Zeus fight and had to youtube the ending.
After 10+ fails at the end QTE, I just... give up. They add nothing to the game, and my bare minimum expectation of a QTE should be that it fucking works. Not that it ignores your correct press of a button, instantly kills you, and forces you to rewatch the same 30 second cutscene over and over again.
-
I did NOT expect to smash my backlog this hard this month, holy shit.
41. Diablo 2 Resurrected
Completed/Quit (8/2 - made it to Diablo)
A "for its time" weighted score of 5/10, maybe 6. But my actual enjoyment was around a 2/10 or 3/10. I don't regret playing this as a historical piece. But as a game, it's like the pre-alpha version of Path of Exile. Not to mention Diablo 3, which has become a nigh-perfect loot grinder.
+ Plenty of room for build diversity in classic ARPG systems
+ Fair amount of content.
- Remake did not do enough to improve visuals, or add needed quality of life.
- Inventory Tetris is an actual joke in a loot-based genre.
- Slow, archaic gameplay. Slow movement. Percentage misses for player, not for enemies.
- Stingy loot and xp gains.
- Enemy design is frequently cheap and overpowered. Diablo literally one-shotting me had to be a fuck-damned joke.
- Early game is boring as shit, making the hardcore hero loop less fun.
- Genderlocked classes are acceptable in an RPG from 2003. They are not acceptable in a modern RPG, or a full remake.
42. Darksiders WarmasteredCompleted 8/5.
7/10. I own Darksiders 2, so this one on the subscription was a higher priority. It was certainly a PS3-era game of its time, but its blend of GoW and Zelda was fun.
+ Fun, simple combat.
+ Mostly fun puzzles.
+ Strong lore, compelling start of a story.
+ Fun to backtrack and collect things.
- Some frustrating insta-deaths
- Clunky gimmick bosses.
- Act 5 is pretty dreadful. Frustrating, boring, and takes up a huge percentage of the game.
- Occassional very noticeable texture issues.
43. Sunset OverdriveCompleted 8/6
9/10. Honestly, this was just such a uniquely delightful game.
+ Movement system is extremely fun. Grind on rails, bounce off objects, surf on water, etc.
+ Third person shooting is fun, with appropriately generous aim assist for a game with this much movement.
+ Genuinely hilarious and brimming with personality.
+ Strong artstyle.
+ Lots of flexibility in guns and modifications.
- Defense missions are pretty unfun.
- Ubisoftian in a bad way when it comes to pointless collectibles, side objectives.
44. God of War AscensionCompleted 8/8.
Somewhere around a 6-7/10.
+ Solid combat
+ Fun puzzles. Those involving repairing & decaying objects are particularly good.
+ Epic setpieces
- Not a whole lot actually happens plot-wise.
- Some frustrating moments, namely those involving sliding down slopes with the blades. However playing GoW1 & GoW2 really puts into perspective that this game is substantially less frustrating.
- Quick time events.
45. Ryse Son of RomeCompleted 8/9
4/10, but not unenjoyably so. If I bought this short, repetitive game on release, I'm sure I'd be pissed, but it fits in the modern Gamepass market as an experience that doesn't last long enough to wear out its welcome.
+ Impressive visuals that still hold up really well two console gens later.
+ Solid story.
- Combat is seriously shallow. And not in a fun power fantasy way. In a this has no depth, and also feels unfinished way.
- This is bad, because the game basically offers nothing other than this combat against the same few enemies.
46. Asura's WrathCompleted 8/13
6/10. Incredibly epic, but also very much a game of the worst era.
+ Amazing cutscenes
+ Awesome story, or at least a story that feels grandiose.
- True ending locked behind paid dlc, AND S ranking 5 missions or replaying missions until you clear 50 missions. No thanks on all counts.
- Combat feels like a poor man's God of War. It's functional, but it's not great.
- Rail shooter segments. There are both awkward dogfighting-style mobile rail shooter segments (except left stick dictates both movement and aim), and totally disfunctional stationary rail shooter segments.
- Quick time events ALWAYS suck. They're not fun, and even for a game that is basically a movie, they just needlessly distract from the awesome movie going on behind them.
47. Nier Automata - 2B PathCompleted 8/19
8 or 9/10. I'm totally open to the idea that it's a 10.
You know what feels better than clearing a game fresh? Going back and finishing a game you paused years ago. It validates your past gaming.
For multi-route games like this and Triangle Strategy, I'd like to make their routes a yearly thing until they're all done. It prevents fatigue and lets me count them as a clear in each year.
+ Great combat
+ Soundtrack is beyond beaufiful
+ Compelling story
+ Emotionally powerful
+ Strong visuals
+ This is games as art
- Never been one for genre-switching games, though in its defense, it's actually competent at all of them.
48. God of War 2005Completed 8/20.
5/10. So, first off, thank you for starting such an awesome series. 2018 is a 10/10 masterpiece of action, adventure, and story. And I'm sure Ragnarok will be too when I get to someday play it on Extra. But boy did this ever suck in the most frustrating ways!
+ Good combat, especially for its time.
+ Strong setpieces, especially for its time.
- QTEs
- Bad camera
- Instant death traps of an unforgiving nature.
- Narrow boardwalk segments. The worst of which was coupled with instant death traps.
49. Diablo 3: Ultimate Evil EditionCompleted 8/22
10/10. Diablo 3 is everything an ARPG should be.
+ Fast combat with polished animations. A rarity in its genre.
+ Build decisions are immediate and tangible thanks to skill runes.
+ Generous in its xp and loot.
+ One of the few ARPGs to be consistently fun from low level to high level content. This is important for the Hardcore/Seasonal loop.
+ Incredible power fantasy.
+ Infinite procedural generated content
+ Removed the genderlock from prior games.
= The Warcraft esque art style is controversial.
- Story isn't bad for its genre, but it also isn't great.
- Launched with a real money auction house, since removed.
- Always online.
50. Sacred 3 GoldCompleted 8/26.
5/10, but enjoyably so. It's one of those extremely basic, mediocre ARPGs like a Gauntlet. You know the ones. The ones with absolutely zero depth, but they still manage to be a good time in the most mundane sense.
+ Pretty solid visuals for an ARPG.
+ Pretty fluid and responsive animations.
+ Charming in a really shitty Amazon Prime Video LARPing series sort of way.
- It wants to be funny. It really does. And it really, really isn't.
- No variety in attack combos.
- Only two skill slots.
- Very limited build customization.
- An ARPG without a loot system.
- Bad story (but almost endearingly so).
51. Cassette Beasts
Completed 8/26.
8/10. Extremely enjoyable. Hope it gets a sequel. It's everything Pokemon should be.
+ Strong open world gameplay.
+ Fun puzzles everywhere.
+ Flexible, forgiving progression mechanics. For example, you can peel stickers (moves) off of one mon and put them on another without ever losing stickers.
+ Levels based on party member, not mon. You don't level mons numerically (though they do have a 0-5 star rank level for evolving them).
+ Shinies matter. They literally change typing. Whaaaaatttt!!!!
+ The whole game is designed around 2 v 2's, with a cool fusion mechanic. It really works.
+ Type bonuses are really deep and realistic. They aren't just simple damage bonuses. IE: Fire turns plastic into poison, metal or water attacks make electric multitarget, air uproots grass so they don't heal, etc.
+ Chill vibes. Chill aesthetic. Chill characters. Chill soundtrack.
+ Difficulty settings (AI intelligence and level scaling as separate sliders).
+ Multiple save files is disappointingly uncommon for a monster tamer.
+ No HM slaves. Your character just learns how to do the movement ability.
+ Also the movement abilities are all fun to use, they all work well with the game's stamina system, and some of them can even be upgraded to initiate combat with an advantage.
+ Has little support conversations and even optional romance with party members. And everyone is likeable.
- The 'mon designs are mostly really bad.
- Does occassionally have really cheap bosses. Perma-sleep, one-shots, that sort of thing.
- Some type advantages are too interesting at the cost of being too weak. For example, fire melts ice. But that turns them into a water type, which has advantage on fire.
- Backup party members don't gain full xp, leading to likely a few hours of extra grind.
- Small max capacity of items means you'll be going back to base a lot.
52. God of War 2
Completed 8/27.
7/10. Vastly improves on its predecessor.
+ Great combat
+ Great setpieces
+ Good story/lore
+ Good soundtrack
+ Tones down the difficulty of traps/platforming compared to the original. Huge improvement.
- Still has insta-death pitfalls, and some insta-death traps. They are nowhere near as bad as the first, but yeah...
- QTE's. Fuck QTEs. Especially instant death QTEs at the end of a boss fight.
I'm also working on Kingdom Hearts 3 (cleared through Caribbean). My slow playthrough of Neo TWEWY is ongoing (in final in game week). The Ascent is my next co op game. I'm working on Fate Extella's side stories before considering it done.
I put a little into Watch Dogs 2 and quit because it was boring, annoying hipster drivel (and not in a fun way like Sunset Overdrive or Cassette Beasts. In a hello-fellow-children way).
I put a little into Ghostwire Tokyo and found it potentially fun enough to commit to.
I also very much look forward to Sea of Stars' day one Ps Plus Extra release.
-
5 hours ago, Hrothgar777 said:
It would be interesting for sure, but also too unstructured to make for a good game.
Pokemon and Fire Emblem are like oil and water. Pokemon has battle mechanics of ever increasing
dumb gimmickscomplexity but in terms of worldbuilding, to quote that one meme, we have no worldbuilding. Everything about that world and its logic is too convoluted to be fit into a quasi-realistic setting like FE.
The newer titles like Three Houses especially put a premium on constructing worlds which are both detailed and believable, and even Engage put in a very halfhearted effort toward doing so.But let's say you got around this. The next question is: how do you justify a continued sword-and-sorcery setting when there are Pokemon?
When the Houses Lark and Stannister, the two main powers of the continent Esteros, go to war, why do they bother to put men in costly suits of armor and have these men train their whole lives to master swordsmanship when an Excadrill trained by a 10 year old for a month could massacre both sides in thirty minutes?
And yes, Fire Emblem has dragons but dragons are either stupidly rare (and untameable) or weak enough in practice that they're barely an upgrade from a horse (e.g. a humble arrow will easily kill one). Pokemon are both absurdly powerful and everywhere. Like, a kid can't take four steps in grass without running into one. Fire Emblem as we know it could not survive such an environment.
Look at Jade Cocoon for an example of how a traditional low fantasy setting could cross over with a monster taming game. It's very good.
-
We got a weird Pokemon SRPG crossover between Pokemon and Samurai Warriors of all things, so I imagine it being like that.
-
Take the Valkyria Chronicles storybook aesthetic, make the characters paper. Make the game a turn-based JRPG. Done.
-
6 hours ago, Tryhard said:
The critical response to BG3 undoubtedly puts it in contention as a GOTY contender along with Zelda. 2023 has unironically been one of the greatest years for games.
I'd say that 2017 and every year following, except for 2021, has been among the greatest years for gaming. 2022 was extremely strong, and 2023 may well be the GOAT.
-
12 hours ago, lenticular said:
Whereas to me, CRPG just means any RPG on a computer, as opposed to a TTRPG (tabletop) or LARP (live action). This is similar to one of the definitions mentioned in the video you linked, except even broader, since I would include console games as well, since that's not what I'm contrasting against. I'm not here to argue definitions, though. I just wanted to know how you were using the term so I could understand the point you were making.
I think it's kind of inbetween. It does specifically refer to games like Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter, Divinity Original Sin, Pathfinder, etc., but also encompasses online RPGs that do not meet the definition of MMORPG.
-
44 minutes ago, Tryhard said:
every other thread is about how this game is woke.
Hardcore conservatives generally aren't literate enough to pick out subtext. If they were, they'd figure out that most of their favorite gaming franchises are hella woke.
-
12 minutes ago, Integrity said:
guild wars 1 is a fantastic game for pure combat but that's basically all the game is, is finding inventive new ways to do combat. it's still pretty much unparalleled at that, but it's also a pretty limited niche imo
That's fair, and I don't disagree. Though combat kind of is the main thing one does.
And I don't actually think it's a limited niche. I think it's an untapped market.
-
1 hour ago, Integrity said:
bg3 is the greatest crpg ever made, i am confident in this ruling
i'm playing a half-elf fighter because that's what i always did as a child, and if i'm gonna be playing a new baldur's-fucking-gate in tyool 2023 i am absolutely reverting to the Old Ways
I would be shocked if it's a better CRPG than Guild Wars was, but I will absolutely keep an open mind.
My plan for the future is probably Drow Monk - way of the shadows. Might mix in some Rogue or Warlock as a multiclass. It's a great representation of my personal roleplaying character.
-
Money's tight in hell year 2023, so I haven't really purchased any new games at full price, but I look forward to playing this eventually. Deep CRPGs with tons of buildcraft are my thing. Guild Wars 1 is still my favorite game of all time.
And Larian is a developer I just wholeheartedly admire and respect. They're one of the only developers not afraid to make RPGs that make you think, and reward your creativity.
-
3 hours ago, vanguard333 said:
I'm currently a bit more than midway through Persona 5 Royal... I think; I'm near the end of September in the game itself. Overall, I am really enjoying the game, though there are a couple of small things I found a bit annoying:
I get Morgana choosing to bottle up everything that was worrying him until he inevitably exploded and left the team, but the story arc takes way too long, and during that time, Joker can do absolutely nothing except give the plant in his room some fertilizer. It doesn't help that it comes immediately after the Hawaii trip arc, which was fun, didn't overstay its welcome, and didn't have every day in it end with Joker being in his room but unable to do anything except go to sleep.
Speaking of which, are those days where Joker can't do anything except sleep but doesn't just go to sleep automatically just so that the player can save? If so, why couldn't they just give the player a prompt to save and go to the next day? Don't give the player the illusion that there might be something they can do that day.
I initially enjoyed Mementos a lot, but now I'm starting to get sick of it, and I haven't even been visiting it very often; usually only after obtaining several mementos targets. I don't mind the procedural generation since each area is fairly small, but the fact that things like the stamp stations and Jose don't always appear does make it more tedious, and I'm not a fan of the reaper as a concept: I get the idea of it appearing as a punishment for staying in one area of mementos and grinding, but it can also randomly appear in an area from the start (which, incidentally, is the one time I encountered it since I never stay in one part of mementos for too long); the only redeeming aspect being that it's much easier to escape than, for instance, the gloom hands from Tears of the Kingdom. It's clearly meant to scare the player, and my problem with it is the same problem I have with most enemies that are meant to scare the player: once the fear wears off, they just become annoying.
Other than that, the game has been a lot of fun. The characters are interesting and compelling, the story's been interesting so far, the dungeon exploring is a lot of fun, and the time management aspect is growing on me.
Oh, and since I'm sure someone will inevitably ask:
I chose to have Joker romance Hifumi in this playthrough. I would've had Joker romance Sumire, since her character is really interesting, but I learned in advance that Joker gets almost no time with Sumire.
They ought to make a stealth horror game where you must avoid Morgana telling you to go to bed.
Also, I chose Makoto in my first playthrough, as I liked her a lot and it just felt canon.
-
1 minute ago, vanguard333 said:
I see.
In that case, do you have any advice for beginners that's relevant to where I currently am in the game (7/20 in the in-game calendar)?
I think that following walkthroughs/advice only dimenishes your enjoyment of the game, honestly. A lot of the fun of the time management/social side of the game is that it's where all the spontaneous gameplay/surprises happen, whereas the dungeon crawling is more linear and predictable.
Darts and billiards are pretty big additions to Royal though. You can play darts correctly to get 2 characters to max Baton Pass in one day, and billiards can increase your technical damage.
-
8 minutes ago, vanguard333 said:
Cool; I'm currently playing Persona 5 Royal right now; I'm at 7/19 in the in-game calendar. This is my first time playing a Persona game and I have been enjoying it a lot. I admittedly have been using a walkthrough for some guidance, but I play offline and I know the game has a feature where, when the player plays the game online, they can see what other people recommend doing each day, so I'm only using the walkthrough to make up for not having that feature.
By the way, I do have one question:
I noticed immediately that Akechi said he heard someone talk about pancakes before meeting the main characters, when the only character who talked about pancakes was Morgana, who can only be heard by people who have personae. Without asking for too much in the way of spoilers, I just want to ask: is there a dialogue option where we can say that we figured it out because he mentioned pancakes?
Well uh, let's just say you're way more observant than I am and caught something important.
-
I will almost certainly have Soul Hackers 2 and Borderlands 3 cleared by the end of the month, so I'm posting them in my monthly list and I'll just update with clear dates.
33. Dusk Diver
(Cleared 7/4)
6/10. So, this one draws interesting comparisons to Dynasty Warriors, Persona, and Yakuza (though Persona only because of social links and aesthetic). I've heard people say that it's more Warriors and the Yakuza comparisons are a stretch, but I'd actually like to assert that it's the opposite. Yes, it uses Light/Heavy combos like a musou game. You know what else does? Yakuza. Yes, it has pretty high enemy counts? You know what else sometimes does? Yakuza. And those enemy counts are much closer in number and individual durability to what is normal for a Yakuza game than to a Warriors game.
And that comparison makes it easier to accept what the game is. Because a Warriors game with a single playable character would suck ass, even if it was only 8 hours long. This is why Berserk and the Band of the Hawk is such a low tier musou. But as a Yakuza style game, this is more normal.
As this kind of game, it's... serviceable. Yumo is a likeable enough female protagonist, the support cast is unremarkable but endearing enough. Some of the side quests are quirky and kinda memorable. Exploring the city can be fun. The stage designs are pretty basic, and the whole collect-a-thon aspect isn't too bad because you'll easily find enough dragon vein shards in the city to progress with minimal effort.
Yumo's moveset is a mixed bag. I generally only found myself using the full light string, and the rapid hit Strong V, because everything else was too slow and ineffectual, and moved too much. But Yumo is secondary because the most effective part of your kit is easily summoning the 3 supporting characters to do attacks for you. Yumo's attacks are just a means to generate energy to use them.
If I were to sum it up, nothing about this was great or worth full price, but at a bargain bin cost, it also wasn't a bad use of my time.
34. Persona 5 Royal(Cleared 7/7)
10/10. Persona 5 was already one of my 10/10 games. It is a game with stellar combat, story, characters, soundtrack, and UI. This version improves upon nitpick complaints I had while adding new content. The result is an even better package.
That said, Kasumi adds nothing to the story, Akechi's new content is pretty uninteresting because he's become a shallow character, and neither are playable for long enough to make a real difference.
The new palace is great, but the chill vibes really make it feel more like a midgame dungeon than a climactic finish, which could arguably make the OG release hit harder.
35. Outriders(Cleared 7/9)
6/10. So, this one is a game that got worse the longer I played. It started out as a fast, fun, impactful third person shooter that I had an immensely fun time with. But here's the thing. It expects you to ramp up world tiers quickly and constantly, which causes the game to rapidly become more difficult than its ungenerous loot drops allow you to tackle. If you lower the game to a comfortable difficulty, your drops will be downleveled far beneath what you already have. In an extreme case, my first legendary gun was half the strength of the guns I was wielding two rarity tiers lower. Basically, I was only able to enjoy the game by giving up on the looter aspect of this looter shooter and racing to the end on a low difficult to experience the full dumb-but-enjoyable story.
I see why this game has still not turned a profit, and I'm not sad about it either, even as a fan of this much-maligned genre.
36. Infamous 2(Cleared 7/16)
The definition of a 7/10 game. Fun enough but shallow, lacking in variety. It's a very early open world sandbox with the potential to be way more than it is.
Cole is an unexceptional protagonist, and I think he held back the franchise. His powers are one-dimension, and he has the personality of sandpaper.
A special middle finger to the story though.
SpoilerThe entire game, good choices were always associated with the attractive, good natured Kao. Evil choices were always associated with the greasy, annoying, immoral Nix. Except at the end, when Kao develops a fear of death that causes her to side with the villain. Nix sides with you against the villain, but not out of any moral redeeming quality of the character. No, that anthropomorphic hemarrhoid just wanted to kill the villain because he destroyed her army of murderous swamp zombies. Basically, fuck that character. She's the worst, and I'm glad she dies in both endings.
I get that Infamous' morality system is always hamfisted and unsubtle, but since they decided to give the antagonist a complicated moral decision, the least they could have done was give whichever companion you were siding with interesting moral reasons for being willing to make both choices in the end.
37. For Honor Campaign(Cleared 7/17)
Unscored. I am withholding the score because the game is bluntly not what I wanted it to be, and I cannot score it objectively. I wanted a game with slow, defensive combat where you carefully block, parry, and attack with the game's directional block system. I got a fast dueling game with stupidly spammable guard breaks and unblockables. I wanted a big faction war where your choice of faction mattered. I got a glorified Soul Calibur where factions don't matter, and the Viking players always win anyway.
38. Yakuza 6(Cleared 7/23)
8/10. So, my Yakuza journey is finally over until they add more games to the subscription service. Good. I need the break. This was my biggest gaming undertaking in a long time, and it was worth it. The story, gameplay, setting, and emotions of this franchise are all so wonderful and detailed, and I haven't gotten this sense of scope and continuity from anything since the Trails series.
This was at one point meant to be the end of Kiryu's journey, and if it had been, I think it would have been a fitting one. It was an effective tying together of all of his prior conflicts.
Needs more Akiyama though.
39. Soul Hackers 2
(Cleared 7/25)
6/10. Great combat, an effective twist on the Megaten formula. Basic map design. Boring story. A weirdly non-existent/ambient soundtrack. Mostly unexceptional characters. I like Saizo though. He's fun.
Overall, it's easy to tell that this is from the TMS FE team, but it is also significantly weaker than TMS FE.
40. Borderlands 3
(Cleared 7/27)
8/10. This game interrupted my rotation because it's leaving the subscription. But I'm not mad. It's fun.
The gameplay and mechanics make so many great improvements to the prior games. Individual loot and scaling are both wonderful additions that I never want to co op without again. Also, the loot is more generous, which is good. Skill trees are a bit more complex too. Also good.
The main flaw isn't actually the story, but the characters. Yes, Ava is annoying but she's honestly barely in it so whatever. It's easily the Calypso twins that hold the game back, and did major damage to the franchise. They suck, they're obnoxious, and I hate them. Worst villains ever.
Other games being played:
Diablo 3, Diablo 2 Resurrected, and Diablo Immortal. Yes, all 3 at once. But the context for each is different. 3 as co op and for fun. 2 Resurrected a bit at a time to clear and uninstall. Immortal during lunch breaks, trips, etc. to clear and uninstall.
Kingdom Hearts 3 - this one was started in my rotation before Borderlands 3 forced its way in. It will be resumed when I am done.
Neo the World Ends with You - a bit at a time, rarely. I'm not in love with it, so it's just a little palette cleanser after I finish multiple other games in my rotation.
-
I uh, think it depends on the game. I do value remakes and remasters, but I think they necessitate a few questions.
How old is the game?
Is it still viable on modern platforms? Why did you remaster The Last of Us for the 2nd time? No, seriously. Fucking why?
Does the game deserve a remake/remaster?
A game that is a candidate for some R&R should ideally be a timeless classic, an important piece of gaming history, or part of ongoing storyline of a franchise that HAS become important, and really worth preserving.
Basically, no Bubsy. No Superman 64. And to the Dynasty Warriors community, stop asking for 3-5 remakes. They don't deserve it.
Does the game need a remake or a remaster? Or just an hd port?
I don't think we should be putting more resources into preserving games than they need. If a game can be great with just a remaster and quality of life improvements, do that and move on to the next big thing.
Basically, Path of Radiance was already a masterpiece and I would be thrilled with just graphics, animations, and QoL. More than that and you're taking time and money from building the future of the franchise.
-
Small and utilitiarian. Have a camp with all of the necessary progression features in one small area, no instances, no loading screens. And then if you want to have social/non-gameplay features, those can be put further away or in instances.
-
So for a Fire Emblem Diablo-like, I'm imagining a character creation system like Awakening/Fates, for characters divided into some core, iconic classes.
Fighter
The Barbarian of traditional Diablo. Encompasses the myrmidon, soldier, and fighter classes, and can promote into a Hero, Knight, or Berserker. All of which can use all 3 normal weapons. The Hero is more of an all-rounder, the Knight is more of a tank with slow, heavy hits, and the Berserker is a glass cannon.
Rogue
Encompasses the archer and thief, and promotes to either an Assassin, Trickster, or Ranger. The Assassin is more mobile, evasive, and glass cannon. The Trickster mixes in support and magic. The Ranger is more of a normal archer and close range medium fighter.
Mage
Encompasses anima and dark, and promotes to Sage, Mage Knight, or Druid. The Sage is a fragile but versatile spell caster. The Mage Knight focuses on magic and melee tanking. The Druid is a dark magic/nature all rounder, and can even transform into beasts.
Priest
Encompasses light magic and melee weapons, promoting into either a Saint, Monk, or Holy Knight. The Saint is the spellcaster with heavy support capabilities. The Monk is an all-round melee, support, and holy smiter with quick strikes and evasion. The Holy Knight is a traditional Diablo Paladin/Crusader.
Rider
Encompasses cavalier, pegasus knight, and wyvern rider. Each gets their own skill tree. Promoting into Paladin, Wyvern Lord, and Falcon Knight. These classes are all really mobile, but come with more weaknesses. The horse riders are more rounded, while the wyvern riders are slower and more durable and the pegasus knights are quicker and more evasive.
-
4 minutes ago, Integrity said:
this just makes me sad for the inevitable fate of prototype 3. now those were some fuckin 7/10 games.
Yeah, Prototype should also come back. I personally quit the first one because of the helicopter mission, but the actual superhero sandbox was very fun.
-
8 hours ago, whase said:
Megaman Battle Network
Especially with how prevalent AI stories are now, I think Battle Network could shine even more than it already has. I would personally love to see this as an MMO, even if that doesn't really seem to be a thing Nintendo does. I would just love to have my own Navi and send it online to battle virusses. So much they could do with this series.
It's prime time for a sequel, honestly now that the collection is out.
For those wanting more of this game style, someone recommended One Step From Eden and it looks pretty good.
Anyway, I'd like to see Rampage rebooted. Keep the main 3 monsters, take some of the best ones from previous games, add some new ones, and add in some new mechanics so it isn't just the arcade experience. Maybe work in some platforming. And price it accordingly. If Streets of Rage and Double Dragon can command 20 dollars, why not Rampage?
And another one would be Jade Cocoon. As a more open-forest Legends Arceus type experience. Use that Ghibli art style for a real Breath of the Wild monster catcher.
-
13 minutes ago, Jotari said:
Other games being mindless doesn't really change Dynasty Warriors status (you were talking about Dynasty Warriors, right?).
And that's always the issue with rebooting a franchise. If a franchise needs rebooting it's probably because something has gone wrong to begin with. Konami are probably right to not make games if they can't do a good job of it. A Metroidvannia style game isn't difficult to make in the technical sense, but they are hard to make well.
Perhaps I should say that is unfair to call out one series for being mindless, when other series get a total pass. Diablo is also mindless when it comes to the gameplay. Arguably more mindless. No one calls out Diablo for it. No one should call Diablo out for it. It's kinda the point, and it's fun. But some series hold a terrible reputation while others hold a prestigious reputation despite having the same flaw.
Anyway, I digress and add another entry.
Assassin's Creed... again. Honestly, the franchise is just an excuse to explore history with badass hooded characters. So, drop the modern day stuff, drop all the reincarnations and gods, and everything else, and just make it a historical romp.
-
4 minutes ago, Lightcosmo said:
I would say they've probably pinnacled this point with the Secret DLC boss in KH III. Any more complex and the player is going to have to play perfect most of the game instead. XD
Most of the combat's interest comes from learning the enemy patten and playing accordingly.
And no one wants to see another fight like BBS' extra Hooded Figure ever again, i'm sure.
I'm sure it can be deep in certain fights. But uh, generally, it really is a one button melee system with a rather janky menu navigation for spells, and the occassional contextual finisher/form change/whatever.
I am now obligated to reject discourse that DW is mindless, when KH and Fable both became popular on literal one button melee combos.
-
What franchises could really use a reboot? Any dead/dormant franchises that could really take off if they returned today? Any ongoing franchises that have a lot of baggage and really need a breath of fresh air?
I've got a few:
Infamous
So, Infamous 1 and 2 are very 7/10 games. Just having a superhero sandbox back then was novel, but Cole's power set is limited/one-note, he has the personality of burnt toast, and the games were pretty average-at-best Ubisoft-style open cities. The much needed Second Son followup received flak, and I guess that's because people weren't ready for a change of protagonist.
But I think 3rd times the charm here. Superheroes are big. The superhero sandbox is a well-known quantity now. Sucker Punch's own dev skills have increased quite a bit with Ghost of Tsushima. And this franchise has so much room to grow. I'm imagining one of these games with a custom player hero and a more nuanced/interactive moral choice system, and that concept is exciting.
Kingdom Hearts
The story of this franchise is notoriously gibberish, and much of it is tied up in deeply mediocre spinoff games. Basically, a reset of the world with a back-to-basics story feels needed. And you could also take this chance to make the combat deeper, add a dedicated Final Fantasy party member in addition to Donald and Goofy, etc.
Shining
Needs a de-boot. This series had some pedigree as an SRPG once with the Shining Force games, and it should go back to its roots.
-
Arkham Knight is a bad game. It basically gatekeeps a tiny portion of the glorious Arkham Asylum/City experience behind way, way too many shitty Batmobile segments. Basically all of the side content is races or barely functional car physics puzzles. You can't explore the city without running into drones that have to be killed with the bat tank. And even the main story frequently interrupts the fun to have you go back to the Forza mines. And the car controls like shit. It's just way too fast and has no handling.
Basically, I fucking hate this game, and I dislike people who try to downplay how much the Batmobile actually factors into/ruins the game.
Soooooo what'cha playing?
in General Gaming
Posted
I've been told that my ongoing ranked IGN playlist for the year is absolutely loaded with hot takes, and this is probably one of the biggest ones.
I just fall more into the Diablo 3 & Marvel Heroes line of ARPGs than the Diablo 2 and PoE line. (PoE's great though, without the need nostalgia goggles).
By the way, have you seen the screenshots for Titan Quest 2? That looks insanely good for this genre.