Halo, Battlefield 2042, and Overwatch all just sucking with lack of real development updates and over here Mario Kart 8, despite being paid DLC, are dropping 48 maps over a year for a game 8 years old.
MK8's new maps are reheated old content and they have already been criticized for several things (mismatching art style, lacking game mechanics of MK8, etc.) And it will take TWO YEARS for them all to come out, even so. So don't be giving Nintendo such a free pass without looking into it.
Nah. 8 tracks every 3-4 months is pretty great.
In concept, I agree that that's a solid amount of content. But "we ported over levels from the mobile version (aka the worst version of Mario Kart that has ever existed) and that's it," does not deserve effusive praise. Or praise at all, really. All the gameplay things that make it Mario Kart 8 and not just Mario Kart in general are missing. It'd be like Splatoon 2 releasing new maps... that you can't use any new guns or moves from Splatoon 2 on, only the OG moveset.
Correct me if I'm wrong but you can still use MK8 items in these new maps right?
Yes, but new attack items aren't MK8's primary "new" feature. Many of 8's "new" items are take offs of existing items, like Mario and Luigi used fireballs in Double Dash as their unique item, now there's a generic fire item. Instead, 8 added more transforming modes to the karts and some other upgrades from 7 as the big "new" thing, but these new DLC tracks don't feature any of these because they are ports and not "new" 8 tracks. Which is different from the Wii U DLC, which were all fully featured MK8 style tracks. Looking at them side by side, there's a BIG difference.
Halo, Battlefield 2042, and Overwatch all just sucking with lack of real development updates and over here Mario Kart 8, despite being paid DLC, are dropping 48 maps over a year for a game 8 years old.
MK8's new maps are reheated old content and they have already been criticized for several things (mismatching art style, lacking game mechanics of MK8, etc.) And it will take TWO YEARS for them all to come out, even so. So don't be giving Nintendo such a free pass without looking into it.
Nah. 8 tracks every 3-4 months is pretty great.
In concept, I agree that that's a solid amount of content. But "we ported over levels from the mobile version (aka the worst version of Mario Kart that has ever existed) and that's it," does not deserve effusive praise. Or praise at all, really. All the gameplay things that make it Mario Kart 8 and not just Mario Kart in general are missing. It'd be like Splatoon 2 releasing new maps... that you can't use any new guns or moves from Splatoon 2 on, only the OG moveset.
Correct me if I'm wrong but you can still use MK8 items in these new maps right?
Yes, but new attack items aren't MK8's primary "new" feature. Many of 8's "new" items are take offs of existing items, like Mario and Luigi used fireballs in Double Dash as their unique item, now there's a generic fire item. Instead, 8 added more transforming modes to the karts and some other upgrades from 7 as the big "new" thing, but these new DLC tracks don't feature any of these because they are ports and not "new" 8 tracks. Which is different from the Wii U DLC, which were all fully featured MK8 style tracks. Looking at them side by side, there's a BIG difference.
Ah so the only real difference is that the carts karts don't have the anti-grav stuff? They still race and shoot and stuff though right?
The map thing I just shrug at, for shooters. I distinctly remember only ever playing de_dust for years. And years. And years. I think they're still only playing de_dust.
IDK, not saying anyone's wrong or something, I just don't get it. If I'm playing a shooter, I'm not playing 8 hours a day, so many more maps just means many more maps I don't know. I still know de_dust, and I haven't played CS since it was a mod pack.
Halo ain't no CS is the problem. I don't think any amount of arenas or guns is going to change that they didn't really bring enough design to revive the moribund Arena shooter. The game is basically dead as a live service, unless that rumored true battle royale is still on the table, then it might have a chance at resurgence.
My accidental project of the year is over, I have now played through every Remedy game out there (ignoring Death Race which is in a genre I don't care about and also wildly unplayable on modern computers without a lot of work). In January, I cleared Quantum Break, in March I played through all the existing Alan Wake games, and over the past week, I sprinted through both Max Payne and Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne, both played on Xbox BC. These are PC games first and foremost, but they don't properly work on modern PCs without some community mods, which is more work than I wanted to devote to playing through these two.
Max Payne thoughts:
-The way this game plays on console reminds me of things like the Half-Life 1 Ps2 port. They have not gotten the hang of it, BUT including a variety of PC options actually helps a lot. You can adjust aiming sensitivity and turn off impressively stupid features like "always return your cursor to shoulder level if you move at all" (in a game with all kinds of scenarios with verticality in play). Precision aiming (which is SOMETIMES required, and sometimes in extremely key moments) feels like complete shit. The sniper rifle has perhaps the least useful scope of any I have used in any game.
-There are no subtitles (comic book panel dialogue is not subs, but it is very helpful), which is a crime because...
-Volume balancing is incompetent and all over the place. Sometimes Max will be talking at one level in a comic, then the scene will transfer to real time graphics and Max's dialogue's volume level will noticeably drop. I usually play games on my TV at about volume 18 or so, I played this game on 45-60, kind of ridiculous. You cannot increase the volume of speaking, there is only music and "effects". It is unclear what effects means, it may even include the dialogue...
-This game is not shy about just killing you in a second, BUT the PC nature of the thing means they also give you quick save/ quick load. It's honestly screwed up how preferable this is to a "modern" console game save system. Save scumming and the Series X instant loads made this part of the experience very, very smooth.
-I played on Easiest possible difficulty with Auto Aim, which allowed me to have a ton of fun despite everything I just said above. Sometimes Auto Aim INSISTS on shooting the cover an enemy is standing behind instead of the enemy, it's sort of unreliable. I think playing on higher difficulty levels would be possible with save scumming, but probably not pleasant.
-Remedy's house style is FAR more visible than I ever could have expected from this first game. There's radio calls and TV shows to listen to, tons of just for flavor optional comic book cutscenes, and more. MVP is the freaky-as-hell Flamingo TV show, which Remedy clearly knew, based on how the second game goes, but there's a lot of quality material here.
-The extremely overwrought writing style is SO my jam. Max is an extremely poetic killer with nothing left to lose. He's also a humorously bad judge of character, which Remedy also seemed to notice for the sequel. Max getting high on killer dope and immediately noticing he's the main character of a video game just made me smile and smile.
-The graphics are bad by today's standards, but in an extremely charming way. The pasted on faces are sort of in the style of Goldeneye N64, but much improved to where they're more funny than anything. I prefer Max's 1 design to his 2 design, by a LOT. His skinny frame and rictus grin give him a much different image than the chunky boi with the new and "improved" face we get in 2. I'm aware they used Sam Lake's face as a cost cutting measure, but it really worked out! I don't expect this to return for the Remake, but hopefully they'll take a third pass rather than just going with 2 as the "real" Max.
-The sound effects are SO GOOD in this game. There's only a few things that are a bit weird, some of the enemy attack sounds have a weird secondary sound effect.
-The game style is pretty straightforward, only occasionally becoming a bit puzzling on what they want you to do next. When they want Max to do platforming, it's not as aggressive as Half-Life 1's insane asks, but the part where you just get into gunfights is MUCH more fun. It has aged pretty, pretty well for a much older game, the parts that feel bad are not so much the gameplay, just the controller aiming and lack of modern QOL features like subtitles. The levels are very well chosen, you go to all kinds of places ideal for a noir protagonist to get in and out of trouble.
-The two dream levels are crimes and it speaks to how great the rest of the game is that Remedy didn't deservedly go out of business for forcing these total shit shows into the game. The fact that the second one SCREAMS IN AGONY every time you mess up the horribly controlling jumps to hard to see platforms makes you wonder if this is a Yoko Taro style joke on the player. If it is, that's a massive undercutting of what is meant to be the most dramatically challenging scenes in the game, where we see just how miserable and tortured Max is inside.
-The ending boss fight is amusing Remedy foreshadowing, in that this very talented and lovable studio cannot help themselves but make boss fights that are deeply stupid in some way. In this case, interact with the environment in a way that you have arguably only ever done maybe once or twice before... then in a way you have NEVER done before. On a strict timer. That's reasonable, surely?
Port rating: 5/10, game rating 4/5
Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne thoughts:
-Now this is a fine console shooter, they've worked a lot of the kinks out. Aiming feels TREMENDOUSLY better. The only downside is they actually ran out of buttons, which is kind of nutty. There's an unassigned move by default! You assign either melee OR a grenade to your "secondary attack" button, which works, but is very strange and can easily get you killed if you lose track of what you're doing. This new secondary attack button is what caused the issue.
-They also ruined the sound for some reason. The first time you fire a pistol in game, you realize it sounds dramatically less powerful, and only some of the automatic weapons sound okay. It's... really strange, played back to back. Just copy the OG sounds if you can't come up with better, this is so much worse.
-The dialogue sound levels are much better and they mercifully added subtitles. TVs are now Alan Wake style, where they switch on as you approach, which occasionally means there are loud gunfights near them, which is not ideal.
-The graphics are notably improved, but I kind of hate how Max looks. Considering this is the thing you are looking at most often, that is a problem. In certain sections, Max is covered in wounds in a way that is distracting, in most other sections, he's wearing a standard Detective's clothes, which are MUCH less fun than his loud undercover gangster duds from the first game. Mona Sax is a much more over the top character with a more fun character design, I wouldn't have minded more time playing as her, rather than it basically being a mini-game.
-The (functional) TVs all have a TV show episode they want to play you, then they cut to a very long series of different commercials that are the same for the whole game. I like the commercials, but would have preferred them being paced throughout the game, instead of running endlessly on every TV, which makes you not sure if you should walk away yet or not when you first find one. There are also answering machine messages that serve the same function as audio diaries we'd all be picking up extensively starting in the next console generation, Remedy were ahead of the game here.
-The game style has morphed a little bit. Remedy is interested in making this more of an adventure, so there are WAY more NPCs. Sometimes they want to fight with you (which is fine, unless you accidentally shoot them, then they will ruthlessly turn on you and kill you unless you kill them first). Sometimes you're in a temporarily safe area and talk to people or interact with objects (in a pretty primitive way). This part feels very Alan Wake. Bizarrely, they decided that people really loved when it was unclear where to go and you had to wander around. So in this game, you'll have an objective like "get to the bottom level of your own apartment, where you live" and you have to run out on balconies, chat with people in their apartments, and solve basic puzzles. It's much MORE video gamey than the first game in that way, and pretty pretty stupid actually! I guess they hopefully got the message on that, since Wake and Break don't do that and Control does it, but in an actually competent way.
-The writing is much less fun, and kind of annoying at times. The story makes Wake dramatically less likeable and there's none of the fun magical realism that came into the first one (Max 1 gets all twisted up with the bad guys being Norse enthusiasts, the city being battered by a massive storm, and Max's mind and attitude getting out of control to where you're wondering if the world is ACTUALLY ending). In 2, it's just a story of criminals doing criminal stuff and Max being extremely slow on the uptake. His poor judgment of character gets turned all the way up, to where if Max says he likes or trusts or doesn't suspect someone, that someone is a deeply corrupt scumbag who is going to try to kill Max in short order.
-The replacement to all of the Norse stuff, Max feeling like he was spiraling to Hell, and etc. is a "falling down a hole" metaphor. It is kind of boring and Max misses something important the player picks up on instantly. This thing sabotages the guilt Max is meant to be feeling and ensures the player feels little to no moral ambiguity about this supposedly very dark story about Max losing his way and Falling. The thing is... Max basically did so many unforgivably insane things in the first game, I never felt like a story about his fall from grace made any sense in the first place.
-The big caveat to my dislike of the second game's writing is the optional material, the TV shows and such, is amazing. I love it SO MUCH. They expand the freaky flamingo skit from the first game into a major sideplot, a show called "Address Unknown" that is some kind of demented cross between The Prisoner, Twin Peaks, and The Fugitive. This show is also clearly the basis of the "Night Springs" concept that becomes such a great part of Alan Wake. There's also the comic relief "Lords and Ladies", which is used as a commentary on the themes in the game, the Peanuts/ Calvin and Hobbes inspired "Captain BaseballBat Boy", and the unfortunately underused "Dick Justice" which is just taking the piss non-stop from Max Payne 1, Max's character, the writing, and the genre in general.
-Mona is promoted from an important side character to a near secondary protagonist (she doesn't quite reach that level, despite having several playable sections). Her updated character design is much more successful than Max's. I still think the character is way underwritten and women just don't have a very good time in this world. The game is also MUCH hornier, which is fine but it's only really enjoyable in one scene, the rest is mostly a distraction.
-The level selections are much more boring, as is the enemy selection. Whereas the first game had the whole conspiracy thing going on, so you ended up fighting many different factions, this game pits you against "The Cleaners" about 80% of the time, with the only differences being whether they're in costume or not. While the first game reused assets based on the team's limited budget, this game reuses things to the point of distraction. You go to a shuttered theme park based on "Address Unknown" in a non-combat section, which is fun. Then you return there in a pretty inventive combat section, which is also pretty fun, but feels like asset reuse more than a story beat. Then you return there a third time in an exploration/puzzle solving/ avoid instant death section, which just feels like too much at that point. You even return to a notable location from the first game, then go back to that level again late in the game, many plot twists later. It's weird that the game is both short enough to beat in a very enjoyably brief amount of time AND repetitive, when the first game never felt like that.
-The final boss is much better in the sense that it's fairly clear what to do with a little bit of experimentation, and trying things in that section is pretty intuitive in terms of showing you what will work. The most confusing part is when the boss is finally ready to take damage from your weapons (he is not for about 95% of the encounter), they let the player know this information... not at all. I discovered it by just desperately attempting to kill him, which worked at the last moment before I was killed.
-For whatever reason, the first game locked the hardest difficulty behind beating the game, but the second locks EVERY difficulty behind game completion, and then the hardest difficulty behind completing it again on a harder difficulty. My suspicion is that this was a way to cover for the game's short length, which would have been a bigger mark against it at this timing. I find that misguided, but it's not the biggest deal in the world.
-This last one involves a spoiler for the end of the game, which I think everyone probably super knows about, but just to be safe:
Mona and Max fall in love with each other (but honestly their chemistry is very, very bad) and in the end, Mona gets killed. Max credits her with finding himself, finding some kind of personal epiphany. In the end, he says, "I had a dream of my wife. She was dead. But it was all right." In one sense, this quote is interesting, Max finding peace with his loss after being insane with grief for all this time. On the other hand, the implication is that another woman dying after having a relationship with Max made him chill out about the whole thing, which is deeply effed up and I pretty much hate it.
Port rating 7/10, game rating 3/5
I am looking forward to the remake version of these very, very much now that I'm completely acquainted with the OG versions. I hope they're willing to consider some rewrites to add more depth to the characters and smooth out the differences between the two games to just become a really tight storyline, I can sort of see how it would be done. I ended up preferring the first game to the second, but the second plays WAY better in a lot of ways, so evening that out and making them both play great will be very nice. I'm familiar with the plot of 3 and... it's not a game about Max Payne in any meaningful way. I don't care for Rockstar writers, they don't hold a candle to Remedy writers, so this doesn't shock me.
I don't have the attention span to read all that but I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed it haha.
Well I can't guarantee it's more interesting if you read the whole thing. tl;dr, I think both games are still fun, but the port job on 1 is pretty bad from a control and audio standpoint. The story and flow of 1 is much better than 2. A remake will greatly benefit people who won't put up with old games AND existing fans, so long as they do it well. Remedy's sense of style in how they make worlds shined even from these early ones.
Remedy game tier list, just to make this more substantial (feel free to disagree!)
S tier
Control
Alan Wake
Control DLC 1 (Foundation)
A tier
Max Payne
Alan Wake DLC 2 (The Writer)
B tier
Control DLC 2 (AWE)
Max Payne 2
Alan Wake's American Nightmare
Quantum Break
C tier
Alan Wake DLC 1 (The Signal)
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Olivawgood name, isn't it?the foot of mt fujiRegistered Userregular
Hey y'all, this being the Xbox thread, how many modern Xbox controllers has everyone gone through recently?
Because I just bought one this Christmas and the left bumper is already dead. Like, deadass dead, or inconsistent enough that it might as well be
This is in direct contrast to the Xbox 360 controller I bought it to replace, which died after about ten years of dedicated service and being absolutely beat to shit, and which was still working perfectly even when the cord was so fucked that wires were exposed
I've done some googling and it sounds like this is a fairly common problem, so is modern Xbox manufacturing just cheaper and shittier or did I get a lemon
Almost none. Used the same one from 2015 until my Series X. The X button started sticking a little after a couple drinks got spilled on it but good otherwise.
Hey y'all, this being the Xbox thread, how many modern Xbox controllers has everyone gone through recently?
Because I just bought one this Christmas and the left bumper is already dead. Like, deadass dead, or inconsistent enough that it might as well be
This is in direct contrast to the Xbox 360 controller I bought it to replace, which died after about ten years of dedicated service and being absolutely beat to shit, and which was still working perfectly even when the cord was so fucked that wires were exposed
I've done some googling and it sounds like this is a fairly common problem, so is modern Xbox manufacturing just cheaper and shittier or did I get a lemon
I broke my Series X controller RB button by using it to dodge in Hades. I'd have to agree it doesn't feel super sturdy, as a design. They did replace it free of charge, though I'm not sure how much longer that warranty will last.
Aside from thumbstick rubber wear on a couple of my most heavily used ones, all five of my Xbox One controllers and my sole Series controller (20th anniversary) are all still fully, flawlessly functional. No build quality complaints on any of them.
Bumpers in particular seem to be a weakness on Elites, but they're all good on all of mine.
Hey y'all, this being the Xbox thread, how many modern Xbox controllers has everyone gone through recently?
Because I just bought one this Christmas and the left bumper is already dead. Like, deadass dead, or inconsistent enough that it might as well be
This is in direct contrast to the Xbox 360 controller I bought it to replace, which died after about ten years of dedicated service and being absolutely beat to shit, and which was still working perfectly even when the cord was so fucked that wires were exposed
I've done some googling and it sounds like this is a fairly common problem, so is modern Xbox manufacturing just cheaper and shittier or did I get a lemon
I... can't really say*, because I'm still using the Xbox One Design Lab controller my wife got me for my birthday several years ago.
* Unless that's modern enough for you, that is.
Like Mega Man Legends? Then check out my story, Legends of the Halcyon Era - An Adventure in the World of Mega Man Legends on TMMN and AO3!
My last broken controller was one of those 360 ones with the transforming d-pad. (D-pad snapped clear off of the screw hole, somehow),
My xbox one and xbox series controllers all seem to be working fine still, though I did wind up with a couple of limited edition ones along the way so no one controller got the full brunt of use.
Olivawgood name, isn't it?the foot of mt fujiRegistered Userregular
I guess my concern is the Series X controllers, because I don’t think Microsoft sells the old ones anymore, or I’d just buy yet another wired 360 controller
I’m just a little wary of spending more money on any replacements when this one crapped out so fast
There is some design issues with the bumpers but like most things, it comes up more if you're playing games that makes great use of them. I will agree that the 360 controllers tended to be more durable. That being said I'm sure you can find one still.
Looking around ebay had sealed never used 360 controllers around 20-30 bucks
In my own experience, the Xbox 360's shoulder buttons, in particular, were very vulnerable (I think every single surviving Xbox 360 gamepad I have has an issue with those). Also the battery casing failing to provide a good connection for the battery contacts.
I still have my Day One XB1 controller from 2013, which feels a little loose (including around the shoulders), but has otherwise held out better. But we're demonstrating a lot of widely variable experiences here.
Sprung for Mechwarrior 5 + DLCs at the tail end of the sale, and got to poke at it a bit over the weekend before homework took over.
I am super happy with the port! Not being able to mess with Weapon groups or chain fire in-mission is a bummer, and of course, there is no mod support. But it performs well enough and it’s real cool to have a Big Robot game for the big screen.
Really been vibing with Weird West the past week. Crouching around and knocking out all the living creatures I can while looting the bins, cabinets and kipple piles is just my jam. :V
I also bought Darker Skies as it was on sale for this un-halloween whatever? This is the sequel to the Grey Skies game which I talked about long ago that takes place after the events of the War of the Worlds. I can only wonder if they will repeat the "walking to a whole opening song" sequence that they did in the first game. Will find out soon, too many unfinished games right now.
“I used to draw, hard to admit that I used to draw...”
There’s no way I could go back to the 360s short ass joysticks, compared to the modern controllers they’re just far too limiting and imprecise.
When the dust has settled, I do think the Xbox 360 gamepads were probably the best first-party mainstay gamepads of that particular generation (I really didn't like the Gamecube formfactor, Wavebird, etc., and the Xbox 360 also became the standard for PC gamepads); it was definitely better than the Sixaxis and Dualshock 3, both of which I owned. But I think the sticks, shoulder buttons and overall ergonomics are inferior even to the original Xbox One controller (which pretty much took its place on the PC side; even with the PS4 thoroughly outselling Xbox One it doesn't seem like DS4's knocked Xbox out of that PC niche, from what I remember).
That isn't really going to change any minds in terms of personal preference, but there's a reason why they've been so popular for almost a decade now, even among people who didn't buy an Xbox console.
My 360 pads became my PC controllers after my 360 red dotted. I still use them pretty regularly. Still solid. Oddly going to the 360 controller after using the series controller feels more of a step back then going from 360 to Series felt a step forward. Still thought, very good controllers.
Also, Tunic is still really good. I wish I had more time to dive into it, but I'm about to make a but of progress every other night or so.
Anybody have XCOM Enemy Unknown? There is one MP achievement I'd like to get without much effort.
I do. Same name on Steam as on here.
edit: oh this isn't the steam thread. nevermind
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DemonStaceyTTODewback's DaughterIn love with the TaySwayRegistered Userregular
Yea even though Sony systems always end up my primary systems there's a reason I even used Xbox controllers on PC and even bought one of the dongles to use one for PS4 games.
Just such better ergonomics especially for someone with some hand issues who plays games for long periods of time.
Hell even during the original generation I thought the Duke was comfy as hell.
I still preferred it to fighting games when I religiously played then in that console generation (which would've meant...KOF 2001/2, DOA2U/3, and SoulCalibur II), though I couldn't tell you why. I certainly don't have particularly large hands, just long fingers. I'm sure I have at last one origination controller, I'll need to take inventory of how many controllers I still have for that console.
Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion is short and fun. It probably is what you’d call a meme game, and its humor can be overtly referential, but it got some genuine laughs out of me and didn’t overstay its welcome (I finished it in under 3 hours).
I played through The Artful Escape recently through Gamepass. It's one of those games where people might debate whether it actually... counts as a game without being too mean. It's a platformer with no jumps of note, a rhythm game with no failstate or improvising to speak of, and a game about finding your creative voice where you're essentially just watching a movie and only actually expressing yourself in a very few places (you unlock character customization shockingly late into the story and it doesn't seem like you can bring your creation backwards into earlier levels). It's perfect for Gamepass in the sense that... I would be very down on buying this game, but I didn't mind a one night experience playing through it for "free." Ultimately, wasn't too impressed with this one, some of the visuals were really creative and some of the dialogue jokes were funny, though.
The Artful Escape is one of those experiences where all I can think is "Why is this even a game in the first place?" Like, none of my actual interactions with the game are fun or interesting. It's just stuff I have to do to keep the story flowing. I would've liked it better as an animated film or short film.
There’s no way I could go back to the 360s short ass joysticks, compared to the modern controllers they’re just far too limiting and imprecise.
When the dust has settled, I do think the Xbox 360 gamepads were probably the best first-party mainstay gamepads of that particular generation (I really didn't like the Gamecube formfactor, Wavebird, etc., and the Xbox 360 also became the standard for PC gamepads); it was definitely better than the Sixaxis and Dualshock 3, both of which I owned. But I think the sticks, shoulder buttons and overall ergonomics are inferior even to the original Xbox One controller (which pretty much took its place on the PC side; even with the PS4 thoroughly outselling Xbox One it doesn't seem like DS4's knocked Xbox out of that PC niche, from what I remember).
That isn't really going to change any minds in terms of personal preference, but there's a reason why they've been so popular for almost a decade now, even among people who didn't buy an Xbox console.
Minor nitpick, but the generation of the 360, Nintendo's controllers were the Wii Remote and Nunchuk, and the Classic Controller/Pro.
I don't feel this does much against your argument, though, except that Nintendo still had better Dpads at the time (not so now).
I just recently downloaded the other two Mega Man Legends games I didn't have on the PS3, and using the controller -- along with so much else of the experience -- was unpleasant. I seem to recall getting used to it when playing Yakuza Dead Souls at Halloween a few years ago, but still... and the damn thing doesn't even turn the console on! What's with that? It's been plugged in, so it should be charged...
Like Mega Man Legends? Then check out my story, Legends of the Halcyon Era - An Adventure in the World of Mega Man Legends on TMMN and AO3!
The Artful Escape is one of those experiences where all I can think is "Why is this even a game in the first place?" Like, none of my actual interactions with the game are fun or interesting. It's just stuff I have to do to keep the story flowing. I would've liked it better as an animated film or short film.
At the same time I do feel like the sensation of holding forward and jumping and such does add something to the effect that wouldn’t work as well if I was just watching it as a film. I don’t think anyones wrong to disagree with me though
I think it was you @shoeboxjeddy that suggested The Pedestrian so thank you for that. Played a little bit of it and figured my wife would enjoy it.... Cut to 3 hours later and I had to rip the controller out of her hand so she could go to sleep for work in the morning (not really but it took a lot of talking)
There’s no way I could go back to the 360s short ass joysticks, compared to the modern controllers they’re just far too limiting and imprecise.
When the dust has settled, I do think the Xbox 360 gamepads were probably the best first-party mainstay gamepads of that particular generation (I really didn't like the Gamecube formfactor, Wavebird, etc., and the Xbox 360 also became the standard for PC gamepads); it was definitely better than the Sixaxis and Dualshock 3, both of which I owned. But I think the sticks, shoulder buttons and overall ergonomics are inferior even to the original Xbox One controller (which pretty much took its place on the PC side; even with the PS4 thoroughly outselling Xbox One it doesn't seem like DS4's knocked Xbox out of that PC niche, from what I remember).
That isn't really going to change any minds in terms of personal preference, but there's a reason why they've been so popular for almost a decade now, even among people who didn't buy an Xbox console.
Minor nitpick, but the generation of the 360, Nintendo's controllers were the Wii Remote and Nunchuk, and the Classic Controller/Pro.
I don't feel this does much against your argument, though, except that Nintendo still had better Dpads at the time (not so now).
I just recently downloaded the other two Mega Man Legends games I didn't have on the PS3, and using the controller -- along with so much else of the experience -- was unpleasant. I seem to recall getting used to it when playing Yakuza Dead Souls at Halloween a few years ago, but still... and the damn thing doesn't even turn the console on! What's with that? It's been plugged in, so it should be charged...
I was a actually cognizant of the fact, but I thought that the Gamecube's weird controller had become the predominant "normal" gamepad for the Wii (since it was compatible).
On further research, I don't think this was the case. However, the Wii remotes were definitely not PC compatible (probably someone out there got them working with the PC, but even using the Dualshock 3 was more common); I'm not sure about the Classic Controller though.
I don't remember the D-Pad from the Classic Controller at all. So I'll have to take your word for it.
There’s no way I could go back to the 360s short ass joysticks, compared to the modern controllers they’re just far too limiting and imprecise.
When the dust has settled, I do think the Xbox 360 gamepads were probably the best first-party mainstay gamepads of that particular generation (I really didn't like the Gamecube formfactor, Wavebird, etc., and the Xbox 360 also became the standard for PC gamepads); it was definitely better than the Sixaxis and Dualshock 3, both of which I owned. But I think the sticks, shoulder buttons and overall ergonomics are inferior even to the original Xbox One controller (which pretty much took its place on the PC side; even with the PS4 thoroughly outselling Xbox One it doesn't seem like DS4's knocked Xbox out of that PC niche, from what I remember).
That isn't really going to change any minds in terms of personal preference, but there's a reason why they've been so popular for almost a decade now, even among people who didn't buy an Xbox console.
Minor nitpick, but the generation of the 360, Nintendo's controllers were the Wii Remote and Nunchuk, and the Classic Controller/Pro.
I don't feel this does much against your argument, though, except that Nintendo still had better Dpads at the time (not so now).
I just recently downloaded the other two Mega Man Legends games I didn't have on the PS3, and using the controller -- along with so much else of the experience -- was unpleasant. I seem to recall getting used to it when playing Yakuza Dead Souls at Halloween a few years ago, but still... and the damn thing doesn't even turn the console on! What's with that? It's been plugged in, so it should be charged...
I was a actually cognizant of the fact, but I thought that the Gamecube's weird controller had become the predominant "normal" gamepad for the Wii (since it was compatible).
On further research, I don't think this was the case. However, the Wii remotes were definitely not PC compatible (probably someone out there got them working with the PC, but even using the Dualshock 3 was more common); I'm not sure about the Classic Controller though.
I don't remember the D-Pad from the Classic Controller at all. So I'll have to take your word for it.
Oddly, since the WiiMotes have bluetooth, they are easier to connect to PCs than the 360 controllers, which requires a USB dongle.
That said, the WiiMote is not a good pad for anything other than Wii games. So it's not very useful on PC.
There’s no way I could go back to the 360s short ass joysticks, compared to the modern controllers they’re just far too limiting and imprecise.
When the dust has settled, I do think the Xbox 360 gamepads were probably the best first-party mainstay gamepads of that particular generation (I really didn't like the Gamecube formfactor, Wavebird, etc., and the Xbox 360 also became the standard for PC gamepads); it was definitely better than the Sixaxis and Dualshock 3, both of which I owned. But I think the sticks, shoulder buttons and overall ergonomics are inferior even to the original Xbox One controller (which pretty much took its place on the PC side; even with the PS4 thoroughly outselling Xbox One it doesn't seem like DS4's knocked Xbox out of that PC niche, from what I remember).
That isn't really going to change any minds in terms of personal preference, but there's a reason why they've been so popular for almost a decade now, even among people who didn't buy an Xbox console.
Minor nitpick, but the generation of the 360, Nintendo's controllers were the Wii Remote and Nunchuk, and the Classic Controller/Pro.
I don't feel this does much against your argument, though, except that Nintendo still had better Dpads at the time (not so now).
I just recently downloaded the other two Mega Man Legends games I didn't have on the PS3, and using the controller -- along with so much else of the experience -- was unpleasant. I seem to recall getting used to it when playing Yakuza Dead Souls at Halloween a few years ago, but still... and the damn thing doesn't even turn the console on! What's with that? It's been plugged in, so it should be charged...
I was a actually cognizant of the fact, but I thought that the Gamecube's weird controller had become the predominant "normal" gamepad for the Wii (since it was compatible).
On further research, I don't think this was the case. However, the Wii remotes were definitely not PC compatible (probably someone out there got them working with the PC, but even using the Dualshock 3 was more common); I'm not sure about the Classic Controller though.
I don't remember the D-Pad from the Classic Controller at all. So I'll have to take your word for it.
Oddly, since the WiiMotes have bluetooth, they are easier to connect to PCs than the 360 controllers, which requires a USB dongle.
That said, the WiiMote is not a good pad for anything other than Wii games. So it's not very useful on PC.
Since this was during the Xinput era--Xinput being an API derived literally from Microsoft's own DirectInput API--I'm guessing even BT compatibility (especially when that was still not a universal feature on desktop PCs) really didn't help over the controller that effectively set the standard for Windows gamepads going forward. Plus, it's not like the wired Xbox 360 controller (which was sold through the console's lifetime) having a USB connection wasn't far easier to connect, much less program, than a Wii controller (hence that gamepad's much larger market share next to a console that outsold everybody).
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Yes, but new attack items aren't MK8's primary "new" feature. Many of 8's "new" items are take offs of existing items, like Mario and Luigi used fireballs in Double Dash as their unique item, now there's a generic fire item. Instead, 8 added more transforming modes to the karts and some other upgrades from 7 as the big "new" thing, but these new DLC tracks don't feature any of these because they are ports and not "new" 8 tracks. Which is different from the Wii U DLC, which were all fully featured MK8 style tracks. Looking at them side by side, there's a BIG difference.
Ah so the only real difference is that the carts karts don't have the anti-grav stuff? They still race and shoot and stuff though right?
IDK, not saying anyone's wrong or something, I just don't get it. If I'm playing a shooter, I'm not playing 8 hours a day, so many more maps just means many more maps I don't know. I still know de_dust, and I haven't played CS since it was a mod pack.
Max Payne thoughts:
-The way this game plays on console reminds me of things like the Half-Life 1 Ps2 port. They have not gotten the hang of it, BUT including a variety of PC options actually helps a lot. You can adjust aiming sensitivity and turn off impressively stupid features like "always return your cursor to shoulder level if you move at all" (in a game with all kinds of scenarios with verticality in play). Precision aiming (which is SOMETIMES required, and sometimes in extremely key moments) feels like complete shit. The sniper rifle has perhaps the least useful scope of any I have used in any game.
-There are no subtitles (comic book panel dialogue is not subs, but it is very helpful), which is a crime because...
-Volume balancing is incompetent and all over the place. Sometimes Max will be talking at one level in a comic, then the scene will transfer to real time graphics and Max's dialogue's volume level will noticeably drop. I usually play games on my TV at about volume 18 or so, I played this game on 45-60, kind of ridiculous. You cannot increase the volume of speaking, there is only music and "effects". It is unclear what effects means, it may even include the dialogue...
-This game is not shy about just killing you in a second, BUT the PC nature of the thing means they also give you quick save/ quick load. It's honestly screwed up how preferable this is to a "modern" console game save system. Save scumming and the Series X instant loads made this part of the experience very, very smooth.
-I played on Easiest possible difficulty with Auto Aim, which allowed me to have a ton of fun despite everything I just said above. Sometimes Auto Aim INSISTS on shooting the cover an enemy is standing behind instead of the enemy, it's sort of unreliable. I think playing on higher difficulty levels would be possible with save scumming, but probably not pleasant.
-Remedy's house style is FAR more visible than I ever could have expected from this first game. There's radio calls and TV shows to listen to, tons of just for flavor optional comic book cutscenes, and more. MVP is the freaky-as-hell Flamingo TV show, which Remedy clearly knew, based on how the second game goes, but there's a lot of quality material here.
-The extremely overwrought writing style is SO my jam. Max is an extremely poetic killer with nothing left to lose. He's also a humorously bad judge of character, which Remedy also seemed to notice for the sequel. Max getting high on killer dope and immediately noticing he's the main character of a video game just made me smile and smile.
-The graphics are bad by today's standards, but in an extremely charming way. The pasted on faces are sort of in the style of Goldeneye N64, but much improved to where they're more funny than anything. I prefer Max's 1 design to his 2 design, by a LOT. His skinny frame and rictus grin give him a much different image than the chunky boi with the new and "improved" face we get in 2. I'm aware they used Sam Lake's face as a cost cutting measure, but it really worked out! I don't expect this to return for the Remake, but hopefully they'll take a third pass rather than just going with 2 as the "real" Max.
-The sound effects are SO GOOD in this game. There's only a few things that are a bit weird, some of the enemy attack sounds have a weird secondary sound effect.
-The game style is pretty straightforward, only occasionally becoming a bit puzzling on what they want you to do next. When they want Max to do platforming, it's not as aggressive as Half-Life 1's insane asks, but the part where you just get into gunfights is MUCH more fun. It has aged pretty, pretty well for a much older game, the parts that feel bad are not so much the gameplay, just the controller aiming and lack of modern QOL features like subtitles. The levels are very well chosen, you go to all kinds of places ideal for a noir protagonist to get in and out of trouble.
-The two dream levels are crimes and it speaks to how great the rest of the game is that Remedy didn't deservedly go out of business for forcing these total shit shows into the game. The fact that the second one SCREAMS IN AGONY every time you mess up the horribly controlling jumps to hard to see platforms makes you wonder if this is a Yoko Taro style joke on the player. If it is, that's a massive undercutting of what is meant to be the most dramatically challenging scenes in the game, where we see just how miserable and tortured Max is inside.
-The ending boss fight is amusing Remedy foreshadowing, in that this very talented and lovable studio cannot help themselves but make boss fights that are deeply stupid in some way. In this case, interact with the environment in a way that you have arguably only ever done maybe once or twice before... then in a way you have NEVER done before. On a strict timer. That's reasonable, surely?
Port rating: 5/10, game rating 4/5
Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne thoughts:
-Now this is a fine console shooter, they've worked a lot of the kinks out. Aiming feels TREMENDOUSLY better. The only downside is they actually ran out of buttons, which is kind of nutty. There's an unassigned move by default! You assign either melee OR a grenade to your "secondary attack" button, which works, but is very strange and can easily get you killed if you lose track of what you're doing. This new secondary attack button is what caused the issue.
-They also ruined the sound for some reason. The first time you fire a pistol in game, you realize it sounds dramatically less powerful, and only some of the automatic weapons sound okay. It's... really strange, played back to back. Just copy the OG sounds if you can't come up with better, this is so much worse.
-The dialogue sound levels are much better and they mercifully added subtitles. TVs are now Alan Wake style, where they switch on as you approach, which occasionally means there are loud gunfights near them, which is not ideal.
-The graphics are notably improved, but I kind of hate how Max looks. Considering this is the thing you are looking at most often, that is a problem. In certain sections, Max is covered in wounds in a way that is distracting, in most other sections, he's wearing a standard Detective's clothes, which are MUCH less fun than his loud undercover gangster duds from the first game. Mona Sax is a much more over the top character with a more fun character design, I wouldn't have minded more time playing as her, rather than it basically being a mini-game.
-The (functional) TVs all have a TV show episode they want to play you, then they cut to a very long series of different commercials that are the same for the whole game. I like the commercials, but would have preferred them being paced throughout the game, instead of running endlessly on every TV, which makes you not sure if you should walk away yet or not when you first find one. There are also answering machine messages that serve the same function as audio diaries we'd all be picking up extensively starting in the next console generation, Remedy were ahead of the game here.
-The game style has morphed a little bit. Remedy is interested in making this more of an adventure, so there are WAY more NPCs. Sometimes they want to fight with you (which is fine, unless you accidentally shoot them, then they will ruthlessly turn on you and kill you unless you kill them first). Sometimes you're in a temporarily safe area and talk to people or interact with objects (in a pretty primitive way). This part feels very Alan Wake. Bizarrely, they decided that people really loved when it was unclear where to go and you had to wander around. So in this game, you'll have an objective like "get to the bottom level of your own apartment, where you live" and you have to run out on balconies, chat with people in their apartments, and solve basic puzzles. It's much MORE video gamey than the first game in that way, and pretty pretty stupid actually! I guess they hopefully got the message on that, since Wake and Break don't do that and Control does it, but in an actually competent way.
-The writing is much less fun, and kind of annoying at times. The story makes Wake dramatically less likeable and there's none of the fun magical realism that came into the first one (Max 1 gets all twisted up with the bad guys being Norse enthusiasts, the city being battered by a massive storm, and Max's mind and attitude getting out of control to where you're wondering if the world is ACTUALLY ending). In 2, it's just a story of criminals doing criminal stuff and Max being extremely slow on the uptake. His poor judgment of character gets turned all the way up, to where if Max says he likes or trusts or doesn't suspect someone, that someone is a deeply corrupt scumbag who is going to try to kill Max in short order.
-The replacement to all of the Norse stuff, Max feeling like he was spiraling to Hell, and etc. is a "falling down a hole" metaphor. It is kind of boring and Max misses something important the player picks up on instantly. This thing sabotages the guilt Max is meant to be feeling and ensures the player feels little to no moral ambiguity about this supposedly very dark story about Max losing his way and Falling. The thing is... Max basically did so many unforgivably insane things in the first game, I never felt like a story about his fall from grace made any sense in the first place.
-The big caveat to my dislike of the second game's writing is the optional material, the TV shows and such, is amazing. I love it SO MUCH. They expand the freaky flamingo skit from the first game into a major sideplot, a show called "Address Unknown" that is some kind of demented cross between The Prisoner, Twin Peaks, and The Fugitive. This show is also clearly the basis of the "Night Springs" concept that becomes such a great part of Alan Wake. There's also the comic relief "Lords and Ladies", which is used as a commentary on the themes in the game, the Peanuts/ Calvin and Hobbes inspired "Captain BaseballBat Boy", and the unfortunately underused "Dick Justice" which is just taking the piss non-stop from Max Payne 1, Max's character, the writing, and the genre in general.
-Mona is promoted from an important side character to a near secondary protagonist (she doesn't quite reach that level, despite having several playable sections). Her updated character design is much more successful than Max's. I still think the character is way underwritten and women just don't have a very good time in this world. The game is also MUCH hornier, which is fine but it's only really enjoyable in one scene, the rest is mostly a distraction.
-The level selections are much more boring, as is the enemy selection. Whereas the first game had the whole conspiracy thing going on, so you ended up fighting many different factions, this game pits you against "The Cleaners" about 80% of the time, with the only differences being whether they're in costume or not. While the first game reused assets based on the team's limited budget, this game reuses things to the point of distraction. You go to a shuttered theme park based on "Address Unknown" in a non-combat section, which is fun. Then you return there in a pretty inventive combat section, which is also pretty fun, but feels like asset reuse more than a story beat. Then you return there a third time in an exploration/puzzle solving/ avoid instant death section, which just feels like too much at that point. You even return to a notable location from the first game, then go back to that level again late in the game, many plot twists later. It's weird that the game is both short enough to beat in a very enjoyably brief amount of time AND repetitive, when the first game never felt like that.
-The final boss is much better in the sense that it's fairly clear what to do with a little bit of experimentation, and trying things in that section is pretty intuitive in terms of showing you what will work. The most confusing part is when the boss is finally ready to take damage from your weapons (he is not for about 95% of the encounter), they let the player know this information... not at all. I discovered it by just desperately attempting to kill him, which worked at the last moment before I was killed.
-For whatever reason, the first game locked the hardest difficulty behind beating the game, but the second locks EVERY difficulty behind game completion, and then the hardest difficulty behind completing it again on a harder difficulty. My suspicion is that this was a way to cover for the game's short length, which would have been a bigger mark against it at this timing. I find that misguided, but it's not the biggest deal in the world.
-This last one involves a spoiler for the end of the game, which I think everyone probably super knows about, but just to be safe:
Port rating 7/10, game rating 3/5
I am looking forward to the remake version of these very, very much now that I'm completely acquainted with the OG versions. I hope they're willing to consider some rewrites to add more depth to the characters and smooth out the differences between the two games to just become a really tight storyline, I can sort of see how it would be done. I ended up preferring the first game to the second, but the second plays WAY better in a lot of ways, so evening that out and making them both play great will be very nice. I'm familiar with the plot of 3 and... it's not a game about Max Payne in any meaningful way. I don't care for Rockstar writers, they don't hold a candle to Remedy writers, so this doesn't shock me.
I love that you have the awesome up there on the post as well after seeing this one hahaha.
Well I can't guarantee it's more interesting if you read the whole thing. tl;dr, I think both games are still fun, but the port job on 1 is pretty bad from a control and audio standpoint. The story and flow of 1 is much better than 2. A remake will greatly benefit people who won't put up with old games AND existing fans, so long as they do it well. Remedy's sense of style in how they make worlds shined even from these early ones.
Remedy game tier list, just to make this more substantial (feel free to disagree!)
S tier
Control
Alan Wake
Control DLC 1 (Foundation)
A tier
Max Payne
Alan Wake DLC 2 (The Writer)
B tier
Control DLC 2 (AWE)
Max Payne 2
Alan Wake's American Nightmare
Quantum Break
C tier
Alan Wake DLC 1 (The Signal)
Because I just bought one this Christmas and the left bumper is already dead. Like, deadass dead, or inconsistent enough that it might as well be
This is in direct contrast to the Xbox 360 controller I bought it to replace, which died after about ten years of dedicated service and being absolutely beat to shit, and which was still working perfectly even when the cord was so fucked that wires were exposed
I've done some googling and it sounds like this is a fairly common problem, so is modern Xbox manufacturing just cheaper and shittier or did I get a lemon
PSN ID : DetectiveOlivaw | TWITTER | STEAM ID | NEVER FORGET
Put another way, if Microsoft won't even build a $140 controller to last...
I broke my Series X controller RB button by using it to dodge in Hades. I'd have to agree it doesn't feel super sturdy, as a design. They did replace it free of charge, though I'm not sure how much longer that warranty will last.
Bumpers in particular seem to be a weakness on Elites, but they're all good on all of mine.
Steam | XBL
I... can't really say*, because I'm still using the Xbox One Design Lab controller my wife got me for my birthday several years ago.
* Unless that's modern enough for you, that is.
Like Mega Man Legends? Then check out my story, Legends of the Halcyon Era - An Adventure in the World of Mega Man Legends on TMMN and AO3!
My xbox one and xbox series controllers all seem to be working fine still, though I did wind up with a couple of limited edition ones along the way so no one controller got the full brunt of use.
Steam | XBL
Steam ID: Good Life
I’m just a little wary of spending more money on any replacements when this one crapped out so fast
PSN ID : DetectiveOlivaw | TWITTER | STEAM ID | NEVER FORGET
Looking around ebay had sealed never used 360 controllers around 20-30 bucks
I still have my Day One XB1 controller from 2013, which feels a little loose (including around the shoulders), but has otherwise held out better. But we're demonstrating a lot of widely variable experiences here.
I am super happy with the port! Not being able to mess with Weapon groups or chain fire in-mission is a bummer, and of course, there is no mod support. But it performs well enough and it’s real cool to have a Big Robot game for the big screen.
I also bought Darker Skies as it was on sale for this un-halloween whatever? This is the sequel to the Grey Skies game which I talked about long ago that takes place after the events of the War of the Worlds. I can only wonder if they will repeat the "walking to a whole opening song" sequence that they did in the first game. Will find out soon, too many unfinished games right now.
When the dust has settled, I do think the Xbox 360 gamepads were probably the best first-party mainstay gamepads of that particular generation (I really didn't like the Gamecube formfactor, Wavebird, etc., and the Xbox 360 also became the standard for PC gamepads); it was definitely better than the Sixaxis and Dualshock 3, both of which I owned. But I think the sticks, shoulder buttons and overall ergonomics are inferior even to the original Xbox One controller (which pretty much took its place on the PC side; even with the PS4 thoroughly outselling Xbox One it doesn't seem like DS4's knocked Xbox out of that PC niche, from what I remember).
That isn't really going to change any minds in terms of personal preference, but there's a reason why they've been so popular for almost a decade now, even among people who didn't buy an Xbox console.
Also, Tunic is still really good. I wish I had more time to dive into it, but I'm about to make a but of progress every other night or so.
Steam ID: Good Life
edit: oh this isn't the steam thread. nevermind
Just such better ergonomics especially for someone with some hand issues who plays games for long periods of time.
Hell even during the original generation I thought the Duke was comfy as hell.
Steam | XBL
Minor nitpick, but the generation of the 360, Nintendo's controllers were the Wii Remote and Nunchuk, and the Classic Controller/Pro.
I don't feel this does much against your argument, though, except that Nintendo still had better Dpads at the time (not so now).
I just recently downloaded the other two Mega Man Legends games I didn't have on the PS3, and using the controller -- along with so much else of the experience -- was unpleasant. I seem to recall getting used to it when playing Yakuza Dead Souls at Halloween a few years ago, but still... and the damn thing doesn't even turn the console on! What's with that? It's been plugged in, so it should be charged...
Like Mega Man Legends? Then check out my story, Legends of the Halcyon Era - An Adventure in the World of Mega Man Legends on TMMN and AO3!
At the same time I do feel like the sensation of holding forward and jumping and such does add something to the effect that wouldn’t work as well if I was just watching it as a film. I don’t think anyones wrong to disagree with me though
I was a actually cognizant of the fact, but I thought that the Gamecube's weird controller had become the predominant "normal" gamepad for the Wii (since it was compatible).
On further research, I don't think this was the case. However, the Wii remotes were definitely not PC compatible (probably someone out there got them working with the PC, but even using the Dualshock 3 was more common); I'm not sure about the Classic Controller though.
I don't remember the D-Pad from the Classic Controller at all. So I'll have to take your word for it.
Oddly, since the WiiMotes have bluetooth, they are easier to connect to PCs than the 360 controllers, which requires a USB dongle.
That said, the WiiMote is not a good pad for anything other than Wii games. So it's not very useful on PC.
Steam ID: Good Life
Since this was during the Xinput era--Xinput being an API derived literally from Microsoft's own DirectInput API--I'm guessing even BT compatibility (especially when that was still not a universal feature on desktop PCs) really didn't help over the controller that effectively set the standard for Windows gamepads going forward. Plus, it's not like the wired Xbox 360 controller (which was sold through the console's lifetime) having a USB connection wasn't far easier to connect, much less program, than a Wii controller (hence that gamepad's much larger market share next to a console that outsold everybody).