Video Game News and Miscellany

figmentPez

figmentPez

Staff member
TIL that texture packs* exist for NES games.

*well, what amounts to texture packs.

This video isn't very well presented, but it's got a lot of examples. Some of these look great, others look terrible:
 
PatrThom

PatrThom

Frank said:
It's becoming more and more apparent that the folk who've spent upwards of 20 years working on Disco Elysium (seriously) were forced out by money hats looking to monetize the FRANCHISE.

The remaining devs are acting like the three fired folks were no big deal too, real shitty look, especially since one of the fired people wrote HALF OF THE ENTIRE GAME on his own.

Basically, most of the Eastern Europeans who made up the core group are gone, all that's left are the UK people.
Click to expand...


Not allowed to have nice things UNLESS they funnel money into the pockets of people who never seem to have enough.

--Patrick
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
Darkest Dungeon 2 is out of Epic jail, and available on Steam finally.



I'm worried, as I've been waiting for this game for so long that it can't possibly live up to my expectations for it. I was HUGELY into DD1.
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
GasBandit said:
Darkest Dungeon 2 is out of Epic jail, and available on Steam finally.



I'm worried, as I've been waiting for this game for so long that it can't possibly live up to my expectations for it. I was HUGELY into DD1.
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Uuugh and the reviews coming in, even the positive ones, are saying "This shouldn't be called Darkest Dungeon 2. The only thing it has in common with DD1 is the artwork. This is Oregon Trail wearing a Darkest Dungeon texture pack and using Slay the Spire gameplay."

I was still ok with all of that until "Slay the Spire."

I came to really loathe Slay the Spire because to win StS was dependent on a RNG roll at the beginning of the game, which you aren't told if you passed or failed until the end of the game.
You still have to do everything perfect even if you pass, but even if you do everything perfect it might not matter because the game already decided you would lose that run 45 minutes ago. It just didn't tell you.
 
bhamv3

bhamv3

Apparently rebooting Mortal Kombat has become a trend.



(Bit of MK-style gore in the trailer, possibly considered NSFW or NSFL, watch at your own discretion.)
 
Ravenpoe

Ravenpoe

bhamv3 said:
Apparently rebooting Mortal Kombat has become a trend.



(Bit of MK-style gore in the trailer, possibly considered NSFW or NSFL, watch at your own discretion.)
Click to expand...
This is a direct sequel to the end of MK11 aftermath, where Liu Kang was given Raiden's godly power and defeated the Titan of Time Kronika, who was pissed after all the mucking about when the timeline.

Liu Kang then had the power to reset history as he wished, and it ended with him going back to Kung Lao the great just before the very first mk tournament

So it's actually not a reboot, and it's depicting a time period that was never shown in the games, as the very first mk game is set generations after the Great Kung Lao had lost
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
GasBandit said:
Uuugh and the reviews coming in, even the positive ones, are saying "This shouldn't be called Darkest Dungeon 2. The only thing it has in common with DD1 is the artwork. This is Oregon Trail wearing a Darkest Dungeon texture pack and using Slay the Spire gameplay."

I was still ok with all of that until "Slay the Spire."

I came to really loathe Slay the Spire because to win StS was dependent on a RNG roll at the beginning of the game, which you aren't told if you passed or failed until the end of the game.
You still have to do everything perfect even if you pass, but even if you do everything perfect it might not matter because the game already decided you would lose that run 45 minutes ago. It just didn't tell you.
Click to expand...
Alright, after 16 hours of play, I feel confident enough in writing a review for Darkest Dungeon 2. Unfortunately.

That this title was locked in Epic jail for so long should have been our first warning that Red Hook was looking to cash in, not step up, with their sequel to indie darling masterpiece Darkest Dungeon. The game is dumbed down, less optimized (wagon controls are clunky, and prone to sludgy framerate drops), more grindy (and that's saying something), more RNG dependent (and that's REALLY saying something), and overall less of an enjoyable experience than DD1.

Fan favorite characters have been eliminated, and a new, generic, redundant character introduced. Play options are locked behind "candle" currency that requires you to play (and most very likely lose) multiple times before you can start playing the way you really want to. Official mod support has disappeared, a puzzling step backwards for an indie dev of a franchise with such a robust modding community, further impeding aforementioned play options (though you can still get mods if you're willing to put up with the Nexus). Even palette swaps and other cosmetic customization are unavailable from the start. I guess it's nice that they let you rename your characters still, but it matters little because 95% of runs end in a TPK, meaning you literally never get to develop any kind of attachment - they are entirely disposable and their deaths are at once both meaningless and annoying. The user interface is so minimal as to be cryptic, and even drilling down on the data provided often generates no useful information to the player. To make it worse, the whole thing cribs HARD from other indie grind-games, copying "Slay the Spire" unabashedly.

If this had been a standalone title from some other developer instead of a highly anticipated sequel to one of the best indie games of the previous decade, DD2 could have been given a pass as a stumbling first effort that achieved playable mediocrity. Instead, it feels like both an overcooked and unrefined cash-grab followup, which makes it even all the more puzzling that it took 6+ years to reach us... and extra, extra disappointing after all the build up and hype.

About the only things I can say good about it are that the sound and art design continue to be masterful, and at least there are no microtransactions. It's hard for me to recommend this game to anyone. Usually if a sequel is bad, I can say "this is meant only for fans of the first game," but it seems like this game was specifically made to *alienate* fans of the first game, while simultaneously being frustrating, arcane, and confusing for newcomers. So, really, who is this for? People who liked the atmosphere of DD1 but didn't like the gameplay, I guess? People who wished Slay the Spire was a little more grimdark? It's a safe one to pass by, which is a shame. The franchise has such potential, and it's being squandered.
 
Frank

Frank

That's a huge bummer. I liked DD, even if it didn't like me back.

I also like Slay the Spire though, so maybe I should give it a try.
 
@Li3n

@Li3n

Ravenpoe said:
This is a direct sequel to the end of MK11 aftermath, where Liu Kang was given Raiden's godly power and defeated the Titan of Time Kronika, who was pissed after all the mucking about when the timeline.

Liu Kang then had the power to reset history as he wished, and it ended with him going back to Kung Lao the great just before the very first mk tournament

So it's actually not a reboot, and it's depicting a time period that was never shown in the games, as the very first mk game is set generations after the Great Kung Lao had lost
Click to expand...
I mean, by that logic, the last reboot wasn't one either, since MK:Armageddon era Raiden sent a message to the past that changed things.
 
Ravenpoe

Ravenpoe

@Li3n said:
I mean, by that logic, the last reboot wasn't one either, since MK:Armageddon era Raiden sent a message to the past that changed things.
Click to expand...
It was an in-canon reboot, sure, but it was still retelling the first 3 games. This story is set -before- those, though just from the character previews looks like it will at least go up to the events of the first game, since that's the only way you get characters like Johnny Cage who has been partially revealed.

...unless there's even more time travel shenanigans. Personally I still hope the Kombat Kids can somehow be in it, I really like Cassie.
 
ThatNickGuy

ThatNickGuy

Assassin's Creed: Yet Another Fucking One Why Hasn't This Franchise Died Already?
(A.k.a.: Assassin's Creed: Mirage)
(Release Date: October 12)

 
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