General Games Discussion

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:Didn't find it cringe tbh.

Depends on how you look at it. I know my childhood friends would question my masculinity, if they saw me playing it

Couple of announcements.

Geralt is in Soul Calibur lol.

A legendary warrior enters the stage of history. White Wolf, Butcher of Blaviken, the Witcher: he bears many names, but you know him best as Geralt of Rivia. Wield his steel and silver swords on the stage of Kaer Morhen, and use his signs wisely to take down all who defy you. pic.twitter.com/So2fkHOzT2

— SOULCALIBUR (@soulcalibur) March 15, 2018

Also new Tomb Raider announcement

Experience Lara Croft’s defining moment as she becomes the Tomb Raider. Shadow of the Tomb Raider will be revealed April 27th. Available on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC on September 14th, 2018. pic.twitter.com/jujMf47kJH

— Tomb Raider (@tombraider) March 15, 2018

Hyped tbh, both of the new Tomb Raider's are really good games imo.

I honestly haven't played Soul Calibur since the 2nd one and in the local Arcade. Was a beast at it though. Only just downloaded the Rise of the Tomb Raider, I'm genuinely about 4 years behind in gaming tbh.

#100

Game: Bug!.
Year: 1995.
Genre: Platformer.
Publisher: Sega.
Developer: Realtime Associates.



First things first, I am changing my rating system to a simpler 10 point system. Games that get above a 7 I fully recommend, and those that get below that are mostly a waste of time. That leaves the score of 7 to depend on your taste

Sega obviously rushed the release of the Saturn. Hearing about Sony's upcoming console, they wanted to be first in the scene to try and imitate their early console advantage of the 16bit era. Maybe that is why they didn't have their big guns ready at the start. Specially missing was their newly iconic mascot Sonic the Hedgehog.

Which is why Bug, the titular character of Bug!, was actually conceived and developed as a possible mascot for the Saturn. Both the character and the game were made to represent the capabilities of the new console. That was a big mistake.

Chucking the entire thing into the ocean would have been a better demonstration.

"Local bug scored Hollywood movie role"

Bug is an obnoxious mascot character in an obnoxious game with an obnoxious premise.

There is a reason humans have a natural aversion to bugs. In trying to overcome that aversion, media like Pixar's Bug's Life try to add some charisma to make us care. Realtime Associate's version of that attempt is making Bug the unlikely movie star of a new Hollywood movie, with the game being that movie.

Maybe, this was a good premise. However, the directors forgot to imbue their creations with any charisma. Bug is a poorly designed insect wrecking havoc, very slow havoc, in a poorly designed world. At best, these characters remind us of C level 90's kids shows. However, they mesh poorly together, and in an ugly world make for a terrible design.

Then was the decision to add some voice acting clips.

Here is where the entire thing falls apart, as Bug's lines cement the obnoxious nature of the game. A hundred times in each level, he would scream inane lines in the most nasal voice imaginable. Kiss these antenna's goodbye, kiss these antennas goodbye, kissss theeesee antennaaaaas goooodbyeeee. Whatever charm the design had completely collapses once Bug sounds his lines (without opening his mouth).

So, the game miserably fails as a mascot platformer from the get-go, because the mascot himself is completely unlikable. The closest I can compare the game' style with is Earthworm Jim. Both have an unlikely creature as a mascot and actually use similar style and attempts at humor. However, Earthworm Jim manages to craft an entire charming universe where Bug fumbles at the first spoken word.

"Kiss these antennas goodbye"

Maybe, just maybe, if the gameplay was good then the obnoxious shell it is in can be forgiven.

First, credit must be given to the game's technical accomplishments in the beginning of the 5th generation. Bug! is nearly a 3D platformer. I say nearly because there is no true 3D movement. Instead, Bug goes into the traditional 2D axis, but can also go into the screen. Excepet, he can only move in a straight line in whichever axis he engages with at the moment.

This translates to a psuedo-3D platformer where there is an additional axis into and out of the screen.

Too bad the whole thing is slow, unresponsive, and downright boring.

Split into 6 zones, each with three levels and a boss, the game actually has a good amount of content. Bug walks, jumps over enemies, and can gain a spitting powerup starting from the 3rd zone. He also gets access to a timed super mode and a limited zapping powerup. There are also some bonus mini-games you access by exchanging coins with a zany spider (the only good thing about the game).

It is actually in one of these mini-games where the dullness of the game becomes extremely apparent. In a Sonic cameo, yo are tasked with racing the blue blur and getting the trophies in the way. While Bug saunters forward with his slow animation, Sonic is in the background with his traditional moving fast animation. Except, he is moving as if running in molasses, as if the entire game is played from a slow motion camera.

With its labyrinthine levels, with basic and boring platforming, a variety of technical blemishes, the game is a chore to play.

"Warning! Kamikaze cicadas"

One highlight could have been the bosses. Honestly, they are well-designed, and the fights against them can be exciting. Yet, there is something fundamentally wrong here.

With its unresponsive mechanics, wonky hitboxes, and general looseness, the game is usually generous with health items. Except against bosses, where they can one-hit kill you and have a ton of health point.

The same fight with a third of its length is exciting and varied. When something good is tripled, it does not necessarily retain its quality. When you consider that the original game did not have a save system (not even passwords), then it becomes doubly insulting that Realtime Associates put in such artificial difficulty barriers between zones.

"And so the story ends"

As an early game with 3D sprites and environment, Bug! can be excused in the graphical depertment. In actuality, apart from the poor artistic design, the game's sprites are not that terrible. The levels themselves, floating in space with a 2D background in the fr horizon, are not insulting, just boring.

The CGI clips are early CGI, with all the blemishes expected, but there is something historical to appreciate here.

That is clearly what the first reviewers of this game thought. Damn, these are working 3D graphics, and the whole thing can be excused.

What can never be excused though is the game's poor "musical" score. Clearly influenced by jazz, the game's soundtrack attempt to have that sweet jazzy beats. It fails. Which is not weird considering the game's entire sound design fails. From the nasal sound bites to the terrible sound effects.

Why then would the soundtrack be any good?

In Conclusion:

I like Stephen Spielberg movies. Great director.

Seeing the game and the character in the Consumer Electronics Show back in 1995, Spielberg declare: "This is the character! This is the character that is going to do it for Saturn". Between this quote and the E.T. travesty that sunk Atari, I think Spielberg should be kept away from any gaming related thing.

Due to its technical achievement, Bug! was actually well-received back in the day by critics. However, it was mostly ignore by fans, and its superior (not very difficult to do) sequel was heabily blasted.

Bug! didn't do it for Saturn, didn't do it for himself, and surely didn't do it for me.

Final: 3/10

Pros:

• It is a technical achievement at the time.

Cons:

• Terrible character.
  
• Boring platforming.
  
• Long labyrinthine levels.
  
• Unbalanced bosses.
  
• Bad music and sound.
  
• Kiss these antennas goodbye

"Tips"
1- Don't play the game.
2- If you are going to play it, try and finish it quickly, no need to "explore" the boring levels.
3- Jump while using the spit attack in order to move and shoot (Bug stops to spit otherwise).
4- Go to the bonus stages to get some lives.
5- Direct your jump after you hit the jump button, this is not like normal better platformers.


"Next Game"

I expected this and so I am not surprised. I knew I would start my review series with a bad game, and Bug! is a bad game. Maybe a historically important one, but a bad game nonetheless. Its place in this review series is then s something to compare against, a bottom of the pit, because I do not expect a list of the top 100 Saturn games to have a game that is worse than this.

Next game in the list, at #97 is Gex, another character envisioned as a Mascot to compete with Mario and Sonic. Originally conceived as a a mascot for the unfortunate 3DO console, it was then ported to the Saturn and PS1. The Saturn is generally considered as the better version.

Stay Tuned

https://streamable.com/ex9zd

new GOW footage, I think it'll be good but looks way different from the previous games, got a feeling some of the hardcore fans won't enjoy it

I was worried at the beginning, i think that's early in the game or a training segment they set up for previews to learn the game and wouldn't be surprised if it's not even in the released game.

But the latter half of the video was really good IMO, combos were much better and it seems to flow faster.

Really liked these gifs.

Although everything in this video seemed tutorial-tastic.

Wouldn't usually post other people's posts from other forums.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/god-of-war-new-exclusive-gameplay-footage.30103/page-32#post-5681829

But this is really good IMO, posts like these that breakdown things bit by bit really show how much potential depth there could be.

Really excited by the potential once you upgrade your moveset as pointed out it's a 60 second clip with seems very tutorial so i expect it to expand much further than what's being shown here.

Looks pretty cool. Thinking about pre-ordering.


Got Dishonored 2. Going to rush the DLC from Dishonored 1 and start 2 tomorrow.

too lazy for Ni No Kuni, cba for 100 hr game

Fary Cry 5 > God of War > Yakuza 6

my new list, Far Cry 5 i'm still not 100% on though, depends how bored I am come release

Firenze wrote:too lazy for Ni No Kuni, cba for 100 hr game

Fary Cry 5 > God of War > Yakuza 6

my new list, Far Cry 5 i'm still not 100% on though, depends how bored I am come release

There was a big uproar recently about Ni No Kuni apparently being shorter than that, more like 30 hours long is what I read.

I'm personally pleased to read that tbh, more in the mood for 20-40 hr games than 100+ personally atm (unless they are absolutely exceptional).

They've announced Yakuza 2 remake for August.

2018 is filling out nicely with all these sudden announcements, hopefully E3 has more 2018 releases

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:They've announced Yakuza 2 remake for August.

2018 is filling out nicely with all these sudden announcements, hopefully E3 has more 2018 releases

Nice, I'll definitely be getting that. I've been reading a few minor, negative things about Yakuza 6 recently. Like, the side missions being among the worst in the series. I'm still looking forward to playing it, though. Did you ever get around to playing Yakuza: Kiwami, Mole?

Nah It came right after Yakuza 0 so I was a bit burnt out tbh.

I'll get to it eventually.

Yeah, i hear ya. I felt a bit burnt out, as well. It didn't help that I've played the game before. It's not as good as Yakuza 0, but it's a very good game nonetheless. I don't remember if I ever played Yakuza 2, so I'm hoping august isn't packed full of other interesting title releases.

Apparently the Dev of GOW are going to show 20-25 minutes of gameplay tomorrow for those who might be unsure about it.

I'll probably avoid it as I'm day 1, also coincidently it's also the date the embargo drops for all the press previews so we'll be getting a lot of opinions from the usual places as well.

Gave it 9.5, I might buy it as well lmao.

Yakuza 6's thematic consistency is impressive, though the game scarcely gives women the space to be more than props or damsels or to speak up when they're shamed for having lives outside the constraints of possessive men. The game wants to be about parents in general, but in a series steeped in the kind of male bravado where expensive suits are cast off in one swift motion to reveal extravagant back tattoos, it's mostly just about fathers.

Lowest review for the game. The guy criticizes patriarchy in a game based on patriarchal Japan

I will be getting Ni No Kuni 2.

Damn Ni No Kuni looks great.

Couldn't finish the first one cause my game got stolen at the time. This one looks even better. This and GoW for me.

Couldn't help but notice that "Slant Magazine" has the lowest rated reviews for multiple games on Metacritic. Yakuza 6 and Ni No Kuni 2 being two of them, and they claimed that Yakuza 6 was too sexist

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWvRa4D98Zg

https://www.dualshockers.com/cyberpunk-2077-detils/

Basically confirms it will be at E3

I've only played Ni No Kuni 2 for a few minutes, but I can already tell that the combat is a lot more fun than it was in the first game. Hopefully, it doesn't get stale and repetitive after a while, like it did in the first game.

few days until Far Cry 5



the open world actually looks nice, probably helps I haven't played a Far Cry properly since 3 which was like 2012

Tempting

Firenze wrote:few days until Far Cry 5



the open world actually looks nice, probably helps I haven't played a Far Cry properly since 3 which was like 2012

Tempting

After finishing Assassins Creed DLC I'm desperate for something new to play, to the point if it was out I'd spend the 50 quid on the PSN store lmao.

Got the feeling I'm going to do something stupid today.

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:

Firenze wrote:few days until Far Cry 5



the open world actually looks nice, probably helps I haven't played a Far Cry properly since 3 which was like 2012

Tempting

After finishing Assassins Creed DLC I'm desperate for something new to play, to the point if it was out I'd spend the 50 quid on the PSN store lmao.

Got the feeling I'm going to do something stupid today.

Finish up Nier ffs