The Hot Topic Returns

[one-armed dwarf]

Off topic but I don't think Snake Eater will hold up at all and I predict utter bafflement with its remake when people try to settle into playing it. I'd much prefer a somewhat flawed but more original take like SH2 is getting over a boringly 'faithful' makeover like Delta

 

I think 1 and 2 are much better games to return to, but 3 was superseded by Phantom Pain. It's a strange transitional period for that series where even at the time the growing pains were apparent. I do think it's a cool title though, I'm just not sure I'm bothered about playing it again. Especially with modern visuals which must be surreal with how they're overlaid on top of an old game with PS2 maps and animation data

[Maf]

I get what you’re saying but MGS5 will never supersede MGS3 because MGS5 doesn’t have a story. It has great, dynamic gameplay but story and character are integral to MGS and MGS5 doesn’t have any. 
 

To me MGS series is 1-4 and 5 is this other thing. It just doesn’t fit and isn’t apart of the series to me. Even though it says Metal Gear Solid on the box

 

But yes when they called it “Delta” I was hoping they were going to be brave and do something original with it. A bit like FF7 Remake and RE4 Remake where it’s the outline of that original game, but it’s all new and modern and then there’s some twist on the story.

 

But instead it sounds like they just updated controls and graphics which…I’ll probably still play it. But it’s not very exciting. 
 

I don’t know how a modern audience will react to it. That might be the most exciting part about the whole thing. I can’t wait to see a bunch of Let’s Plays with young, excited people going to play Metal Gear for the first time and then watch their face drain as the codec conversations go on…and on…and on

[Maryokutai]

The first of the Wolfenstein reboots on PS4/One, The New Order I think is the name. I probably wasn't in the right mood for it anyway but the fact that you had to look at weapons and ammo and press a button to pick them up annoyed me to no end. That's such a clunky system on console where you're forced to move your thumb from the stick to a face button back and forth all the time. I don't understand how stuff like that makes it through QA when console shooters have done contextual HUD pop-ups since the PS2 generation for that very reason.

[spatular]

Chrono trigger I’ve started and there’s just a really stupid bit at the start of the story that puts me off, definitely plan to play through it one day though.

 

uncharted 4, tried to start this a few times but think I’m just all uncharted out.

 

i played mgs3 reasonably recently, maybe 5 years ago, really enjoyed it for the story but didn’t get on with the gameplay really

[DANGERMAN]

The Retrocade console, I bought a version that had all the games, I was going to keep the collection up to date because the cartridges are fairly cheap. It's a nice idea for a console. Problem is a lot of the games were from an era I don't have a ton of nostalgia for, then dealing with the dodgy controls (they made some mistakes with the OS at launch), I fell off it really quickly and ended up selling it all 

[Nag]

 

Quote

Nag says... "Simple question this week, who's your favourite game developer/publisher and why?"

 

[DANGERMAN]

Where's the Sega logo @Nag?

 

I think Capcom have a really good hit rate, it's rare they put out anything bad. However, very little of what they put out is for me really, I like the Resident Evil games, but Monster Hunter can fuck off, and the last couple of Street Fighter games haven't grabbed me. All time though they'd definitely be up there with Sega 

 

As boring as it is, Sony nowadays? I like their single player stuff, invariably it's very good. Although how they've been going about things isn't doing it for me 

 

As a solo Dev, I've mentioned him before but I really like David Syzmanski's stuff. He did Dusk, but it was stuff like Fingerbones, The Moon Sliver and The Music Machine that got me in to him. People should really play Iron Lung before the film comes out 

[Maf]

Nintendo, Housemarque, Arc System Works, Team Asobi, Super Giant are some of my favourite devs right now. 
 

I haven’t heard of any of those games in your last paragraph @DANGERMAN I will have to Google them later

[mfnick]

I don’t think any of them are particularly great anymore. If I had to pick, probably Capcom. Although their games haven’t hit for me as much lately but the quality is still undeniable. Still release relatively frequently too which is a major issue now. 
 

From times past. SEGA throughout the 16-32 bit. The old arcade, blue sky gaming just really appealed to me more than the others back then. 
During the PS2 era there were too many to pick from. Probably Capcom if I had o choose. 
Sony absolutely killed it during the later PS3 - throughout the PS4 gens. Those prestige SP games from around Uncharted 2 onwards were just perfect for me. Lately though, hmm… not so much. 

[spatular]

arkane (dishonoured, prey), bizarre creations (pgr, blur), cave (all the bullet hell games), harmonix (amplitude/frequency/guitar hero/rock band), bungie (halo, destiny), Nintendo (wave race, pikmin, splatoon, f-zero, Mario kart, Zelda), sega (outrun 2, monkey ball)

 

^ those are some good ones (some shut down or barely making games any more  ). Nintendo make the most games that I like. cave made all the best bullet hell games, even the not quite as good ones are still great, my favorites are ketsui, futari, dodonpachi dai ou jou, dodonpachi.

 

oh yeah m2 too but more for the ports they’ve done, like the recent cave ports and so much more, arika also worth a mention for the ps2 cave ports.

 

i think capcom and housemarque are good shouts from above too.

[one-armed dwarf]

Valve, because they're going to release Half Life 3 and it's gonna rock

[Maryokutai]

I agree with the Capcom mention, even though I don't play many of their games. But they release high quality titles in regular intervals, don't fully abandon forgotten IP, build all of it with their own tech, which might not be high-end, but allows them to do games in that perfect middle ground between AA and AAA, in other words looking good while being sustainable, and they keep the core DNA of their games intact by not chasing some fantasy 'large audience'. I would not be surprised if other independent developers see them as some kind of role model on how to do videogames in the 2020s.

 

Three of my favourites are also Retro Studios, Crystal Dynamics and Double Fine. I pack them together here because they've all had outside forces have an impact on their release schedule, but the stuff they made thus far as almost always been really good and I'm quite looking forward to what comes next.

 

In the indie space I really like Vector Pop, which has become some kind of low-budget replacement for Housemarque (who have since climbed the AA ladder upwards). And Frozenbyte, the guys behind the Trine series, one of the unsung heroes of the indie world IMO.

 

As for publishers, you can't go wrong with Nintendo I suppose, though I prefer the 'all-out' Nintendo we had during the Gamecube compared to the one right now. SEGA at its heights was also a big highlight, not so much anymore though (even if occasional releases like Valkyria Chronicles 4 remind you of it).

[Nag]

Just now, Maryokutai said:

and they keep the core DNA of their games intact by not chasing some fantasy 'large audience'

 

Except when the released Resident Evil 6 and thought they could court the Call of Duty crowd... by having you chase a Mazda MX5 round Tokyo. 

[radiofloyd]

In terms of indie developers, Supergiant Games are way out in front. They are one of the few that keep following up one good game with another.

 

Larian would be a clear second.

Two others that stand out are Terrible Toybox (Thimbleweed Park, Return to Monkey Island) and Subset Games (FTL, Into the Breach) but I still had to google the correct name of the developer.

 

There are numerous developers that could potentially join this list in the future.

[Maryokutai]

2 hours ago, Nag said:

 

Except when the released Resident Evil 6 and thought they could court the Call of Duty crowd... by having you chase a Mazda MX5 round Tokyo. 

 

Yeah, I'm obviously talking about post MH World Capcom. Though it is in itself remarkable that they managed to get out of that low point during the 360 era and come out this strong.

[Nag]

They certainly had a wobbly few years back in the 360 era... all is forgiven though as they're easily my favourite dev anyway.😄

[Maf]

I feel like I don’t keep up with who is making what anymore. In the 360/early PS4 days I feel like there were much fewer games and it was simpler to keep track of. Even though there are fewer AAA games now, there are so many smaller games I can’t remember who does what anymore 

 

One developer I’ve really lost interest in is Platinum. There was a time when they made Bayonetta, Vanquish and The Wonderul 101 all close together and it was like, oh, these guys are the guys. Then they just fell off. The Bayonetta puzzle/platformer game was pretty good, but I can’t remember the last thing they did I thought was amazing. I guess I should still try that Transformers game at some point 

[Maryokutai]

Yeah, I was thinking about them as well when the question popped up. Ten years ago I'd easily have mentioned them but I think Bayo 2 or W101 (whichever came out last) was the last game of them I played, and I strongly disliked W101 as well.

 

I do have Bayo 3, Origins and Astral Chain and I plan on playing those before the Switch successor comes out, so maybe that'll put them back on my list.

[DANGERMAN]

I doubt it. Bayo 3 is alright, Astral Chain feels like their B-team made it (it's not bad, but it gets dull) . They did a brilliant job with Nier though, got to give them that. It feels like whatever spark they had has gone, but I really hope whatever they do next is them back to their best 

[Maryokutai]

Oh yeah, forgot about Nier. That's also one I have lying around because I can't bring myself to finish the first one, but don't want to play the second one without prior knowledge.