Whatcha Been Playing?

[Alex79]

I got some Amazon vouchers for my birthday last week - Bayonetta 2 is £35 on Switch on there and comes with Bayonetta 1 as well. Is it worth getting, has anyone played the Switch ports?

So I did end up getting this. Tried a little of the first game. Literally the first five minutes. Seems to play well, good framerate and smooth controls - honestly though, it seemed a little hectic for the small screen. Might be one I have to play on the TV rather than in handheld.

[OldBailey]

Definitely big screen games. I remember trying to play bayo on the Wii U gamepad. Didn't go well

[Magical_Isopod]

I've been playing Final Fantasy 13-2 bit by bit, and my thoughts from my previous commentary are still valid. Why does nobody talk about this game? It's excellent! I'm liking this one far, far more than FF7R, and while FF13 was p bad, this sequel is great!

Also been playing A Link Between Worlds, and while I'm really enjoying it... I'm not sure what all the hype is about. I'm 3 dungeons deep and it kinda just feels like "another 2D Zelda". It's well-produced, but it feels like Link To The Past with a few new gimmicks. Maybe that changes later, and I do like this one, but I'm not seeing the "one of the best in the series" that many have hyped it up to be. It's probably one I'll finish though, it's a good, slow-paced game to just kinda vibe out with.

[Suits]

Also been playing A Link Between Worlds, and while I'm really enjoying it... I'm not sure what all the hype is about. I'm 3 dungeons deep and it kinda just feels like "another 2D Zelda". It's well-produced, but it feels like Link To The Past with a few new gimmicks. Maybe that changes later, and I do like this one, but I'm not seeing the "one of the best in the series" that many have hyped it up to be. It's probably one I'll finish though, it's a good, slow-paced game to just kinda vibe out with.

It was a while ago now but I do remember thinking it picked up towards the end. As I certainly couldn’t put it down from a point to the end.

Yeah, good Zelda game that.

[dezm0nd]

It's very good but when it came out i was unaware it was a direct sequel to LttP.
(I tend to steer clear of Zelda marketing)

So imagine my face when I saw it all light up infront of me.

"Just another zelda" to me is definitely a positive but I feel LBW hits some very positive high notes.

[chase210]

I was planning to replay The Last of Us but playing through the first 40 minutes convinced me I am not in the right mindset to enjoy such a bleak miserable experience.

Uncharted 4 is still one of my favourite playstation games on the other hand. I know a lot of people said they didn't like the slower pace, or the way the story is framed and shown, but I love it. Also love the mix of stealth and shooting they evolved the combat into.

[dezm0nd]

Really enjoying Ion Fury, it feels like a proper sequel to Duke Nukem 3d in a way that PD is to Goldeneye.

Everything feels the same yet completely different and just.. more.

The levels are big but not overwhelming and the fights can get a bit full on but in a good way.

Do feel like DN3D had a better handle on secrets with plenty of buttons and things opening up. This feels a bit too vague on first play through

The soundtrack is good but feels out of place. Its almost like they made a version of it with a proper mid 90s soundtrack, ported it to playstation 1 and because it was CD based, they imported loads of 90s electronic/jungle music.

[Magical_Isopod]

Still hammering away at FF13-2 and like... It's still freaking excellent? Like, I am seriously loving this game. I feel like not having played FF13 actually improves my experience here somewhat, because as much as it's a sequel... It's also kinda not? It takes place 3 years after the original, in an alternate timeline where Lightning dies at the end of FF13. That's not spoilers, by the way, that's introduced in the first like 20 minutes of the game. So it gives the writers free reign to abandon sequel baggage completely and use that (admittedly, very interesting) world to build this really, really cool system of jumping in and out of various branching timelines to set things back in order. As much as I LOVE Chrono Trigger, I actually feel like this game handles time travel better? Because the time periods are not so vastly removed from one another, the cause and effect is a little more practical. Oh, and the freaking *monster raising mechanic* I didn't even know this game had? I have a little robot mage dude with a clover on his head, and he is a noodle, and I love him. Nobody can hug him but ME.

Also played a bit more Link Between Worlds, and I think I'm vibing with this one a little more now. The dark world is much more interesting here than I remember it being in LttP. But why in the name of holy glazed ham is MIDNA NOT THE PRINCESS HERE? Midna is the best.

Also started playing The Mummy: Demastered, and that's a pretty darn good game too. it's not perfect - it wants to be Metroid and Castlevania, but my biggest gripe thus far is how it's got this problem with enemy spam - infinitely spawning enemies on many of its screens that make backtracking super tedious. But it's well-made, well-animated, and so far doesn't indulge in the fan service of most WayForward titles. So far. I haven't seen any human females yet, so I'm just here waiting for the jiggling boobies sprite animation any time. Kind of a shame it's mostly set in London, too - it just kinda feels like Castlevania with space marines as a result. Alas.

Also going to be inflicting self-harm by attempting to get trophies in Raiden IV: Overkill. Has anyone here ever platinum'd that game? Around half its trophies only have 0-.5% completion on PSNProfiles. And there's a reason for that. "Complete Arcade Mode on the hardest difficulty with a single credit." OKAY THERE BUD. I know I'm not gonna get these but like... Being the big Raiden fan I am, I really wanna try?

[OldBailey]

Finally got round to playing Streets of rage 4. Mrs Bailey and I are both fans of the series so wanted to wait until we had a chance to co op our first run.

The hype is real, this game is absolutely amazing. Not much really to add to the discourse that hasn't already been said here but as someone who was highly skeptical about this game I've been blown away.

As a first playthrough, it's easily the most fun I've had with this genre for a very long time.
We pretty much breezed through the game on normal though so I'm looking forward to getting to grips with higher difficulties.

The only complaint I have is that I still don't really like the art style. It's very clean and readable so supports the gameplay well and despite being technically impressive, it's hand drawn comic book aesthetic just doesn't do it for me.

Overall though, this is a real GOTY contender and anyone who's ever had even a passing interest in the genre should absolutely give it a go.

[KSubzero1000]

The hype is real, this game is absolutely amazing. Not much really to add to the discourse that hasn't already been said here but as someone who was highly skeptical about this game I've been blown away.

Yay! See? Glad you gave it a shot, man.

[OldBailey]

Me too! There was never a world in which I wouldn't at least try a Streets of rage 4, but I really did find the graphical style off-putting pre release. They're brilliant games to play but so much of my love for the original games is tied up in their audio/visual presentation .
This game doesn't quite capture that tone for me but they absolutely nailed the gameplay.

[KSubzero1000]

I've been trying a bit of Raiden IV: Overkill after reading Iso's posts since I had never played the game before, and... man, I am struggling with the visibility in that game. The screen is cluttered with all sorts of explosions, power-ups and collectible goodies as well as tiny enemy projectiles that regularly blend in with the background and have the same color as the medals and whatnot. More often than not when I'm dying it's because I didn't even see the bullet beforehand and just flew right into it.

I'll fully admit that this is probably a me-problem since I appear particularly sensitive to readability issues across all sorts of different games and genres.

[Magical_Isopod]

I've been trying a bit of Raiden IV: Overkill after reading Iso's posts since I had never played the game before, and... man, I am struggling with the visibility in that game. The screen is cluttered with all sorts of explosions, power-ups and collectible goodies as well as tiny enemy projectiles that regularly blend in with the background and have the same color as the medals and whatnot. More often than not when I'm dying it's because I didn't even see the bullet beforehand and just flew right into it.

I'll fully admit that this is probably a me-problem since I appear particularly sensitive to readability issues across all sorts of different games and genres.

It's interesting you say that, because one of the reasons I love this one is BECAUSE the projectiles are much more visible than I'm used to in 3D SHMUPs. Crimson Clover (I don't think this one was 3D though?) stands out in memory to me as one where there was just so much shit on screen that I could not see anything - I didn't, and still don't, understand the rave reviews for that one. And 3D SHMUPs in general have a big problem with really drab colours that make it difficult to differentiate things... I didn't have that issue with Raiden IV though. Interesting.

Do you have experience with the Raiden series prior to this? Because for me personally, I've been playing The Raiden Project ostensibly since the late 90s, I'll give Raiden II a go every year or two. So I'm very familiar with it. Perhaps a familiarity with the patterns lends itself?

[KSubzero1000]

It's interesting you say that, because one of the reasons I love this one is BECAUSE the projectiles are much more visible than I'm used to in 3D SHMUPs. Crimson Clover (I don't think this one was 3D though?) stands out in memory to me as one where there was just so much shit on screen that I could not see anything - I didn't, and still don't, understand the rave reviews for that one. And 3D SHMUPs in general have a big problem with really drab colours that make it difficult to differentiate things... I didn't have that issue with Raiden IV though. Interesting.

Interesting indeed! I think the issue for me is the color palette more than anything.

In Crimzon Clover, the enemy bullets are always blue/purple/red with a white core unlike any of the other on-screen elements, which grants them a very distinctive, easily recognizable look:


Meanwhile, the collectible stars are always golden with a metallic texture and a unique shape:


So even though the screen is often cluttered with all sorts of things, I find it much easier to instinctively spot and avoid the incoming projectiles. I never mistake them for anything else.


In Raiden IV, everything is sort of yellow/orange, including enemy bullets, some of your own bullets, some background elements, ship explosions and even some of the power-ups and collectible pellets:




Coupled with the heightened speed of said projectiles in comparison to the bullet hell games I'm more used to, I often find myself blindsided by bullets I don't feel like I had the opportunity to spot or anticipate ahead of time. Makes it a bit frustrating.

Do you have experience with the Raiden series prior to this? Because for me personally, I've been playing The Raiden Project ostensibly since the late 90s, I'll give Raiden II a go every year or two. So I'm very familiar with it. Perhaps a familiarity with the patterns lends itself?

I credit-fed through Raiden V roughly one year ago and didn't find it that interesting... I'm definitely not very familiar with the series, although I wanted to give that one a shot since the consensus appears to be much more positive!

[Stanshall]

Good assessment. The recent Raiden games are largely shit to me but I've played a fair bit of Raiden Fighters Jet recently and it's really really good. Very chunky and crunchy. Visibility is much better than the recent titles.

[Magical_Isopod]

In Raiden IV, everything is sort of yellow/orange, including enemy bullets, some of your own bullets, some background elements, ship explosions and even some of the power-ups and collectible pellets:

Coupled with the heightened speed of said projectiles in comparison to the bullet hell games I'm more used to, I often find myself blindsided by bullets I don't feel like I had the opportunity to spot or anticipate ahead of time. Makes it a bit frustrating.

I think I actually see the difference in perception here, and I think it may be why some people get on with bullet hell, and some don't. To me, those Crimson Clover screens just look like pollution - like, it looks like a wall of bullshit so deep I can't even see the enemies. Which I think may actually be the point.

In the Raiden screenshots, I'm seeing not only those bullets, but where they're coming from; I'm tracking both the projectiles, and what's firing them. Because the Raiden games may have faster bullets, but everything's telegraphed; that's why your bombs have a delay. You drop them during the windup to protect you when the firing begins.

In bullet hell, you're not looking at anything *but the bullets*. And I think that's kinda why I hate them. If you look at the bullet patterns as an abstraction, simply a pattern of lines and dots on a screen, it makes sense; if you mentally prioritize the visual data of the projectiles and ignore much of the rest. But if you're like me and trying to suss out the visual elements of the enemy and the background, the bullet patterns can't be sufficiently focused on. I've seen the accusation of "cheap deaths" levied at the Raiden games before, but they really don't - you have to watch the ground, because enemies will pop out of bunkers and hatches in the floor. And I think someone who's used to only tracking the bullets is going to miss that.

Both types of game are valid, but I think the abstract nature of the bullet hell ones isn't something I can process quite like fans of the subgenre can. And that's fine. I just wish I knew of more SHMUPs in the 90s mould.

[Magical_Isopod]

Good assessment. The recent Raiden games are largely shit to me but I've played a fair bit of Raiden Fighters Jet recently and it's really really good. Very chunky and crunchy. Visibility is much better than the recent titles.

I really have to give the Raiden Fighters game another go sometime soon. It's a shame they're locked to 360, Steam and MAME, because that makes it a little more difficult to use the sort of controller I want. The newer Raiden games are VERY hit and miss... I did not like 3 *at all*, but I loved 4 - and I loved the Overkill version even more. But then Raiden 5 came out and stayed XB1 exclusive for eons, and the PS4 version refuses to drop below $40, which... For a SHMUP I've heard nothing but bad things about, that's too much, Bob.

But overall, the series is much more good than bad. All of the early games were fantastic, excluding bad ports like Raiden Trad. 3 was a stinker, but still playable. 4 was great! So even if 5 is crap, I'm probably still willing to give any future titles a fair shake.

[Stanshall]

I bought V on PS4 and Switch, hoping it would click second time, but I just don't really like it. I seem to remember that a single run also takes about an hour or something, as well. There's story and constant chatter. I get what they were going for but it's an uneasy mix, for me.

What about giving Caladrius Blaze a go? I prefer that to V. It's very Raiden, in terms of gameplay, just with some gratuitous fan service which you can turn off (apparently).

[ratsoalbion]

I believe you can play without the story stuff on.

[Alex79]

I had a go on RV:Directors Cut as its available via PS Now. I thought it was OK but I didn't understand what all that cheering stuff was about or whether it was important to the game. It felt OK to play, but didn't really have anything to keep me playing. I get the visibility thing though, it's the same with the Neo Geo Aero Fighters 2 on Switch. It's almost impossible to make out out some of the smaller enemy bullets.