[Game News] + General Gamesy Chatter

[cybersix]

I can't speak to Alpha Protocol, but

Alpha Protocol is basically a slightly more buggy Mass Effect, except spy shit instead of space opera shit, and the decisions you make actually impact the gameplay. But forget that, this is all you need to know about it

[Falcon Critical]

I really liked Alpha Protocol, I mean it had issues but it was a good extra spy story.

[Delthazar]

I've had it in my Steam library forever. Maybe I should at least install it?

[Delthazar]

The original C&C was the only one I actually played so I'd be down for this.

(I'd be even more down for a new Dune though)

[Delthazar]

Oh yeah, the hot new SWERY joint is out and finally has a Steam page after a few weeks of me checking and finding nothing

[cybersix]

My body is ready for some SWERY

I'm kind of disappointed that D4 ended after one episode. The plot was kind of dumb, but the gameplay and aesthetics were pretty neat.

[Delthazar]

I rather liked D4's characters in the sense that they're Bostonians written through the filter of someone in Japan who watched a lot of American television. The plot they were in was too incomplete for me to really get a good sense of where anything was going, especially coming off Deadly Premonition, which is essentially Twin Peaks until it suddenly decides it isn't.

[Delthazar]

I guess Metal Gear Survive is still alive and now has Pyramid Head in it.

https://kotaku.com/upcoming-metal-gear- ... 1829885939

[Falcon Critical]

The New Vegas overhaul "New California" is apparently complete, so if you're needing something to do...

https://www.kotaku.com.au/2018/10/massi ... out-today/

[Delthazar]

I'm curious, but the base F3/NV tech is so ancient at this point I think I'd have trouble playing it again, total conversion mods or no.

I sometimes wonder how many mods it would take to modernize New Vegas and how much trouble it would be to get 'em all behaving nicely with each other. But at the end of the day, even if you replace every model and texture in the game, fix every scripting bug, update any mechanic that can actually be updated to roughly current standards, it would probably still feel old. F4 has its issues but it's infinitely easier to work with.

Sadly, a giant total conversion would probably be immediately incompatible with a ton of that other stuff, too.

[Falcon Critical]

Yeah it's the perennial struggle of overhaul mods - to bring a lot of content out within a reasonable timeframe you need to work loooots of hours, which either requires lots of people or Rockstar crunch times. With typically no profit other than bragging rights/portfolio stuff which probably you could make a smaller mod for in way less time.

The fact that this engine predates Skyrim is gonna be a rough sell. While I am kind of interested I'm probably more likely to get back into F4 modding than a New Vegas overhaul like this.

It's probably the kind of thing I'll look around on youtube for an LP of, to get a feel for it.

[Delthazar]

Oh yeah, Disgaea 5 is finally out on PC, but before anyone spends actual currency on that version you might wanna be aware of its incredibly botched development history

https://kotaku.com/disgaea-5-s-release- ... 1830001935

there's a raisin it launched at 25% off with higher discounts throughout its preorder period I guess

[Falcon Critical]

Loved Disgaea 1, but the grind got me down. Tried Disgaea 2 and La Pucelle Tactics and Brave ... something all at the same time after that and it was waaay too much.

Prinny! Can I really be the Hero? was fun for a while, but I'm bad at those games

[Delthazar]

It's a shame Prinny! will probably never leave the PSP 'cause it would fit the current indie/double-A genre trends like a glove. Metroidvanias and action-platformers are having a big moment right now.

[Delthazar]

Alan Wake is back on Steam so I guess they cleared up their music licensing issues.



It's also 80% off until Halloween.

[True Perception]

Phantom Brave. I liked that one the best, but I just cannot put in the kind of commitment those games need.

[True Perception]

That PS Mini list is pathetic. There are about 4 that are truly worth it. Though, for this group you could add Persona and Wild Arms for two more.

[Bier_Engel]

But it's the shitty version of Persona with the names changed, everything Americanized, and a huge side quest missing.

[Delthazar]

Here's the list, since someone brought it up just to complain but didn't bother to link it for the rest of the class.

https://www.polygon.com/2018/10/29/1803 ... al-fantasy

Battle Arena Toshinden
Cool Boarders 2
Destruction Derby
Final Fantasy 7
Grand Theft Auto
Intelligent Qube
Jumping Flash
Metal Gear Solid
Mr Driller
Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee
Rayman
Resident Evil Director’s Cut
Revelations: Persona
Ridge Racer Type 4
Super Puzzle Fighter 2 Turbo
Syphon Filter
Tekken 3
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six
Twisted Metal
Wild Arms

It's a perfectly cromulent list of critical and popular hits, prestige titles, "synonymous with the brand" stuff, and a couple oddballs, which is exactly how these things always go. Every selection here is pretty understandable if not necessarily something that'd go in my shopping cart specifically. Different strokes for different folks.

No Psygnosis titles at all is weird and unfortunate. I can understand them snubbing Colony Wars or G-Police or whatever, but WipEout was really big during that era. Maybe it'll turn up on the European version since that's probably where the series was the biggest. That said, music licensing issues could be a huge hurdle for games like this and might also explain the absence of Tony Hawk, Gran Turismo, and a several others. No Dual Shock analog is another limiting factor.

I really wasn't expecting Revelations: Persona. Chances are that wouldn't be there at all if the Persona brand hadn't blown up years after the PS1 itself was retired. It would've been nice to get Suikoden instead but Final Fantasy 7, Wild Arms, and Persona probably covers a wider range of RPG styles.

Blutie's right though: the Revelations version has all kinds of problems, on top of Persona 1 in general in any form just being super dated mechanically.

[DHerder222]

For me the bigger sin is still that they're not using dual-shock controllers.

[Delthazar]

Yeah, that's a pretty big deal, and prevents games like Ape Escape from showing up. Must've been a decision Sony made to keep costs down.

[DHerder222]

It's not even how much more playable they made many games - for people with big fat hands like me, the DS controller felt about 10 times better in my hands. Non-DS are so lightweight I feel like I'm about to snap one in half. This was fortunately the last too-light console controller.

[Delthazar]

Totally, everything pre-analog is way too flimsy. I don't have a first-run PS1 controller anymore but whenever I pick up one of the old Saturn pads, yikes, it's like it's not even in my hand. There's a raisin I switched to the NiGHTs pad the second it came out back in the day.

[True Perception]

I was at work, so I couldn't easily link it.

[True Perception]

Oh, Steam Sale!

Edit: Hmm, I must be neglecting my list. I'm not seeing much on sale, there. Whelp; to the home page.