Sulphur on 23/1/2019 at 09:02
I felt it was too long for its own good, but the moment to moment gameplay was always what kept me going. It reaches a point of diminishing returns once you get all the weapons and know how the levels are generally going to be laid out, and sort of coasts on the player's sheer bloody-minded will to finish past that point, but respect where it's due: that core shootin' jumpin' disembowellin' loop carried me through most of it.
froghawk on 23/1/2019 at 14:40
I had somewhat of the opposite experience - I didn't start enjoying the game until the enemy and weapon variety picked up. I know many people here have said the back half has worse level design, but I really didn't feel that way. The beginning was a slog.
Judith on 25/1/2019 at 15:38
Resident Evil 7 - the setting is terrific (and horrific), it's like Preacher / True Detective south portrayed in a video game. At the same time, there are design decisions so 90s that they really should be out before someone even thought about implementing them. The boss fights are the worst "guess what designer had in mind" crap, and in particular, fuck that basement fight really hard, along with the person/team responsible.
froghawk on 26/1/2019 at 06:27
The 90s design is a big part of its appeal imo. It truly feels like a classic RE game in a modern engine for that.
twisty on 26/1/2019 at 06:54
Quote Posted by icemann
10/10
Highly recommend this one. Best game in the AC series by far. Closely followed by Brotherhood.
I've been meaning to give this series another try again and your review has helped me accelerate my decision-making. While I haven't played Brotherhood, AC II is my favourite out of the ones I've tried -- AC I was ok but I found the present day sections to be a drag and the gameplay very repetitive; I gave up on AC III after a bug killed my savegame and I never bothered trying it. Out of interest, have you tried Odyssey?
Judith on 27/1/2019 at 14:32
Quote Posted by froghawk
The 90s design is a big part of its appeal imo. It truly feels like a classic RE game in a modern engine for that.
Yup, and I don't mind stuff like inventory management, maybe except for a really stupid moment when you had to exchange the broken shotgun for the one you want to take and get out of the room, where you need space for
both of these shotguns (most of your inventory slots at the time). Or that thing with putting ammo and other stuff behind things like wardrobe's legs or buckets, where you can barely see them, and you need stimulants to see them as icons on screen. It's not really clever or anything like that, more like that "evil dungeon master" mentality from the old days that's so archaic right now it should really be dropped. Still, nothing beats the trial and error boss fights, these are the worst. I hope there won't be anything like that basement fight again. So far it seems like they got it better in RE 2 remake, although I only played the demo.
froghawk on 27/1/2019 at 18:46
So I gave in and picked up Hitman 2 after the legacy pack, and man - the cutscenes and story bits really took a dive. The still image thing isn't a dealbreaker for me, but the voice acting and writing are just so laughable that it feels like some amateur game is injecting itself between missions. That's a shame, but luckily the story practically doesn't matter to these games at all.
Sulphur on 27/1/2019 at 19:54
Oh, you don't need to worry about that. I'm a story-obsessed person when it comes to video games, and even I know Hitman's overarching plot is about as airy and insubstantial as Fred Savage's post-adolescence acting career. I don't even remember what 47's after apart from his targets, and that's usually a good thing in my experience with the series.
Luckily, the areas that actually matter, like the environments, mission design, and incidental detail are as expertly crafted as expected.
qolelis on 28/1/2019 at 17:55
After
Lucid Dream and
Mirror's Edge I lost all interest in video games, so I took a break for a while. It might also be time to replay old favourites to kind of rekindle my interest. The last two days I have slightly gotten into it again, though, finally playing
Antichamber (and liking it), and also tried the demos for (
https://store.steampowered.com/app/690120/Inked/)
Inked and (
https://store.steampowered.com/app/866440/)
What Never Was, of which both actually made me want to play more.
froghawk on 28/1/2019 at 18:30
Quote Posted by Sulphur
Oh, you don't need to worry about that. I'm a story-obsessed person when it comes to video games, and even I know Hitman's overarching plot is about as airy and insubstantial as Fred Savage's post-adolescence acting career. I don't even remember what 47's after apart from his targets, and that's usually a good thing in my experience with the series.
Luckily, the areas that actually matter, like the environments, mission design, and incidental detail are as expertly crafted as expected.
You're correct all around, of course. I just had a misguided moment in the cutscene which ends season 1 where I was actually excited to see where the plot goes, and that was immediately killed by the cutscene which opens s2.