GAMER LOUNGE 20XX (NO CASUALS!!)

[Kriven]

I didn't know Sheik was Zelda until the reveal, but I also didn't realize Sheik was supposed to be male until way later on in life. So I'm in the middle there.

[miyabi95_]

brief review of dbz extreme butouden:

what i like
----------
- fantastic spritework
- relatively simple fighting system
- arcade-style mechanics with a few modifications

minor flaws
------------
- they didn't make sprite animations to go with fighting in the air vs on the ground (for example gohan lays down on thin air for his victory pose)
- health goes down very fast, therefore fights are won easily. there should be an option to change the damage ratio
- voiceclips are rather low quality, but it's common in most 3ds games

THE BIGGEST FLAW
---------------------
- the roster of playable characters is not diverse at all. the only characters that are playable are common favorites like goku, gohan, vegeta, trunks, frieza, cell, buu, etc. while yes, it's important to have these well-known favorites as major components of the game, that doesn't render the less-appreciated characters as useless. many of the dragon ball fighting games released have had very vast and interesting rosters of playable characters. a fan could probably name at least five of them that appeal to the niche portion of the fanbase that appreciates underrated characters like bojack, chi-chi, kid goku, uub, other transformations of various characters, etc. while the assist system of this game is rather interesting and fun, i'm disappointed that the roster of assist characters is 90% of the characters from the entire franchise.

with that said i probably give this game a 7/10 because of its lackluster character selection.

[Kosheh]

brief review of dbz extreme butouden:

what i like
----------
- fantastic spritework
- relatively simple fighting system
- arcade-style mechanics with a few modifications

minor flaws
------------
- they didn't make sprite animations to go with fighting in the air vs on the ground (for example gohan lays down on thin air for his victory pose)
- health goes down very fast, therefore fights are won easily. there should be an option to change the damage ratio
- voiceclips are rather low quality, but it's common in most 3ds games

THE BIGGEST FLAW
---------------------
- the roster of playable characters is not diverse at all. the only characters that are playable are common favorites like goku, gohan, vegeta, trunks, frieza, cell, buu, etc. while yes, it's important to have these well-known favorites as major components of the game, that doesn't render the less-appreciated characters as useless. many of the dragon ball fighting games released have had very vast and interesting rosters of playable characters. a fan could probably name at least five of them that appeal to the niche portion of the fanbase that appreciates underrated characters like bojack, chi-chi, kid goku, uub, other transformations of various characters, etc. while the assist system of this game is rather interesting and fun, i'm disappointed that the roster of assist characters is 90% of the characters from the entire franchise.

with that said i probably give this game a 7/10 because of its lackluster character selection.

oh it gets better though. or hopefully it will

this is a real thing that's actually happening in japan and i pray every night that one piece dai kaizoku colosseum gets released stateside so i can do this too

[Kriven]

Can we just get a whole line of Shonen Jump themed fighting games that can cross-play like that?

Because I want some NarutoBobobo up in there.

[miyabi95_]

weird how wildguns is an snes game ported to the ps4. iirc it was only on the snes. has that ever happened before??

[puggsoy]

You can get 7 games for free from Ubisoft right now - Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, Rayman Origins, The Crew, Beyond Good and Evil, Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, and Assassin's Creed III.

You'll need a Ubisoft account and you run them through UPlay, hence why this isn't in the Steam thread. Still, these are all pretty nice games, even though I mainly got it for Rayman.

[Kosheh]

weird how wildguns is an snes game ported to the ps4. iirc it was only on the snes. has that ever happened before??

well,

yeah

[miyabi95_]

does anyone know if people still play dragon ball xenoverse 1? if not it isn't a huge deal. it offers plenty of fun stuff in the single player campaign.

[psychospacecow]

does anyone know if people still play dragon ball xenoverse 1? if not it isn't a huge deal. it offers plenty of fun stuff in the single player campaign.

Most people have moved onto 2. If you're on PC, both communities are relatively small but probably within what you'd expect from an anime game a month after release. I'd honestly recommend hopping straight into 2 though. If on PC, I might hop on every now and then since I have 2 on PS4.

[Cloud6625]

Shantae Half Genie Hero is out and it's on a small sale on steam! I've been playing it constantly for the past two days.
http://store.steampowered.com/app/253840/

I highly recommend it to Metroidvania and Platformer fans.

[Jermungandr]

While I agree with your recommendation, I really would not describe the game as a "Metroidvania" title in the slightest. The level designs are very straightforward and open, just with secret areas smattered throughout them that you'll have to discover if you want to 100% the game. Rather than Metroid or Castlevania, if I had to compare it to any game series I'd probably go with something more like Mega Man X, or maybe a Donkey Kong Country game without the bonus-games.

[Kosheh]

While I agree with your recommendation, I really would not describe the game as a "Metroidvania" title in the slightest. The level designs are very straightforward and open, just with secret areas smattered throughout them that you'll have to discover if you want to 100% the game. Rather than Metroid or Castlevania, if I had to compare it to any game series I'd probably go with something more like Mega Man X, or maybe a Donkey Kong Country game without the bonus-games.

...but you literally go and backtrack through other areas with abilities that you learn later and thus you're forced to revisit. Kinda like Dust, Guacamelee, Cave Story, or...Symphony of the Night, actually. huh


I mean the only difference is that you're popping around the game's locales by means of an overworld map...which how does that make it any different than the warping methods in the aforementioned games, except that you can't traverse throughout them manually in one giant, complex map :/

[Jermungandr]

It's not about the world being one singular cohesive map. Heck, not even all actual Metroid and Castlevania games have that. Take Portrait of Ruin, for example, or Metroid Prime 3 or arguably Metroid Fusion.

That isn't what defines a game as "Metroidvania"-like. Rather, it's the fact that the individual areas you explore are messy mazelike areas consisting of many paths and areas to explore, and much of the time while traversing down what seems like the "main" path you'll find yourself blocked by some sort of obstacle that forces you to backtrack in order to find whatever it is you need to get yourself past it.

½ Genie Hero doesn't do that. The primary path in each level is straight-forward platforming. You never reach a point in any level where you are not able to move forward because you don't have something that you need. And even though some level layouts are winding, there is never any reason for you to have to backtrack within a single level. Each level does, however, have small hidden areas that you can only enter once you've acquired the correct ability, and many of them are required. But this is not a feature that is uncommon in games that are not Metroidvania style.

That is why I think the comparison to Mega Man X is more apt; as the main path through any level is always straightforward, but hidden areas give you access to new abilities and upgrades; and certain areas are only accessible once you obtain certain abilities.

And don't take this as a criticism on the game, as I thought it was great. I'm just saying Metroidvania is not an accurate term to describe it.

[Terminal Devastation]

After reading the explainations on both sides of whether Shantae: 1/2 genie hero is a metroidvania or not... I'm finding both argument lack something and yet, both have very valid points.  In my experience, the levels felt more metroidvania upon a revisit, but mostly felt more like a linear platformer on the initial run. In most linear platformers, a new ability just didn't open up THAT much of a level. It's usually just a small niche in MMX for example, and the extra abilities don't so much as open up the level, as make the primary path easier.
 
Shantae's levels open up a lot with new abilities and some actually drastically alter what the primary path IS, especially combined with what ever reason you're revisiting the levels, since the goal area is now much different. This is more like a standard metroidvania, rather than a linear platformer. Unlike a metroidvania, Shantae does have a pretty clear main road, and the opened paths are clearly shortcuts and side streets.

Really the levels are built more like some of the more linear portions of say, portrait of Ruin (the academy comes to mind)... Or just individual sections of a true metroidvania, but built to not need the context of the area's around it, if that makes any sense.

Honestly I'd either call it a linear platformer with Metroidvania elements, or say... a half metroidvania.

[miyabi95_]

i always saw shantae as a cute and quirky mascot platformer to compete with Mario and Sonic. like Bubsy or Aero the Acrobat, but with FAR more polish and playability.

and i know she's not really a mascot, i'm just comparing the franchises.