Discuss/Review (The Last) Game You've Beaten!

Flagship

Flagship

Joined
Jul 24, 2018
Location
UK
PSN
FlagshipFighter
XBL
FlagshipFighter
You know the score folks! (Optionally: you can list out what you've beaten this year since this is a fresh start)

Games I've beaten in 2018 so far (I've been very productive in this regard trying to tackle bitesized/leftover/game-pass style games whilst trying to beat a lot of SEGA's highest ranking IP's on that SEGA Fes List):
- Bullet Witch (a very short, so bad it's good sorta game that does some interesting things.)
- Late Shift (A hour-long FMV game with branching paths, pretty cool!)
- Sonic & SEGA Allstars Racing (Just to complete the brief trials mode when Shenmue hype was at an all high after SEGA Fes event)
- Panzer Dragoon Orta (Excellent game, again short-ish at around 2 and a half hours long)
- Ninja Gaiden Black (This has been a black sheep of mine, it's left me salty and I often leave it for years but this year I finally resumed my progress, faced my demons and finished the game off. Was highly rewarding and earns it's place as one of the best actions games ever made imo.)
- Sonic Allstars Racing Transformed (Finished off the last part of Career mode which after many years, still a cool game and absurdly difficult :D)
- Jet Set Radio (Played this after SEGA Fes hype, I've never been good at this in the DC and I couldn't quite grasp what to do/how to play it. I was struggling at first but then once
- Final Fight Double Impact (Dumb/short brawling arcade fun)
- Golden Axe 1-3 (Another good dumb/short beat 'em up romp)
- Revenge of Shinobi (and another one)
- Alex Kidd (a silly enjoyable platformer I tried out of curiosity)
- Yakuza 6: The Song of Life (The most substantial game I've played so far that's much more then just a handful of hours. I enjoyed it for the most part despite some of the flaws/plotholes/missing and rushed elements, it's not my favourite Yakuza game but it's still a decent one)
- Sonic Mania (Recently beat it, excellent game!

Last Game Beaten
Sonic Generations: Eventually got around to beating this, I've left this unfinished for quite some time but after playing the excellent Sonic Mania I decided to go back. Fun game, I don't think I like it as much as Mania (even though they're different beasts) but I had a really good time
 
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Portal. Really enjoyed it but unfortunately ran through it fast and didn't get to enjoy it as much as I could have. Learned my lesson and taking my time with Portal 2...
 
Over the past month I have beat a slew of adventure games: Technobabylon, Primordia, Grim Fandango Remastered (1st time too), Bad Mojo Redux and Shardlight.

Apart from Primordia, which was disappointing, all are great games. Flaws: Technobabylon introduces some interesting metagames (you frequently solve scenes between two "fields", one in reality, the other in a technodrug world), although they also tend to frustrate; Shardlight's weakness is that it's very dependent on conversations (solving scenes is often not about manipulating inventory but talking to the right people, so you're often just going to place to place to talk, which is a little "low-interactiony" for my tastes); Grim Fandango is a classic, I had it back in the day but never beat it and lent it to a friend who lost it (:hmm:), then years later got a re-release but there were a lot of compatibility issues with modern computers - in that sense, these digital remasters are great: the compatibility is flawless and the upgraded controls are painless; Bad Mojo is so unique and fun... the first hour or so is daunting but once you get into it, it becomes really beautiful. It's weird how the guys who made it have just disappeared from the scene.. there was a lot of creativity here and quality too. This game cost me 50 cents in the GOG sale from a few months ago, and I just had a punt. Value!
 
The last game I beat was Batman Arkham Origins Blackgate (the 2.5D spinoff of the Arkham series). It was surprisingly good (got mediocre reviews when it was released). The main thing I didn't like was the map which was confusing at times and it could be hard to tell where you needed to go next.


Before that I beat the indie adventure game Cognition which I enjoyed quite a bit. Graphics are soso and it was a bit buggy at times, but it has a great creepy atmosphere, pretty interesting story, excellent music and good voice acting. Reminded me of the classic adventure game series Gabriel Knight.

 
I just finished all the chapters for the party I used in Octopath. Primrose is the most mature and best one I played. The soundtrack is insane on this game. Aquire did a fantastic job. This is easily the best RPG so far this year and no doubt has the best OST of any 2018 game thus far. I don't think DQXI will as the western release doesn't get the orchestral music. Just synth/midi. Yes, I am talking about the PS4 version. Rights issues I think. Maybe another time will play out the other characters. I should level them up first. My only issue is it's not really clear how to complete side quests. It just tells you the region where you accepted it and a vague description. Oh well. The few I did do were not that rewarding. I said this before on Twitter but if I had to some up this game in one sentence. It's the SNES version of making Final Fantasy, Game of Thrones mini.
 
I complete Binary Domain, first time playing through it through recomendations on this site and I had a blast. I like production value in games adn this game had stacks of it! I liked the premise which admittedly the story did kind of detour from as most of the time was spend actually getting to the HQ but it was compelling enough to keep me invested in 1 sitting - I finished it past 1am :p I enjoyed the combat, the commands did always work as I often found team mates getting in the way of my fire then whining to me after about it! But the one thing the game really excelled at was having a very solid feel to the shooting mechanics with great sound design and the very detailed animations put towards machine dismantling. A Solid game and highly recommend it to others who have yet to try it.

I'm not about to try Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage 2 - I have no experience with the Animie/Manga and just am finding it difficult to decide where to start. The new Yakuza dev's team game Lost in Paradise, is sort of an alternative take on the story, but from what I gather Ken's Rage 2 tells most of the story of the series as a whole - Not sure why it didn't happen in t he first game as this title retreads moments from that game also - So confusing! But I thought I'd give this a go.
 
The last game I probably finished would have been Detroit: Become Human back in May (Spoiler: I didn't like it very much). I played it because I thought I'd be writing about it for one of my uni assignments at the time, but I ended up choosing something else. I remember enjoying Heavy Rain but my love for Quantic Dream's games sort of ended there. A common problem I have with David Cage's other games is that select parts of his stories sound intriguing, but he then proceeds to shove so many other elements into his games and hit 'Blend' that these impressive parts then get lost - particularly at the end.

Fahrenheit's demo and opening level made the game look like a tense thriller where you're a fugitive. Moments, like evading the police as Lucas and then playing as the cops to track down the suspect, sounded interesting. I still enjoy the first few hours of that game...before the rest of the story suddenly devolves into The Matrix meshed with zombies, Dragonball Z powers, sentient AI's, alien artefacts and bizarre relationship progressions ('I love you, despite only knowing you for 10 minutes' WHAT?!).

Beyond: Two Souls just had too much going on, I struggle to remember what the story was even about. I wouldn't have minded had the game sacrificed its multiple story arcs of working as a CIA paranormal secret agent, being a fugitive, stopping soul machines, saving Native Americans etc for a game that focused all its attention on just one of these threads - preferably the homeless chapter which I felt was the most memorable.

Finally, Detroit. I thought the KARA tech demo was great and assumed the natural progression in that story would be this one deviant android stepping into the world and her experiences as a unique AI who has developed a consciousness. But suddenly, all androids are capable of becoming deviants, there's an android revolution with a Jesus-like figure, an android-human war and even an android holocaust!
 
*sniff* I'm so sad I can't game as much as you guys *sniff*

Vivi-gamer said:
I complete Binary Domain, first time playing through it through recomendations on this site and I had a blast. I like production value in games adn this game had stacks of it! I liked the premise which admittedly the story did kind of detour from as most of the time was spend actually getting to the HQ but it was compelling enough to keep me invested in 1 sitting - I finished it past 1am :p I enjoyed the combat, the commands did always work as I often found team mates getting in the way of my fire then whining to me after about it! But the one thing the game really excelled at was having a very solid feel to the shooting mechanics with great sound design and the very detailed animations put towards machine dismantling. A Solid game and highly recommend it to others who have yet to try it.
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That makes me smile so much; this is an absolutely amazing game and I'm glad its still being appreciated for it's unique values and nuances, in 2018 :D.

I've only beaten Kiwami 2 and Hokuto ga Gotoku, this year.

Kiwami 2 is an excellent game, of course, I was just a bit let down because the evolution from pre-Dragon Engine to 6, was just so fresh and new; Kiwami 2 is literally just 2, with a Dragon Engine Facelift and a couple of new minigames.

Not going to comment on the story as I've beaten that horse to death.

They have made some things more efficient, but nothing major.

Hokuto ga Gotoku (think I wrote on the old boards about it) is the grindiest game in the Yakuza series by far and its REALLY slow until about the 3rd or 4th chapter, plot-wise (there's a bit of exposition, but you don't actually do much in a plot sense, until these chapters). Driving the buggy around the Wasteland is a ton of fun and the fights are fun as well; its a fantastic game, a worthy addition to the series and a great sendoff for the old game engine.

This is also probably the hardest Amon fight in the whole series too, as you can't use weapons to your aid; I was stuck on him for over an hour, before I finally was able to beat him... oh and you race him too ;).

Next on the docket will be the 'mues and I hope to get them done before my wedding and honeymoon, as I don't want to play them afterwards!
 
Over the weekend I finished Streets Of Rage on OG hardware for the first time. Loved it! 2nd game was Strikers 1945 on Saturn. Both of these games are timeless.
 
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Darkest Dungeon (2016)

If there was an award for maximum gaming design output from minimum budget, Darkest Dungeon would definitely get the first prize. Looking at the game's presentation at earnest, you would not think much of it. About a quarter of your time spent on the game will be just on a still screen of a hub area with a guild, a church, a weapon smith and so on. And in the main focus of the game, the dungeons, it's just your avatars on a 2D plane walking only left and right, mimicking exploration of a large 3D world. The same can be said of the combat screen, simply allies and foes laid out on a flat 2D plane for a turn-based combat affair. Plus a single voice actor for the entire game. And you know what? It's beautiful and perfect. The developers made out of the simplest of the simplest presentation a game about resource management, tense dungeon crawling exploration and deep turn-based combat system that might resemble a JRPG at first glance but it's more akin to a modern X-COM.

Graphically at first I thought the flash-like animations were an instant turn-off as I hate the style at the very core, but over the years I've learned to appreciate the body of work from the likes of Vanillaware (Dragon's Crown, Muramasa: The Demon Blade), so I was willing to be open-minded about it in Darkest Dungeon. And next thing I know, I've come to love the art direction as I understood that together with the stylized western art, it was meant to bring a comic book feel to life. What truly makes all this even more amazing is that there's a narrator for your adventures (a voice that could even give Morgan Freeman a run for his money), praising each of your successes, mocking your failures, and simply commenting every moment of your escapades. It made me feel like I was playing a table top D&D session with an amazing GM at my side, and I think it's truly unique to this game as I haven't seen it done in any other game, at least not at this level.

Now onto the mechanics, this game is definitely not for casuals as the RNG in the game alone will massacre most players because the game's raison d'etre is to make the best out of a bad situation, so you don't simply beat Darkest Dungeon on luck or grinding. That motto rings true from beginning till the end of your campaign with death coming from all sides, and you often see your party wiped out simply because you were too curious, too greedy or too proud to run away. The uniqueness factor of this game is that it's not primarily focused on the usual character HP/MP level meters but the actual stress and general mental health of your party members during their exploits in ruins and coves crawling with diseases and Cthulhu type of monstrosities. Characters often die because of afflictions and heart attacks more than simply direct death blows from enemies. And it is where the resource management component comes at play, one in the hub area to organize your party and funds for your next expedition, local ammenities to sooth everyone's spirit and heal themselves from afflictions and so on; and the other management mechanic played during the actual dungeon run which the player has to keep tabs on food and first aid supply. While these might look like a chore or over-complication, each element is well thought out and executed, and they all converge into the tense and exciting dungeon exploration main part of the game. Scouting, environment interaction, rare loots, traps, secret passages, avoiding complete darkness, camping, ambushes, perma-death etc. are all there as a complete dungeon crawling packaged experience.

As for the combat, positioning is a key element in the game. Your characters has various specific skills unique to each one as they fall into certain roles (the tank, the healer etc) in the team composition, and each skill can only affect a certain position(s) across the "board". You can only pick four skills for each party member during a battle and any combination of these can change that character's role in combat. It truly feels like a game of chess with pieces only being able to perform specific moves, though said pieces can adapt themselves to different roles when required as enemies often have abilities that can shuffle party positioning and mess up your entire strategy. Back to the stress system, after it hits a certain meter level on a character the game will roll a dice and said character will develop either a new positive or negative attribute (semi-permanent stat bonuses or debuffs), meaning that in a stressful situation your avatar might cower in fear or rise to the occasion with courage and inner strength. Basically your heroes' personalities and characteristics are forged by the experiences you put them under, which is an organic and personal representation of avatar growth and not simply a pick and choose from a menu, as seen in so many other RPGs out there. The diverse banter variation among your party members is at the same time funny and frustrating depending on how well the expedition is going. In one moment they are cheering for each other, and in the other when the crap hits the fan, they are literally backstabbing each other or just pissing themselves out of despair. That's why it hurts so much when one of them dies on you, specially the ones that were part of so many epic campaign runs at your side (as well the amount of financial investment spent and rare equipment lost forever with them). But on the other side of the spectrum you might learn to just let go, and treat human lives as cheap meat shields so you can survive another day. It's fair, and all part of the experience.

Highest Recommendation 5/5
 
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TLDR: I'm a very angry man.

***Major Spoilers***

So I recently played Shadow of the Tomb Raider and I'm still not over how underwhelmed I feel with the game. As a die-hard fan of the classics, I don't think I'll be purchasing any more of these reboot games in the foreseeable future, which is absolutely crushing for me. I figured I'd vent about it a little as that might prove therapeutic?

My issues with the game don't stem from the gameplay, graphics or environments: those have been beautifully crafted, and if you are not as obsessed with the franchise as I am, I can understand why this game is considered amazing. However, I found myself disappointed because of three nitpicks.

Tone

OK, so the whole 'Dark Knight' tone is utterly ridiculous. This is a series that largely featured lighthearted, cartoonish scenes where a big-busted woman would shoot dinosaurs in the face or stuff the Philosophers Stone down her knickers . If I had the choice I would return the series to its former cheesy, lighthearted feel. If the charming Uncharted games are popular which are helmed by a jocular Nathan Drake, I don't see why Tomb Raider has to slather on dark, serious dressings in an effort to be 'edgy' and be taken seriously. This ultra-serious, dark/gritty tone also seeps into the characters, making them utterly lifeless. Speaking of which...

Lara herself

If I had to narrow my criticisms to just one thing, it would be Lara Croft not actually being Lara Croft.

Lara used to be a playful, rebellious character that was witty, charming and had a delightfully devilish sense of humour that always made you smile whenever she was onscreen. I don't see anything on that level of playfulness with this new interpretation of Lara. Instead, I just see melodrama.

So far, this 'new and improved' version is ultra-serious and moping about her parents to the point its nauseating. I didn't have much of a problem with this in the first two games, because TR2013 was Lara's transformation into a survivor and ROTTR was Lara 'rising' to acquire the tomb raider status after her first archaeological exploit. Therefore, you could excuse her behaviour as a lack of experience. However, by SOTTR I'm now expecting her to feel more like her old self by this concluding chapter of her evolution. Instead, I'm subjected to more of the same. She is essentially acting just like she was in the previous game, needing even more motivational counselling to 'become the tomb raider' it seems.

I find her particularly insufferable in this one. There's a scene (not really a spoiler) where after murdering a small army of men she collapses in mud, wallowing in self-pity. Her friend appears, outstretches his hand while worryingly asking where they should head to next, and she defiantly gets up screaming at him that she doesn't know. I never thought I would ever see a once cool and collected character like Lara Croft have a temper tantrum while rolling around in mud, but yet here we are.

The Story - ENDING Spoilers here!!!

So Tomb Raider (2013) was intended as Lara's origin story. Through the course of that game, you sense her confidence building until she transforms from a frightened college-graduate to a tough-as-nails survivor. Then in Rise of the Tomb Raider, Lara applies her knowledge to embark on her first archaeological exploit, doing what the title suggests: 'rising' to become 'the tomb raider'. But here comes Shadow of the Tomb Raider, stumbling through the door shouting 'Hold on! She's not quite there yet!' and proceeds to peddle the idea that she never 'rose' in ROTTR, she instead 'rises' in this game. Apparently, she needs a 'defining moment' which leads me to the ending where she...

Submits to an Aztec sacrifice to save a dying sun which sort of kills her but resurrects her at the same time, now qualifying her tomb raider status - utterly ridiculous.

SOTTR and ROTTR being made by different teams really shows because there are major inconsistencies in the plot. Despite Lara growing as a raider on her first exploit and appearing to put her parents behind her in the Blood Ties DLC, she is essentially back to where she started at the beginning of ROTTR. ROTTR is rendered meaningless for the sake of stretching this story over the course of a trilogy which it really did not need.

As I said, for many people these issues won't be detrimental to the experience and they'll just have fun murdering bitches and raiding tombs. But for me who has been following the story and has that context with the past games, it was a major let-down.
 
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Yakuza 6: The Song of Life (2016)

The "last" game for the franchise's main protagonist Kiryu oddly has less of everything when compared to the financial successful Yakuza 0, as in less playable characters, less heat actions, less fighting styles and less side quests than the aforementioned title. And who knew, Yakuza 6 is the better game for it.

Woven under a brand new engine, the combat physics has been overhauled quite a bit as now every time an attack is blocked, it will bounce back, briefly staggering Kiryu and resetting your attack. Though it might not seem much, it adds a certain weight to each blow while the game requires more attentiveness from the players pressing the action, besides bringing a more realistic raggdoll like physics to each fight. Also, the advantage of Kiryu possessing just one fight style is that he now can mix stand up and grappling moves in a seamless manner during combos. Better yet, all these can also be applied to grounded opponents when in previous titles you could only execute single stomps or grappling attacks. A first for the franchise is also having variation of attacks and combos depending on the direction Kiryu is facing. And as long as Kiryu's attacks are not being blocked, combos can change direction on the fly with basically you engaging enemies on all sides at will non-stop. This makes the battle system much more fluid than the one presented in Yakuza 0 or previous games. Better yet, you are no longer restricted by the surrounding area where the fight was initially engaged. If you feel the current area is too cramped for a proper brawl then just run away to any part of the map of your liking that you feel you will have the advantage, even indoor places like convenience stores where more heat action options will be available. The smooth transition between combat and exploration mechanics with the Dragon engine allows for such tactical approach and more (ie. high ground advantage).

Onto the exploration aspect, there is an extra layer of vertical exploration to be had with some segments that resemble 3D platform games, as Kiryu is now able to perform small feats of parkour like jumps between rooftops of buildings, houses and streets (and sewers). Eateries and soda machines now complement combat (or even totally replace them) for experience points and can addionally infuse various buff effects during fights. So grinding, the worst aspect of these games is hugely alleviated by this new eating mechanic element. Another huge improvement is the design choice of minimizing healing items hoarding and weapons in your inventory as the way to bypass difficulty with no drawbacks, like it was done in past games. In Yakuza 6 players can't purchase weapons anymore and can only carry a very limited amount of the same healing item, with no more of the full health recovery types readily available anymore. In exchange, there is a new rage meter in which all heat action orbs can be sacrificed in favour of a temporary "berserk" mode where Kiryu's moveset is slightly altered in combos that can be chained with new heat action moves while the meter lasts plus the extra armor gain. Also, during that mode Kiryu's HP will not drop below zero, meaning he can't die while in rage mode. That feature alone adds another layer of strategy during tough fights that if used correctly, a skilled player never will have to rely on recovery items for the entirety of the game even in the higher difficulty settings.

As for the sidequests, though there are way fewer than previous titles they are all fully voiced and manage to integrate all features new to this game, like the use of the first person camera and vertical exploration. Plus some of these substories lead to new mini-games which subsequently link to other sidequests and new mini-games and by the end, there will be even an in-game acknowledgement of the impact you had in the city if you fully engage on all these sidequests (more apparent in Onomichi, the game's brand new location). Speaking of which, the new location is the only instance in the series the passage of time is depicted in a manner other than only for narrative purposes or simply aesthetics, as some mini-games and substories can only be accessed during certain times of the day as well as you will find some stores staying closed during night time (ie. pharmacy).

Now as for the core appeal of the series, its action setpieces, what you will find here are simply the best ones yet, as they are all well paced and varied thematically and design wise. In one instance you will find yourself trying to stealthily sneak in to an enemy compound, while in another there is a setpiece out of a Resident Evil level design book, and a third one in which you will be platforming from ship container to container in a port like location. Setpieces with a full gang, a single partner or simply solo, you will have it all and these scenarios are highly memorable simply because there is nothing quite like them, even among the best ones found within the long running franchise.

Less is more, and Yakuza 6 embodies that with gusto.

Highly recommended: 5/5
 
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Absolutely brilliant write-up, Guppy; I couldn't agree more.

It was a wonderfully fresh evolution for the series and the story is absolutely brilliant, modern and highly-realistic; this is easily one of the 4 best games from this 17 game franchise and Kiryu's sendoff was bittersweet for the fans, but right proper for his character and the series.

Brilliant.
 
Truck_1_0_1_ said:
Absolutely brilliant write-up, Guppy; I couldn't agree more.

It was a wonderfully fresh evolution for the series and the story is absolutely brilliant, modern and highly-realistic; this is easily one of the 4 best games from this 17 game franchise and Kiryu's sendoff was bittersweet for the fans, but right proper for his character and the series.

Brilliant.
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Thank you. I was actually surprised to learn the game was not well received among the hardcore fans, as to me Yakuza 6 has the most polished combat of all the games released up to date.
 
The hardcore hated it for two reasons and one optional reason:

1. Kamurocho was cut off and all of Park Street wasn't accessible (yet, we have 2 fairly large parking lots and an intricate Little Asia to go through, plus Onomichi). This was baffling to me, as Sotenbori isn't that much larger, but whatever; we have a lot of room to roam around in.

2. The subtraction of some things such as no weapons (which I really don't care for and they even dropped this for Judge Eyes and Hokuto ga Gotoku) and the CP system. The former I can see an issue, but as you mentioned, you can literally run to an area with weapons, not to mention that almost every battle in the game has an enemy or two, with a weapon. The latter though, is also baffling, as the new points system they created is infinitely better in every way. They dropped it for Judge Eyes, so not sure if they'll bring it back for Shin Ryu ga Gotoku.

The optional reason was the story, but this has more to do with people's mindsets (Haruka getting preggers) and the fact that they don't know enough about Japan's history, to get the full impact of the events of the game (the Secret of Onomichi).

From an objective standpoint though, they hit those two, "issues," out of the park in the way that they handled them, which just has me shaking my head in people not realising a good thing when they see it.

I'm at work, so I can't post it, but I'll try and find Salty Yen's criticism of the game after he plays it; not only is it a terrible criticism (his arguments are legitimately childish, particularly with the language he uses), but he just parrots what others said at that time.

But anyways, the whole thing being voice-acted, excellent substories, fantastic minigames (I want baseball to come back!), a phenomenal soundtrack and wonderful voice work (Kitano is God), the game is just fantastic.
 
I'm glad to see I'm not alone in the Yakuza 6 love :) That game is so much better than its detractors claim it to be. Great write up btw. :) I've always prefered when those games focused in on Kiryu and that's one of the major things I loved about 6. It was nice to get back to a story that was centered around Kiryu and Haruka again. I know some people lament the lack of Majima, Dojima, Akiyama and so on....but I always thought for the finale of Kiryu's saga (supposedly...I wouldn't be surprised if he shows up in Shin Ryu Ga Gotoku) that it was very wise to keep it focused on him and Haruka.

Anyways, not to derail this thread, but I'm so glad to see love for Yakuza 6 here.

Anyways, last game I beat?

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Virtua Fighter 2 (Saturn Edition)

What can one say really? It's a tournament fighter. You fight 10 dudes and dudettes of increasing difficulty. End of game. Thank you for playing. :)

Actually, there is more I can say about it. Especially this version. I still think that hands down this is one of the best looking games of that generation and it holds up incredibly well with the best of both PlayStation and N64 titles.

It's a stunning port. Especially when you take into consideration the original 1994 port of Virtua Fighter at the Saturn's launch. The Saturn port of the original Virtua Fighter was infamous for it's many graphical glitches. While it played faithfully to the arcade game, it still failed to make a good impression graphically speaking as the game was rushed to market for launch. And was perhaps one of the games that helped give the first impression that maybe the Saturn wasn't cut out for polygonal gaming.

One year later and AM2 unleashed Virtua Fighter 2 on the Saturn...and boy, what a sight it was to behold. Somehow, someway the talented folks over at AM2 managed to squeeze almost every last aspect of Virtua Fighter 2 onto the Saturn with a few minor graphical cuts. The backdrops are less detailed as too are the character models. But the key important details are still there. The frame rate is a rock solid 60 fps and the game plays exactly the same as it did in the arcade. Not to mention that it does look pretty nice and compares favorably to the arcade game.

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When you directly compare it with the arcade version, you can't help but be impressed all around. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the game runs at 480i and never once drops it's rock solid frame rate. The Model 2 Arcade Board was a $20,000 beast back in the day and by all accounts, Virtua Fighter 2 should have been the impossible port. It shouldn't have worked anywhere near as well as it did on the Saturn, but the technical wizards over at AM2 managed to squeeze every last ounce out of the Saturn and did the impossible. It makes me sad that we never saw that long rumored Virtua Fighter 3 Saturn port. It would have been fascinating to see a Model 3 game scaled down to Saturn by the tech wizards of AM2.

As for the game itself? It remains as one of the toughest fighting games I've ever played. Easy to pick up but incredibly difficult to master. The AI is ruthless in this game. Not quite as bad as the pathetically cheap input reading Mortal Kombat 2...but not far off either. I will say one thing for the AI in VF2...you can at least beat it with a bit of know how without having to resort to cheap tricks (which I can't say for Mortal Kombat 2...you really need to exploit every cheap trick under the sun to beat MK2)

Sarah Bryant has always been my go to character for VF...although, in later games especially, I took a real liking to Shun Di and Pai as well.

Yeah, what more can I really say about Virtua Fighter 2 for the Saturn? Considering the Saturn was always known as a 2D machine first and foremost, I really believe that this game is a technical show case that really proves that under the right hands, the Saturn could hold its own against the PlayStation. I would put this port right up there as being one of the best games of that generation. It's a fantastic accomplishment of everyone involved.
 
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Well, I just finished a semi-quirky retro game so I'll try to write some highlights and some cons:

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Synopsis:
Hybrid Heaven takes many elements from standard 3-D action-adventure games, such as Tomb Raider. The player can move in any direction, jump, crawl, climb, and shoot. The player must solve puzzles by disabling electronic weapons or through skillful maneuvering.
However, when battling a monster (called a "biological weapon" in Hybrid Heaven), the game switches to a completely different mode. The player is constrained to a small room and can no longer jump, crawl, or climb. The monster and the player move around for strategic position in the room. When they are close enough, and have built up enough energy, one or the other will decide to attack. At that point time freezes and a single round similar to a role-playing video game turn ensues: the attacker picks an attack from a list, the defender picks a defense, and the results are displayed. After the attack, both monster and player return to jockeying for position in real-time. All of this can happen within seconds, which keeps the action flowing more naturally than in most RPG's.
Because of this, the Vs. Battle Mode plays like a regular 3D fighting game but with some unique RPG elements. In addition to regular punching, kicking, and grappling attacks, energy can be saved up to five times to allow for combos, achieved by either the player editing their own during a fight (one move at a time), or by choosing preset or saved combos. The battle system of Hybrid Heaven has a strong emphasis on leveling up. Experience using an offense or a defense directly correlates with the player's statistical abilities when performing that move in the future, with separate statistics for each limb, the torso, and the head.

Game-play Demo:


Highlights:
-Depth of a Fighting game boxed into a semi-ATB rpg system.
-Pretty cool setting, dystopian like. Hell there's Bio-engineered fighters and at one point you fight a T-REX look-alike B.O.W.
-Customized fighting moves load-out, mean you can build a grappler, striker, counter-orientated, or a mix and match custom fighter. Very cool!

Cons:
-Individual growth of each body part is a bad idea. Unlocking all the moves repository is a boring grind-fest as a result.
-The combo system needs reworking so you can chain throws,punch,& kicks seamlessly.
-Platforming sections are underwhelming.

Conclusion:

I enjoyed my time with it. Experimental games like this is a refresher in the modern era. I wish someone will revisit this idea and expand/upgrade it as it's quite a unique concept I'd love to see fleshed out with modern tech possibilities.

:geek:?(y)
 
The last game modern game I finished was the RE 2 Remake for the PS4. I was impressed and the chances are hight that it will be game of the year 2019 together with Shenmue 3.

I am a avid old school RE fan that thinks RE 4 killed the RE Franchise and so I was a bit skeptical about the RE 2 Remake at first because looks way too similar to Re 4 which I do not really like.

I was completely wrong though. Minus the camera perspective Re 2 is still old school Resident Evil. It brought back the old school RE feeling.


Would give 9/10 .


The last retro game I finished was Dead or Alive 1 for the Sega Saturn. I am a big fan othe DOA Franchise since DOA 2. Never played the first one though because I did not have a saturn back then and I didn't know that there was PSX version either.

I am still impressed how good DOA 1 looks. I really like the early 3d look. The game also plays well. And I am very interested in getting other Saturn Fighting games like Virtua Fighter and fighting Vipers.
 
danielmann861 said:
I'm glad to see I'm not alone in the Yakuza 6 love :) That game is so much better than its detractors claim it to be. Great write up btw. :) I've always prefered when those games focused in on Kiryu and that's one of the major things I loved about 6. It was nice to get back to a story that was centered around Kiryu and Haruka again. I know some people lament the lack of Majima, Dojima, Akiyama and so on....but I always thought for the finale of Kiryu's saga (supposedly...I wouldn't be surprised if he shows up in Shin Ryu Ga Gotoku) that it was very wise to keep it focused on him and Haruka.

Anyways, not to derail this thread, but I'm so glad to see love for Yakuza 6 here.

Anyways, last game I beat?

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Virtua Fighter 2 (Saturn Edition)

What can one say really? It's a tournament fighter. You fight 10 dudes and dudettes of increasing difficulty. End of game. Thank you for playing. :)

Actually, there is more I can say about it. Especially this version. I still think that hands down this is one of the best looking games of that generation and it holds up incredibly well with the best of both PlayStation and N64 titles.

It's a stunning port. Especially when you take into consideration the original 1994 port of Virtua Fighter at the Saturn's launch. The Saturn port of the original Virtua Fighter was infamous for it's many graphical glitches. While it played faithfully to the arcade game, it still failed to make a good impression graphically speaking as the game was rushed to market for launch. And was perhaps one of the games that helped give the first impression that maybe the Saturn wasn't cut out for polygonal gaming.

One year later and AM2 unleashed Virtua Fighter 2 on the Saturn...and boy, what a sight it was to behold. Somehow, someway the talented folks over at AM2 managed to squeeze almost every last aspect of Virtua Fighter 2 onto the Saturn with a few minor graphical cuts. The backdrops are less detailed as too are the character models. But the key important details are still there. The frame rate is a rock solid 60 fps and the game plays exactly the same as it did in the arcade. Not to mention that it does look pretty nice and compares favorably to the arcade game.

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When you directly compare it with the arcade version, you can't help but be impressed all around. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the game runs at 480i and never once drops it's rock solid frame rate. The Model 2 Arcade Board was a $20,000 beast back in the day and by all accounts, Virtua Fighter 2 should have been the impossible port. It shouldn't have worked anywhere near as well as it did on the Saturn, but the technical wizards over at AM2 managed to squeeze every last ounce out of the Saturn and did the impossible. It makes me sad that we never saw that long rumored Virtua Fighter 3 Saturn port. It would have been fascinating to see a Model 3 game scaled down to Saturn by the tech wizards of AM2.

As for the game itself? It remains as one of the toughest fighting games I've ever played. Easy to pick up but incredibly difficult to master. The AI is ruthless in this game. Not quite as bad as the pathetically cheap input reading Mortal Kombat 2...but not far off either. I will say one thing for the AI in VF2...you can at least beat it with a bit of know how without having to resort to cheap tricks (which I can't say for Mortal Kombat 2...you really need to exploit every cheap trick under the sun to beat MK2)

Sarah Bryant has always been my go to character for VF...although, in later games especially, I took a real liking to Shun Di and Pai as well.

Yeah, what more can I really say about Virtua Fighter 2 for the Saturn? Considering the Saturn was always known as a 2D machine first and foremost, I really believe that this game is a technical show case that really proves that under the right hands, the Saturn could hold its own against the PlayStation. I would put this port right up there as being one of the best games of that generation. It's a fantastic accomplishment of everyone involved.
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You perfectly personified how I feel about 6 as well; I forgot that some didn't like it because of the, "screen-tearing," which I never experienced and there were at least two others that did not experience it that I spoke to as well, though it did happen to many; I personally feel that it was a performance issue, as I had a launch day PS4 with absolutely nothing on the drive, but who knows?

Anyways, VF2 is still the best fighting game before the 6th gen, IMO; at 60 FPS on a Saturn via S-Video, it looks absolutely GORGEOUS and it plays so well and tight, it really was a great job that AM2 did all-around.

No wonder Yu Suzuki tried to milk that look and art-style as much as possible, with 'mue, the CG Portrait Series, VF Kids and Fighters Megamix.
 
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