General gaming discussion

Stone Deaf 4evr

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Thought Iconoclasts alone would have made a good week for 2D indie platformers... but Celeste is another level again. Absolutely outstanding piece of work: plays like a dream and hugely atmospheric at the same time. Must play stuff based on the first extended level alone.

have you played it? I saw that it was getting rave reviews from a lot of industry heads last night on twitter and it immediately caught my interest. One for the weekend I reckon.

Jordan 199

So I started playing Sleeping Dogs for a third time. Worth playing it for the karaoke.

wotzgoingon

Jordan 199 wrote: »

So I started playing Sleeping Dogs for a third time. Worth playing it for the karaoke.

I couldn't get into that game. The hand to hand combat annoyed me even though I loved it in Arkham A and Arkham City. I just found the combat to be not as good as the two batman games I played.

wheresmahbombs

Finally have a proper TV in my room rather than a pint-sized 21.5" monitor. And now I can play the GameCube and PS2 in my room, as it's got AV ports.

Brilliant, what games are ya planning on playing?

wheresmahbombs

Cake of Tremendous Power wrote: »

Brilliant, what games are ya planning on playing?

Probably the Ratchet & Clank games on the PS2, and not sure what else.

marcbrophy

Jordan 199 wrote: »

So I started playing Sleeping Dogs for a third time. Worth playing it for the karaoke.

I only ever played the first karaoke song every time I played the game, just to progress the game :pac:

Is it a hard mini game after the Clash?

J. Marston

Glowing review of SOTC remake by Digital Foundry, calling it one of the finest remakes of all time. Looks incredible...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faMkcZ6z1Ww

Retr0gamer

Hmm, SotC looks gorgeous but I kind of like the old version more which is weird. It's too clean looking, it's more like a CGI movie now rather than looking more abstract (which is mainly down to your imagination filling the gaps for the technical shortcomings).

The soft HDR effect has been softened a hell of a lot as well.

Probably in the minority here I guess! Still it's incredible work by Bluepoint as usual. Great to see they have an art team now.

Smyths are doing SOTC preorders for 30 euro lads

johnny_ultimate

Lovely piece on the SotC remake vs the original over on Eurogamer: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2018-02-04-the-question-of-fidelity-and-shadow-of-the-colossus

While Shadow of the Colossus, in its washed-out, blur and bloom-laden original form felt like it was describing the sense of a place, its remake is describing the place itself. There's something unshakeable about its level of detail, a feeling of exactitude that is totally different.

I love Gareth Damian Martin's writings on games: he's a serious-minded critic, and his Heterotopias magazine is reliably a great collection of ponderings on all manner of games in different lights (oh, how I miss the days when Kill Screen used to be a reliable source for such thoughtful writings before it became whatever the **** it is now). What this SotC piece looks at is the impact that greater clarity can have on the aesthetic and tone of a game. It's easy to gush over frame rate and resolution, but the less easily quantifiable stuff is what gets lost in a lot of games discussion.

By all accounts Bluepoint have done a really damn fine job on this title given the brief handed to them, but always worth having a conversation about the consequences of changing a very distinct and individual work.

Bluepoint have pedigree

Sure look at the HD versions of MGS

Retr0gamer

M!Ck^ wrote: »

Bluepoint have pedigree

Sure look at the HD versions of MGS

This is the first time they have entirely changed the art of the game though. While the remake is technically impressive they have really taken liberties with the lighting, especially the way they have ditched the over saturated look of the original. To me the original had a dream like fairytale feel, just like ice before it while this new version looks like a cgi movie. It's a bit too realistic.

Still at least there's still the original and PS3 version so it's not like they did a George Lucas.

johnny_ultimate

M!Ck^ wrote: »

Bluepoint have pedigree

Sure look at the HD versions of MGS

They are incredible technicians who have worked miracles in the past - the 360 version of Titanfall was a hell of an achievement. There's nobody as good at what they do as they are, and they are due much respect as a result. But this new SotC is a very different kettle of fish than what they've done before.

Remasters are fairly straightforward ports (although I do think quite a few of them lose some aesthetic nuance and character in the process, but that's another topic) - I'd largely compare it to a classic film getting restored for a new cinema / Blu-Ray release.

A remake is another story. You're getting in and altering something quite significantly. SotC and all Ueda's games are some of most important works in gaming's evolution as an artform - there's nothing like them out there, and they're immensely idiosyncratic works. To go and quite significantly alter the game with new art, assets etc is very different than giving what's already there a coat of high-res paint. To use a classic film analogy - you're going in and colouring in a B&W film.

SotC's sparseness was partially a result of technical limitations, no question. But it was also memorably impressionistic both as a result of said limits and a creative team who had a very particular visual style. 'Filling in the blanks' in terms of detail and foliage changes the way the game looks and feels. Maybe for the better in some cases, but based on what I've seen of the game you also lose some of the character. That hazy emptiness so apparent on the PS2 was something that really added to the game's unique identity.

I'm going to play the remake, and as said I think Bluepoint are immensely talented. But they've gone and changed a masterpiece, and if that brings some benefits - I don't think anyone will mind a few framerate fixes for a game that struggled to break out of the teens on occasion :pac: - there's also a very real risk you're going to lose something in translation too

K.O.Kiki

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

They are incredible technicians who have worked miracles in the past - the 360 version of Titanfall was a hell of an achievement. There's nobody as good at what they do as they are

HexaDrive

• Managed to get Okami to run at 4K on PS3.
• Fixed Zone of the Enders 2 HD - original port was 720p 30fps with bad frame dips, update is 1080p 60fps (nearly locked) and higher visual quality.
• Somehow managed to port MGS3 to the 3DS.

Kiith

If anyone wants a serious read, here's a 500+ page book on the history of CRPG's An unreal amount of work seems to have gone into it, and could give you a few suggestions if you're looking for a good RPG.

https://crpgbook.wordpress.com/2018/02/05/update-19-crpg-book-released/

Jordan 199

marcbrophy wrote: »

I only ever played the first karaoke song every time I played the game, just to progress the game :pac:

Is it a hard mini game after the Clash?

The Clash tune was the hardest of them all. Took me a long time to get that one over 90% On my last attempt I got 97% for it and the the Karaoke Superstar trophy popped.

Skerries

Kiith wrote: »

If anyone wants a serious read, here's a 500+ page book on the history of CRPG's An unreal amount of work seems to have gone into it, and could give you a few suggestions if you're looking for a good RPG.

https://crpgbook.wordpress.com/2018/02/05/update-19-crpg-book-released/

that looks like something I would actually buy but looks like that won't happen

J. Marston

Finally got around to starting Iconoclasts.

Only about 45 minutes in but it feels so good to play. Excellent platforming, fun main weapon/tool and good, witty writing so far.

gimli2112

Reading some articles following on from the recent school shooting in Florida and found this on Wiki in relation to the Sandy Hook shooting.


CEO and Executive Vice President of the National Rifle Association, publicly blamed video games for the shooting, specifically targeting the free online game Kindergarten Killers created by Gary Short


There you go guns don't kill people, videogames do.

wheresmahbombs

gimli2112 wrote: »

CEO and Executive Vice President of the National Rifle Association, publicly blamed video games for the shooting, specifically targeting the free online game Kindergarten Killers created by Gary Short

I remember hearing about that game from Super Bunnyhop's video on the NRA.

Billy86

gimli2112 wrote: »

There you go guns don't kill people, videogames do.

Typical from those scumbags, just trying to blame everyone but themselves.

"It wasn't guns, it was violence rhetoric in video games!!" -- says the company responsible for these ads openly calling for actual, real world violence against those who you don't share the same views as.

There is no low for that shower.

Sabre0001

I'd be OK with them blaming videogames if they implemented a restriction on those who play video games from purchasing guns!

nix

If video games was the issue, you would see crazy **** all around the world, not just America. :rolleyes:

RobertFoster

gimli2112 wrote: »

There you go guns don't kill people, videogames do.

Guns don't kill people, death kills people. Ask a doctor, it's a medical fact.

sweetie

J. Marston wrote: »

Pixel-y 2D games are ten-a-penny these days but I really like the look of Iconoclasts. Getting decent reviews too.

https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/iconoclasts-review/1900-6416840/

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

I’ve played around an hour of Iconoclasts, and it’s real good. Plays like a Metroidvania mixed with a Treasure game, and manages to actually live up to that description for the most part. That it actually has a relatively smart, politically-charged (well, as far as these things go) story is a nice bonus.

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Looking forward to picking it up when I have money next. Been following the game for the last 7 years. Noitu Love 2 is the only other game that managed to capture the spirit of Treasure's finest 2D work so imagine this does so as well.

Bought this at the same time as Celeste and still struggling through it. Sometimes its great but the dense story weighs it down and the gameplay mechanics can be a bit awkward at times.

johnny_ultimate

gimli2112 wrote: »

Reading some articles following on from the recent school shooting in Florida and found this on Wiki in relation to the Sandy Hook shooting.


CEO and Executive Vice President of the National Rifle Association, publicly blamed video games for the shooting, specifically targeting the free online game Kindergarten Killers created by Gary Short


There you go guns don't kill people, videogames do.

The NRA is a repugnant, immoral organisation that exists to manufacture excuses for the inexcusable. They dedicate terrifying amounts of resources to convincing ($$$) politicians to not solve one of the most transparent, solvable problems in the western world. They poison the discourse, eschewing rationalism in favour of raging, empty fundamentalism. They have caused unimaginable pain to thousands of families, and respond to the endless stream of atrocities with either miserable platitudes or, most damningly, tactical silence. Their opinions on anything are worthless, because they border on being legitimate supervillains at this stage.

On a lighter note, happy Monday all!

Dyr

Jaysus we're banning guns in America now are we?

johnny_ultimate

sweetie wrote: »

Bought this at the same time as Celeste and still struggling through it. Sometimes its great but the dense story weighs it down and the gameplay mechanics can be a bit awkward at times.

Yeah have to admit the game lost my attention the more I played. It struggles with pacing, and there’s not enough variety to mix things up. Some of it’s great, don’t get me wrong, and it really does capture the spirit and feel of its esteemed inspirations without feeling like a mere copycat. But Celeste came along and blew it out of the water as far as I was concerned.

Billy86

Bambi wrote: »

Jaysus we're banning guns in America now are we?

Nah, that might actually result in less dead children, but it also results in less profits for the NRA which in turn results in less money given to Republican politicians, so guns will be going nowhere while they control the US' three branches.