What games are you currently playing?

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Hunchman801
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Re: What games are you currently playing?

Post by Hunchman801 »

So I finished Silent Hill 2 a few days ago. Was gonna start the next one since I got 2 and 3 bundled together but then I realized it's a direct sequel of the first one. Good thing is I'd bought it on Ad's advice, so I'll continue with this one instead. Looking forward to seeing how the atmosphere compares to the second one. :D
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Re: What games are you currently playing?

Post by Bzzit »

Finally got a win in PUBG :mefiant:
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Re: What games are you currently playing?

Post by Greeness »

I'm attempting to play Metroid:Zero Mission as my first Metroid game, hoping I'll have positive feelings about the open ended formula Metroid is known for.
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Re: What games are you currently playing?

Post by Ambidextroid »

Greeness wrote:I'm attempting to play Metroid:Zero Mission as my first Metroid game, hoping I'll have positive feelings about the open ended formula Metroid is known for.
I would recommend it, that's the one I started with and it was a great intro into the series
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Re: What games are you currently playing?

Post by Rayfist »

Funny you say that, I've actually been playing Samus Returns and I'm fairly close to beating it- it's the first time I REALLY got hooked on a Metroid game and definitely wants to make me explore the older titles. This game also has some fucking excellent boss fights.
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Re: What games are you currently playing?

Post by Greeness »

Ambidextroid wrote:
Greeness wrote:I'm attempting to play Metroid:Zero Mission as my first Metroid game, hoping I'll have positive feelings about the open ended formula Metroid is known for.
I would recommend it, that's the one I started with and it was a great intro into the series
Yeah, I hear It's either this game people start with or Fusion, however I didn't want to start with Fusion because I hear it is the more linear game between the two and I wanted to get the general Idea of how a metroid game usually plays.
Rayfist wrote:Funny you say that, I've actually been playing Samus Returns and I'm fairly close to beating it- it's the first time I REALLY got hooked on a Metroid game and definitely wants to make me explore the older titles. This game also has some fucking excellent boss fights.
While it is a nice take on Metroid 2, I think the graphics look a little bland for a 3ds game, however it is great to see that Metroid finally got some attention from Nintendo after years of dormancy.
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Re: What games are you currently playing?

Post by Fifo »

Was replaying Final Fantasy VIII on PS1.
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Re: What games are you currently playing?

Post by Master »

I've 100%ed Samus Returns on Normal, and now just getting my arse kicked by the final boss. I think I'll share my thoughts once I've finally beaten it.
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Re: What games are you currently playing?

Post by Fifo »

Any updates? Wishing you luck, Master!
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Re: What games are you currently playing?

Post by Rayfist »

I recently beat the Queen Metroid and now that I have all the abilities I'm just back tracking to areas with items I couldn't get before.
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Re: What games are you currently playing?

Post by Master »

So, Samus Returns. Overall, I think it was very good. I don't think it'll reach god-tier status in the fandom, but it's certainly worthy of its moniker. I'm going to be mentioning spoilers, so be warned.

Presentation
I know folks have criticised Nintendo for putting this out on the 3DS over the Switch, but even so, I think the game looks pretty nice on the 3DS. I've heard that its use of 3D is pretty sublime, and is highly recommended by folks. I can't confirm this myself, as I've got a 2DS, but it's worth looking into if you've got a 3DS. It's a bit of a pity that it only runs at 30 FPS, but it's very stable and very playable.

That being said, while the game looks really nice for the 3DS, I feel that the locations themselves don't feel as distinct as they could. To compare with AM2R, in that game, each locale was designed in such a way where they would imply a specific function in an overall Chozo settlement, you had the Temple (Area 1), Hydro Station (Area 2), Weapons Testing (I think it's Area 5 in SR) and so on. There's still some distinction, but they're not quite as obvious, there's some exceptions, like the Chozo Lab, but overall, I think AM2R gave the areas more of a distinct feel. AM2R also had the scan feature, which gave even greater depth and lore to each location. Another nuance I think is missing in SR compared to other versions is the lack of enemies as you approach the end of the game, it gave off a nice impression of how devastating the Metroids can be, and this nuance is lost in SR, as regular enemies are present as normal all the way to the end of the game.

Another issue I have is the overuse of elevators in an area. I can't help but suspect it's because SR decides to load whole areas rather than by room, and as such, the elevators serve as hidden loading screens. This does mean that areas feel more segmented in themselves, which kinda affects the interconnected feel that Metroid games tend to have.

Controls
Controls overall are fairly good, and having the circle pad for movement as opposed to the d-pad works alright. The big issue for me is when morphing to and from the morph ball, morphing in itself isn't too bad, as you can tap the bottom screen to morph instead of a double down movement. Though even so, I did find myself morphing out at some pretty inconvenient points. For example, during the Diggernaut fight, when he's using his vacuum attack, when I was up against a corner, I sometimes ended up unmorphing instead of spiderballing up the wall. This led to me getting sucked in and killed. The controls were also a bit of a fumble during the Diggernaut chase sequence. I appreciated the addition of being able to automatically morph into crevices, as opposed to morphing than spring balling into it, but having to fumble between morphing, switching beams and using free-aim can be a bit much when you've got an instakill wall of death approaching.

Gameplay
Gameplay wise, it's pretty much standard 2D Metroid. It's using the more snappier Zero Mission feel, I think, over the floatier Super Metroid feel. The Aeion abilities are a nice addition, in particular, I prefer the more methodical slowness of the phase shift over the fast pace of the Speed Booster. I have never been able to 100% Fusion or Zero Mission solely because of how frustratingly complicated some of the Speed Booster puzzles could be, so having something which allows for more time and is more forgiving is alright with me.

The boss fights are probably the biggest attraction to this game, given how it's all about exterminating the Metroid species. The Metroid fights are pretty challenging, and require a lot of attention in order to beat in good time. I think the Fire Gamma Metroids are probably the most challenging, as you can't shoot any of their projectiles to regenerate health, and their attacks make it hard to stay in one place. It can be a bit fatiguing constantly fighting Metroids, though I don't feel it was all too bad. Arachnus was a fairly standard but still challenging boss, but I think the boss which gave me the most grief was probably the Diggernaut. It takes a lot of learning and patience to get its attacks down, but once you've figured it out, beating it is extremely satisfying. The Queen Metroid fight is much more challenging compared to AM2R's, though I feel AM2R gave a better sense of dread to the battle.

I liked using the Melee Counter during bosses, usually it meant having to get close to bosses, carrying a small element of risk, but timing it right and getting that opening is so very satisfying. I'm not so fond of having it needed so prominently with regular enemies, it's a diminished issue once you've progressed and gotten power-ups like the Wave Beam, but at the beginning it's pretty much a necessity. It can really break the pace when having to wait for the enemy to perform their melee attack for you to counter, and given how this is most prominent at the beginning of the game, it's a bit of a wall. A minor quibble, as I find I don't seem to have it quite so bad now, starting a new playthrough, but it's something I feel is noteworthy regardless. Regular mooks also seem to be lacking a little in variety, in later areas they just get recoloured. It'd been nicer to have new enemies to contend with, at the very least to help give areas a more unique feel, as I mentioned earlier.

Overall
While I did complain a bit up there, as I said at the beginning, I think this game is definitely a worthy Metroid title. I think the quibbles I have could very well be refined in a future title in this style, and I do hope the developers; MercurySteam, have a chance to build on what they've learned here, and make a truly wonderful title in the future. As it stands, they've got a pretty good foundation in Samus Returns, and with a potential sequel hook in the game (look at the Chozo Memories when you've got 100%), I think that opportunity will come.
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Re: What games are you currently playing?

Post by Rayfist »

The boss fights in that game are excellent, but that Diggernaut boss fight really can go fuck itself. It's retardedly cryptic, and required so much trial and error. The part specifically where you need to bomb the legs and it gives such a small frame of time for you to traverse his leg and be able to bomb it.

Regarding the controls I feel like there is so much management in the game it's ridiculous. You need to manage your aeon abilities using the D-pad to which you press "A" to confirm use of the ability, which felt sort of clunky, and I think would have been better used with a double tap of the D-pad. You also have the touch screen abilities regarding missiles you want to choose or weapon. All of this you need to manage while the game is completely in real-time. It's a neat idea and really has you on your feet focusing to survive but it's annoying when I figured out I want to switch to a stronger missile to take down an enemy easier all while simultaneously being bombarded by enemy attacks.
Last edited by Rayfist on Sun Oct 01, 2017 11:19 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: What games are you currently playing?

Post by Master »

The boss itself gave me Prime vibes, and consequently I think if they had been able to incorporate something like the logbook and Scan Visor, the boss would have been a bit more accessible. As it stands, I did die quite a few times to it, I didn't even figure you could attack the Diggernaut with bombs while it's using its vacuum attack until I was quite a few tries in. I agree with the timing point, I think on my initial tries I did end up getting thrown off due to not timing my movements, though I did get the timings down consistently a few tries in.
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Re: What games are you currently playing?

Post by Rayfist »

I actually just beat the game though being new to the series I definitely can't leave an in-depth review like you.

But I will say though that the game was very well designed overall. The ambient hostile environments of Planet SR388 really do give you an isolated feeling, although the lack of color choice did make the various areas of SR388 a little difficult to distinguish at times. I've only looked a little bit into the fan remake AM2R and something about it seems more pleasing to look at. I do have to agree that the graphical style could have been a bit better, but it was still a very nice looking game regardless.

Controls were really slick too, I love the full rotational aiming they've now added which can make aiming for enemies in more specific spots much easier to do. My only gripes towards these are what I stated above, there are a lot of weapons and abilities at your disposal which has you switching between the bottom touch screen and the top screen all while the game is still playing, which can be very annoying and distracting.

Assuming all Metroid games are like this, there really is a satisfying feeling of growing stronger through suit upgrades and being able to blast your way through the earlier areas of the games to the point where you're practically overpowered. It's such a therapeutic feeling, makes me wonder why I never got into this series earlier.

Also I'm really glad they decided on adding the aeon ability to see through hidden blocks. I really disliked that aspect of the earlier Metroid titles, I would always be confused with many areas even though it feels like I bombed very single pixel of the area.

One last thing I wanted to mention about the presentation, it's such a small aspect but I love how the camera zooms in to display a succesful parry and you get to see Samus blast the shit out of the enemy. These animations during these parries and cutscenes really do make Samus such a badass.

Anyways- I'm not sure when I'll begin another Metroid game- but I've had my eyes set on Super Metroid (being a sequel to 2 it seems proper), Zero mission, or maybe Fusion.
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Re: What games are you currently playing?

Post by Cairnie »

Hands up if you are like me and busting your guts out at Cuphead right now.

Also Mario & Rabbids now that I have a Switch.
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Re: What games are you currently playing?

Post by Bzzit »

Cairnie wrote:Hands up if you are like me and busting your guts out at Cuphead right now.
*Raises hand* I'm having trouble on the third island right now :confus:
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Re: What games are you currently playing?

Post by Greeness »

Cairnie wrote:Hands up if you are like me and busting your guts out at Cuphead right now.

Also Mario & Rabbids now that I have a Switch.
*Raises hands* I'm about to finish the second island.
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Re: What games are you currently playing?

Post by Rayfist »

Just started Cuphead myself, got to the third island which I think is the last one or at least halfway.

Really slick game. The amount of love poured into the game to recreate the 1930's cartoon style (I forget what it was called) looks really nice. I don't consider the game grueling difficult so far, it's just a lot of memorization you have to get down like many shoot em ups. It actually amazes me that this is the first videogame to attempt actually using that art style, you'd think that would've been done sooner. The game itself doesn't necessarily do anything new to the shoot em up genre, but that's perfectly fine, it clearly doesn't set out to do that.

The only complaint I have so far is the lack of actual run 'n gun levels. You can tell this idea was clearly an after thought behind the team. The game is very boss focused, and while I think that's fine, I'm already on the last world and I've came across like only 3-4 actual run 'n gun levels? Which is a damn shame, they could create so many interesting platforming level ideas using that dash mechanic. This makes me hope that it'll get a sequel with more of those because the few run 'n gun levels that were on there were really well designed.
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Re: What games are you currently playing?

Post by Bzzit »

Nice one. I'm on the final boss now and it's friccon testing my patience. What's the most challenging boss so far, in your opinion?

Edit: Actually, I just beat it. Was pretty easy for a final boss, but fun.
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Re: What games are you currently playing?

Post by Greeness »

The Dragon one was definitely the biggest pain in the ass for me, his first and second phases are easy enough to dodge, however his third phase almost drove me insane with how unpredictable some of the attacks were.
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