Video Games: Devils Die Twice

[Werthead]

Final Fantasy 7 Remake trailer.

More gameplay footage in this one. More interestingly, there's going to be big reveal of the game next month, so maybe even a release date for Episode I? Not to get too excited though, as the game has been split into multiple episodes and the release schedule has been compared to the FF13 trilogy, so it may take 3-4 years to get the full experience out.

[Werthead]

John Wick is getting a tie-in game and it's a semi turn-based shooter from an indie darling?

Interesting.

[Rhom]

14 hours ago, Werthead said:

Final Fantasy 7 Remake trailer.

More gameplay footage in this one. More interestingly, there's going to be big reveal of the game next month, so maybe even a release date for Episode I? Not to get too excited though, as the game has been split into multiple episodes and the release schedule has been compared to the FF13 trilogy, so it may take 3-4 years to get the full experience out.

Difficult to tell from the trailer... but what is the combat supposed to be like?  I see the bars in the corner and such, but I know that turn based battles have gone out of fashion in RPGs these days.  It also doesn't quite look as empty as the FFXV combat.  (The only FF I've never played to the end sadly... I just couldn't get past the huge world with meaningless gameplay.)  

[A True Kaniggit]

9 hours ago, Rhom said:

 I just couldn't get past the huge world with meaningless gameplay.)  

Yo, me spending hours and hours fishing was important! 

 

On the FF7 remake, I wonder how they'll include summons. I never used them, and wouldn't be too upset if they were cut entirely.

[Werthead]

9 hours ago, Rhom said:

Difficult to tell from the trailer... but what is the combat supposed to be like?  I see the bars in the corner and such, but I know that turn based battles have gone out of fashion in RPGs these days.  It also doesn't quite look as empty as the FFXV combat.  (The only FF I've never played to the end sadly... I just couldn't get past the huge world with meaningless gameplay.)  

Turn-based combat in RPGs has actually come back into vogue with a vengeance (Divinity: Original Sin 1 & 2, Torment: Tides of Numenera, Wasteland 2 and 3, Valkyria Chronicles 4 etc) so I think Square have misjudged this.

Apparently the combat is more phase-based than turn based, so it's not the semi-real-time combat of FFXV but it's *more* real-time than the original FF7.

[The Anti-Targ]

So is this the right place to talk about Detective Pikachu, without making it's own thread? It's a video game adaptation after all.

Is this the curse breaker (critically and commercially successful)? What does breaking the curse mean? Is Det. Pikachu the example for the rest of aspiring video game adaptations. You take characters and tell a story fitting of a movie, rather than try to make a video game into a movie? Somewhat easier, arguably, with something like Pokemon, vs something like That Last of Us, Halo, or Mass Effect, where the story in the games are a huge part of the game property.

I don't feel like Det. Pikachu is a curse breaker, because it's not doing something that a lot of adaptations are trying to do: make a movie that people can take seriously. The question is whether that's something that can be achieved while still making a movie recognisably linked to the source game(s)?

Oddly, one could suggest that video games that don't work all that well as games could be good move adaptations. Thinking about Mr Cage's interactive movies Heavy Rain, Beyond Two Souls and Detroit Become Human. A lot of people like the stories and characters in those games, Quantic Dream just seems to make shittier and shittier gameplay as a way to facilitate the choose your own adventure style.

[aceluby]

On 5/10/2019 at 5:38 PM, Werthead said:

Final Fantasy 7 Remake trailer.

More gameplay footage in this one. More interestingly, there's going to be big reveal of the game next month, so maybe even a release date for Episode I? Not to get too excited though, as the game has been split into multiple episodes and the release schedule has been compared to the FF13 trilogy, so it may take 3-4 years to get the full experience out.

I still play the original on an old PSP I have every few years.  It still holds up incredibly well IMO.

With that being said,I have basically zero interest in this game, especially at upwards of $200 spread across 3-4 years for what is likely going to be the same story.  

[Toth]

17 hours ago, The Anti-Targ said:

What does breaking the curse mean? Is Det. Pikachu the example for the rest of aspiring video game adaptations. You take characters and tell a story fitting of a movie, rather than try to make a video game into a movie?

I haven't seen the movie yet, but to me it seems that most videogame movies already do what you describe. Usually videogame adaptations are ashamed of their source material, take the characters and put them into a story that has barely if anything to do with the game, angering the fans by deceiving them with the name and boring casual movie goers with a weak replacement story.

Detective Pikachu did change up waypoints of the story as well, but having read a summary of its source material, it at least looks to me that they took the gist of it with "Tim looking for his missing father and discovers evil experiments" and gave that story a tighter number of settings and actual conclusion, since the game apparently has Tim going on wild tangents in his investigation and ends on a shameless sequel hook. I guess it also helps that barely anyone has played this spinoff game, so it's a fresh story for most viewers.

But the most important thing is that it takes the world of Pokémon seriously and indulges in painting the setting as vibrant and lived-in and self-explanatory, with the latter acknowledging the intelligence of its viewers that can be spared any longwinded exposition about how this world works.

[Ramsay B.]

Sekiro update:

Spoiler

I took a little time off but went hard at it this weekend.

I finally beat Genichiro after many tries. He wasn’t too tough after you get his patterns down but the fight was just so lengthy. Although the first time I took both his lives and he turned into electric boy was disheartening. Thankfully that stage wasn’t very difficult.

I had a hell of a time with the second centipede giraffe(Gun Fort). The thing was absolutely killing me and I was getting furious. I realized you have to time block his last attack and jump his lunge after that to get his posture up(or down?). I guess I could’ve used firecrackers too but I would run out and panic at the end when trying that.

I’m fighting the Guardian Ape now. I got his patterns down and almost beat his headless 2nd form my last try. I will probably beat it today.

Game is really fun but the camera work annoys the shit out of me at times. I’m also finally starting to get comfortable with the parrying, blocking and everything. I unfortunately played AC: Odyssey for a few months right before this, and there is no blocking in that. My fight style in that didn’t translate well to Sekiro. I was fighting my natural instincts in the beginning so much.

Roughly how much longer is the game? Anyone know?

 

[A True Kaniggit]

What Remains of Edith Finch is free this month with play station plus. Never heard of the game before, but a quick wiki of the game tells me I should play it. 

[The Anti-Targ]

1 hour ago, A True Kaniggit said:

What Remains of Edith Finch is free this month with play station plus. Never heard of the game before, but a quick wiki of the game tells me I should play it. 

Ooh! I gotta get me some of that. My friend has been playing it and really enjoys it.

[A True Kaniggit]

5 minutes ago, The Anti-Targ said:

Ooh! I gotta get me some of that. My friend has been playing it and really enjoys it.

Yep. I kept away from spoilers (only looked at the reviews). The word "artwork" popped up. I expect good things.

[Werthead]

21 hours ago, aceluby said:

I still play the original on an old PSP I have every few years.  It still holds up incredibly well IMO.

With that being said,I have basically zero interest in this game, especially at upwards of $200 spread across 3-4 years for what is likely going to be the same story.  

It's the same story, but they are apparently opening up the world and adding more side-quests and more background detail. So Midgar is now going to be semi open-world, and you can go to lots of places you couldn't in the original.

[KiDisaster]

What Remains of Edith Finch is really fantastic. Hope you all enjoy it. 

I picked up Let's Go Pikachu for my Switch since I was traveling for a week. Wasn't sure how I was going to feel about the removal of wild pokemon battles in favor of the Go style of just chuckling balls over and over but it actually works pretty well and reduces a lot of the time spent grinding from the originals. Also it's just a really nice shot of nostalgia for the Red/Blue/Yellow versions I played when I was a kid and the updated visuals are really great. Looking forward to the Sword/Shield games now, it'll be the first mainline game I've played since Ruby & Sapphire. 

[aceluby]

3 hours ago, Werthead said:

It's the same story, but they are apparently opening up the world and adding more side-quests and more background detail. So Midgar is now going to be semi open-world, and you can go to lots of places you couldn't in the original.

It is already a huge open world game, having them say they are 'opening it up' doesn't resonate with me at all.  A few extra side quests for $200 over 3-4 years, that by the time it's finally done could be delivered on last gen hardware sounds bad.  I'm a pretty avid FF7 fan, have played the original at least 20 times through, played the PSP prequel, and bought the DVD at one point as well; but it's insulting to my intelligence that they think I'm going to support this kind of release schedule and payment for a graphics upgrade and side quests.

I've pretty much lost faith in the series since FF12, so another disappointing release isn't a surprise anymore.

[briantw]

3 hours ago, aceluby said:

It is already a huge open world game, having them say they are 'opening it up' doesn't resonate with me at all.  A few extra side quests for $200 over 3-4 years, that by the time it's finally done could be delivered on last gen hardware sounds bad.  I'm a pretty avid FF7 fan, have played the original at least 20 times through, played the PSP prequel, and bought the DVD at one point as well; but it's insulting to my intelligence that they think I'm going to support this kind of release schedule and payment for a graphics upgrade and side quests.

I've pretty much lost faith in the series since FF12, so another disappointing release isn't a surprise anymore.

Just wait until all of it is released when they'll inevitably release a "complete edition" that has all the games for sixty bucks.  Might have to wait a year or two after the last game but I have no doubt it will happen at some point.

[Rhom]

3 hours ago, aceluby said:

It is already a huge open world game, having them say they are 'opening it up' doesn't resonate with me at all.  A few extra side quests for $200 over 3-4 years, that by the time it's finally done could be delivered on last gen hardware sounds bad.  I'm a pretty avid FF7 fan, have played the original at least 20 times through, played the PSP prequel, and bought the DVD at one point as well; but it's insulting to my intelligence that they think I'm going to support this kind of release schedule and payment for a graphics upgrade and side quests.

I've pretty much lost faith in the series since FF12, so another disappointing release isn't a surprise anymore.

I tend to agree.  I have had a bad taste in my mouth for episodic games ever since Blizzard told me that StarCraft 2 would release one per year...

[Werthead]

5 hours ago, aceluby said:

It is already a huge open world game

By 1997 standards, yes. By 2019, no, it's really not huge at all. Most of Midgar is walled off so you can only go to the specific locations for the quests. The open world map has on it locations only relevant to the main quest and maybe a couple of optional places to go for side-quests. Otherwise it's quite bare. I think people remember it being busier than it is because you can run around grinding random combat for levels pretty easily.

FF7 is a game you can finish in 22 hours (my personal record, and I wasn't even really trying to go that fast) but certainly ~30 hours seems about average. Square seem to be of the opinion this won't fly in this day and age and they want to make the game much bigger, 50-100 hours. For new players they may even be right, but I think fans of the original won't be so keen on that.

They had the opportunity to go and remake the original game in exactly the same way, just doing all-new high-res artwork for the backgrounds and using better 3D models (and the option to skip the frigging Knights of the Round and Supernova animations), but they decided to go all-out and make the game again, like they were making it for the first time as a 2019 game. I'm not sure if that was the best course of action.

[The Anti-Targ]

I think I played an hour of the og FF VII. I'll certainly wait to see fan reactions to it before deciding whether to the remake.

The only FF game I've put substantial hours into is FF IX. I got it very cheaply off the PS Store to play on PS3. I liked the game but I didn't finish it. In fact I don't think I got even half way through. I hate to say that it was partly the PS1-generation graphics that contributed to me not finishing, but I think I have to admit that it was part of the reason.

[A True Kaniggit]

Remember, the key to good Chocobo farming is inbreeding. Lots and lots of inbreeding.