Jump to content
passwords have all been force reset. please recover password to reset ×
MFGamers

The Hot Topic Returns


Nag
 Share

Recommended Posts

Oh, yeah, FFXV is a perfect fit for this as well. I absolutely loved it but it's a complete mess. I think at least half of my enjoyment with it came from thinking along the lines of "I wonder what they initially planned for this, for that, to do here" etc. A full disclosure about its development cycle would be really interesting to read or watch. It's a bit like an upside-down take on older games, where your imagination filled the blanks of what wasn't technically possible at the time. Here it would have been possible, but a nightmarish production made them drop so many ideas. Overall just an interesting game to play through.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oooooo boy. 

 

  • Metal Gear Survive is the second best Metal Gear game I've played.
  • Sea of Thieves is an incredible game. 
  • Alien Isolation is a masterpiece.
  • Final Fantasy XV is an amazing game with a fantastic open world and fun Platinum-style combat. 
  • The Evil Within 1 & 2 are better than any Resident Evil game.
  • Maneater is just a ton of silly fun from start to finish.
  • Balan Wonderworld is a solid, decent platformer.
  • Sackboy is one of the best platformers I've played in the last 10 years.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

In what world does Alien: Isolation have a bad rep? I remember a bunch of US publications giving it bad scores but the overwhelming majority of players absolutely loved that game.

 

There's also nothing particularly Platinum-ish in FFXV's combat. I like that game, but combat is a completely unresponsive and wonky mess and diametrically opposite to anything Platinum has ever done.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

IMO, the XV combat lacks any real feeling of agency, you are sort of just holding attack or holding defend. Maybe like a Platinum game on easy automatic, because everything is automatic and random with how Noctis hits stuff. Platinum, when they're good at least, give you a feeling of being in control of the spectacle. XV's combat is one of the worst I've experienced cause of a complete lack of that. On the default difficulty with properly levelled characters it was fairly sad seeing all your AI teammates just die over and over and every boss fight was a dull war of attrition. Think the dragoon fight was maybe an exception

 

I'd nearly say that the God of War reboot comes closer to a Platinum combat system than XV does, despite being slow and grounded (think it even has some dodge offset system, but it's been a while)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Maryokutai said:

In what world does Alien: Isolation have a bad rep? I remember a bunch of US publications giving it bad scores but the overwhelming majority of players absolutely loved that game.

 

I still don't think it gets the plaudits it deserves, its aggregate review score is way lower than it should be (in my view) which is what I'm getting at.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

PREVIEW_SCREENSHOT4_539705-da54.jpg

 

Quote

Readers reveal the most annoyed they’ve ever got with a video game, from Mario Kart: Double Dash to Trials HD.

 

The subject for this week’s Hot Topic was suggested by reader Clambake, and asked why exactly you got so upset and whether you felt justified to do so? Did you break anything, or hurt anyone, as a result and what were the repercussions?

 

The anger-inducing games were evenly split between old and retro, but the two main reasons were consistent for both eras: unfairly high difficulty and unavoidable bugs.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was visiting some friends and we were having a PS2 night. Last on the list was X-Men: Next Dimension. Not the greatest game in the world FYI. So after playing through the roster, we agreed to take turns playing through Story Mode to unlock more. Bastion is the final boss and, as per the story mode, I ended up playing Jean Grey. I'd heard that getting a perfect against Bastion unlocked something. Didn't know what it was at the time. It took me a while but I was doing it (back when I had peak Gamer Skill) and after getting the last hit in, his body somehow clipped me and gave chip damage. Perfect lost. But I didn't think anything of it at the time. Since we'd played the game nonstop for about 10 hours. 

 

After that, I looked up what I missed. To unlock Dark Phoenix: Defeat Bastion in Story Mode with a perfect as Jean Grey. ? 

To add insult to injury, this also unlocks a secret ending cinematic. I threw the cup in my hand at the wall upon reading it. It smashed good. From that point, I discovered a cheat code to unlock everything in the game. We used that instead.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mine was a Tiger Woods game, can't remember which, but it was the first one where you could spend real life money to max out your character.

 

Anyway I'm playing the game and climbing my way through the ranks until I get to one round which is not being as easy as the rest. I'd missed out a few times by one or two shots, but this time I managed to get a good 3 or 4 shots under the AI. It was in the bag, I just had to par out the last few holes and I was going to be victorious, the AI could never possibly catch up now.

 

This is when the AI went all Kim Jong Il and decided to pull the biggest load of bullshit I've ever seen in a game. I can't remember the exact order but in the last 3 holes I witnessed a eagle, and albatross and a hole in one. I also can't remember if we drew at the end or I lost by one stroke, but either outcome made it so I couldn't progress. I do remember punching the controller and it busting my knuckles so I bled all over the place.

 

I never played the game again, nor did I play any more EA sports games. Bullshit, the lot of them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Trying to clear Eden Savage 10 in FFXIV recently, where for whatever reason there was certain things about the mechanics in this fight that made it impossible with pugs (pick up groups). Which as a healer probably took years off my IRL life with how fucking annoyed I was getting with people.

 

This was my first clear of that and I got so delirious with running it for so long that at one point here I actually think I died and tell the other healer to limit break, I was so sick of it. 

 

 

Let's see if I can explain it to non mmo people, when the doggo does 'tells' for its attacks it will look up, stand up, hold a sword in left or right hand, then you apply this to the perspective of the shadows that appear. This is rough when you're in there with people who aren't good at telling perspective tricks like this.

 

On top of this the raid music is the FFVIII battle theme which sucks to listen to for hours on end.

 

Anyway now I'm 'progging' the final fight of the tier, Eden Savage 12, which looks like this from the healer's perspective. So it's gonna suck lol

 

Spoiler

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've blanked on anything obvious, there's bound to be some. Quite possibly the cheating cunt gill in Street Fighter 3. Actually, Virtua Striker used to piss me off, occasionally the computer would just want to score, so it would tear down the flank nearest the camera, to make you watch, before putting in a perfect cross that's nodded home regardless of what your centre backs do

 

On that note, the "typical" Football Manager results. You're flying at the top of the league, playing the worst team in the league, they've got their 4th choice striker up front, midfielders playing at the back, 100% they're going to beat you

 

There's probably a few motion games that just didn't work too. Wii Okami wasn't what it should have been for that reason

 

as a properly retro one, the X-Men Mega Drive game where you had to reset the console. Cool idea, but it quite often didn't work so you'd just lose all your progress 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My memory is terrible so the two examples that come to mind are:

  • Sonic Mania - Was making my way through the second act (I think), made my way to the boss and got beat, then had to start off way back in Act 1 and noped out right there. Fuck that shit. One of the most annoying games in my recent memory
  • Titanfall - I vividly remember trying to play Titanfall on my launch Xbox One, attempting to stream it at the same time with the godawful side bar things and it kept crashing the Xbox over and over again, almost threw it out the window.

Can't really remember anymore, I did smash a controller up over FIFA once when I was about 13 or so, but I couldn't be more specific than that as it's very vague on my mind.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Modern Warfare 1 & 2. That airplane level in MW1 on Veteran was a real motherfucker. I remember reaching the last bit for the first time after many tried and shooting the hostage in my excited panic. I launched my pad across the room in a fit of rage.

 

Apart from that it was the MP in general. Quite often I’d have a bad run where I basically spawn and die lots of times before getting a kill. That used to wind me up rotten. Especially when it did that bullshit thing where you’d shoot someone for ages from behind, they’d somehow survive and kill you in one shot. Fucking infuriating. Felt like the game was just fucking with you. 

 

Another was Super Meat Boy. Some of the later dark stages and getting some of those last bandages cost me a controller.


They are the more recent examples I can think of. There’s been loads of times I lost my temper massively on a game when I was young but I haven’t got any specific memories of them. It happened a lot though.

 

Ive definitely mellowed out of the years. Throughout the last gen I can’t remember a time I’ve properly lost it. I’m much better at managing my temper with a game now and find it much easier to walk away from it if I’m getting that annoyed whereas before I’d just keep going and going even if I’d lost my head. Helps I dont play as many MP games anymore too. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, multiplayer games are the only source of frustration for me as well. If a single player game throws something stupid at me these days I just laugh it off for how badly designed it is and move on. But I also avoid the likes of Super Meat Boy or Sekiro like the plague, so it's not like I'd come across a good but potentially frustrating game anytime soon.

 

But MP games, jesus. From Ken players that do the most random, unsafe shit whenever they feel like it to Overwatch players that ask to be healed, despite not protecting said healer and trying to go 1on6 on the enemy, the online environment really is a solid workout for your blood pressure. And that's before adding toxic children to the mix that teabag or trash talk when they're feeling themselves. I'm really glad I reduced my time with these games to a more bearable quota (i.e. just a few hours of SF per week and no Overwatch at all).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I generally just stop with a game if I find it's design not to my taste, or frustrating. I did it recently with Nier automator, with its horrible invisible walls and top down camera shifts. But with Tales of Vesperia I was right at the end, and my anger was so profound I took the cartridge out of the Switch and smashed it with a hammer. I've never done this before and since, and can't truly remember why I did it. I just know that it had to be done to save my own sanity and (since the game could easily have been traded in) to protect others.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

mask_trailer_still_1434319226.png

 

Quote

Readers discuss the games with the most distinctive and interesting graphics, from Cuphead to Jet Set Radio.

 

The subject for this week’s Hot Topic was suggested by reader Purple Ranger, and asked how important a game’s art style is to you and whether it alone is enough to get you interested in a game – or put you off one.

 

Despite a high number of entries some familiar names came up again and again, with Dishonored, Zelda: The Wind Waker, and Ōkami all lauded for their timeless visuals.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ohh an arty farty question ?. Art style can make or break a game for me. Be it 8-Bit to PS5, the graphics don't matter as long as your visual design is interesting. When it comes to a hobby I turn to for escapism, the less realistic the better. Two off the top of my head

 

Asura's Wrath

img-58337.jpg

 

Madworld

 

254595-946343_20080515_screen004.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A slightly off-centred consideration for decent art style would be The Witness - simply in the way it integrated it's distinctive style to actually be the puzzles on the island, plus whilst not without its flaws, it was also a heck of a lot more playable than another style led game, aka Obra Dinn.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, artstyle is as important, if not more so than GRAPHICS. As much as I love the Crysis games, the 3rd especially for its character models, Metro, The Order for their graphics, stuff like Jet Set Radio, Flashback, Rez, Dragon Quest 8 all stand out. 

 

Mind you, for every one of those there's probably a Panzer Dragoon or Fallout where the tech holds them back from getting the game to look as intended 

 

In terms of favourites, there was a short indie game about the circle of life where the resolution was like 240p, came out about 8 years ago I think? Can't remember the name, I remember blocky frogs jumping around. Anyway, I loved the look of that. 

 

I like when games are built within constraints. The oft mentioned Music Machine is one for that, and The Lighthouse and Milk Inside a Bag... scrabbly 'horrible' graphics 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've been playing Mirror's Edge Catalyst from time to time lately, and it's pretty fun, but I have noticed how the change in how the game is structured has affected the game's art.  I think it was something talked about at the time, but the sequel does have a less striking look since it uses this waypoint system that just temporarily highlights a path of things you can vault, swing or interact with it some way.

I think the originals use of actually using bold colours in the environment to suggest paths looked more unique and stylish.  Catalyst generally still looks great but it just lacks that kick.

 

03-mirrors-edge-colors-17.jpg

 

I like the art in lots of games but I guess I just used it as an excuse to have this thought that's been in my head recently.

 

But yes, striking art design will always pique an interest but it's not a deal breaker.  If I don't find a game appealing visually I may find something else about it I like and after enough exposure the art may even grow on me.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...