All Things Videogame Related: EXTREME VS!!

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

3 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Will like be any longer? You can finish both of the originals into one game and still complain it's too short.

Yes, but now you can complain...in VR-oooh!

56 minutes ago, kajnrig said:

Article is wrong. This is the second game in the series, Zone of the Enders: The Second Runner (Anubis: Zone of the Enders in Japan).

Even better.  However it's still not enough for me for to fully buy into the PS4 VR setup.  For now there are only two games I'd like to try with VR, so I'll be hoping for a price drop.

[Major Focker]

i must really suck. 

i took me a few days to get through ZOE2. got stuck on a couple of missions.

in the rescue Ardjet one, i keep forgetting i had Ardjet on GRAB and end up using her as a chained mace 

in the base raid, after i immobilized fallen comrades to "heal" them, as i dash away i realize a moment too late that i had launched a salvo of missiles before i re-targeted back to enemies  got the hang of it eventually, but then i got OC and repeated that mission until i got an S ranking.

the battleship mission i just kept repeating because the music and scenery were such a pleasure. plus, vector cannon!

 

anyway, i'm really hyped about this, though i was really hoping for ZOE3 and a new story.

any info on what those additional features are? i'm hoping story-driven side missions. 

new mechanics? i'm torn about that one as ZOE2 is already tops on that front, though a few additional weapons probably couldn't hurt.

 

 

[mikeszekely]

1 hour ago, Major Focker said:

i took me a few days to get through ZOE2. got stuck on a couple of missions.

It's been years since I played either ZOE, so I don't have a ton of memories of ZOE2 aside from the kid from the first one piloting Vic Viper as a boss battle.  I do remember the first one took me about 4 or 4.5 hours, and that was basically average for most people.  I remember Kojima said in an interview that ZOE 2 would be twice as long, and I remembr thinking that 8 hours wasn't great but was fair enough.

I finished ZOE 2 in under three hours.  The entire playthrough was in one sitting, without even bothering to save.  And I was livid.

[davidwhangchoi]

more info revealed on Left Alive:

Left Alive is a new title produced by the Front Mission series’ Shinji Hashimoto, directed by the Armored Core series’ Toshifumi Nabeshima, and featuring character designs by the Metal Gear series’ Yoji Shinkawa. Some Wanzer (mecha) designs will be done by Mobile Suit Gundam 00‘s Takayuki Yanase.

Quote

 The three protagonists are the people featured in the key visual. All three are isolated in the city where the game is set, and each act independently in order to survive.
- Keyword: “The One Day Incident” – The setting is a city in Russia. The game depicts a one day incident that occurs there. A war is happening in the city, and the protagonist will inevitably get caught up in the conflict.
- Wanzer – Since Left Alive is set in the same world as the Front Mission series, the walking-type mobile weapons known as “Wanzers” will appear. Although you will mainly confront Wanzers as enemies, you can also steal a Wanzer away from the enemy.
- Survival Action – The primary objective is survival. The game will have a varied setup, including traps laid out to stir up the battlefield. There is also a crafting element, which allows you to use the materials you obtain to craft items.
- The Route You Take is Up to You – For example, if you head straight to your destination, you may be in danger of having to fight enemies, but you can also take hidden paths and stay out of the enemy’s line of sight, or take a big detour far away from that area. How you progress is up to you.

The rest of the quotes are mixed from producer Shinji Hashimoto, director Toshifumo Nabeshima, and character designer Yoji Shinkawa:
 

Quote

- “I wanted to create a new Front Mission world with a new lineup.”
- “We didn’t do a sequel because we wanted Front Mission to be seen in a different perspective, rather than the so-called ‘robot thing.'”
- “It inherits the world and setup [of Front Mission“The genre is stylistcally a third-person shooter. There are shooting elements, but it’s difficult to clear if you’re only shooting. Wanzer-riding actions and stealth elements are also being put in.”
- “You won’t always be fighting in Wanzers.” - “The maps are built with limited space, but they’re laid out so that the route to your destination is wide.” 
- “The setting is the year 2127. Chronologically, that is between Front Mission 5 and Front Mission Evolved."
- (Regarding character designs) “When we initially started the Left Alive project, we consulted with Hideo Kojima, Kenichiro Imaizumi, and Yoji Shinkawa, and got their consent.”
- “There are also replayability elements. There aren’t multiple endings, but depending on how you proceed, the outcome the characters meet will change. Depending on your choices, they may be happy or unhappy, may find a solution to a mystery or may not…”
- “There are changes depending on choices that appear in conversation, or whether you abandon or rescue an NPC in need of help.”
- “The game uses a stage-based structure.”
- “We’re not saying there aren’t any online elements, but they’ll be a bonus if we have them.”
- (Regarding Nabeshima joining Square Enix) “I heard when he left From Software three years ago, so I used that opportunity to invite him to make something together.”

- Development on Left Alive is currently 50 percent complete.

Left Alive is due out for PlayStation 4 and PC in 2018.

source:

http://gematsu.com/2017/09/left-alive-third-person-shooter-set-world-front-mission#akW4V63AQqksR7Wd.99

via GAF

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

 I'm all for new perspectives, especially in the rich world of Front Mission, but IMO, there's nothing wrong going with "the robot thing".  Maybe I'm just starved for more mech games. And I guess having a FM spin-off is better than not getting a FM game at all.  Although I wish FM Evolved was just removed from the timeline completely.

[davidwhangchoi]

some screenshots:

[AN/ALQ128]

Ace Combat 7 has a really cool post-stall maneuver gameplay mechanic.

 

[davidwhangchoi]

Left Alive TGS 2017 conference stream live now:

 

 

[JB0]

So, I feel I've experienced enough at this point to offer an opinion on Samus Returns. And it gets a dual score.

 

As an action-adventure, exploratory platformer game... 6/10. It is fun, but that fun is tempered by unfathomably terrible level design that makes getting from point A to point B feel like a chore, and with an emphasis on backtracking for backtracking's sake(exceptionally bizarre given the game's pedigree).  This problem is aggravated by they hyper-aggressive enemies that want nothing more than to rush into Samus and kill her to death, making every six feet of travel a battle, if not a hard one.  I am having fun in spite of the glaring flaws, so as much as I want to rake it over the coals and let loose the flaming vitriol(for reasons I will discuss shortly), I can't really justify it if we approach it on its own merits. 

 

 

 

 

Now, here's the other part:  how does it stack up as a Metroid 2 remake?

Well, let me lay out my case here...

Metroid 2 is a thoughtful, considered, and well-paced game that attempts to do a couple of things, and has two major stories presented in addition to the manual's stated "Metroids are too dangerous to live, Samus kill them all and free us from this menace!".

1: Every game tells you how dangerous metroids are, how just a handful can completely destroy a planet's ecosystem. Metroid 2 SHOWS you. The further into the game, the fewer and more durable the enemies become. The last areas feature no non-metroid life. The metroids are burning SR-388 to the ground in their rampage. Their implied intelligence only makes them more dangerous. Wait, intelligent? Yeah, that is strongly implied in Metroid 2's endgame, with the metroids laying traps for you, and some MYSTERIOUS FORCE(the queen metroid) making an attempt to destroy the ice beam, and it is all but directly stated in Super Metroid's finale, when the hatchling sacrifices itself to save Samus from Mother Brain. So... let's move on to the second story now. It's the meatier one anyways.

 

 

2:  Early metroids are found just laying out in hallways on the main path, or in chambers right off it. They know no fear, and sleep wherever they want because nothing is a threat to them.

As you move through the caverns of SR-388 laying waste to everything you see, they start nesting in thornbushes, little maze-y rooms, and nooks in cliff faces hundreds of feet up in the air. Like they are prey, like the deadliest creatures in the galaxy fear something.  The penultimate area, they don't nest at all. Two of the three metroids in the area you find off the main path again. Empty rooms with one exit. The metroids spawn right next to the wall farthest from the exit, and they spawn facing the wall, not you.

And then you realize... the metroids DO fear something. They fear YOU. They were hiding from YOU. Those last metroids were RUNNING AWAY, and Samus hunted them down, backed them into a corner, and executed them with ruthless efficiency.

"That bounty hunter is out there. She can't be bargained with. She can't be reasoned with. She doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And she absolutely will not stop... ever, until you are dead."

 

And in the final area, after you've slaughtered all the metroids but for one, you enter the hallway to the queen metroid's chamber and it has a keening howl reverberating through it. It is unmistakably alien in form, but also... sorrowful, somehow. The queen is the last of her kind, and she weeps for her slain children, murdered in cold blood. And then you fill her head with enough high explosives to level a small continent. Mission completed, take pride in a job well-done, hunter.

Samus is committing genocide for a paycheck. There's no sugar-coating this. That is literally the stated goal of the game. Metroids don't have any means of travelling space. They leave SR-388 only at the insistence of other species who come in their spaceships. They just want to be left alone in their caves, living their simple indolent lives of sleeping and eating, and here Samus comes in loaded for bear and starts blowing the hell out of them because some pirates robbed an archeologist that one time.  Who in this story is truly the monster?

Even if the metroids DO need to die, it is not a mission one should take pride in. It is an ugly and hateful job, and should rightly weigh on the soul of those charged with it. And weigh on Samus it does, as at the very end she adopts the infant hatchling, feeds it, and takes it away with her. One tiny chink her her merciless armor, a moment of sympathy at the end.

...

And then Super Metroid undoes it all. She took the hatchling as a lab sample, and gave it over to scientists to experiment on. Shoulda just killed it, woulda been kinder. Whoops.

 

 

Samus Returns is a brash, loud, and clumsy title that tries to tell one very different story.

The metroids aren't doing crap to SR-388. It is a lush world full of life even very deep. Hell, they aren't even the most dangerous creatures on the planet. And Samus is a heroic badass rockin' her big-budget action-film moves through the caves, killing the scourge of the galaxy(and everything else in her way), harvesting their entrails, and offering them up as sacrifices at chozo altars(No, really). 

And between the general lack of threat and the sprawling, disorganized map, it really feels like killing metroids is incidental to Samus' looting of the ruins for cool toys and epic loot, they are but a roadbump on her Indiana Jones-style pillaging.

There's precious little to praise here, and this is as far from a thoughtful and respectful remake as possible. It is more like it is actively pissing on everything Metroid 2 does.  NEGATIVE TEN OF TEN. 

[Chronocidal]

So, I have one thought about that, and how it pertains to the larger story.

Do they make any mention of the X-Parasites from Fusion?  Reason I ask is because the later games paint this picture that the metroids were actually the thing keeping SR-388's ecosystem in balance.  It sounds like the whole game may be a sort of thematic ret-con to establish that as the canon, making it more clear that the metroids were never a threat to their own environment, just the rest of the galaxy, which only makes the whole extermination order that much worse.

I'm personally still upset about the entire X-Parasite story though, and how it started out sounding like it was going to wind itself into the core of the Prime series, only to have the plot thread fall into a black hole.

[JB0]

I haven't finished Samus Returns. By the metroid sensor, I'm about halfway there(and sick to death of alpha metroids! Where are all the gammas?!). I EXPECT something about the X in the ending, much as AM2R did.

Given the metroids were implied to be artificially created in Return of Samus, one would assume the X are as well(hooray out-of-control bioweapon programs!). But then, Fusion's plot demonstrated a distinct lack of familiarity with all aspects of Return of Samus. That implication is likely going to be ejected for Samus Returns anyways. 

[kajnrig]

Putting this here from another forum:

Project Nimbus started out as a PC game, part of Steam Early Access in 2014. It's a mix between Armored Core, Zone of the Enders, and Omega Boost in terms of gameplay, with radio chatter and hammy dialogue similar to Ace Combat and, in a small part of the trailer, transformation to a flight mode/fighter mode a la Macross.
This PS4 version remakes the game in Unreal Engine 4, and it definitely compares favorably to the PC original.

I have some other issues with how it seems to play, but I'm definitely intrigued by it nonetheless. Here's hoping the engine change will be backported to the PC game as well, and hopefully the audio will be upgraded as well.

There's been no announcement of a PC upgrade package, so if you're thinking of getting it on Steam, it might be best to wait a couple weeks to see if the devs make any updates.

[dizman]

Cool game, I've never seen it before but it seems right up my alley. I'll pick it up on PS4 when it gets released in the US.

[frothymug]

Was looking for a good co-op game for me and my gf to play and stumbled across Fortnite, by Epic Games. Then I found out it recently released a beta version of a battle royale mode, which is a damn good tribute to PUBG. I can't stop watching Let's Play videos of Fortnite Battle Royale! While I've been struggling with myself to fork out the 40 bucks to get into the paid early-access, Epic just announced that they are going to make the Battle Royale mode free to access on the 26th. The original PvE mode will still be behind the pay wall until they release that to free-to-play sometime next year.

If you're a fan of PUBG, check out Fortnite's Battle Royale. They do some things way better, but I still think that it lacks some features that would make it as good, or maybe better. If they get procedurally generated maps into their BR mode, PUBG is going to have serious competition.

[Focslain]

@kajnrig - Project Nimbus has been on my radar fro a while. Just waiting for money and/or a steam sale. But it looks neat.

[Tking22]

1 hour ago, frothymug said:

Was looking for a good co-op game for me and my gf to play and stumbled across Fortnite, by Epic Games. Then I found out it recently released a beta version of a battle royale mode, which is a damn good tribute to PUBG. I can't stop watching Let's Play videos of Fortnite Battle Royale! While I've been struggling with myself to fork out the 40 bucks to get into the paid early-access, Epic just announced that they are going to make the Battle Royale mode free to access on the 26th. The original PvE mode will still be behind the pay wall until they release that to free-to-play sometime next year.

If you're a fan of PUBG, check out Fortnite's Battle Royale. They do some things way better, but I still think that it lacks some features that would make it as good, or maybe better. If they get procedurally generated maps into their BR mode, PUBG is going to have serious competition.

I have a bunch of different friends that are getting in on Fortnite specifically for this. I also read this morning that the creator, or somebody important having to do with PubG, cried to Epic claiming they were stealing the idea for Battle Royale from PubG, as if PubG invented it, or is original in any real way, which it is not. Very hilarious stuff. Not knocking PubG, it's great at what it does, but to claim they somehow originated battle royal, multi-player death match games, is ridiculous. Kind of a random suggestion, but if you're looking for co-op, me and several buddies are getting VERY much back into Killing Floor 2. Very excellent game, very fun 6 player co-op, and lots of mindless, but very accurate and smooth, horde base zombie killing FPS gameplay.

[Major Focker]

wow! that Nimbus looks fun. does it have an english-sub release?

[azrael]

12 hours ago, Tking22 said:

I have a bunch of different friends that are getting in on Fortnite specifically for this. I also read this morning that the creator, or somebody important having to do with PubG, cried to Epic claiming they were stealing the idea for Battle Royale from PubG, as if PubG invented it, or is original in any real way, which it is not. Very hilarious stuff. Not knocking PubG, it's great at what it does, but to claim they somehow originated battle royal, multi-player death match games, is ridiculous. Kind of a random suggestion, but if you're looking for co-op, me and several buddies are getting VERY much back into Killing Floor 2. Very excellent game, very fun 6 player co-op, and lots of mindless, but very accurate and smooth, horde base zombie killing FPS gameplay.

Do you get a chicken dinner if you win a round in Fortnite? If it does, I would say it's copying. Otherwise, PubG's notion of a claim is malarkey. It's a battle royale-type game. You could claim that any battle royale game is a ripoff of survival deathmatch-type games.

The building structures aspect and property destruction feels like an interesting concept to bring into the game.

[kajnrig]

16 hours ago, Major Focker said:

wow! that Nimbus looks fun. does it have an english-sub release?

On Steam Early Access it is in English. Dunno about this PS4 release, though.

[frothymug]

On 9/22/2017 at 11:46 AM, Tking22 said:

I have a bunch of different friends that are getting in on Fortnite specifically for this. I also read this morning that the creator, or somebody important having to do with PubG, cried to Epic claiming they were stealing the idea for Battle Royale from PubG, as if PubG invented it, or is original in any real way, which it is not. Very hilarious stuff. Not knocking PubG, it's great at what it does, but to claim they somehow originated battle royal, multi-player death match games, is ridiculous. Kind of a random suggestion, but if you're looking for co-op, me and several buddies are getting VERY much back into Killing Floor 2. Very excellent game, very fun 6 player co-op, and lots of mindless, but very accurate and smooth, horde base zombie killing FPS gameplay.

The whole flap is actually difficult to define. First, it seemed like they were complaining that Epic was taking their idea. Then, there was another statement made that clarified their issue, but then contradicted themselves. They said that they were upset that Epic used their game's name to help promote the new game mode in Fortnite. I don't see the creators of H1Z1 complaining about it. Then they said that they were concerned about Epic making a near-copy of their game using the same engine they've already licensed for it.

The last complaint is the only thing I think Bluehole has any validity worth holding onto. Maybe if there was some as-of-yet unspoken contractual exclusivity agreed to when they licensed UE4 from Epic... Otherwise, they can go pound sand and git gud at making games.

On 9/23/2017 at 12:42 AM, azrael said:

Do you get a chicken dinner if you win a round in Fortnite? If it does, I would say it's copying. Otherwise, PubG's notion of a claim is malarkey. It's a battle royale-type game. You could claim that any battle royale game is a ripoff of survival deathmatch-type games.

The building structures aspect and property destruction feels like an interesting concept to bring into the game.

No, there's no chicken dinner, but some players have suggested a "llama dinner" since the co-op mode awards llama pinatas for loot outside of missions.

As far as similar mechanics, here's what I've seen so far:

Each mission starts with a skydive from a "battle bus" instead of a cargo plane. Players are forced together via a similar series of collapsing circles. Medkits and bandages heal health back. ...and that's about it...

The loot system is improved upon by randomly granting quality levels to weapons, such as common, uncommon, rare, epic, and legendary. There are no weapon attachments and no vehicles. Oh, and no armor to equip... you get "shield potions" that grant some protection. They also have rocket launchers and grenade launchers which come in really handy at towards the end of the game. What really makes Fortnite's BR mode stand out is the ability to destroy and build structures on the fly. Yes, you essentially can build a fort anytime you want. It makes for some really great late-game combat. Got some pesky sniper hiding behind a tree? Shoot it until it is destroyed or put a rocket into the area.

[JB0]

1 hour ago, frothymug said:

Medkits and bandages heal health back

If that is the level we have to aspire to, then a third of all games in existence are ripping it off.

May as well complain that they both use a single button to fire the gun. Probably even the same button.

[kajnrig]

Yeah, the "clarification" that they came out with is nothing but backpedaling from the bad PR their initial boneheaded statement+threat received. I didn't care for PUBG before, and I don't care about multiplayer shooters at all, but I can tell you for sure that I'm 100x more likely to buy Fortnite now than I was last week.

If they had said absolutely nothing, Fortnite's BR mode would have come and gone, and no one would have been the wiser. News articles would have continued to roll out saying how PUBG is the most popular game for X months/years running, and they would have had nothing but good press to languish in. Now they have to waste time and resources fixing their own dumb mistake.

[frothymug]

3 hours ago, kajnrig said:

Yeah, the "clarification" that they came out with is nothing but backpedaling from the bad PR their initial boneheaded statement+threat received. I didn't care for PUBG before, and I don't care about multiplayer shooters at all, but I can tell you for sure that I'm 100x more likely to buy Fortnite now than I was last week.

If they had said absolutely nothing, Fortnite's BR mode would have come and gone, and no one would have been the wiser. News articles would have continued to roll out saying how PUBG is the most popular game for X months/years running, and they would have had nothing but good press to languish in. Now they have to waste time and resources fixing their own dumb mistake.

This illustrates a good point. If Bluehole just kept their yaps shut, Fortnite wouldn't be getting nearly as much publicity over this stunt. Now, everyone who keeps up with gaming news or plays PUBG will probably get exposed to Fortnite by proxy.

[dizman]

Dark Horse is releasing the 800 page Art of Metal Gear books translated in English! They cover MGS1-PW and are coming out in May! https://www.amazon.com/Art-Metal-Gear-Solid-I-IV/dp/1506705812/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1506561037&sr=8-1&keywords=the+art+of+metal+gear+solid 

[AN/ALQ128]

The second trailer for Red Dead Redemption 2 has released, and it looks like its a prequel.

 

[no3Ljm]

Star Wars Battlefront II Single Player Trailer.

 

[TangledThorns]

On 10/19/2017 at 12:31 PM, no3Ljm said:

Star Wars Battlefront II Single Player Trailer.

 

BF2 looks to have a great single player campaign. Too bad the multiplayer action looks meh. Why can't they make it more like Battlefield?!?

[mikeszekely]

A single player campaign, but loot boxes in multiplayer.  One step forward, two steps back, if you ask me.  Loot boxes are a necessary evil that creates revenue for free-to-play games; that sort of shenanigans has no business is a $60 AAA fall release.

[Chronocidal]

I just was having a conversation about this sort of thing, and came to an interesting realization.

They're not selling games as content anymore.. they're trying to sell you games as a service.  You never finish it, it just keeps going, and you keep chucking money into it to let you keep playing.

Far as Bafflefront goes.. make it like original Battlefront, and I'd care.  As it stands, I'm getting to the point where I'm just not even buying any games anymore.

[Gerli]

3 hours ago, TangledThorns said:

BF2 looks to have a great single player campaign. Too bad the multiplayer action looks meh. Why can't they make it more like Battlefield?!?

Please, there is only ONE BF2 and it's Battlefield 2, use another acronym for that other game  

[azrael]

It's crap like "loot boxes" that have turned me off from multiplayer. That and I don't have time to grind through the 5-10 hours needed to accomplish the task for those loot boxes. I can barely do 30 minutes in a sitting before things like sleeping, eating, and working (i.e. life) take over.

1 hour ago, Gerli said:

Please, there is only ONE BF2 and it's Battlefield 2, use another acronym for that other game  

How about EA's SWBF2?

[Gerli]

The story about that Algorithm that "persuade" players to use microtransactions is scary as hell...

[dizman]

Hah welcome to the future of gaming, companies are too afraid to up the retail price of games so they charge you in other ways. Best thing we can do is not buy into the loot crates but it seems many people already do.

[Hikuro]

Just came home from our largest gaming (well only) expo in oregon. I was with my 501st buddies celebrating the 40 years of Star Wars video games....we took up a huge chunk of the arcade floor with several of the old Atari arcade boxes and pinball machines, even had Battle Pods. I'm inside the Empire Strikes Back box trying to fly. We had a ton of people capturing photos of that....maybe it'll go viral or something I dunno, wishful thinking. But man was it fun reminiscing about all those popular games and clones of other games from just so far back.

[Shadow]

Hmmm. Been waiting for a Harrier simulator model since SVGA Harrier in the 90s.