E3 Lounge: Where Dreams are destroyed and Directs are made! Now with Scorpions™ Live!

Sears was dope. Pretty much my entire experience with the PS1 was at sears.

Last second clutch on Ranked ARMS match. Dude/dudette must be so pissed right now lol. I can't tell if ARMS is somewhat unbalanced at times or not. Addictive as much as Splatoon was though.

Funnily enough one of the first games I remember playing aside from The Last Ninja was Yie Ar Kung-Fu on the C64.

For an 8 bit fighter (when compared to others like the ported Street Fighter II or Mortal Kombat series) it was slick even if it didn't look as good.

Speaking of ports, the 1997 Street Fighter II port, though clunky and still somewhat limited was a pretty good demonstration of the Master Systems abilities.

@aigis: yea, it'll be on this coming 23.

Mine was Sega Genesis, with games like Sonic, MK, Road Rush and there was this racing game with a black car, I still don't know its name lol

Sponge is a breed of its own

Nioh

Conan, it's the ninja gaiden block dash. I'm in love.

I remember when I was younger, I got the Sears and Sega logo mixed up.

So as a kid growing up, I thought there were all those Sega stores at the mall or in plazas, and I was always curious to see what they had inside.

@jg4xchamp:

My favorite aspect of the combat is probably how Ki Pulse works, especially once it becomes tied to your dashes. Also how the Ki system works with your various stances, very well thought out. They took something as tired as a stamina bar and built skill/depth around it. Good shit.

Plus the game has the best easter egg ever, won't spoil it, but you're gonna grin ear to ear when you see what I'm talking about lol.

No Nioh for PC, bummer

I'd be surprised if they don't release this on PC tho, such games do great on Steam

I came super close to getting Nioh but cooler heads prevailed. Will probably pick it up when its cheaper later this year. Still need to play more Bloodborne. I forgot where I left off

Ok, so Oxenfree is discounted on PSN, so I'll definitely have to get it now while it's still cheap.

If only Night in the Woods was on sale.

Yeah, a PC version would be nice. I played it on the regular PS4 in "performance mode" or whatever it's called. So you sacrifice image quality for performance, but the bitch is that it still gets some terrible frame dips. Been a while since I've played it though, maybe they've patched some of that stuff up.

It's a very good game though, best combat in any ARPG I've played by a long shot. Some top notch encounter design in a lot of areas as well.

Level design is pretty standard, enemy variety isn't all that great, the game gets way too easy in the back half, and it has nothing on Soulsborne environments and atmosphere.

Basically if you like Ninjas, Samurai, and good combat, it's the shit lol. But it could definitely see some improvement in other areas.

****, now I want to play some Nioh.

@ConanTheStoner: Do you think it would've been better if it wasn't an RPG?

Sometimes I don't understand the necessity of making a game RPG

Not too far into it, but I would say the Souls games aren't hurt by being rpgs, because they use the better part of a RPG. The action is still governed by the basic principles an action game would be governed by+the action itself feels good to pull off. Western rpgs the issue is either

-The rpg adds boring ass dice rolls that makes the combat feel terrible ala Morrowind and its ilk
-The action just isn't good period

And I think that stems from a bit of cultural difference in what type of Japanese games Conan n I gas up (because Square technically fits what I'm about to say about the west), where as triple A western stuff is often big production n graphics, with gameplay that even on its best days works, but is rarely there to challenge the player in an interesting way. Doom, Dishonored, Deus Ex, n Hitman are massive exceptions, because those games seem to actually worry about the fucking gameplay.

RPG systems don't need to be bad, it's more so which rpg systems devs are throwing in, that often are either superfluous or straight shit.

First console was NES, which I got when I was 5 or 6, but think the first video game I tried was prince of persia on my dads pc, later watched him play some civ, which I obv wanted to try as well and they dont start teaching english before the 3rd/4th grade here, so basically my dad introduced me to heroin that is civ, thanks dad.

His avatar's distracting, he's a kid.

The way Nioh starts by actually being a fucking game, and letting me mess with its best part is so lovely. Unlike other action/rpgs I played this year like HOrizon, where you do a string of boring ass errands (for a plot), and the most basic ass stealth game, because **** that time when we had things like Thief n Metal Gear n Splinter Cell n Hitman. Fucking des games.

I miss brick box's.

Yeah if they nail the action part, then it's okay.

But still, I feel like they can capitilize on more important aspects instead of going RPG, Conan said level design and enemy variety are nothing to write home about in Nioh, so when you can spend your resources on overhauling these aspects why would you go with RPG elements. I think the same applies to Nier Automata, which you said the action is not on par with PG's other titles, so overall, I think you can tell your story and nail your action without making the game open-world or RPG

I like the ones the old mech warrior games had. Mech Warrior 3's box looks fly.

Yeah :D

Sometimes I wonder if the person is serious or is he trolling, by now I'm sure Ghost is trolling, but Sponge seems to be so damn serious lol

He probably isn't, remember being younger and getting invested and emotional over absolute nonsense to get those internet points.

Thankfully those days are long gone.

@uninspiredcup: I miss holding a game in my hands and that fresh smell

*chuckles*

Indeed

That's cute :D

On teaching EN, don't know where you live in, but here they do such a lousy job at that, I mean by the time students graduate they literally have no idea how to read, write and speak EN, after like 8 years of being in EN classes lol

If you really wanna learn it, you have to go to private classes that are run by ppl who actually know how to teach.

Right, but Souls games have rpg and the enemies n level design are fantastic in those games. Has nothing to do with it being a rpg, though yeah sure Devil May Cry 4 is deeper. But that's fine, you know making action/rpgs isn't exactly a bad calling. It's a matter of understanding that I'm fusing this with that, and important to recognize what is interesting about "this" and what is special about "that". And how do you make both work, and answering what has to take one for the team.

It's not like half-breeds don't work as games. I don't think anyone can argue the Arkham games are particularly deep (well Mirko would), but I also think the Arkham games are damn good. Maybe not the best of the best of the best, but they balance their ideas very well. It's not like Bayonetta's laser focus doesn't lead to short comings of its own: bad gimmick levels, those stupid QTE insta-kills, the combo system itself is actually really tough to learn for a long haul because of the dial-a-combo nature of it. And not in a satisfying way sometimes imo.

Which I sort of agree with Conan that DMC has your fingers dancing too much across a controller, but what's fun about DMC3n4 is that you aren't learning combos, you are learning links, and figuring out the links on your own. That's what's special about that game, and it's fucking rad.

It goes back to a Mikami quote about it's not about what's wrong with the game, it's about taking the thing your game does well, and focusing all your energy on that. Bayonetta's combat n enemies? Stellar, but is the level design particularly interesting? Not really. Is it a drawback? not necessarily, but it's clearly giving up something to a Souls game, and situational depth is nothing to scoff at. Nier: Auto Tomato's issues might not be as simple as "the rpg parts", as much as, why did they play it so safe with enemy variation for a story? Especially a story that demands multiple playthroughs for you to "really beat the game". If you will.

Like fundamentally Deus Ex isn't close to as good of a FPS as Doom or Half Life, and it sure as **** isn't as good of a stealth game as Thief or even Metal Gear Solid for all of Warren Spector's snark about MGS being a game where you play the radar. But, it's a beloved game, and that's because of the sheer options of its level design, it almost excuses that game for having bad game feel and iffy mechanics.

Of course I would argue that the OG Deus Ex is a good game, not a great one, and actually mistakes "complexity" with "depth", and recently, my mind has actually flipped, I'm starting to think Human Revolution and probably its sequel are actually better games. And none of it is a product of "well for the time", because no, it's the things Deus Ex valued during development that make it a lesser game to me now. Has nothing to do with any of its ideas being dated concepts.

I don't really have a problem with the RPG elements that are there, and while I do think the combat is very good, I'm not sure how well it would stand on its own as a straight up action game. It would still be good, but I feel the "rpg" systems do add to the overall package in this case.

Basically, the character building itself is a lot of fun. Being able to turn my dude into a speed demon of a ninja with all kinds of bullshit ninja tricks was a blast. Being able to dick around with other builds was cool too, there's a lot of good range in there. The slow transformation process before deciding to go all out ninja had me toying with all kinds of different stuff and every bit of that was satisfying.

Of course leveling stats is both a plus and minus. It's cool as shit that you can go to these missions that are way the fvck past your level and punch above your weight for better shit. It makes for a satisfying challenge, because you yourself had to get good enough at the combat to pull through. On the flip side, it's too easy to level past the challenge in the main content. In the back half of the game I was beating a lot of bosses on my first try. Sometimes I didn't even get hit, which is all good, that was just me improving as a player. But other times, they just couldn't stand up to my build, it was a one sided fight from the get go.

Still, for the most part, I think the game handles it pretty well. There's plenty of extra challenge in the twilight missions and sub-missions, and even within the main missions there's usually some challenging side enemies to go after if you wish.

Where I think the game goes overboard isn't with the RPG systems, but the loot. It's too much. I found myself doing busy work for some RNG nonsense later in the game, shit I just don't care for. I could've done without that aspect. Or at least dump the randomness, if I'm going to get a better version of a weapon I have, make me earn it from a specific challenging task.

---

Could Nioh have been better as just an action game? Maybe. A lot of stuff would need to be reworked, but I'm sure Team Ninja could have pulled it off just fine.

But does it hurt for being an RPG? Nah. I felt it did at first, but after a while I grew to appreciate how its systems work. It's good shit.

Like Champ was saying, the core of the game is still good action and it's on point. Player skill is a requirement from beginning to end. It's not some mediocre core gameplay being masked by rpg and loot systems, those things are only there to add an extra hook and keep a lengthy game fresh and interesting. And it's not just a matter of "Hey look, your strength went up!", they actually add new skills and abilities to your immediate combat arsenal, allowing you to customize your move set and get crazier with offense, defense, combos, etc. which regularly keeps you involved in mastering your main weapons sets.

@mjorh: Finland and the level of education here is pretty good(and its free), you need a maters degree to teach at elementary school, so teachers are pretty well paid and it's a respected position

@jg4xchamp: Yeah, that is indeed true.

In defense of Bayo, those QTE Insta-kills, granted they're annoying but they only happen like 4 or 5 times during a 15 hour playthrough, and those gimmick levels, like that motorcycle section, they're too short to put a damper on the game, while in contrast, enemy variation being subpar is way more important and makes the game less compelling.

And I'm having a rough time wrapping my mind around the term "situational depth", what do you mean by that? ?

He's doing it again! Claims Capcom is lying and Monster Hunter World is not the new main line. @ConanTheStoner your Nintendo pal is awesome.

It's like he's arguing that Marvel-616 and DC-52 isn't the current mainline series on their respective comics.

Unless Capcom literally lied.

Yeah, it's kind of a silly complaint, since I fucking love fighting games, and playing Dhalsim in SFV is like learning to play an instrument lol.

It's weird how I like dissecting links, which ones work with certain spacing, which ones only work on counter-hit vs. a normal hit etc. in a fighting game, yet find link learning out of place for a beat em up. I guess it's really just a comfort zone thing, I've become so used to somewhat free-form dial-a-combo systems for that genre.

Still, I do agree, when things really fall into place in DMC, there's just nothing else like it. DMC4's combo system is nothing short of fucking ridiculous lol. Like if any beat em up deserves its own teaching tools on the same level as a fighting game, DMC4 is it.

lol. I assume you're either talking about Kbfloyd or Iandizion. Bunch of dorks.

@ConanTheStoner: That sounds amazing! I'll be sure to play it once it hits PC.

So I guess we can conclude that RPG elements can compliment a good combat system, making the game more interesting and refreshing in the later hours, while bad combat system (AC Origins ?) can not be remedied by RPG elements

Which the opposite of that is true here, well, that's the difference between a third-world and a first-world country lol

@ConanTheStoner: Whenever I see Iandizion, I'm reminded of your gift *chuckles*

Well yeah, but I guess what it really comes down to is if your core gameplay sucks, no amount of bells and whistles will hide that fact.

But sure, it's a balancing act. One that many devs just seem to suck at in the ARPG space.

But say if we're talking Souls games, as much as I enjoy the core combat, there's no way that combat would keep me engaged for 100+ hours on its own. The system itself isn't mechanically rich or deep enough to have legs like that. But combined with its RPG elements, excellent enemy variety, and sweet ass level design? Yeah, you get a whole lot more mileage out of a relatively simple combat system.

We once had this promo back in the late 90s where you got a free PC game that came in a cereal box. Had doubles of Age of Empires and brought the spare to school to trade some kid for that sweet V-Rally game. It barely ran.

True that

Now I have a good idea of the whole thing, thx to you and Champ <3

@illmatic87 said:

We once had this promo back in the late 90s where you got a free PC game that came in a cereal box. Had doubles of Age of Empires and brought the spare to school to trade some kid for that sweet V-Rally game. It barely ran.

Dem CDs! man they could be such a hassle when scratched or sth

Kellogg's Age Of Empires.

Taco Bell's PlayStation 4 PRO.

Man, Infamous Second Son is a frustrating game. It looks gorgeous, the gameplay so far is actually kind of solid but the story and characters are so God damn awful and the mission design sucks butt. It also has Troy Baker in the most Troy Baker role of all time where he isn't even pretending to kinda sorta act. Kinda just makes me want to play Sunset Overdrive again.

How'd you hit the side of the BACKBOARD!!! I love this video so much lol

I think you like Nintendos finger much.

The best thing Azatis will ever type.

@jg4xchamp: For context, was it really that bad? I know the finals ended 4-1 (I think?), but given the timezones I managed to watch exactly 0 minutes of live footage. Only managed to catch some of the best plays the following day after each game.

@Desmonic: Lebron was playing a shit load of minutes; and yeah his teammates were completely outclassed. The Warriors were stacked as it is, and Durant was getting free lanes all series it felt like.

@jg4xchamp: Quality players getting free lanes does sound indeed like no-show by the Cavs. Oh well. Can't comeback from a 3-1 difference every year I guess :P

Doesn't stop the fact that he gets offended when someone (especially a sheep) doesn't even have much of an interest in what Sony has to offer (and I stated my reasons that a lot of it ended up on XBOX, and I accepted it since the 360). Besides, I never said I hated Sony systems after PS2.

LOL, ARMS literally punishes you for doing well (though I gain more experience I think?). If you go on a winning streak on Party mode you begin to lose health. Lost 25% of my health and then 50% lol.