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Sonic the Hedgehog Community |OT2 Battle|

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This is the first announcement in a long, long time to legitimately bum me out like this. Like, actually kind of saddened by the whole thing.
 

Noi

Member
Onimusha... whaaaaat...

This is weird. The good news is, it's the beginning of Capcom just exiting the console game business all together, which is probably good news, because they're full of unworthy hacks now.

:)

It sucks seeing game companies being so fuckin' reactionary to everything. Square with Lightning Returns is basically check marking every box for "thing that has been done in a good game before". Companies are looking at browser games and going "hey, we need some of that money too!". Not every game can be such a runaway success as Puzzle & Dragons, jesus christ. It's essentially the "chasing the Call of Duty fanbase" for Japanese developers.
 
Yeah, after AA5 (and that'll probably be the last AA game released stateside, anyway), I'm done with them.

Today is just a full on waking nightmare.
 

Rlan

Member
You BOF fellows needs to calm the Eff down.

Anyway, I got a big package from my comic shop today. It was a pricey set and now I know why - it included almost every variant of the Sonic / Mega Man covers. Didn't realize they were in there, I thought it was just ONE of the variants. The only one I was missing is the SDCC variant and the Tandem Bike one.
 
I called up my BoF fanboy friend just to tell him about this. That was the fastest "happiest moment of my life" to "fuck this piece of shit company and fuck you!" I've ever heard.

I fully expect Viewtiful Joe 3 to be an iOS title
 

Noi

Member
I guess that's where Capcom All-Stars ended up. Funny how they had to end up renaming it to "Street Fighter x insert IP we have no faith in here"

G26JFbd.jpg

You wouldn't believe how tired I already am of this card-based browser game fad.
 
Meanwhile, a CEO of Konami leans back in his chair, strokes his chin, and says, "I think I got an idea for the next Suikoden"

This implies that they actually remember that they have more than three series under their banner.
I think this fella is more likely to say "what the hell is a Suikoden?"
 

Village

Member

I am liking they are on this " new dante what was that?" thing they got going.
Also look megerman on the right

You wouldn't believe how tired I already am of this card-based browser game fad.

I wouldn't call it fad, its just a digitization of something that has always been popular, just seems like a natural next step.
 

Village

Member
This could've been a really cool Super Gem Fighter Mini Mix style fighter. Shame it's a social card whatever.

Make it for the Vita and 3ds as an excuse for super cutsy chibi stuff, I would buy it.

Capcom Allstars: pocket fighters. I want a Uncle Dante alternate, I would only use best dante in combat.
 

Tizoc

Member
The fallout from the Capcom thread is hilarious.

SA2 version is great.

Generations' Act 2 version is basically that but extended and much crazier with the chase.

What they did to the Truck in Generations made me raise an eyebrow and go 'OH FUCK OH FUCK OH FUCK OH FUCK!'
 

BlackJace

Member
What's truly heartbreaking is that Ono said that they actually don't have enough money for SF V at the moment. Capcom what are you doing mang.
 

Tizoc

Member
What's truly heartbreaking is that Ono said that they actually don't have enough money for SF V at the moment. Capcom what are you doing mang.

Them costs for next gen games...
I find it rather funny that Sony are promoting Indie games that I doubt would use much of that 5 GB DD RAM thingamajig though.
 

Village

Member
Them costs for next gen games...
I find it rather funny that Sony are promoting Indie games that I doubt would use much of that 5 GB DD RAM thingamajig though.

I would say more miss management for that.

Seriously do we have a list of all the franchises capcom has killed since the middle of the PS2 generation till now, its like some one in there was on a damn mission.
 

Dark Schala

Eloquent Princess
Meanwhile, a CEO of Konami leans back in his chair, strokes his chin, and says, "I think I got an idea for the next Suikoden"
Suikoden VI to be an F2P social RPG/Pachinko hybrid for smartphones
You damn people.

I'm less pissed off now because I'm eating. I am hungry.

I guess I have to write something substantial for that BoF thread other than "I'm still mad, fuck you capcom" because I'm a better poster than that. I hope I am, anyway.
 
Capcom is the new Square Enix?

Difference is, I'm actually bit optimistic for Square's future. Barely (I can't state this enough), but there's at least some hope. I can't say the same for Capcom.

And that's the real fucked up part of it all, Capcom still actually has a good amount of talent at the company in spite of everything, but as long as management stays the way it is, shit isn't going to change anytime soon.
 
Really, as tactless as he put it, Phil Fish kinda had a point. Japan's seriously lost their way this generation. I'm not totally writing out a return to form, but shifting to outsourcing games, misguidedly "westernizing" games, switching everything to cheap free-to-play, mobile/web-based offerings... it's hard to watch. Especially when the generation started off fairly promising (I mean, shit, Street Fighter was revived).
 

Tizoc

Member
I would say more miss management for that.

Seriously do we have a list of all the franchises capcom has killed since the middle of the PS2 generation till now, its like some one in there was on a damn mission.

I see more as Capcom higher ups wants whatever title they make to sell gajillion units, and if a title/product/concept does not give that result it would not get made.

It's a shame they couldn't continue with digital title route like with Bionic Commando ReArmed and the 8-bit Megaman games, but maybe the sales for them got less so they thought there was no interest in them?

Wonder how Japan are reacting to it @3@
 

Dark Schala

Eloquent Princess
Wonder how Japan are reacting to it @3@
They are just as pissed as we are. Even moreso.

Capcom just wants to chase down the emerging mobile market just like everyone else because they can put very little in terms of R&D and gameplay and walk away with a boatload of cash if they do it right. A lot of people have smartphones, and a lot of people pay cash for games now, even if they play casually, so that's why companies do it.

As I said here:

I'm back from my shift, but even if I'm less irritated than I was this morning (which was a complete... I don't even know), I'm still incredibly disappointed. I have to say that sometimes I don't like it when companies go in a drastically different direction with some of their series. I like to go with the phrase "if it ain't broke, don't fix it; but if you must, add onto it for the best". But some recent games in some of these series that we like to reminisce about have simply gone into a direction that's in an extreme that people don't wish for the series to be in. It's because people like being comfortable, playing games that they're familiar with. If the change has been too drastic, and if people aren't slowly eased into it, people are going to feel incredibly disappointed or at least, people will feel mixed about the game in question.

It's not just with Breath of Fire, either. One of my friends messaged me saying that Capcom's been doing this with their higher-tier stuff for years now, and to an extent that certainly is true. It certainly feels like Capcom's squandering all of the goodwill they had towards the beginning and midpoint of this generation when they released SF4, MM9, Bionic Commando Rearmed, Mega Man ZX, Ghost Trick, bringing PW to the west, etc. And for what? Either an attempt at trying to secure wider audiences by making some changes for some of the games they release, or chasing after the emerging mobile market for a chance to increase their profits slightly.

My disappointment is rooted in the fact that a lot of the series that I loved as a kid, whether it's Genso Suikoden, Lufia, Mega Man, Contra, Commando, Ghouls 'n Ghosts, etc. have been (for the most part) reduced to current games in the series being nothing but unsubstantial playthings that you'd play for an hour or two each day, with very little sense of progression and unsubstantial game design. Or they may be IPs that you haven't heard from in a long time. Genso Suikoden is the exception, but it's become a series where the developer does not treat its legacy and what it means to its fanbase justice. Not to mention that both Capcom and Konami were my favourite companies when I was little.

I understand Capcom's idea of trying to go for a market that seems to be emerging in the games industry. It's just like how I get SE for doing the same thing. But I can't really support that idea because a lot of the games that these two companies have released on these platforms have been subpar in some way (ie: SE with the visual / UI department and lack of substance in systems for their mobile games, and Capcom with... well, you've seen Rockman xover). The fear is that Breath of Fire 6, a game that people have been waiting years for is on a platform that has controls that not everyone is comfortable with, it is an online touch RPG, and given Capcom's amazing effort with some of their mobile ventures, it's probably not going to look or play rather stellar either. It will lack substance and depth that people are used to seeing in traditional RPGs like BoF. That is why I'm disappointed.

Capcom has so many IPs that they can play around with, but they're either shelving them because they might not work in this retail environment at present, or they're making mobile sequels for that market (and, again, the real problem I have with that is that I don't think these games will have a lot of substance or depth to them at all). It just a huge shame that they're squandering their IPs in an attempt to gain a small profit at a lower cost, or they're even squandering the good will that their fans have had for them for decades. And that good will was gained due to their willingness to make their games even better, or diversify their IP so that there was something that the company had to offer to everyone.

Both Capcom and Konami are at the end of their ropes for me. It's a damn shame what they've become in the last generation or so. Very disappointing. I was hoping that I wouldn't have to be as disappointed with Capcom as I am with Konami this generation, but here we are.

I'm irritated, but I'm just feeling incredibly deflated now.

Edit: I didn't even mention IAPs. Ugh.

I loved both Capcom and Konami (and Quintet, but they are now defunct) when I was a little girl. They were my favourites. I liked them a lot more than I did Squaresoft, Nintendo, and Sega. It's just a fucking shame to see what state they're in now in this generation.
 

Dark Schala

Eloquent Princess
LOL. I was gonna post a pic, but I bought a Wii U Deluxe for $249 yesterday! The only game I got with it was NSMBU.

It's in my closet because I want to finish Time and Eternity (someone forced my hand to actually finish the pile of crap). Like I said, I don't like writing impressions about a game until I beat it. And people are like, "I don't think the game's that bad! How could you say it's that bad?" Because it's terrible and it doesn't flipping change.
 
I don't think any amount of forcing could get me to ever touch Time & Eternity, let alone finish it.

I think I'm going to play BoFIII later today. That should put me in a happy place.
 
Owl played TLOU?

tell me you liked it or else
You can find the answer, hidden within this jumble of thoughts strung haphazardly into text!


Nocturnowl's splendiferous assessment of The Last of Us (spoiler free, whoopee!)

So once again like clockwork the next big thing arrived, forget that Bioshock Infinite, that’s old news now, The Last of Us is the new 10/10 game of the lifetime. As always with these sort of games that cause the gaming media to trip over each other foaming at the mouth with undying praise I was looking in from the outside with a quizzical look and a heavy dosage of doubt. I think it’s safe to say at this point that I don’t tend to agree with what the media typically consider the best of the best, let me guess? Guns, cinematic action, AAA production values and buzzwords like VISCERAL? Oh yes it would be easy and shortsighted of me to immediately write off Naughty Dog’s latest outing as the next entry in a conga line of titles fitting a similar mold that also included their previous two titles and if you’ve been paying attention to me at all you’ll likely be aware that I don’t rate those Uncharted games too much either.

Funnily enough I haven’t been able to escape the excessive love for TLOU even off in everyday life, I went to a job interview back in June and ended up in a conversation with another applicant there who was gushing to me about TLOU, truly there was no escape. So unlike most people first putting this disc into their PS3 I wasn’t quivering with excitement but did so with a sense of obligation, my doubts about Naughty Dog, dislike for the whole zombie apocalypse angle ( I don’t care how you spin it, fungus men are just another infected Zombie substitute) and barely being able to keep my head above the waves of praise saw to that.
I’m going to say right now that TLOU gets off to a slow start as far as I’m concerned, walking and talking is in abundance while the few combat/stealth situations early on don’t really get much of a chance to shine. At this point I was remembering JC’s words from last week when we discussed the inner gamer, at first he was all like"auto-run section, lulz", "easiest puzzle ever, whatever", "infinite ammo set piece in survival game, lulz ND", "NPCs making loud ass noises and guards can't hear, lol video game AI" but something changed along the way and he became one with his inner gamer, still being in these early stages I was stuck in the similar phase of “picking up and placing planks? press triangle to co-op? the game’s removed my ability to sprint again? Lulz ND indeed”.
I never quite found my inner game so to speak but It took me until about Pittsburgh for the game to finally reach a clicking point, it was at this stage that the walk and talk sections usually with super sidekick characters decided to bugger off and the game benefited considerably for it.

Combat in TLOU isn’t a revolution but it’s got a hook to it that makes it pretty satisfying. To start with Melee is not only a very viable option but it’s brutal in an incredibly satisfying way, while the game presents you with numerous ranged weapons across the journey you don’t have anywhere near the stocks of ammo you’d have in other games promoting a more stealthy style of play where guns are the last resort. Some sections can basically be “ghosted” which is to say you don’t kill anyone, you don’t get seen, you just sneak away with no blood on your hands which is appreciated though unfortunately not always possible it seems. You can have a good old fashioned shoot out which benefits from the fact that health doesn’t regenerate (you patch yourself up), that enemies like to shuffle around instead of just playing bullet based whack a mole and that most importantly the enemies don’t sponge your more limited supply of ammunition. It’s also nice that Joel doesn’t snap to cover, you have full control over his movement around conveniently chest high objects and that is something that works very well when it comes to stealth as well as overall maneuverability.

Back to the Melee focus, yes you can twat dudes with a pipe and shatter their craniums like melons, the game is brutal but it fits the atmosphere the game is going for, I like to call it the atmosphere of “everyone is a complete tosser including you”. Aside from melee weapons like the incredibly deadly board with a nail in it Joel can just punch peoples lights out and contextually smash their heads against the wall (or invisible wall as was my first use of this) , then there’s throttling folks from behind which is traditionally the path to success, the important thing to take away from this is that I finished the game with more Melee related kills than shootbang kills and that makes me a happy chappy.

Unfortunately TLOU has two types of enemy encounters, the above applies to human enemies, but lets not forget the totally not zombies. Standard fungus men bum rush you if they catch sight of you so you want to keep out of sight, there’s an advanced type called clickers that can one shot you but they’re reliant on sound to discover you so you can just sneak right past them mere inches away if need be. Problem is if shit goes down and you’re having to fend off the numbers game with your slow to reload and unwieldy weapons you can bet that captain clicker will just happen to join the party at the worst possible time and ruin everything in one fell swoop. The clash between enemies that can see you and enemies that can hear you can make the stealth a bit of a hassle at times.
I will say that no game has made me feel quite so tense in a while, it’s like I was slightly holding my breath in every stealth situation and that includes the bits with human enemies , with no regenerating health it feels like there’s actually a consequence for your blunders and that keeps me more on my toes. Though not all Mushroom Men sections were that bad I can’t say I enjoyed them anywhere near as much as just fighting the standard humans, especially if the fatter spongy shroom enemies are there, so close to a lack of sponging , so very close.

The games breather sections are quite frequent, Joel takes on the role of a crouching kleptomaniac with crab like movements made as his hands swiftly shift across tables scooping up all the materials and trinkets you’ll need to whip up items like medikits, bombs and shivs. I’m not a fan of hoovering up all the crap in an area in games like this but it has to be done, fortunately it’s not quite as tedious as compulsive bin eating from Bioshock and opening a million storage boxes of junk in Fallout 3 in the hope that something decent might be in there, I don’t know, my friends tend to find this scavenging stuff a cool mechanic in games, I think it’s just annoying as shit. TLOU implements it well enough but why the hell do I need to pick up like 5 cogs next to one another individually instead of just lumping them together?
Traversing the environment is pretty standard stuff, the game has a few little mechanics involving planks, wheelie bins and ladders where you shunt stuff around to progress across previously impassable terrain, it’s about as exciting as you may expect but understandable seeing as neither Joel or Ellie are Nathan Drake supermen with superpowered finger strength and fluctuating jump distance.
I need to say, I hate press triangle to buddy climb stuff in games, it’s not fun or really interactive, it’s just a slow way to get two characters over a damn wall. I did at least notice ND’s strategic use of yellow to indicate areas where you could climb which works much better than glowing wall paint.

Seeing that this game is all about the cinematic presentation I figure I should say something on that point, ND do good cutscenes but they’re actually not as common as I expected seeing as walk n’ talk fills the void for the most part. The plot is fine, the characters are fine but I never really got truly invested in either, it certainly seems more about the journey than the destination with the characters doing the heavy lifting to keep the player enthralled, there’s more points I could bring up around the plot but I’m keeping this spoiler free so just know I thought it did its job well enough to keep me entertained but nothing really beyond that which seems to be a far cry from the opinion of most. There’s the odd QTE every now and then, almost always mash square to not die like they fear inserting other inputs into the equation would scare some people off. Visuals are of course top of the range on PS3, ND have incredible attention to detail and it shines even in the ruined craphole of a world TLOU takes place in. Plants and vines wind up cracked walls, the sunlight looms through a worn window illuminating an otherwise dank debris filled room, it’s all very pleasing to the eye and all that. There are a few setpieces reminiscent of the Uncharted series at a few points but they’re a rare event compared to the clumsy collapsing calamities of Nathan Drake.

So where do I stand in all this? TLOU is probably Naughty Dog’s Magnum Opus, I certainly enjoyed it myself and as far as the games that entwine action adventure with that movie like approach you probably wont be finding them done much better than this. It’s still guilty of the numerous trappings of this style of game limiting my ability to lavish endless praise upon it, I’m basically standing in like 8.5 territory I guess. Stealth is fun even if the enemies can be oblivious to the yelling and struggle of their friend two meters behind them being slowly choked to death and gun fights sidestep the main flaws of the Uncharted series leading to a much more entertaining set of scuffles but still have a few enemy wave like moments that just kind of suck as well as not jiving with how the gunplay goes down here, once again blame the scary shrooms for that.
I'd possibly like it a bit more of the overall theme of the game appealed to me but the moral of the story is that zombies and their infected cousins still suck but TLOU is still fun in spite of this, the end.
 
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