General Games Discussion

10/10

image says 9.5

???

He means there is no framerate issue on PC so the negative wont be there

doubt fromsoft will fix it, but someone will, a fan literally fixed dark souls 1 PC release, it was disgusting performance wise on release lol, almost every used this guys fix

heard that PS4 performance was pretty shoddy pre-release but I honestly do not remember any noticeable framerate drops

camera during some boss fights is annoying though

After fallout 4, I doubt i will ever notice frame rate issue on any game.


Heard about DS1. Mate told me to download a skin pack to make it look better.

just realised what he was getting at with that picture (insanely tired), phritz with that consistency ffs

I've heard from people with PC review copies of DS3 say the performance was really bad, worse than console.

RealGunner wrote:After fallout 4, I doubt i will ever notice frame rate issue on any game.


Heard about DS1. Mate told me to download a skin pack to make it look better.

yeah

think it's called the ENB mod after the youtube guy who makes amazing videos about the series

7 days left ffs

Need a change PSN name feature now imo.

Gears 4 release date announced: Worldwide launch on the 11th of October 2016.

Cover art was also revealed

Dat Marcus Fenix statue near the top left of the cover. Our boy is a legend now

MOLE!!!!!! Hurry up and buy an XBO so that we can play together. You know you want to.

Still believe in it being crap tbh

To quote Jibers " It's not canon imo ".

why would it be crap? might get an xbox for it near release but probably not, fan of the series, even liked judgment

Because the majority of the developers that worked on the original 3 are not there anymore and Judgement was crap

Yeah its going to be crap

Uncharted 5 could happen with another developer, director says

Looking forward to playing as an elderly Drake going across zip wires with his zimmerframe.

#10

Game: Advance Wars: Dual Strike.
Year: 2005.
Genre: Tactical Strategy.
Publisher: Nintendo.
Developer: Intelligent Systems.



First things first, I am changing my rating system to better rate different genres according to their own rules. It will still be from 50 quality points, but every title will start from 25 and earn/lose points according to criteria important to the titles and genres themselves.

The Advance Wars series is the second strategy focused series made by the fine folks at Intelligent Systems, who are more famous for making the Fire Emblem games. Unlike Fire Emblem, Advance Wars actually focuses more on strategy and has little RPG elements. Also, it takes place in an "Advanced" age, with tanks and air crafts ruling the battlefield.

By all accounts, this is one of the most overlooked Nintendo franchises, especially since it is so critically lauded. And possibly reflects that more than Dual Strike on the DS, which despite being one of the best games you could own on the system, never managed to sell more than half a million copies.

"Determined to free their homeland, they launched a counter strike"

In regards to its plot, Dual Strike doesn't pretend to deliver anything more than a constant narrative push for more battles, and that's only in the main campaign. The Black Hole army have risen again, and they are planning to invade Omega Land. Yet, their purpose is probably not only to conquer it, but also to suck all energy out of it as they turn it into arid deserts.

Standing against them are the allied forces, lead by the unlikely duo of Jake and Rachel (sister of Nell from another AW game). Along with those two, you are supported by a colorful cast of characters, 4 of which you battle in a training match to convince them of your leadership (because of course you must do that).

Both in dialogue and exposition, the game takes a minimal approach, only using them when you pick a stage on the game's map, and at the beginning of battles. It doesn't mean that dialogue is not fun, or that the plot is boring, its just adequate window dressing for the actual gameplay.

Thankfully, its actually good window dressing, as the characters in-game are interesting in their one dimensional styles, including the bad guys. This is just a bunch of fan cartoon characters that are tell you everything you need from their unique design.

One thing I didn't like is that the bad guys have a noticeably small cast. It should have been at least double the size, as it gets boring fighting the same peons again and again.

Basic Story: -3
Good Colorful Characters: +4
Limited Enemy Characters: -2

"Conserving energy for current task. Splitting you like an atom"

I came in to Dual Strike expecting a campaign of roughly 20+ hours, with perhaps varying difficulties to go through. I sure did not expect the deluge of content that game has to offer. Especially considering the variety of what's on offer.

Simply put, you can play this game for a year and you probably won't finish everything there is in it. Other than the campaign, there is probably a hundred battle maps, each which can be played in various difficulties.

Other than the traditional battles, there is also survival mode, where you go through back to back battles with significant constraints attached. Then there is Combat mode, which is a real-time game, that is more like a DS specific mini-game rather than a full fledged option.

Finally, there is actually multiplayer, and while it could be difficult finding friends to play against (the Wi-Fi service is dead now), playing a Fog of War map against a human opponent is the best multiplayer strategy experience I ever had.

What makes this avalanche of content work however is not its quantity, nor is it really its quality. Just that there is great variety built into the game from the start. Each character (known as CO) has their own strengths and weaknesses that can dramatically change the you approach a level, and each level has its own advantages and disadvantages that you need to think through.

This creates an internal challenge dynamic, where you try and beat your own score by employing an even more advanced strategy. Playing a level with Jake is different than using Javier. Of course, you can use more than one CO at a time (up to four in some levels).

Ton of Content: +5
A Lot of Variety: +5

"Running around without a plan is like painting a fat bright target on your chest"

Supporting the sizable content of the game is an excellent underlying tactical strategy game.

The game is played with three types of units, land, naval, and air based units. Each type has several unit choices, further divided into ranged, direct, and support. While some maps have additional objectives, the main gist of the game is to destroy your opponents units. How you approach that is widely different depending on the map and your COs of choice.

Not all maps support naval combat for instance, and some have weather conditions that sometimes significantly affects gameplay. Rain, snow, and desert storms for example affect movement, range, and fuel usage. However, Fog of War drastically changes how you approach the game. With it enabled, you will need to employ scouts to uncover enemy locations, and generally play differently that you usually would.

Other than that, there are maps that utilize an army in both screens (meaning a CO would fight in each screen). Maps that have more than two armies fighting in the same screen, and others that simply use different rules.

Each CO has a special ability that fills up as you fight. These abilities significantly changes the battle. For instance, one ability actually summons rain and fog of war for a turn, while another raises the range of all ranged units. When playing with two COs, you can fill up two special bars and use a Dual Strike, which allows you to play TWO turns in a row.

Generally, the campaign has more elaborate set-ups than the battle maps outside of it, with it forcing you to use every trick in the book. By the end of the campaign, I used every unit type, and had to adjust my tactics more than once, and that's on the normal difficulty.

After finishing the game, you might want to tackle it on harder difficulties again, or simply to play around in the war room. As you use your COs, they rank up, giving them access to skills that ups their stats. Some difficulty levels do not allow you to used those skills though.

To win the most battles, especially in higher difficulties, its not enough to spam units against the computer and brute force your way through them. It requires actual thought behind it, as you identify key locations and quickly move to secure them.

Each battle can be won in several ways, depending on the COs you use. However, I would say that all battles are either won or lost in the first 10 days (turns). Unfortunately, even in some of those battles that you will surely win, the match can drag on for a while. This doesn't happen in the campaign, and theoretically you could avoid that with a better plan and some luck. Yet, it happens often in the War Room that makes some maps nearly excruciatingly boring on higher difficulties.

I cannot say that I even enjoy fighting against Sensei.

Excellent Strategic System: +5
Challenge and Accessibility: +5
Some Battles Can Seriously Drag: -2

"Out guns will sound a requiem for the allied troops"

Clearly, Dual Strike is a great fit to the DS. As a tactical strategy game, it benefits greatly from the dual screens and touch input, meaning that relevant information and unit placement are easily shown on both screens. Its clean, and because of the colorful sprites the series is known for, its really pretty.

Units are shown by appropriate sprites that tell you at a glance what each unit is. When units face off in battle, the top screen shows an animated battle between the two, highlighting the unique cartoonish design of the sprites. That quick cut scene can be disabled to speed up gameplay, but it doesn't actually take any time.

Continuing with the game's overall style, each CO's art is clear and distinct. Additionally, you can change the color pallet for each office if you so choose. Unfortunately, while the COs portraits and overall design is great, they are a little bit low resolution. Also, they do not have much facial expressions, which is not that big of a problem considering the limited dialogue of the game

Musically, the game's soundtrack is pretty solid if not brilliant. Nearly each CO has a unique track, which means that you control the soundtrack of each stage by whomever officer you use. Some tracks are better than others, but I don't think I hated any.

Unfortunately, due to the limited number of enemy COs in the campaign, it means the enemy phase tracks repeat for a lot of stages. Its a minor blemish, since enemy turns are quite fast, but it could have been better by giving the enemy COs more varied themes.

Colorful Stylistic Graphics: +4
Cool Design: +2
Good Music: +2
Some limitations in Graphics and Music: -2

In Conclusion:

When it was unveiled, the DS was clearly seen to be the potential home of meaty portable tactical strategy games. Dual Strike perfectly showcases that potential by having one of the best games of that genre. Not only on the DS, but in general.

The Advance Wars series might not have had many fans, but those who bought into this game were surely rewarded. Because, for a long time, they were able to enjoy a game that continued to give well past the excellent campaign.

Final: 48/50

"Tips"
1- Take a careful look over the map before commiting your CO choices.
2- When possible, always save for a tag team CO power, because acting twice in a row can drastically change the battle conditions.
3- If you are having trouble in the campaign, you can use the COs you want to use in the War Room and rank them up for skills.
4- When you unlock skills, don't forget to actually equip them.
5- In some maps, going fast and capturing that airport or factory can be the difference between loss and victory.

"Next Game"

Officially, I am now asking for Nintendo to make another Advance Wars game. Dual Strike is without a doubt one of the best games on the DS, and I had a blast playing it. Wish I bought it back then so I would play multiplayer with more people.

Next game to be reviewed is a little known SRPG on the DS, Luminous Arc. Which apparently was successful enough to launch two sequels on the same console.

Stay Tuned

Just wondering, how does everyone sit while gaming? I've always had my TV on a low TV unit so I'm used to sitting on the floor.

More healthy too compared to sitting on a chair.

On my bed

Yeh, I like to sit right in front of the TV so a couch wouldn't work unless it was in the middle of room. Probably the reason why I have -40 vision.

Thinking of getting some form of beanbag to sit on. My feet are all messed up from sitting on them all the time.

I really couldn't do that

Need something comfortable to sit on

A chair close to the tv (near sighted lmao gaming since 4 )

MUST sit close to the tv when I game MP

SP I don't mind just laying on the couch

On a sofa 6-8 ft away from the tv

Onyx wrote:Just wondering, how does everyone sit while gaming? I've always had my TV on a low TV unit so I'm used to sitting on the floor.

More healthy too compared to sitting on a chair.

getting deja vu

swear you've asked this question 10 times in the last 2 years

I have a large office corner desk thing, computer and monitor then TV on the other side of the desk, sit in a sturdy office chair

He has asked that before



I have a PC table with ps4, PC and TV all connected together. Gaming chair along with it.