The Backlog Check-in Vol. 251: 10/22/22: Bayonetta 3/Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2/Star Ocean: The Devine Force Edition

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Phaseknox
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Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 251: 10/22/22: Bayonetta 3/Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2/Star Ocean: The Devine Force Edi

Post by Phaseknox »

argyle wrote: Tue Oct 25, 2022 8:58 amWas watching a video talking about how indie developers keep alive game genres that the big devs have abandoned - a pretty interesting watch, I'll link it below for anyone that's interested. At one point he's specifically using Metroidvanias as an example & showing some clip from some different indie games in that genre. One in particular caught my eye, but I didn't know what it was, so I grabbed a screenshot & did a Google image search to discover it was Iconoclasts - a game I've owned (physically no less) and had in my backlog for a while now. Fired it up and was immediately VERY impressed. Looks fantastic and so far plays just as good. I have been especially impressed by the way the game teaches you what you need to know not by using tons of dialog boxes or extended tutorial sections, but by placing simple signs around that show you an image of what it wants you to know (which you can choose to look at or ignore) and then a simple area where that action is required to progress. So more along the lines of how older games taught you to play without treating you like a moron.
I played Iconoclasts back in January and really liked it at first as well, but then the puzzles eventually became too difficult for me to figure out and I stopped playing it out of frustration. I believe that crim stopped playing it for the same reason. I’m curious to see if you will feel the same way or not when you make it further in the game. Here are my impressions from back when I played it:
Phaseknox wrote: Tue Jan 25, 2022 12:54 amI started playing Iconoclasts, and it’s a cute and colorful 2D side scrolling action platformer with some environmental puzzle solving. It plays fast and responsive, and has charm. I plan on sticking with it because it’s fun.
Phaseknox wrote: Tue Jan 25, 2022 5:21 pmI played more Iconoclasts, and I’ve been enjoying it. I guess that it could be considered a Metroidvania, but it’s not just one big interconnected environment. There are different parts of the game that you get to through story progression. It has a decent amount of story, and character interaction. The core gameplay is almost a puzzle platformer, but you fight enemies and bosses as well. The boss battles have been pretty cool so far. It’s been just the right challenge on normal, but there’s an easy setting that I can drop it down to if things get harder than I would like.
Phaseknox wrote: Wed Jan 26, 2022 7:49 pmI quit playing Iconoclasts because it’s primarily a puzzle platformer, and the puzzles became too complex and intricate for me. I don’t have the patience to try and figure out puzzle solutions for long periods of time, that isn’t fun IMO. I like to figure out the occasional clever and creative puzzle in games every so often, but I don’t like the majority of my playtime in a game spent figuring out puzzles.
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isthatallyougot
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Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 251: 10/22/22: Bayonetta 3/Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2/Star Ocean: The Devine Force Edi

Post by isthatallyougot »

Phaseknox wrote: Mon Oct 24, 2022 10:50 pm I started playing DreadOut 2, it’s a direct sequel to DreadOut which I haven’t played because it’s not on PS4. And since it’s a direct sequel, I’m kind of lost when it comes to its story and characters. But I’m still finding it somewhat enjoyable.

It looks like a PS3 game, and plays like a PS2 game which is part of its appeal since I was a fan of PS2 Asian horror games. The game is a third person modern day horror game that’s a mix of Fatal Frame, Silent Hill and Shenmue. It’s basically an adventure game with you walking around and talking to characters in the real world, and entering a dark and twisted nightmare version of it with ghosts and monsters.

It’s a little basic when it comes to gameplay mechanics almost making it seem like an interactive story at times, and it’s also rather linear as well. However, that’s part of why I’m enjoying it because I’m not really in the mood for anything too complex or complicated right now when it comes to gameplay, mechanics and systems. It’s an atmospheric, creepy and somewhat scary horror game that’s fitting for this time of the year.
I've got both of them in my backlog and I was drawn to them because, as you mentioned, they reminded of Fatal Frame. Did you watch a playthrough of the first or read a synopsis before starting up?

And I watched that video argyle. Thanks for sharing. That's part of what I love so much about indie gaming. These devs aren't beholden to money-grubbing publishers, and that freedom allows for them to express their game in the form of a passion, rather than being diluted by predominant money/mass-market concerns where sacrifices to a vision are made at the altar of commerce. Of course, as with all gaming categories, there are good and bad games, but there's so much experimentation and creative fire present in that unfettered space that it's worth giving games a shot just to see if what they're doing is something that is really special (to you). At worst, you're usually treated to something very unique, whether it clicks or not. And bonus points to that youtuber for mentioning Okami (even if in a bit of a tragic sense). (Secretly the best Zelda of all, and one of the greatest games ever made imho.)
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Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 251: 10/22/22: Bayonetta 3/Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2/Star Ocean: The Devine Force Edi

Post by canedaddy »

isthatallyougot wrote: Tue Oct 25, 2022 10:32 am And bonus points to that youtuber for mentioning Okami (even if in a bit of a tragic sense). (Secretly the best Zelda of all, and one of the greatest games ever made imho.)
I can't argue with that.
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Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 251: 10/22/22: Bayonetta 3/Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2/Star Ocean: The Devine Force Edi

Post by argyle »

isthatallyougot wrote: Tue Oct 25, 2022 10:32 amAnd bonus points to that youtuber for mentioning Okami (even if in a bit of a tragic sense). (Secretly the best Zelda of all, and one of the greatest games ever made imho.)
*

*Best 3D Zelda, before Breath of the Wild.
"When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed
if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I
became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the
desire to be very grown up.” ― C.S. Lewis

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Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 251: 10/22/22: Bayonetta 3/Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2/Star Ocean: The Devine Force Edi

Post by isthatallyougot »

argyle wrote: Tue Oct 25, 2022 11:12 am *Best 3D Zelda, before Breath of the Wild.
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Best Zelda period. ;)

But I loved BOTW too, very much so.
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Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 251: 10/22/22: Bayonetta 3/Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2/Star Ocean: The Devine Force Edi

Post by canedaddy »

I quit BOTW about an hour or two into it. I'll take Okami over that thing any day.
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Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 251: 10/22/22: Bayonetta 3/Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2/Star Ocean: The Devine Force Edi

Post by isthatallyougot »

canedaddy wrote: Tue Oct 25, 2022 11:51 am I quit BOTW about an hour or two into it. I'll take Okami over that thing any day.
Well, I guess I'm in between you and argyle. I loved both, but Okami can't be beat for me when it comes to the "Zelda" style game. Heck, there's not a whole lot of games period that I love more than Okami - maybe 15 to 20 or so.

And I adored the garbled "voice" that most everyone seemed to hate. It fit the mythological tone of everything, and actual verbal language would have really detracted from that essence for me.
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Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 251: 10/22/22: Bayonetta 3/Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2/Star Ocean: The Devine Force Edi

Post by argyle »

BotW is amazing, but it's almost a completely different genre than Okami & past 3D Zeldas. It's MUCH more about giving you complete freedom, along with a complex set of physics and letting you just explore. You're given all of the necessary tools to progress in the introductory area, so there's no gated areas or content - you can do anything as soon as you leave that first area. It's just a fantastic experience IMO. But again, comparing it to the others (or Okami) is really apples & oranges.
"When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed
if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I
became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the
desire to be very grown up.” ― C.S. Lewis

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Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 251: 10/22/22: Bayonetta 3/Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2/Star Ocean: The Devine Force Edi

Post by Phaseknox »

isthatallyougot wrote: Tue Oct 25, 2022 10:32 amI've got both of them in my backlog and I was drawn to them because, as you mentioned, they reminded of Fatal Frame. Did you watch a playthrough of the first or read a synopsis before starting up?
I watched a story recap of the first game in the second, but it’s extremely brief and not very well done so it didn’t really give me too much of an understanding of the events of the first so I’m going to skim a video walkthrough of the game.
isthatallyougot wrote: Tue Oct 25, 2022 10:32 amI watched that video argyle. Thanks for sharing. That's part of what I love so much about indie gaming. These devs aren't beholden to money-grubbing publishers, and that freedom allows for them to express their game in the form of a passion, rather than being diluted by predominant money/mass-market concerns where sacrifices to a vision are made at the altar of commerce. Of course, as with all gaming categories, there are good and bad games, but there's so much experimentation and creative fire present in that unfettered space that it's worth giving games a shot just to see if what they're doing is something that is really special (to you). At worst, you're usually treated to something very unique, whether it clicks or not.
I just watched the video as well, and I agree with you. I think that it’s obvious that I’m really into indie games based on the sheer amount of them that I buy and play, they’re what make up the bulk of my PS4 game collection. I really like retro style games since they’re what I grew up on, and it’s nice that they’re still being made in the indie scene.

Big budget AAA games haven’t been appealing to me as much lately, I’m not even all that excited for God of War: Ragnarok which comes out soon. It just looks like more of the same to me, and I didn’t like the first game quite as much as a lot of other people did. Part of that is because I’m just not a big fan of Kratos, or big angry dudes in video games in general.

My desire to play as female protagonists in games has grown even more over the years to the point now where they’re basically all that I want to play as, and AA and indie games often have female protagonists because if we’re being real here they seem to be what appeal to female gamers more than the big AAA stuff. And for good reason, because the big AAA stuff is usually aimed at a predominantly male audience primarily teens and dudebros. That’s why Call of Duty and EA Sports games are the biggest sellers year after year.

That’s where the real money is when it comes to gaming, so companies interested in video games more as a business than as a creative art make games that will appeal to the biggest game buying audience which are dudebros who like testosterone fueled co-op and multiplayer action games, shooters and sports games. Thankfully AA and indie game devs exist to provide games to those of us who prefer more creative, original and unique experiences especially single player ones that don’t cater to one specific audience and/or demographic.
Last edited by Phaseknox on Tue Oct 25, 2022 12:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 251: 10/22/22: Bayonetta 3/Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2/Star Ocean: The Devine Force Edi

Post by canedaddy »

isthatallyougot wrote: Tue Oct 25, 2022 12:05 pm And I adored the garbled "voice" that most everyone seemed to hate. It fit the mythological tone of everything, and actual verbal language would have really detracted from that essence for me.
Ah, Issun. I hated it going in, but by the end the little guy was one of my favorite characters in a game.

argyle wrote: Tue Oct 25, 2022 12:15 pm BotW is amazing, but it's almost a completely different genre than Okami & past 3D Zeldas. It's MUCH more about giving you complete freedom, along with a complex set of physics and letting you just explore. You're given all of the necessary tools to progress in the introductory area, so there's no gated areas or content - you can do anything as soon as you leave that first area. It's just a fantastic experience IMO. But again, comparing it to the others (or Okami) is really apples & oranges.
That is usually my thing, but somehow I felt not even a trace of anything to keep me hanging around. Maybe I'll give it another chance at some point... sometimes you have to be in the right frame of mind.
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