Video Game General

[anthony]

i made a melee build and read some guides b4 hand. you gotta know alot of these older games people bought in person and they always came with guides and helpful shit. thats the main reason alot ppl struggle with older games besides random difficulty bs.. u should try fallout 2 and just steal someones meta build off the internet. most ppl think 2 is better, but i think both r good

I actually tried 2. I just found it tiresome. And playing to guides is a big factor in that. At that point why even play the game? I'd rather just read wiki articles on the most interesting stuff in Fallout 2. Once i'm looking up what to do what is actually playing the game but a kind of obligation? And more to the point of why I hate CRPGs, how much of the phenomenal experience of "playing" isn't better experienced via the wiki? These games are rather drab and tedious, I'm not blown away looking at them or engaging with them.

[Guest]

most ppl think 2 is better, but i think both r good

Most RPG fans I have come across criticize F2 for adding the 'wacky' aspects, the chosen one plot, the large amount of popculture references, all of which contributed to the worsening of the bleak and hopeless atmosphere of F1. The sequel was an improvement gameplay-wise due to the various engine additions and developments that came with experience, but the original is better designed and better written, which is an opinion the RPG community seems to be in agreement which. There are modifications which bridge the technological gap between the two, which I recommend.
Also there are the spiritual successors: Fallout Nevada, Fallout Resurrection, Fallout Sonora, Olympus 2207 and a few others. All of these are full-sized games in their own right, and they share the design principles and the atmosphere of their ancestor.

[Guest]

fallout 2 is admittedly a hack-job by the people who wrote it, and it's always seemed to me that the overabundance of fourth wall breaks were put in for necessary padding. neither 1 or 2 are particularly captivating, in my opinion, but 1 was at least on the right track with its interpretation of the post-apocalyptic world. 2 also established the precedent for the "post-post-apocalypse," which new vegas ran with and thus squandered any potential for the series to get a reboot in the vein of 1. 3 was as close to a return to form as we ever got, and maybe even expanded on some of 1's merits, but the story was laughably bad, and much of the shoe-horned ip was put in for obvious financial reasons (marketability). even still, 3 has more poignancy than 2 or new vegas could ever hope for: this will be understood, in time, as soon as reddit and trannies stop co-opting new vegas and making video essays talking about how good it is

[anthony]

fallout 2 is admittedly a hack-job by the people who wrote it, and it's always seemed to me that the overabundance of fourth wall breaks were put in for necessary padding. neither 1 or 2 are particularly captivating, in my opinion, but 1 was at least on the right track with its interpretation of the post-apocalyptic world. 2 also established the precedent for the "post-post-apocalypse," which new vegas ran with and thus squandered any potential for the series to get a reboot in the vein of 1. 3 was as close to a return to form as we ever got, and maybe even expanded on some of 1's merits, but the story was laughably bad, and much of the shoe-horned ip was put in for obvious financial reasons (marketability). even still, 3 has more poignancy than 2 or new vegas could ever hope for: this will be understood, in time, as soon as reddit and trannies stop co-opting new vegas and making video essays talking about how good it is

I came around on Fallout 3 a while ago. Everyone probably will eventually. It's not a "crpg", it's a Todd-game. Todd is not fascinated with "quests" and endless generic genre-trash "grey complex characters". He's interested in virtual space and physicality. Every Todd game is about being able to move around wherever and do what you want with stuff. I loved Fallout 3 when I realised this. First time playing it I actually tried to play it like a crpg. Miserable, confusing experience. But also kind of cool in its own way because the systems are so dysfunctional and weird. It creates a genuinely alien and imposing effect. But I was an idiot and just played the "main quest" like that was the point then stopped. Then second time I just started killing random people and walking in random directions. Then the game came together. Then I was playing the Todd game.

Of course both traditions are still kind of alive, and unfortunately the Todd Game has evolved into some kind of first person diablo for flyover americans to play on the xbox. Probably more dignified than still making "crpgs" in 2023. There are people who loved Fallout 1 and 2 so much they want it forever.

[anthony]

Just absorbed Sin & Punishment. Very fun short game. Easy to recommend. Like playing a weird 90s sci-fi OVA. Loads of novel ideas stemming from it being an action game about controlling people designed by a shoot-em up/bullet-hell team. Amazing amount of animated stuff on screen for a Nintendo 64 game. Next going to play Shadow of Rome, which I've put off for far too long considering it's the predecessor to Dead Rising, one of my favourite games ever. 

Just kind of dropping into this thread for the sake of recommending some stuff that I'm enjoying lately.



80 minute game. Awesome.

[JF_]

Just absorbed Sin & Punishment. Very fun short game. Easy to recommend. Like playing a weird 90s sci-fi OVA. Loads of novel ideas stemming from it being an action game about controlling people designed by a shoot-em up/bullet-hell team. Amazing amount of animated stuff on screen for a Nintendo 64 game. Next going to play Shadow of Rome, which I've put off for far too long considering it's the predecessor to Dead Rising, one of my favourite games ever. 

Just kind of dropping into this thread for the sake of recommending some stuff that I'm enjoying lately.



80 minute game. Awesome.

Infernal Machine, hang up your hat!


If we're just sharing what we're playing now, I have been investigating as many games as possible that fall under the categories of "Visual Novel", "First Person Adventure", "Point & Click", or more classically "Graphic Adventure", playing them either on emulated Mac OSX 8, Win98, ScummVM, or console emulators.




I at last tried Omikron: The Nomad Soul the other day (Dreamcast port). I expected it to be bad. The concept is unique enough for me to admire, but no, it doesn't really execute it that well so far. I liked Bowie's opening song. "Take us to the edge of time!" I may abandon it and try to continue Kowloon's Gate. It's only in Japanese, but my emulator has a built-in script for screencapping the game, pausing it, and translating image text detected in a specified language, like on Yandex. It's good enough to read text on the signs in the pre-rendered backgrounds. I can't tell if it's doing well, or using a device to detect "bad feng shui" in air vents of an underground city is really a significant mechanic in the game.

[anthony]

Infernal Machine, hang up your hat!


If we're just sharing what we're playing now, I have been investigating as many games as possible that fall under the categories of "Visual Novel", "First Person Adventure", "Point & Click", or more classically "Graphic Adventure", playing them either on emulated Mac OSX 8, Win98, ScummVM, or console emulators.




I at last tried Omikron: The Nomad Soul the other day (Dreamcast port). I expected it to be bad. The concept is unique enough for me to admire, but no, it doesn't really execute it that well so far. I liked Bowie's opening song. "Take us to the edge of time!" I may abandon it and try to continue Kowloon's Gate. It's only in Japanese, but my emulator has a built-in script for screencapping the game, pausing it, and translating image text detected in a specified language, like on Yandex. It's good enough to read text on the signs in the pre-rendered backgrounds. I can't tell if it's doing well, or using a device to detect "bad feng shui" in air vents of an underground city is really a significant mechanic in the game.

I know some guys who were just posting about Kowloon's Gate a couple of days ago. I hear they made a new project recently. And I have also heard that there are no good Quantic Dream games. The more I read about them the more unbelievable they get. Triumphs of business and sheer production if nothing else. David Cage has an incredible power to make people do things.

Edit: And yes, I might just post what I'm playing now and then to keep things sort of interesting here. I like video game posting and want people to be comfortable just sharing whatever. It can all potentially go to interesting places. Everyone else feel free to post whatever you're up to or into lately too, of course.

[JF_]

[anthony]

Latest thing I've been up to. Emulating some stuff. Finished Capcom's Shadow of Rome (2005) a couple of nights ago, and started LucasArts's 'Gladius'.

I posted some Shadow of Rome screenshots in the virtual photography thread already.



It's a game of which one significant part is controlling a guy who looks like Miura's Guts in a series of gladiatorial battles in which you have to win stylishly and violently to impress crowds. The game is interestingly constructed to be somewhat challenging, as you're usually outnumbered and constrained to similar rules and tools as your opponents, and to be full of potential to mess around with, because you're meant to win interestingly, not just play to survive. So you can do things like chop parts off of people, throw any kind of object into the crowd, throw people at each other, off of high places, into pits full of spikes. These arena battles are enclosed spaces full of potential.

But this isn't the full game.



You also play as this Raiden lookalike in an oddly similarly but completely different experience and plotline. Several elements are shared with the arenas. Dense environments, complex interactions with many characters, an emphasis on objects and freedom to do lots of things with them. Only it's a "stealth" game. Particularly a 2000s one. There are no ferns to hide in. And if you are seen you will be cut down dead very quickly if you don't get away. But it's also Japanese. The Japanese understand that "stealth" as an abstract interaction with virtual people is always going to end up somewhat retarded, and they're quite willing to embrace that. This game might do so more than any other I've ever played. It's an entirely slapstick experience.



Here is Not-Raiden dressed up as a maid, holding a jug. The plan of course is to shatter it over the unsuspecting guard's head like a looney toons sketch. Other tactical options include banana peels, which can create incredible destructive human pileups via tripping, and throwable rats and frogs, which are used to scare women into distracting guards.

But this isn't even all. The game is not a "gladiator" game, or a "stealth" game, or one which alternates between the two. These pieces are sort of like the "dungeons" in something like The Legend of Zelda within this game. A significant portion of the game takes place in and around Rome in more general sequences of narrative and freedom which feel more like moving around in a JRPG city. I mention this because I believe that something the Japanese do well with many games is that they want to give you an experience of being a person who does a thing, rather than just making you do the thing. Sneaking, or fighting in an arena, are organically integrated into a greater narrative and world experience for you, as the player, and integrated into a greater life experience of the characters. The Gladiator character's plotline actually starts with him fighting as a soldier, using the same fighting mechanics that will be applied in the arena later. It's a very cool transition into what one would expect to be the main premise of the game. The gladiator plotline is only introduced at the end of the first act of the game.

Something I say to explain what I like about a lot of Japanese games, I do like it, I also say it to encourage lateral thinking, is that the approach feels very multimedia anime. This game is more than a game, a contrived challenge. It's a lot of things. It uses contrived challenges at points to give you entertaining things to do and frame certain elements of its story and experience, but it's really about a Japanese vision of Rome, as a city and cultural experience. There's just rich attention to detail all over this thing which couldn't really be done in any other medium and is really best appreciated if not approached entirely as a game either.





Brief note on the story. It's an anime conspiracy-plot about the murder of Julius Caesar. It's very cool to see how figures from Roman history get interpreted into anime archetypes to make the plot work.

Show Content

About the two aboveRaiden is Octavian, Guts is Agrippa

[anthony]

Quick blogpost here for the hell of it.

I just played Luigi's Mansion. The Gamecube launch game. It was pretty cool. Like most Nintendo works, especially ones made for new machines, every part of it is built around trying to show you something cool or realise some kind of vision. You can see with this one that they're just utterly enamored with the power of relatively high fidelity 3D, and built the whole game around what was newly possible. The Mansion the game takes place in is like a little three dimensional dollhouse. The whole thing is fully modeled to scale, and every object inside it is detailed and reacts to your possible inputs. And your options for inputs are no longer jumping and punching. The game is about a vacuum cleaner, so your suck and you blow. Because that's now possible, and it hasn't been done before. And the ghost catching machines from Ghostbusters look a bit like vacuums. So there's your premise. The game is about three dimensional looking and feeling objects, and projecting force in three dimensional space. In addition to your vacuum you also have a torch, which projects a beam. Much of the game also reacts to this. I genuinely don't understand the fuss over RTX when we were doing this in 2001. This game uses light more interestingly than Remedy's Control (2019). Yeah. Who remembers control? Who even remembers RTX?





I didn't take any screenshots of my own so here's a couple pulled from Google. It's a very pretty game. Luigi looks more three dimensional than modern game characters. The relatively low three dimensional fidelity makes him look like a solid doll rather than a weightless render. A man in call of duty looks weightless. Luigi looks like he'd fall with a thud if knocked over.

Last thing I want to say. I don't think I have screenshots or images of it, but this game might be the only one I've ever seen to make novel use of fabrics. Luigi's vacuum can catch tablecloths, sheets, curtains, etc, with predictable effects. It's another thing they had the power to do now, so they did it. It comes up in a few novel ways over the course of the game. Since this game I've only seen fabric render used to create retarded weightless flappy clothing effects which look horrible and are in nearly every game now. It looks horrible in every game it's in, and someone I know actually told me its name, just I forgot. It's very noticeable in From games, but to their credit, they have also used it creatively at times. Bloodborne's Blood Starved Beast comes to mind, a creature obscured and rendered bizarre looking by the shreds of material clinging to its distorted body.

Luigi's Mansion is about three hours long and is trying to be new and exciting for that whole time. And its ideas are so ingenious and out there that it still is. I had a great time.

[Svevlad]

Currently I'm playing Hitman 3's new "Freelancer mode."

Now, the new trilogy is pretty good - I always liked Hitman, and though some say the current iteration is too "dumbed down" (all of it can be switched off) and "repetitive" (the game isn't exactly one where the basic gameplay loop can be changed without ruining it, see: Absolution), it is a pretty good game.

Now Freelancer is, in a way, a "return" to older Hitman games. You have a map, you have NPCs and targets, and nothing else. No "mission stories," no hints and "intel," no guardrails at all. This makes for a somewhat challenging experience, particularly if one seeks to do the optional objectives, as the necessary equipment might not be immediately available, or the target themselves will be positioned so that it's extremely hard (impossible, even) to accomplish it.

But this is where issues and quirks come in: as the game mode is a very high-risk one - failure results in the entire campaign being reset, one needs to be very careful, and nothing unexpected should occur. With IOI, this becomes a challenge: random crashes w/ still no official word on them at all force you to start over a level, due to the fact that there is no saving or loading. Occasionally, NPCs will have X-ray vision, and raise holy hell because you knocked someone up on the other side of the map and dragged them. Or, you hide somewhere and all NPCs freeze in place, and when you get out they all magically become aware of your exact location - resulting in great frustration.

On the other hand, the reward system, with both monetary rewards, equipment, and visuals involving the new safehouse is very satisfying, motivating, and well rounded. I recommend!

[anthony]

Currently I'm playing Hitman 3's new "Freelancer mode."

Now, the new trilogy is pretty good - I always liked Hitman, and though some say the current iteration is too "dumbed down" (all of it can be switched off) and "repetitive" (the game isn't exactly one where the basic gameplay loop can be changed without ruining it, see: Absolution), it is a pretty good game.

Now Freelancer is, in a way, a "return" to older Hitman games. You have a map, you have NPCs and targets, and nothing else. No "mission stories," no hints and "intel," no guardrails at all. This makes for a somewhat challenging experience, particularly if one seeks to do the optional objectives, as the necessary equipment might not be immediately available, or the target themselves will be positioned so that it's extremely hard (impossible, even) to accomplish it.

But this is where issues and quirks come in: as the game mode is a very high-risk one - failure results in the entire campaign being reset, one needs to be very careful, and nothing unexpected should occur. With IOI, this becomes a challenge: random crashes w/ still no official word on them at all force you to start over a level, due to the fact that there is no saving or loading. Occasionally, NPCs will have X-ray vision, and raise holy hell because you knocked someone up on the other side of the map and dragged them. Or, you hide somewhere and all NPCs freeze in place, and when you get out they all magically become aware of your exact location - resulting in great frustration.

On the other hand, the reward system, with both monetary rewards, equipment, and visuals involving the new safehouse is very satisfying, motivating, and well rounded. I recommend!

I dislike how mechanical people are when they talk about Hitman now. Hitman to me was always an evil James Bond game. It's about going to cool exotic places, looking cool, and doing sleek, dangerous stuff. I think the people making them still get this to some extent, lots of effort going into exotic locales, clothing, fancy guns, but what's it all for if people just want to talk about gameplay loops and weapon balance? I started with Hitman 2: Silent Assassin. That game barely works on several levels. I also enjoyed it the most of all of these game. Despite the lower tech and simplicity it feels far more ambitious. They're trying to make a stronger impression with each location. Listen to how much personality each part of the soundtrack has, it's incredible.







Freelancer mode sounds like it's getting in touch with a lot of the right ideas. One of my favourite things in Hitman 2 was that every weapon you collected over the course of the game would physically be put up on display in your little armoury you'd return to between levels, and it'd be the physical object. You could take it off the wall, grab its ammunition, and start firing it at things. It's about luxury. Appreciation of fine things.

I played the first of the new Hitman games, think I have it on Steam. I had an okay time, but for all of the craft and polish I couldn't quite get enthusiastic. Maybe I wasn't in the right mood. But a lot of it felt off. Things I liked, the graphic design on the menus, really nice stuff. And the high luxury and exoticism of a lot of the environments. Rich European people places. What I didn't like, American accents everywhere, and a lack of an appropriate sense of evil or weight to the world. Even though it's a game with a touch of a moral edge I think Hitman 2 actually did this the best. Contracts felt cool as hell but basically had no narrative and is just a mood piece, and Blood Money is kind of retarded. Feels like an American edgy comic book.

It's a very subtle and hard to explain thing, but some games feel violent, dark, and evil, and some don't. And when most people try to talk about this they get caught up in accidentals. Grand Theft Auto is not very evil or violent. Killer7 is extremely evil and violent. Hitman 2 and Contracts are evil and violent. The new HITMAN games I think aren't.

I don't get the impression that the new Hitman games emerge from a vision of the world in which violence is an organic part. It's a simplified cartoon reality in which violence is a kind of unnecessary nonsense act which sometimes happens. The real and potentially very unpleasant human dynamics that lead to these things happening feel conspicuously absent, not just from these, but most ostensibly violent video games.

[Illustrious]

I dislike how mechanical people are when they talk about Hitman now. Hitman to me was always an evil James Bond game. It's about going to cool exotic places, looking cool, and doing sleek, dangerous stuff.

For what it's worth, the same developer is now in charge of making the next Bond game.

[anthony]

I dislike how mechanical people are when they talk about Hitman now. Hitman to me was always an evil James Bond game. It's about going to cool exotic places, looking cool, and doing sleek, dangerous stuff.

For what it's worth, the same developer is now in charge of making the next Bond game.

I saw that. Very mixed feelings on that considering the longhoused state of James Bond and the inconsistent track record of Hitman. I guess we wait and see.

Also somehow your quote got very broken.

[Svevlad]

Currently I'm playing Hitman 3's new "Freelancer mode."

Now, the new trilogy is pretty good - I always liked Hitman, and though some say the current iteration is too "dumbed down" (all of it can be switched off) and "repetitive" (the game isn't exactly one where the basic gameplay loop can be changed without ruining it, see: Absolution), it is a pretty good game.

Now Freelancer is, in a way, a "return" to older Hitman games. You have a map, you have NPCs and targets, and nothing else. No "mission stories," no hints and "intel," no guardrails at all. This makes for a somewhat challenging experience, particularly if one seeks to do the optional objectives, as the necessary equipment might not be immediately available, or the target themselves will be positioned so that it's extremely hard (impossible, even) to accomplish it.

But this is where issues and quirks come in: as the game mode is a very high-risk one - failure results in the entire campaign being reset, one needs to be very careful, and nothing unexpected should occur. With IOI, this becomes a challenge: random crashes w/ still no official word on them at all force you to start over a level, due to the fact that there is no saving or loading. Occasionally, NPCs will have X-ray vision, and raise holy hell because you knocked someone up on the other side of the map and dragged them. Or, you hide somewhere and all NPCs freeze in place, and when you get out they all magically become aware of your exact location - resulting in great frustration.

On the other hand, the reward system, with both monetary rewards, equipment, and visuals involving the new safehouse is very satisfying, motivating, and well rounded. I recommend!

I dislike how mechanical people are when they talk about Hitman now. Hitman to me was always an evil James Bond game. It's about going to cool exotic places, looking cool, and doing sleek, dangerous stuff. I think the people making them still get this to some extent, lots of effort going into exotic locales, clothing, fancy guns, but what's it all for if people just want to talk about gameplay loops and weapon balance? I started with Hitman 2: Silent Assassin. That game barely works on several levels. I also enjoyed it the most of all of these game. Despite the lower tech and simplicity it feels far more ambitious. They're trying to make a stronger impression with each location. Listen to how much personality each part of the soundtrack has, it's incredible.







Freelancer mode sounds like it's getting in touch with a lot of the right ideas. One of my favourite things in Hitman 2 was that every weapon you collected over the course of the game would physically be put up on display in your little armoury you'd return to between levels, and it'd be the physical object. You could take it off the wall, grab its ammunition, and start firing it at things. It's about luxury. Appreciation of fine things.

I played the first of the new Hitman games, think I have it on Steam. I had an okay time, but for all of the craft and polish I couldn't quite get enthusiastic. Maybe I wasn't in the right mood. But a lot of it felt off. Things I liked, the graphic design on the menus, really nice stuff. And the high luxury and exoticism of a lot of the environments. Rich European people places. What I didn't like, American accents everywhere, and a lack of an appropriate sense of evil or weight to the world. Even though it's a game with a touch of a moral edge I think Hitman 2 actually did this the best. Contracts felt cool as hell but basically had no narrative and is just a mood piece, and Blood Money is kind of retarded. Feels like an American edgy comic book.

It's a very subtle and hard to explain thing, but some games feel violent, dark, and evil, and some don't. And when most people try to talk about this they get caught up in accidentals. Grand Theft Auto is not very evil or violent. Killer7 is extremely evil and violent. Hitman 2 and Contracts are evil and violent. The new HITMAN games I think aren't.

I don't get the impression that the new Hitman games emerge from a vision of the world in which violence is an organic part. It's a simplified cartoon reality in which violence is a kind of unnecessary nonsense act which sometimes happens. The real and potentially very unpleasant human dynamics that lead to these things happening feel conspicuously absent, not just from these, but most ostensibly violent video games.

Yeah, Silent Assassin was my first, too. Great soundtrack, the best in the franchise in my opinion. It's a very "cool stuff in cool places" game, with an interesting, Bond-style story, but with at the same time without the chic and flair, and more sneaking around, being suspicious, and a healthy dose of grit applied, yet one that goes into Norwoodic territory.

The World of Assassination trilogy is too *clean.* There's a distinct sterility - possibly due to the American accents everywhere but India (of fuckin' course). For a game where you hit people over with a wrench to get them out of the way it feels unnecessarily clinical and "distant." The game itself, from this, I guess audiovisual perspective, peaked in 2 already for me - Contracts became a tad too gritty and gloomy, Blood Money went a tad too far into the clean and sleek. Absolution shat the bed by going so far up it's own ass for the gritty hard-boiled story it just reeked of shit. Codename 47, the very first, was just weird, obviously a mere *prototype* both visually and mechanically.

As much as remakes are disliked, I think the earlier games would benefit from a modernization. More interaction and less jank - and an opportunity for the devs (at this point probably a lot of new blood) to get the feel of a Hitman game right. Also - get Jesper Kyd to work the soundtracks again.

[anthony]

Yeah, Silent Assassin was my first, too. Great soundtrack, the best in the franchise in my opinion. It's a very "cool stuff in cool places" game, with an interesting, Bond-style story, but with at the same time without the chic and flair, and more sneaking around, being suspicious, and a healthy dose of grit applied, yet one that goes into Norwoodic territory.

The World of Assassination trilogy is too *clean.* There's a distinct sterility - possibly due to the American accents everywhere but India (of fuckin' course). For a game where you hit people over with a wrench to get them out of the way it feels unnecessarily clinical and "distant." The game itself, from this, I guess audiovisual perspective, peaked in 2 already for me - Contracts became a tad too gritty and gloomy, Blood Money went a tad too far into the clean and sleek. Absolution shat the bed by going so far up it's own ass for the gritty hard-boiled story it just reeked of shit. Codename 47, the very first, was just weird, obviously a mere *prototype* both visually and mechanically.

As much as remakes are disliked, I think the earlier games would benefit from a modernization. More interaction and less jank - and an opportunity for the devs (at this point probably a lot of new blood) to get the feel of a Hitman game right. Also - get Jesper Kyd to work the soundtracks again.

First, what do you mean by "goes into norwoodic territory" with Silent Assassin?

Second, Why would you want remakes of games we already have? They exist. I can play them right now. They aren't perfect, but why are they worth perfecting? And of course remakes always fail to do that anyway, because anybody who would want to do such a thing won't be able to. We could perfect what they aspired to be by doing something more or less entirely new. Doesn't that make more sense? Are you particularly attached to any part of these things to the point you desperately want to see them again, but also won't just go back to play them as they are?

[kirukuni]

Been playing Kowloon Highschool Chronicle while on pain meds. It's a 2004 japanese dungeon crawler that did very poorly financially, but inexplicably got a western translation funded by the creators of guilty gear, purely because they really like it. This gives a very good idea of what to expect from it. God I fucking love Japanese westaboos.



Structurally, it alternates between visual novel segments and dungeon crawls. These are weakly linked by tying a handful of minor bonuses underground to your relationships with the autists aboveground, so it's basically persona but fun and interesting. It has multiple characters who aren't tiresome, which is very rare for this kind of game. 




Most dialogue options consist of choosing one of eight moods to express from the autistic japanese cat-person equivalent of a bioware dialogue wheel. Most extreme emotions are chosen by holding the button down for longer. I love it.



The gameplay elements are fun and lack any tiresome top-down design. There are a lot of cute ways to one-shot bosses or do weird minor exploits because the game is meant to be an experience, and the devs were just making things happen. There's a boss who's extremely weak to grenades because he's a giant pot. The devs' thought didn't go beyond the object level on matters like that. Player statistics are similarly object-level, direct, and undesigned. There aren't 'builds' so much as strategies. When you look at this shit, you aren't engaging with mechanics described by ChatGPT.



Combat takes place on the same grid as exploration, and most weapons function like the weapons in a light-gun shooter. You have to physically move your character to be able to see and shoot enemies, unless you have some weird magic item you found in a hidden room, in which case who knows what it does. Most areas have fairly intricate layouts to play with this.

it also has an extremely cute psuedo-pc-98 minigame that I recommend playing for a little bit. Weirdly, it has higher quality art than the actual game.

[anthony]

Been playing Kowloon Highschool Chronicle while on pain meds. It's a 2004 japanese dungeon crawler that did very poorly financially, but inexplicably got a western translation funded by the creators of guilty gear, purely because they really like it. This gives a very good idea of what to expect from it. God I fucking love Japanese westaboos.

Fascinating. I don't know Japanese PC gaming anywhere near as well as I'd like to. It really looks like a nearly ideal approach to the possibilities of the medium to me.

Screw it, I was just writing about this on 4chan. Let me grab my own post.

You could accuse me of being a multimedia minimalist and I would agree. I believe that we currently have an out of control problem of overproducing media for relatively limited visions. I'm currently reading Umineko and am blown away by how much it accomplishes with such simple elements.

VNs and Japanese PC games have been in a great spot to experiment as art because there was so little built up in the way of audience expectations and conventional forms. The worst things which emerged were reading lengths (longer is value) and sex scenes (some people just won't buy if they aren't advertised), but these ultimately didn't do too much harm because words and a few pictures of nudity are cheap and don't weigh heavily upon the rest of the thing. A couple of simple obligations out of the way and you then pretty much have a blank slate as a multimedia artist. You can look at all of the possibilities of a computer and ask yourself "what can I do with this?"

It's no chance thing that the man who has historically made the most novel and striking use of console technology and conventions emerged from this field. That man is Hideo Kojima and I will fight you over this if you disagree. He took the unbound multimedia sensibilities into a bigger market and rather than allowing the new conventions, expectations, and sensibilities to bind and restrict him, he made it his business to play with them, use them, incorporate, and break them at his creative pleasure. At no point did "what can I do with this?" become "what do I have to do with this?"

This thing as described by you really sounds like it's doing everything fundamentally right. Like they start blank and incorporate new media forms and tools as they want to do more things.

[Sanae]

Anyone been playing Rance IX recently? The english Mangagamer translation just came out recently and I've been having a lot of fun. Story's top notch, gameplay is decent and even the ero content is extremely good. Can't wait to continue after work. Feels bad that we're probably not getting Rance X for like another decade but it'll be an excuse to learn Japanese or knock some other eroge off my backlog.

Ever since I got into eroge thanks to Sengoku Rance (one of the best games ever made for the record) I've been having much fun playing them. Despite the whole selling point supposedly being lewd contents I find that the big draw for me is the consistently great gameplay and story I find in them. Alicesoft especially keeps knocking it out of the park. A shame many of their titles are untranslated (been really wanting to play Daiakuji and Daiteikoku because they look interesting, and Daibanchou keeps having resolution conniption fits in WINE).

Been playing Kowloon Highschool Chronicle while on pain meds. It's a 2004 japanese dungeon crawler that did very poorly financially, but inexplicably got a western translation funded by the creators of guilty gear, purely because they really like it. This gives a very good idea of what to expect from it. God I fucking love Japanese westaboos.



Structurally, it alternates between visual novel segments and dungeon crawls. These are weakly linked by tying a handful of minor bonuses underground to your relationships with the autists aboveground, so it's basically persona but fun and interesting. It has multiple characters who aren't tiresome, which is very rare for this kind of game. 
...

Extremely based taste, Kowloon Highschool Chronicle is excellent

[Guest]

Fighting games are spastic dopamine contests that demand very little by way of spacial reasoning, group coordination, anticipation of the enemy position, or high-level strategy.

You couldn't try and tailor a more suitable genre for the twitchy, reflexive nature of the greudengeist.

Fighting games have all of those things - what are you talking about?