Hmm I'd say it is an interesting visual and audio experience that is captured throughly and completely, but the game design is very lacklustre. There are no memorable encounters - with the exception of one memorably terrible one - and it seems confused as to whether it is survival horror, FPS and ends up being some compromise in between. Good game but the design of its gameplay is one of its weaknesses.
Hmm I'd say it is an interesting visual and audio experience that is captured throughly and completely, but the game design is very lacklustre. There are no memorable encounters - with the exception of one memorably terrible one - and it seems confused as to whether it is survival horror, FPS and ends up being some compromise in between. Good game but the design of its gameplay is one of its weaknesses.
It might be my nostalgia but out of the games I played from last generation nothing came close to having the same feeling of a destroyed city that was lived in but is now uninhabited and you're controlling the protagonist who is almost completely alone. The atmosphere is incredible, second only to Metroid Prime.
One (I think) interesting story that happened to me (major spoilers Sploatee!):
when playing through Sander Cohen's level where the people are frozen statues, the first time I saw a group of statues in a bathroom, I didn't trust them since I thought they were splicers trying to trick me, so I shot the statues. What happens is Cohen gets angry and starts shouting at you about destroying his work, and sends turrets to kill you, so obviously after that point you don't do it anymore.
Skip forward a while and I pass a frozen statue sat on a chair facing the corner, which I thought was creepy but didn't do anything about it. I went and opened the safe that was up ahead, and promptly got a jump scare from a splicer. After killing it, you carry on and walk past the chair that is now fucking empty.
I liked the way the game manipulated me in just the right way that the events lead to a brilliantly crafted conclusion, it really resonated with me, and it just goes even further when you find out the meaning behind 'Would you kindly?'
i fucking love bioshock. i love bioshock so much that i ignore all of its problems and still have loads of love left over for bioshock infinite.
mmm yummy yumm bioshock.
Where do you come from? (Where do you go, where do you come from Cotton Eye Joe etc) London
What's your job/current education/whatever the heck it is you're up to? unemployed
What do you hope to achieve before your futile existence comes to an end? a second chance.
Favourite daytime TV show? i sleep during the day, so i couldn't tell ya.
Fish or chips? why not both.
Daddy or chips? my dad is a cunt, so chips.
What's your tipple of choice? can't drink because i'm epileptic. so fentimans curiosity cola.
Favourite party snack? those cheeselets thingies are quite good.
Who is the best bald person? ummm, max branning cause no woman can resist that baldie ginger.
What's your disappointing claim to fame? i was on gamesmaster and dominik diamond took the piss out me a bit. ( it was my fault, i made a joke before filming because i nervous and a he took it the wrong way )
What's your perfect Sunday? nice and quiet
Did you threaten to overrule him? i really don't think that's the issue.
Did you threaten to overrule him?.......*says nervously* this is all a big misunderstanding. heh
It's a yes or no question minister, did you threaten to overrule him? NO. I COULDN'T OFF BECAUSE I WAS AT THE MONTHLY ORGY........ *runs out of building*
Welcome. Max Branning is indeed of the best characters of new era Eastenders. I can't believe thy pulled me back again. I love the new Carters family. I had to catch up with some of their stories in the first half of the year.
Welcome. Max Branning is indeed of the best characters of new era Eastenders. I can't believe thy pulled me back again. I love the new Carters family. I had to catch up with some of their stories in the first half of the year.
thanks for the welcome.
yep. when i first heard that *says in mark kermode impression* danny dyer was going to be in it i was fucked off. but he's really good, i was shocked.
and nasty nick is the best panto villain in eastenders at the mo.
I find Rapture to be a far more compelling and artistically impressive environment than Anor Londo, it feels lived in and like a designer took care with even the tiniest nook and cranny, Anor Londo just feels empty and pretty generic IMO, there's barely any detail, just a few massive rooms with barely anything in them.
Rapture feels like an incredibly sumptuous movie set put together over months with meticulous detail, Anor Londo feels like the joiners just finished putting up the 2x4 and plaster board.
Never got the big love for that environment, I found it pretty dull to be honest.
Hmm I'd say it is an interesting visual and audio experience that is captured throughly and completely, but the game design is very lacklustre. There are no memorable encounters - with the exception of one memorably terrible one - and it seems confused as to whether it is survival horror, FPS and ends up being some compromise in between. Good game but the design of its gameplay is one of its weaknesses.
I think the way that the plasmids and weapons combine to allow you flexibility in how you remove enemies is quite cleverly done. It seems almost sandbox-y at times in the choices it gives you each encounter.
I do think that the shooting is a bit weightless though and I would've preferred death to have a bit more significance (although it seems that death isn't the real challenge but managing supplies is).
I find Rapture to be a far more compelling and artistically impressive environment than Anor Londo, it feels lived in and like a designer took care with even the tiniest nook and cranny, Anor Londo just feels empty and pretty generic IMO, there's barely any detail, just a few massive rooms with barely anything in them.
Rapture feels like an incredibly sumptuous movie set put together over months with meticulous detail, Anor Londo feels like the joiners just finished putting up the 2x4 and plaster board.
Never got the big love for that environment, I found it pretty dull to be honest.
I absolutely adore Anor Londo. It feels like a sequence of encounters where each one would be a highlight of another game -
the way you arrive there and it's completely silent, the openness and scale of everything dwarfing you, the horizon, the "break-in", the painting guardians, getting to the castle, the Titanite demon, the giant blacksmith, Lautrec, the giant knights in the main hall and then the best boss battle I've ever played...
. It feels so elegant to me - everything has a weight and stillness to it, it has that weird heavy silence you find when you visit big cathedrals and it never overloads you - each encounter comes at you in turn and gives you time to lead up to it, overcome it and then absorb it afterwards and what it means in the context of the environment. Everything seems to have a weight and stillness to it.
You then learn that the architecture is inspired by Milan cathedral and all of the lore and hidden places...Anor Londo is just one of the most elegantly designed parts of any game I've ever played, definitely the highlight of Dark Souls for me.
It sums up what I love about the game so much - it's not afraid to just leave you alone and let you soak up the atmosphere and figure out what to do. Also, it has my favourite kind of combat in the game - just (mostly) one-on-one battles against knights.
Rapture's amazing but - and I don't know if it's a Western game design thing or I'm just blinkered by DS - it definitely feels like it wants to tightly control your experience - "follow arrow! get hint! come on come on come on we have something to tell you!". Something I've noticed with Dark Souls (and a few other Japanese non-JRPG games I've played recently (Bayonetta 2, Ikaruga, yeah you know the ones because I go on about them)) is this trust they give you just to work things out - they give you this space to actually engage with the game on your own terms instead of so strongly trying to control what your time with the game will be like. It feels so much more mature.
That's not to knock all Western games at all - no way! - some of them do this already and the US just do things differently, I get that, but the place where I find this trust in the player the most is the West is in indie games.
Mike - hopefully the above puts in the context of why I actually mentioned it yet again. it's more a design philosophy thing than Dark Souls Dark Souls Dark Souls (although I can do that if you want. Just ask me what I think of the Four Kings! GO ON DO IT DO IT)
the open nature of demons/dark souls is why i love them so much.
i remember when i was playing demon's when it first came out and one day it just hit me what a breath of fresh air it was, because it was so different to everything else that was out.
i really don't like that being led around by marker stuff that became widely used last generation.
sploatee, I was well impressed with the look of Anor Londo when I first arrived, as you say the horizon is glorious. But then it's like "Oh, it's just a sky box, there's actually just a few empty rooms and a big circular staircase and none of that stuff in the distance actually exists, lame".
And I found Ornstein and Smough to be kind of cheap to be honest with the dodgy clipping, complete absence of friendly damage, Ornstein's cheesy homing attacks and the awful camera being more of an issue then the two bosses most of the time.
As for the lore, I didn't get involved with any of it or follow any quest lines, felt like a chore that I just couldn't be arsed with. Call me old school but I prefer to be told a story rather than have to piece it together myself.
sploatee, I was well impressed with the look of Anor Londo when I first arrived, as you say the horizon is glorious. But then it's like "Oh, it's just a sky box, there's actually just a few empty rooms and a big circular staircase and none of that stuff in the distance actually exists, lame".
I know what you mean. When I saw the Mona Lisa for the first time I was utterly floored. But then I was like "Oh, it's just bits of coloured dirt arranged on a canvas to look like a person" then I was like "actually, it's just a cloud of atoms that are stuck together by infinitesimally small forces and it's just my eyes being tricked into perceiving it as a solid object by the photons bouncing of it." Pretty meh, really.
I know what you mean. When I saw the Mona Lisa for the first time I was utterly floored. But then I was like "Oh, it's just bits of coloured dirt arranged on a canvas to look like a person" then I was like "actually, it's just a cloud of atoms that are stuck together by infinitesimally small forces and it's just my eyes being tricked into perceiving it as a solid object by the photons bouncing of it." Pretty meh, really.
We're discussing the respective virtues of two game's level design, I think pointing out that one level's "design" was largely compromised of an admittedly pretty jpeg is a perfectly valid point.
We're discussing the respective virtues of two game's level design, I think pointing out that one level's "design" was largely compromised of an admittedly pretty jpeg is a perfectly valid point.
the open nature of demons/dark souls is why i love them so much.
i remember when i was playing demon's when it first came out and one day it just hit me what a breath of fresh air it was, because it was so different to everything else that was out.
i really don't like that being led around by marker stuff that became widely used last generation.
I think it has its place, it's just a bit overdone. I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy CoD Ghosts's campaign while it lasted. It was dumb and all that, but it's sometimes nice to have all that excess.
Plus welcome! And nice to have another fan of Wittertainment 😄
sploatee, I was well impressed with the look of Anor Londo when I first arrived, as you say the horizon is glorious. But then it's like "Oh, it's just a sky box, there's actually just a few empty rooms and a big circular staircase and none of that stuff in the distance actually exists, lame".
And I found Ornstein and Smough to be kind of cheap to be honest with the dodgy clipping, complete absence of friendly damage, Ornstein's cheesy homing attacks and the awful camera being more of an issue then the two bosses most of the time.
As for the lore, I didn't get involved with any of it or follow any quest lines, felt like a chore that I just couldn't be arsed with. Call me old school but I prefer to be told a story rather than have to piece it together myself.
You see, I liked how it felt cohesive. It was a castle, so it was designed like a castle. It felt authentic to me and not very "gamey". Did you not like the exterior design? All the buttresses and the outside of the castle?
Which clipping are you talking about btw? I did have an annoying bit sometimes where enemy attacks would come through the fog wall.
I really don't agree about Ornstein and Smough at all. I thought it really challenged you to learn how to deal with two enemies at once - for me, it was all about understanding how close I need to be to 'lock on' and then how to switch it between the two enemies to ensure I was safe. Ornstein's homing attacks were actually good for me - that was usually my moment to whack him. The whole fight required such concentration and the first time I beat Ornstein and then Smough went a bit crazy was terrifying.
I do think there are some 'cheaper' bosses in the game - although not totally cheap - but O and S wasn't one of them for me.
sploatee, the clipping I'm talking about is O&S's attacks clipping straight through each other and doing no damage to one and other whatsoever, cheap and cheesy.
sploatee, the clipping I'm talking about is O&S's attacks clipping straight through each other and doing no damage to one and other whatsoever, cheap and cheesy.
I barely read in general, I'm not going to start reading in a video game. Audio logs were invented for philistines like me.
Oh yeah I get that, I just thought you were also trying to make a relevant point that seemed entirely irrelevant!
Ah...I see. Oh, I didn't mind that. They were probably just flirting with each other. Smough's shield had moobs on it!
You and I have a totally different take on stories generally! I hate being told something - I like to be either shown something or given gaps or weird elements that I have to try and piece together or make sense of using my imagination.
Anyone else still play Skyrim? on PC the mods are just....you can spend a day falling down the rabbit hole of modding it to shit, it's not even the same game with things like Frostfall (adds hypothermia). I have fast travel disabled, faster horses that I can summon with a whistle and loot is now in line with Morrowind.
Wait, I think I was now, thinking about it (sorry, really busy here, mind all over the shop)... It was mainly intended to make you laugh though.
Yes! That's it: you can deconstruct anything to it's constitute parts. It's especially easy to do with games. All the little bits contribute to the grand tapestry that is vidya games.
99% of games have skyboxes and a great deal of them are simply a series of interconnected rooms, if you stare hard enough, so I'm not sure it's a fair criticism to make of the design, if you see what I mean. You could literally say that about nearly any non- Open World game. It's way too broad, hence the Mona Lisa reference. I mean, skyboxes aren't inherently bad in-and-of themselves and even you admitted that it was a "pretty" one, which suggests it's actually a good example of one.
Anyone else still play Skyrim? on PC the mods are just....you can spend a day falling down the rabbit hole of modding it to shit, it's not even the same game with things like Frostfall (adds hypothermia). I have fast travel disabled, faster horses that I can summon with a whistle and loot is now in line with Morrowind.
The real fun is installing a bunch of them, and then trying to find out which one is crashing the game because it's not compatible with the house dlc or whatever.
I only have a computer monitor to play it on and want to somehow use my external speakers for the audio. should I just by a HDMI audio splitter or is there a better way?
I only have a computer monitor to play it on and want to somehow use my external speakers for the audio. should I just by a HDMI audio splitter or is there a better way?
Pretty much, unless you play the game on the pad itself or if it's something like Donkey Kong where the games on the pad anyway. Tried to do that with headphones when I had my Wii U hooked up to the monitor but it doesn't work too well.
I did some Nintendoing last night. Found my 3DS charger and games. Updated my 3DS. Changed my theme to 'black'. Forgot why I'd bothered charging and updating it. Popped it back where I found it.
The real fun is installing a bunch of them, and then trying to find out which one is crashing the game because it's not compatible with the house dlc or whatever.
Can't remember if I've asked this in here or a different thread but has anyone seen Birdman? Heading out to see it later today and just wanted to see if anyone here had thoughts on it.
Can't remember if I've asked this in here or a different thread but has anyone seen Birdman? Heading out to see it later today and just wanted to see if anyone here had thoughts on it.
I only have a computer monitor to play it on and want to somehow use my external speakers for the audio. should I just by a HDMI audio splitter or is there a better way?
I did some Nintendoing last night. Found my 3DS charger and games. Updated my 3DS. Changed my theme to 'black'. Forgot why I'd bothered charging and updating it. Popped it back where I found it.
I think I might be a bit like that. I'm tempted by the new 3ds but I'm just not sure that if I get it I'll like it. I did have the old one but sold it because it was just too "Nintendo-y" if you know what I mean. I like Mario and Zelda as a complement to other games not as my sole source of lunchtime escape. And Pokemon can get the hell away from me.
Can't remember if I've asked this in here or a different thread but has anyone seen Birdman? Heading out to see it later today and just wanted to see if anyone here had thoughts on it.
I'm not actually sure. I could just record all of my times and tell you so that you experience agony trying to beat them, as I am quite possibly the best person behind the wheel since that dickhead who won a Mario Kart Wii tournament back in 2009 or so that ended up becoming the head of the student union of Oxford University, but is a bit of a twat anyway, so the comparison is moot.
Basically, I'm very good and I'm not sure how. Google?
Can't remember if I've asked this in here or a different thread but has anyone seen Birdman? Heading out to see it later today and just wanted to see if anyone here had thoughts on it.
I think I might be a bit like that. I'm tempted by the new 3ds but I'm just not sure that if I get it I'll like it. I did have the old one but sold it because it was just too "Nintendo-y" if you know what I mean. I like Mario and Zelda as a complement to other games not as my sole source of lunchtime escape. And Pokemon can get the hell away from me.
I think I might be a bit like that. I'm tempted by the new 3ds but I'm just not sure that if I get it I'll like it. I did have the old one but sold it because it was just too "Nintendo-y" if you know what I mean. I like Mario and Zelda as a complement to other games not as my sole source of lunchtime escape. And Pokemon can get the hell away from me.
I think I might be a bit like that. I'm tempted by the new 3ds but I'm just not sure that if I get it I'll like it. I did have the old one but sold it because it was just too "Nintendo-y" if you know what I mean. I like Mario and Zelda as a complement to other games not as my sole source of lunchtime escape. And Pokemon can get the hell away from me.
I can't bring myself to sell mine because Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars is fucking great, but I'm really struggling to give a shit about anything else on the system. I just wanted to give it a second look because I'm feeling open-minded after Persona 4 and everyone is always waffling on about how great the library is. Figured I'd put my hatred for Nintendo hardware to one side and give it a go. I'd forgotten about my utter apathy towards Nintendo software though. It went like this:
Animal Crossing? Eh, no. I'd rather watch an episode of Changing Rooms.
Mario 3D Land? Eh, no. Great game, but I've already played it.
Luigi's Mansion 2? Eh, no. Gamecube game was far better, can't be arsed to finish it.
Donkey Kong Country? Oh, fuck that. What the fuck was I thinking when I bought that shit?
Mario & Luigi RPG blah blah? No thanks, I'd rather play Persona 4 again.
Lego City Undercover? Nope. Fired that one up a few months back and it's the main reason I banished the 3DS from my eyesight. 2004 wants its tech back.
NSMB2? Nope. If I'm not playing 3D Land, I'm sure as shit not playing an inferior Mario game.
So I gave up. Looked for something to play online and totally drew a blank. I don't think I've ever been as poorly matched to a system in my life. Even my Wii gave me 10-20 games that I really wanted to play.
Edit: Also, fuck Pokemon. It's only good for laughing at the stilted and awkward language in the cartoons when I'm stoned. Even that stopped being funny a decade ago.
Ugh. I have a lot of fondness for Pokemon but the competitive side rewards anal-retentive stat min-maxing and mindless grinding (reduced in recent iteration). It doesn't reward creative or strategic thinking.
I think the way that the plasmids and weapons combine to allow you flexibility in how you remove enemies is quite cleverly done. It seems almost sandbox-y at times in the choices it gives you each encounter.
I do think that the shooting is a bit weightless though and I would've preferred death to have a bit more significance (although it seems that death isn't the real challenge but managing supplies is).
Perhaps I'm severely misremembering, but the plasmids were a big missed opportunity. There were some interesting powers but rarely were you ever given the option of using them creatively or in combination. The enemies were uninteresting and unchalleging. Plus the wrench was way too good. I'm not sure if that's a criticism though.
Don't get me wrong though, it is a good game. My first positive experience of last generation. Plus it is hard not to respect a big budget game that is so divergent from its contemporaries. I still think Swat 4 is Irrational's best game though. That was a game that challenged and rewarded players.
It might be my nostalgia but out of the games I played from last generation nothing came close to having the same feeling of a destroyed city that was lived in but is now uninhabited and you're controlling the protagonist who is almost completely alone. The atmosphere is incredible, second only to Metroid Prime.
The Cohen section is fantastic, no doubt. The atmosphere is very good - and it is one of the most admirable bits of the game. Metroid prime, though! The Wii version of that is sublime.
