Retro classics like Halo 3 and Breath of the Wild still hold up surprisingly well, being 20 and 10 years old respectively. (Sorry, couldn't help myself.)
God of War 1 & 2 were such good games, especially 2. Then 3 was somehow even better. I've been playing Ragnarök this past month and I'm of half a mind to record a 2 hour rant video about how they are risking to destroy the series.
Personally I really enjoyed both 2018 and Ragnarok, and got platinum trophies in both.
But I do agree that they do not feel like sequels to the original games. Kratos seems like an entirely different character, and the story kind of goes in the opposite direction.
It's very common for companies nowadays to make random games/movies, and force them into an existing franchise. It's cheaper than writing something new from scratch, and marketing works better.
It's not even about the games being good or bad. Just... disconnected from the rest of the series.
Take the Assassin's Creed series as an example. Black Flag was definitely a wonderful game, but it had almost nothing to do with the plot and universe of Assassin's Creed. Same for all other games since, except they're also mostly terrible games.
I feel like this is the main problem with new GoW games.
I'm fine with games evolving, and I'm okay with characters evolving even if I think the transition from God of War to Conflicted Dad is a bit far-fetched. I just think the gameplay is pretty bad, especially in Ragnarök. The over-the-shoulder camera doesn't work very well, the enemies are generic and generally very basic, the parrying mechanics with the yellow/red circles are very on the nose, the combat is boring and very drawn out on the harder levels.
The only boss that made me feel like I was playing a God of War game was Nidhögg. The Thor fight was fine, Gryla was okay. But in previous God of War games, there was a lot of build-up to fighting a boss, you felt like you had a reason for doing so, and the fights themselves were absolutely epic. You'd get a distinct reward for defeating big bosses, like a new weapon, move or at least a meaningful stat boost. Remember climbing Gaia for what felt like hours?
In Ragnarök, a named boss is often just some rando with a generic name that shows up out of nowhere, has 3 attacks, 1 phase and a massive health bar. You're picking up generic resources here and there and have browse around your bland menus to see what piece of gear that it upgrades. It's very forgettable. Your big abilities like the Runics can easily punish you rather than help you, and they're on a massive cooldown. They're pretty much useless or even counterproductive for the first half of the game.
The "platforming" is absolute shit, in fact it's no platforming at all, it's just linear with platforming aesthetics. There's no pattern for what obstacles Kratos can traverse, except you need to look for the circle on the HUD for context-sensitivity (and I guess the paint on cliffs indicating that THIS IS THE PATH. So if the over-the-shoulder combat is bad, the camera is bad, and it means that we can't have platforming, then what exactly did we gain from this change?
It's a shame too, because the dialogue and character design was actually very good. I love how they portrayed Odin and Thor. It's obvious that the devs are talented and resourceful, it just feels like they made a lot of bad choices for how to design the levels, combat, menus and progression.
Plug and play never went anywhere? It's used to describe usb peripherals that can be plugged into a computer and "just work" with zero setup or configuration. Like almost all modern mice and keyboards.
They are referring to plug and play consoles. The like where the controller is the console itself and plugs into the tv. They used to be loads that would play atari games in the 00s for example
I have a Bazzite home theater PC, running Steam. In fact I never play Steam games on it, it's mostly Kodi or games from the 80s upto Switch games (Mario Kart) via Emulation Station.
I own a 3ds and an analogue pocket. The 3ds battery lasted without faults for 14 years; the analogue pocket's developed a fault within 2.
Replacing the battery in the 3ds took 5 minutes and cost £15; it now works perfectly. Meanwhile, the analogue pocket would cost me over £100 and would require posting to the states.
What's funny is because of the price increases on computer hardware over the years, I'm now completely priced out of playing top of the line games at all. I don't have the hardware to handle them and cannot afford to upgrade to them. In other news, I'm finding enjoyment in simple games like Mecha Chameleon and Deep Rock Galactic in terms of graphics.
I keep saying, go back and play some of the portable stuff, 3DS/PSP is kind of golden era. They are designed with tight constraints in mind due to hardware limitations, battery life, and the portable nature meaning you could set the game down at any moment to get on with your life. This is in stark contrast to a lot of modern games that hammer your attention and try to keep you constantly engaged.
I just spent a bunch of time on Phantasy Star Portable 2 Infinity (PSP) and Dragon Quest Monsters 2 (3DS). Both fan translations that I wouldn't have been able to play back in the day anyways. Just some bright and colorful distractions.
59 replies
Some of my most played games in the past few months are:
Having a blast with these old games.
Also finished Breath of the Wild recently, which is a fairly new game, but still nearly 10 years old.
A little mercy please. Thank you!
Retro classics like Halo 3 and Breath of the Wild still hold up surprisingly well, being 20 and 10 years old respectively. (Sorry, couldn't help myself.)
I’m working my way through Links Awakening DX HD. The enhancements make a fantastic game even better.
I've been promising myself one day to play Crystal. Have been thinking about it since it was released... One day.
God of War 1 & 2 were such good games, especially 2. Then 3 was somehow even better. I've been playing Ragnarök this past month and I'm of half a mind to record a 2 hour rant video about how they are risking to destroy the series.
Personally I really enjoyed both 2018 and Ragnarok, and got platinum trophies in both.
But I do agree that they do not feel like sequels to the original games. Kratos seems like an entirely different character, and the story kind of goes in the opposite direction.
It's very common for companies nowadays to make random games/movies, and force them into an existing franchise. It's cheaper than writing something new from scratch, and marketing works better.
It's not even about the games being good or bad. Just... disconnected from the rest of the series.
Take the Assassin's Creed series as an example. Black Flag was definitely a wonderful game, but it had almost nothing to do with the plot and universe of Assassin's Creed. Same for all other games since, except they're also mostly terrible games.
I feel like this is the main problem with new GoW games.
I'm fine with games evolving, and I'm okay with characters evolving even if I think the transition from God of War to Conflicted Dad is a bit far-fetched. I just think the gameplay is pretty bad, especially in Ragnarök. The over-the-shoulder camera doesn't work very well, the enemies are generic and generally very basic, the parrying mechanics with the yellow/red circles are very on the nose, the combat is boring and very drawn out on the harder levels.
The only boss that made me feel like I was playing a God of War game was Nidhögg. The Thor fight was fine, Gryla was okay. But in previous God of War games, there was a lot of build-up to fighting a boss, you felt like you had a reason for doing so, and the fights themselves were absolutely epic. You'd get a distinct reward for defeating big bosses, like a new weapon, move or at least a meaningful stat boost. Remember climbing Gaia for what felt like hours?
In Ragnarök, a named boss is often just some rando with a generic name that shows up out of nowhere, has 3 attacks, 1 phase and a massive health bar. You're picking up generic resources here and there and have browse around your bland menus to see what piece of gear that it upgrades. It's very forgettable. Your big abilities like the Runics can easily punish you rather than help you, and they're on a massive cooldown. They're pretty much useless or even counterproductive for the first half of the game.
The "platforming" is absolute shit, in fact it's no platforming at all, it's just linear with platforming aesthetics. There's no pattern for what obstacles Kratos can traverse, except you need to look for the circle on the HUD for context-sensitivity (and I guess the paint on cliffs indicating that THIS IS THE PATH. So if the over-the-shoulder combat is bad, the camera is bad, and it means that we can't have platforming, then what exactly did we gain from this change?
It's a shame too, because the dialogue and character design was actually very good. I love how they portrayed Odin and Thor. It's obvious that the devs are talented and resourceful, it just feels like they made a lot of bad choices for how to design the levels, combat, menus and progression.
Retroachievements is also omega dope
They somehow got me to play a ton of Wii and collectathons this year with events and... some retro games suck but they suck less with RA.
Half-Life 1 deathmatch .. come check us out!
Ia that the one that has a map where you can press a button and the shelter closes and everyone outside gets nuked?
Yes, and there is a map in half life 2 deathmatch with the same gimmick
Crossfire ❤️
Yes! There's still a few servers up and that's probably the most popular map. But there's a few regular servers that cycle maps.
Still a great game, even single player, after 25 years it holds up.
Still operating your repost bot swarm, eh?
Quickest block of my life, thank you
I saw this in my unreads without context and was like "oh god who've I pissed off now" so it was a relief when I realised 😅
appreciate it.
I know you guys from "dont touch billionaire reddit content" team hates me.
I will keep touching your content everywhere
reddit finance team hates me :)
Retroarch is an amazing tool. It is also available on most phones now. Grab a BT controller or if you have a backbone that works too.
Ready to go with you games. Or do a nice setup on almost any computer at home.
Dolphin as well for Wii games. I was surprised when my 5 year old phone I paid maybe 150$ for could play most Wii games with zero lag.
I am thinking about starting the Xenosaga trilogy.
Thought we were talking about games, not very long movies...
Back in the day I bought an edition of xenosaga ii that came with a dvd of xenosaga I cutscenes....
Really? Is that bad? Never played them, and I'm curious.
It was the height of long cutscene JRPGs.
But I recommend them wholeheartedly. Don't expect super involved gameplay mechanics, but a solid turn based JRPG with lengthy cutscenes.
Also be sure not to skip out on Xenogears.
I only have played the Xenoblade Chronicles series. I will check the Xenogears.
The other option is Fire Emblem: Awakening. Never played a Fire Emblem game.
Enjoy
I've been playing nothing but Pokemon ROM hacks for the last three weeks.
Emotional recommendation of the year: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of the Sky.
It's almost upsetting having a 2009 pixel game have more emotional charge than a AAA with mocap and voice acting.
"Breathtaking" my eyes bleed from detail overload.
I got my hands on an Anbernic RG35XXSP recently and I feel like I'm living a dream with this thing, I love it.
Plug and play never went anywhere? It's used to describe usb peripherals that can be plugged into a computer and "just work" with zero setup or configuration. Like almost all modern mice and keyboards.
They are referring to plug and play consoles. The like where the controller is the console itself and plugs into the tv. They used to be loads that would play atari games in the 00s for example
Now it's "Plug, Wait 2 Hours, and Play."
If you have the storage required for the update.
Command&Conquer gang, anyone? :D
I have a Bazzite home theater PC, running Steam. In fact I never play Steam games on it, it's mostly Kodi or games from the 80s upto Switch games (Mario Kart) via Emulation Station.
✅ Breathtaking graphics and the newest games
❌ With monthly subscription fees and micro transactions
A tale of two consoles:
I own a 3ds and an analogue pocket. The 3ds battery lasted without faults for 14 years; the analogue pocket's developed a fault within 2.
Replacing the battery in the 3ds took 5 minutes and cost £15; it now works perfectly. Meanwhile, the analogue pocket would cost me over £100 and would require posting to the states.
It's not just the games, it's the damn hardware!
Indie games are just killing it right now, so why bother with big studios.
Don't forget ram prices. Retro looking hotter and hotter.
https://unrealarchive.org/unreal-tournament/index.html
Completely free to download and is maintained by the community to run perfectly fine on modern systems. You're welcome.
What's funny is because of the price increases on computer hardware over the years, I'm now completely priced out of playing top of the line games at all. I don't have the hardware to handle them and cannot afford to upgrade to them. In other news, I'm finding enjoyment in simple games like Mecha Chameleon and Deep Rock Galactic in terms of graphics.
I keep saying, go back and play some of the portable stuff, 3DS/PSP is kind of golden era. They are designed with tight constraints in mind due to hardware limitations, battery life, and the portable nature meaning you could set the game down at any moment to get on with your life. This is in stark contrast to a lot of modern games that hammer your attention and try to keep you constantly engaged.
I just spent a bunch of time on Phantasy Star Portable 2 Infinity (PSP) and Dragon Quest Monsters 2 (3DS). Both fan translations that I wouldn't have been able to play back in the day anyways. Just some bright and colorful distractions.
I am in the third act of Baldur's Gate (Dark Alliance, for the GBA) and I must say, it is more enjoyable than 007 Nightfire for the GBA.
TFW 2010s is already retro, I still enjoy my 3DS
Retro games are as good as clay vaginal discharge. Try GTA vice city at least
My sibling in christ: Vice City is retro.
::: spoiler Tap for spoiler Unless that's the joke... :::
That's a joke
It seems I'm not the only one who didn't get it, looking at the votes. 😅
It's Lemmy, my dear. Built by tankies and populated by remnants of woke1
Not sure if I appreciate that tone, "my dear".
I'm just saying that a
/jtone-tag would've probably helped you actually achieve what you were trying to communicate.Got it. Added "do not use my dear" tag on you
How do I add a "dickhead" tag? Asking for a friend.
Perhaps you're just uncultured.
Clay? Were they swimming in a river and got a clay cover clam?