[Game News] + General Gamesy Chatter

[Delthazar]

There's another new challenger to the batshit wildly popular (or at least batshit wildly zeitgeisty) Battle Royale genre coming to Early Access tomorrow and I'm kinda intrigued, at least after a quick read 'n' a glance.

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2018/0 ... l-heights/

I've bounced off PUBG hard in the last several months and Fortnite doesn't really appeal to me, but this... hmm. I wonder. If it's a little laid-back as it appears to be and kinda Saints Row-y in its aesthetic and design, man, that might be really cool.

Lawbreakers failed miserably, so... better luck to these guys this time!

[Delthazar]

Oh yeah, some sorta Star Trek CCG is coming to Steam soon. I wonder if it'll be less of an overt gacha than Timelines.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/81504 ... versaries/

The art is nice at least.

#LongRoad

[Delthazar]

Everything you may have heard about Radical Heights is probably correct: it's super early, rough as hell, immediately familiar, probably somewhat cynical/desperate, and despite all that it kinda shows some interesting glimmers of potential and unique little twists which could become kinda great if it survives.

I kinda half-hate the 80s schtick. I'm not sure RH really needs it. Going more game show a la Smash TV or those side missions in Saints Row and less specifically tied to one era's aesthetic would probably be a straight upgrade since it's the game show stuff that helps this thing stand out the most right now. Everyone's mileage may vary a little on this part though. Some people still insist Vice City is the best GTA. They live among us.

[DHerder222]

Ooh, always up for a (good) new CCG.

[Delthazar]

Something called Dead in Vinland is out and looks interesting.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/57312 ... n_Vinland/

Kinda like a Banner Saga + This War of Mine + Darkest Dungeon mashup.

[Falcon Critical]

Yeah has been on my radar for a while, totes picking it up.

[Delthazar]

There's Sega stuff happening in Japan at the moment. First up, Shenmue I & II are being remastered for PC and modern consoles. Kinda looks like it'll be a single release rather than divided.

https://www.usgamer.net/articles/shenmu ... s4-in-2018

...hopefully they'll toss in a ton of QOL stuff in addition to all the HDness. Shenmue as-is (at least the first one) is a weird-ass curiosity piece and not a good game.

They're also doing a Genesis Mini.

https://gonintendo.com/stories/307017-s ... ni-in-2018

Miniature Genesi have been out in the wild forever under license, but this'll be Sega's first truly official version. No news yet regarding its contents, but I think it's safe to assume most/all of the games in the various Genesis Collections over the years will be included.

[True Perception]

Let's see. Must haves:

The Sonics
Shinobi 2 and 3
Shining Force 1 and 2
Phantasy Star 4
Comix Zone
Vector Man

[Delthazar]

SWERY showed off a super early build of his cat RPG.



Also some of Sega's Master System/Genesis stuff will be coming to Switch under the Sega Ages label. Phantasy Star was singled out along with only three others so far so that's cool.

[Nei is bae]

Let's see. Must haves:

The Sonics
Shinobi 2 and 3
Shining Force 1 and 2
Phantasy Star 4
Comix Zone
Vector Man

[Delthazar]

Comix Zone is good!

Well... not good good. Uh...

Comix Zone is interesting! Maybe.

I love what they were going for with that game even if very little about it really clicked other than its sense of style.

[True Perception]

I liked Comix Zone. It was good for what it was. Certainly not a favorite, but a staple of the console for sure.

[Nei is bae]

[True Perception]

phpBB [video]

[Delthazar]

[Flarecake]

I had Comix Zone! That game was awesome! Also, the dude's pet rat was the best! I can't remember it's name now...

[John Layfield]

Roadkill.

Comix Zone was neat.

[Delthazar]

I wonder if that's the only game which came out of Sega's weird "design institute" thing. Or at least I remember something like that on the production card.

It's totally a game that should've had a sequel just to see the concept smoothed out a little (and by then probably on the Saturn, for shinier art and a wider audio range.)

Fuck, a modern Comix Zone with co-op would be great.

[Delthazar]

For some raisin Bandai Namco is trademarking old Xenosaga stuff which I guess has people expecting a reissue or remaster or whatever.

https://gematsu.com/2018/04/bandai-namc ... in-the-u-s

Seems people like the Xenoblade games so maybe they just wanna seize the moment.

I have like zero (or xero) confidence that any of those games hold up in 2018 and even if Xenosaga 3 finally got everything mostly right on the gameplay side, man, I don't know if I have it in me to wade through Xeno story stuff ever again unless it's heavily edited.

[Bier_Engel]

Man, I have mixed feelings. I know nothing of the Blade stuff because I don't have a Wii, but I've been wanting a proper non-rushed Xenogears remake since for fucking ever!

As for Saga... I loved 1, but it has so many flaws. Lack of music in many spots, for the most part. But the music it did have was great. Still fucking loved it overall and beat it like 6 fucking times. 2 shit the bed. Horrible battle system and graphic redesign... I mustered my way through but ugh. Couldn't even replay that one. 3, as you mentioned, had great gameplay. I don't know, man... I would probably do it.

[Delthazar]

I'm imagining a new version of Xenosaga that compresses all three games into one with Xenosaga 3's gameplay systems (maybe slightly updated?) and I'd probably totally play that, especially if it does well enough to work as a story transition into whatever they had planned for Xenosaga 4 'cause I vaguely remember 3 leaving things off with some interesting possibilities.

Remaking Xenogears would probably be easier from a story structure perspective but even then I'd kinda hope they cut down some stuff and expand other stuff. Kislev kinda dragged, that whole second disc was weird as hell, a lot of the dungeon platforming was kinda infuriating, etc. Modern story pacing would help Xenogears maybe more than any other game I can think of other than Metal Gear Solid.

[Bier_Engel]

Oh shit, I'd definitely play that. 1 was way too short and you know how some games are all, "this is the final battle!" really early on as a ploy? I thought it was a joke with 1 maybe 20 hours in, but it was actually the final fucking battle.

And yeah, remaking Xenogears would require actual thought rather than a straight up, "hey let's port this and just upgrade the graphics" but a newly 30-year-old woman who played this when she was 14 and has wanted this for over half her life now can dream.

[Nei is bae]

Nice! I might look into that.

If you're still interested in the Infinity Engine games, looks like GoG has 'em on sale right now.

[Delthazar]

Watching people play the new Thor of War and hearing Christopher Judge's voice coming out of Kratos' body, which at this point basically resembles an old bodypainted Big Show, is super weird.

[True Perception]

I've got to buy that. I'm expecting good things.