Greatest Battles in Gaming *spoilers*

EDDIE WATERS

MGS4 Fighting Liquid Ocelot on top of Outer Haven

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_lIdiMM0Tc

noodler

AnCapaillMor wrote: »

God of War 2, the titans scaling olympus and continuing in GOW3, the titans vs the gods.

FF7 one of the weapons vs the shinra gun.

Mass effect the citadel defense was pretty intense as ME2 after going through the omega relay.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsYlxEywO6w

Love it.

Retr0gamer

EDDIE WATERS wrote: »

MGS4 Fighting Liquid Ocelot on top of Outer Haven

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_lIdiMM0Tc

Ah yeas. Mechanically and for sheer stupidity, one of the worst boss fights in the history of gaming.

Penn

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Ah yeas. Mechanically and for sheer stupidity, one of the worst boss fights in the history of gaming.

Completely disagree. It was f*cking epic, beautifully done and a fitting finale to the series.

SeantheMan

I watched the clip, can't believe they dragged that out for 10 minutes

MitchKoobski

SeantheMan wrote: »

I watched the clip, can't believe they dragged that out for 10 minutes

Watching is one thing. Playing is another.

Penn

SeantheMan wrote: »

I watched the clip, can't believe they dragged that out for 10 minutes

And that clip was missing the three or four minutes before that. But it's a fight which had been 10 years and 4 games in the making, full of nostalgia, gamer completely spent after the parts of the game just before that etc. Like MitchK said, watching is one thing, playing is another.

Retr0gamer

Penn wrote: »

And that clip was missing the three or four minutes before that. But it's a fight which had been 10 years and 4 games in the making, full of nostalgia, gamer completely spent after the parts of the game just before that etc. Like MitchK said, watching is one thing, playing is another.

Yes playing it was atrocious. Crappy fighting mechanics and mostly a tonne of cutscenes. After about 20 years and 6 games what we ended up with what was a disappointing game book ended with in a dreadful boss fight that tried to make up for it's lack of gameplay with some juvenile nostalgia pandering and ridiculous cutscenes.

snausages

Considering the amount of fan-wankery that MGS4 had, I don't think they could have picked a more fitting finale.

I liked it btw.

AlmightyCushion

Penn wrote: »

Completely disagree. It was f*cking epic, beautifully done and a fitting finale to the series.

It should have been but they ruined it with the sheer amount of cut scenes (MGS games are known for their cut scenes but MGS4 and that fight take the biscuit). At one point it felt like every time you punched him, it showed a bloody cutscene of liquid getting punched in the face or something. It completely ruined the immersion and flow.

Retr0gamer

The fight at the end of MGS3 was much more fitting. It brought together everything you had learned up to that point, CQC, stealth, weapon use and camoflague and made you utilise them in order to take down the boss. MGS4 was fisticuffs which the game was never about with a terrible combat system and cutscenes everytime you landed a punch.

Penn

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

At one point it felt like every time you punched him, it showed a bloody cutscene of liquid getting punched in the face or something. It completely ruined the immersion and flow.

Retr0gamer wrote: »

and cutscenes everytime you landed a punch.

Bit of an over-exaggeration there. You get him down to half his health, then a 5 second cutscene. Get him down to half his health again, then a 5 second cutscene. Then when you defeat him, the very end of the fight involves you pressing the punch button as part of the cutscene. It's cinematic. It doesn't ruin the flow because the fight itself changes each time it happens. The flow changes itself.

Retr0gamer wrote: »

MGS4 was fisticuffs which the game was never about with a terrible combat system

Because again, it's not just the ending of the game, it's the ending of 4 games, and Snake and Liquid fighting on top of Outer Haven leads back to their original fight atop MG Rex. Not only that, but it breaks their fight down to it's simplest form: Snake V Liquid. No weapons, no machines, just "mano a mano" (which was the term Liquid himself used in MGS1). Their fight in MGS4 was always designed to be more cinematic than gameplay orientated. I agree completely that the rest of the game had too many cutscenes and exposition, and was complete fan service. But to bring the story to a proper close, I can't see any way the game (as a story and ending to a quadrilogy (tetralogy)) could have ended apart from Snake V Liquid one on one.

wnolan1992

All the Mass Effect games really.

ME1: Going flat out in the Mako up to the Conduit, then a full blown battle in the Citadel was just brilliant.

ME2: The best ending of the series, the build up once you lock yourself into the final assault, the attack on the Normandy, the crash, the decision to leave some of your team behind to guard the door, everything. I welled up when I got back and found out that Grunt and Tali had died.

ME3: The battle with Kai Leng was so draining. So satisfying when I beat him though. Then the assault on earth. Being attacked by two of those Banshee bastards at once. Genuinely terrifying. Everything up until you got hit by the reaper beam was excellent.
Also the battles on Palaven, Tuchanka (fighting like 12 brutes when you're activating those hammers ), and the Quarian homeworld. Just fantastic.


Outside of those, MGS is the obvious one. I loved the fight with Liquid atop REX, and in MGS2 when you're going through Arsenal with Pliskin was awesome, then fight with Solidus. Didn't really care for MGS3 tbh.

Not sure if it qualifies, but the final missions in GTAIV were pretty epic if you consider them all as one long battle. Fighting Dimitri on the ship, chasing Pegorino's men, fighting through the warehouse, chasing the boat on a bike, flying the helicopter, chasing Pegorino on Happiness Island.

Retr0gamer

Penn wrote: »

Because again, it's not just the ending of the game, it's the ending of 4 games, and Snake and Liquid fighting on top of Outer Haven leads back to their original fight atop MG Rex. Not only that, but it breaks their fight down to it's simplest form: Snake V Liquid. No weapons, no machines, just "mano a mano" (which was the term Liquid himself used in MGS1). Their fight in MGS4 was always designed to be more cinematic than gameplay orientated. I agree completely that the rest of the game had too many cutscenes and exposition, and was complete fan service. But to bring the story to a proper close, I can't see any way the game (as a story and ending to a quadrilogy (tetralogy)) could have ended apart from Snake V Liquid one on one.

Maybe it's because I thought the story was dreadful all the way up until the end and found the entire game deeply unsatisfying but it really isn't an excuse. Every boss battle in MGS4 was poor and the last one was no exception. The MGS series has done 'mano-a-mano' fights before and an awful lot better so there really was no excuse for a fight that felt even more janky than the fight in the first game.

Penn

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Maybe it's because I thought the story was dreadful all the way up until the end and found the entire game deeply unsatisfying but it really isn't an excuse. Every boss battle in MGS4 was poor and the last one was no exception. The MGS series has done 'mano-a-mano' fights before and an awful lot better so there really was no excuse for a fight that felt even more janky than the fight in the first game.

We seem to constantly butt heads over MGS4 whenever it comes up, so it's probably best we agree to disagree (yet again) rather than continue.

snausages

MGS4 was a letdown but I liked the great deal of closure it gave the series. Considering how wanky most game finales end up being I was delighted with the send off we got with MGS4, even if it isn't a game that I will ever play again. It's nice knowing as well that even though MGS is technically 'finished', there's still plenty of room for further spin-offs and inter-quels.

Patrick Klepek made the point recently in the Rising quicklook that the games themselves seem to get better the greater the distance they take from the central narrative arc. MGS2 was an overwrought mess and it was left up to MGS4 to resolve it. Whereas 1 and 3 are much more tight and self-contained. So too will Ground Zeroes, I suspect.

wnolan1992 wrote: »

Didn't really care for MGS3 tbh.

Yeah, well, f*ck you too. :mad: :P

wnolan1992

snausages wrote: »

Yeah, well, f*ck you too. :mad: :P

:pac::pac:

I should qualify that the reason I didn't like it as much as the others was the lack of the Soloton Radar and the fact that the camera could rotate around Snake. I also didn't like the camoflage element.

But that's all just personal preferences, in technical terms MGS3 was a great game, I just preferred the original and MGS2, which were really the games that launched me into this hobby.


There, have I covered my ass enough? :P

snausages

The camouflage aspect wasn't handled as elegantly as it should have been. There should have only been a handful of outfits and the lack of crouch-movement was a major oversight.

But I think of MGS3 as kind of being the Casino Royale to MGS2's Die Another Day. It brought a whole new focus to the series and steered clear of the gimmicky gameplay-elements and contrived plot-lines of MGS2. The lack of Soliton Radar made you more aware of yourself as a character on the screen than a blip on a radar. It was only ruined slightly by the **** camera angles of Snake Eater. Subsistence fixed it, though it made The End too easy.

wnolan1992

snausages wrote: »

The camouflage aspect wasn't handled as elegantly as it should have been. There should have only been a handful of outfits and the lack of crouch-movement was a major oversight.

But I think of MGS3 as kind of being the Casino Royale to MGS2's Die Another Day. It brought a whole new focus to the series and steered clear of the gimmicky gameplay-elements and contrived plot-lines of MGS2. The lack of Soliton Radar made you more aware of yourself as a character on the screen than a blip on a radar. It was only ruined slightly by the **** camera angles of Snake Eater. Subsistence fixed it, though it made The End too easy.

Oh I'd agree 100% with this (well, maybe except for the criticism of MGS2's story :mad:). I think I just missed the Soliton more because I'm not that skilled a player, and the 'aul peepers wouldn't be the best so trying to discern an enemy soldier in camo gear from grassland got very frustrating for me.
I also tend to prefer games set indoors as opposed to sprawling jungles like 3.

I've never played Snake Eater (original had Subsistence, then got the HD collection), but the camera annoyed me. I preferred knowing that North was to the top of the screen. But again, that's just personal preference.


And to try and wrestle this back on topic, the battle with The End was brilliant. I never managed to defeat him myself (had to use the cheaty-bastard method involving the PS2's clock) but it was one of the most innovative and interesting boss battles I've ever seen.

MitchKoobski

So battles then.....

Doing my yearly replay of Final Fantasy IX and was reminded of this. The music gives me chills every time I hear it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MqtmQ7EvUU

Aaaand I'm not sure if it counts because its a chase scene, but the same goes for this one. Chills.

Retr0gamer

Did you play much of it? MGS3 is a game that takes about 2 hours to get into before it finally clicks and you start having fun with it. I was initially disappointed at first but it ended up being one of the best games on the PS2. If you haven't given it a chance then it might be worth going back to.

wnolan1992

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Did you play much of it? MGS3 is a game that takes about 2 hours to get into before it finally clicks and you start having fun with it. I was initially disappointed at first but it ended up being one of the best games on the PS2. If you haven't given it a chance then it might be worth going back to.

Oh I played the full game because I love the MGS story. But shamefully, I used the ARMAX cheat disc to give me the stealth camo suit to get through it after a few hours of banging my head off a wall.

Retr0gamer

I guess you don't have much patience then Is an awful lot slower than the other games in the series and you really have to take your time if you aren't going to rambo through it. I liked it for that but I can see how it would frustrate some other people.

wnolan1992

Retr0gamer wrote: »

I guess you don't have much patience then Is an awful lot slower than the other games in the series and you really have to take your time if you aren't going to rambo through it. I liked it for that but I can see how it would frustrate some other people.

Last word on this (aka: desperately trying to save some cred :pac:) it wasn't the waiting around that bothered me, any time I was indoors in that game was brilliant. Sneaking around, waiting under a parked truck at one point observing enemies patrol routes.

It was more that I suck at noticing the enemies that are well hidden, or that are on the other side of a swamp. I guess my field of vision IRL is just too narrow so I focus on one part of the screen and miss out on stuff.


But yeah... MGS Forum >>>>>>>>>

krudler

Penn wrote: »

Bit of an over-exaggeration there. You get him down to half his health, then a 5 second cutscene. Get him down to half his health again, then a 5 second cutscene. Then when you defeat him, the very end of the fight involves you pressing the punch button as part of the cutscene. It's cinematic. It doesn't ruin the flow because the fight itself changes each time it happens. The flow changes itself.

I loved how the music changed from one round to the next. I still prefer fighting The Boss in MGS3, that was beautifully done.

Grimebox

Skip to around 7:22 for the final boss fight and escape

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Xx-oNUud0Qk#t=436s

SeantheMan

MitchKoobski wrote: »

So battles then.....

Doing my yearly replay of Final Fantasy IX and was reminded of this. The music gives me chills every time I hear it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MqtmQ7EvUU

I liked FF9, but a lot of it didn't make much sense to me at the time.
I LOVED the ending though.
But the likes of Kuja, Ozma was it ? , and Necro or whoever... , awful baddies.

K.O.Kiki

SeantheMan wrote: »

I liked FF9, but a lot of it didn't make much sense to me at the time.
I LOVED the ending though.
But the likes of Kuja, Ozma was it ? , and Necro or whoever... , awful baddies.

I give Necron a pass on appearing out of nowhere, since it is technically a god -- and sometimes, gods just happen to wait until the last minute to show themselves.

You just gotta accept, and then beat the snot out of it with Freya's Dragon's Crest for 9999dmg/turn :cool:

Retr0gamer

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

I give Necron a pass on appearing out of nowhere, since it is technically a god -- and sometimes, gods just happen to wait until the last minute to show themselves.

The old school FF games before FFVI had final bosses that appeared out of nowhere, sure they even pulled that one in FFVIII as well. I figured it was an homage to those.

MitchKoobski

Retr0gamer wrote: »

The old school FF games before FFVI had final bosses that appeared out of nowhere, sure they even pulled that one in FFVIII as well. I figured it was an homage to those.

Took me a few playthroughs but my theory is that when Kuja pretty much destroys the crystal (the centre of all creation) along with himself and your party, it brings forth Necron (representing death itself seeing as the origin of everything was just destroyed).

Officially:

In "Final Fantasy 20th Anniversary Ultimania - File 1: Character Book", Necron is described as, "a being awakened by Kuja's fear, despair, and hatred, which called out to it as he learned of his mortality, just as his ambitions were within reach".

Most likely a homage though....