The Bittersweet Reality of Your Gaming Preferences

[Sinclair Gregstrum]

I too miss proper arcade racers although my Saturn scratches that itch when I need it too. I'm also a big Wipeout fan and a few of them are getting gussied for PS4 and being released as Wipeout Omega Collection next year. A must-buy if we've any hope of seeing a new full game one day!

The Forza Horizon games have a very fun arcade spirit to them although it is presented in an open world wrapper so doesn't quite solve your problem.

I'll add my voice to the chorus of people whose skill at fighting games isn't even close to matching my love for them. Calling myself average at them would probably even be too generous. To rub salt into the wound the series I'm traditionally best at, Sega's Virtua Fighter, has been dormant for years now, with no new numbered entry in nearly a decade!

[Michiel K]

I've always preferred my racing games OTT and arcadey.

Ridge Racer, WipEout, Daytona, Sega Rally, etc. So its been a shame to watch gaming become obsessed with taking driving games open world, realistic and more bothered about accuracy than fun.

There's been a few emergent seeds of recovery lately and I hope a new Daytona reawakens this once great genre, but if a game ever, EVER asks me to take a driving licence prior to getting stuck in, then I'm out

In recent years Split/Second and NFS: Hot Pursuit (not much a fan of the other NFS games) have managed to scratch that itch for me. Fast Racing NEO is winning me over as well.

[Sinclair Gregstrum]

Split Second developer Black Rock Studios other arcadey racer Pure has recently been added to backwards compatibility list on Xbox One.

Such a shame that studio is no more....

[KissMammal]

I've always preferred my racing games OTT and arcadey.

Ridge Racer, WipEout, Daytona, Sega Rally, etc. So its been a shame to watch gaming become obsessed with taking driving games open world, realistic and more bothered about accuracy than fun.

There's been a few emergent seeds of recovery lately and I hope a new Daytona reawakens this once great genre, but if a game ever, EVER asks me to take a driving licence prior to getting stuck in, then I'm out

I second this. I adored the early Ridge Racer games, but imo that series lost its way with R4.

I actually backed that Drift Stage game on Kickstarter, looks like an interesting throwback to more arcadey racers.

[seansthomas]

In recent years Split/Second and NFS: Hot Pursuit (not much a fan of the other NFS games) have managed to scratch that itch for me. Fast Racing NEO is winning me over as well.

I enjoyed FAST Racing Neo a lot, but even the Easy setting took a fair bit of practice and 4 perfect runs to beat. Tricky to pick it up for a swift blast...

[Tleprie]

There needs to be more Action RPGs either in the form of Diablo or Borderlands.

I only briefly played them, but Torchlight 1 & 2 were pretty good Diablo-likes, if you have a PC for them. There weren't too many stats to deal with, though it could get more complex later on.
Similarly, Dungeon Defenders is all about the loot, with the RPG mechanics allowing you to lean your character in the way that you prefer playing. This one is definitely best with a friend or two, Some of the later dungeons I imagine would be nearly impossible solo, though perhaps easier difficulties would allow for it.

[Tleprie]

As for my own preferences: I sort of wish I could get into more RPGs, both action and Japanese. My problem with JRPGs is, as was debated earlier in this topic, the turned based combat. I really enjoy Paper Mario 1&2 because it adds in mini games to the combat that keep me involved in everything. I really loved Penny Arcade's first two episodes of On the Rainslick Precipice of Darkness, as they implemented similar mechanics, while the final two parts went back to traditional JRPG combat.

With action and open world RPGs, I usually have fun while I'm playing, but very easily lose interest and never go back to it.

Lastly, strategy games: I enjoy playing both turn based and real time strategy games with my brother and friends, but have almost no interest in playing online or solely against AI players. This often leads to my brother getting better than me and almost all of them, with the exception of Dawn of War II. The great thing about this is that its so fast paced it could be sub-categorized as action strategy. Similarly I have ways of playing Sins of a Solar Empire in a very action-y way.

These days I don't have the attention span for anything except for roguelikes, Souls games, and a handful of local multiplayer games.

[Michiel K]

Split Second developer Black Rock Studios other arcadey racer Pure has recently been added to backwards compatibility list on Xbox One.

Such a shame that studio is no more....

Yeah, I've got Pure as well. Also really liked that game and recently only it occurred to me that they were made by the same studio.

[Joshihatsumitsu]

Playing Daytona on XBLA with the 360 wheel... really sublime. It gives you the perfect amount of arcadey force feedback.

May have to drag that wheel out of storage and fire in up again...

[Michiel K]

Playing Daytona on XBLA with the 360 wheel... really sublime. It gives you the perfect amount of arcadey force feedback.

Haha, I have that exact same setup.

[ThirdDrawing]

I'm also an arcade racing fan and I'll add Blur to that list from last gen racers.

Additionally, if you haven't played the two Sonic Kart racers from last gen (Sonic and Sega All Stars Racing and Sonic and Sonic and Sega All Stars Racing Transformed), I really recommend them. They're really fun and really, really well made.

[Joshihatsumitsu]

Really been meaning to get my hands on a copy of Blur, because I loved the PGR series, and those defunct Bizarre Creations knew their stuff.

In the spirit of the bittersweet nature of my gaming preferences, I have a love of 2D fighters, and one of the more common traditions of the genre, in the single player mode, is the final boss fight being on the cheap side. It's not true of all games in the genre, but my goodness... it happens enough that it's a noticeable feature.

Of course, when you eventually overcome that cheap final boss in a fighting game, it is a relief, though mostly it feels like luck. It definitely falls into that bittersweet reality of that gaming preference.

[Michiel K]

Really been meaning to get my hands on a copy of Blur, because I loved the PGR series, and those defunct Bizarre Creations knew their stuff.

In the spirit of the bittersweet nature of my gaming preferences, I have a love of 2D fighters, and one of the more common traditions of the genre, in the single player mode, is the final boss fight being on the cheap side. It's not true of all games in the genre, but my goodness... it happens enough that it's a noticeable feature.

Of course, when you eventually overcome that cheap final boss in a fighting game, it is a relief, though mostly it feels like luck. It definitely falls into that bittersweet reality of that gaming preference.

There are two final bosses in 2D fighters that I've never been able to beat: KOF '98 UM's Omega Rugal and KOFXI's Magaki. Magaki is especially rough, with his teleporting projectiles that naturally cross you up, while you guard incoming projectiles from the front. Maybe that's where Chris G got his inspiration from for his Morrigan-Doom setups.

[Flabyo]

SNK are so bad at putting unfair bosses in their game that we named the trope after them.

[Joshihatsumitsu]

I guess you could say that SNK are my favourite company, in that very bittersweet way of being painfully aware of some of their bad habits. Pixel art FTW!

[nickturner13]

Wanting huge, open world environments to explore, then finding that sometimes actually less is more - for want of a better comparison; Banjo Kazooie and Banjo Tooie.

I agree with this comment... I absolutely loved The Witcher 2, completed it and it left me wanting more.

Witcher 3 finally comes out, and I agree that it is an awesome game, possibly one of the top 10 games ever created... but I will never complete it!

I'm 70 hours in and only just reached Novigrad, didn't make it to Skellige yet, and feel that my time with the game is over, I can't bring myself back to it to finish it.

Same applies to a lot of games, I feel like I really want to be involved in massive RPG's (Skyrim, Mass Effect series, Dragon Age series, etc), but I actually always get bored of them in a relatively short amount of time and fall back on things that are more instant = mostly GTA V, Just Cause 3, and Rocket League these days.