Griddlelol

Has anyone played SotN on PS3 or Vita in the form of PSOne classics? It feels...weird. Loads of motion blur and seemingly delayed inputs. I'm not sure whether it's shit emulation, or whether it's just the game.

I'm listening to Bonfireside Chat - it's about Dark Souls. I had no idea you could plunge attack the Tauros Demon from the top of the tower. I've killed that guy like 10 times and never once even considered that.

Neat: http://blog.us.playstation.com/2015/07/10/crypt-of-the-necrodancer-coming-to-ps4-ps-vita/

It does seem that RPGs rely on trash as a mechanic while other games don't. FPS games have them, but because each one requires at least engaging with the game enough to point your gun at them and hit them I'm not sure if they qualify.

I quit Entwined, another PS+ game that is just boring. It's like guitar hero without the enjoyable music

I just looked through some fairly old forum posts and there's a lot of complaining about 2. Most that Raiden is a character who no one could possibly like. He's too girly, he loves snake too much etc. Others than the narrative is dumb. Weirdly I feel like they're missing the point. I guess, unfortunately, I do love the weird shit. Thankfully, Revengeance has loads of crazy weird stuff, and Raiden. I also came to MGS from playing a ton of stealth games that are...actually stealth games. My posts a few pages ago are bitching about getting caught constantly. I just had to ditch that mindset.

That's not a trash mob. That's called a boss encounter. I've always (and everyone I've ever played any MMO with) named the enemies that join in on boss fights "adds" because they're not trash; they are part of the encounter design. Trash is the annoying junk you have to kill before you get to the boss. The enemies where I'd put my rogue in stealth type /f on a healer and make myself a cup of coffee are trash. Isn't that just called bad design? I feel like one of the biggest issues with JRPGs in general is their reliance on grinding random, trivial battles. I'm not sure if that's valid to call them trash since they're basically a mechanic which allows the player to decrease difficulty by investing time. Weird when you think about it. While you're right that they provide tiny value which adds to something meaningful, they could be replaced with a better system.There could either be a better difficulty curve, or they could take the souls approach and make the enemies challenging, or at least punishing. Musou games do trash well, but they are the crux of the experience.

I think that's a decent definition. I've never really had a hard time defining them. Creeps in Lords Managements aren't trash because they offer tremendous value. Souls aren't trash because they pose a serious threat.

I'd love to hear more. I'm kind of shocked to hear that MGS2 is considered one of the worst of the series. I guess that gives me high hopes for 3.

Souls does a good job because the trash mobs aren't trash. They're incredibly dangerous. Recently playing Bloodborne, I was on the final boss, decided to farm some vials in the starting area. I was merrily hacking the enemies down, and a split second where I didn't pay attention meant I died. They may be easy to kill, but they are still incredibly dangerous. They're not skeletons that you can auto attack to beat. They revel in them precisely because they're tough. In some cases they're tougher than bosses. Another Bloodborne example: how many people have you heard complaining about the two wolves on the bridge? People got wrecked by that trash. I got wrecked by that trash. Then if you turn left, there's a boss, that most people one shot. That's a great way around the problem. They start out difficult. They become easy, but punish mistakes. Compare that to other games, where they start out easy, and become tedious. I also don't see how the genre of the game makes a difference. An example of a game that is compelling without trash is Bayonetta. The reward you get is irrelevant. I'm not saying RPGs should work the same way, I'm pointing out that there are games that do it well. I'm pretty content with saying that the idea of trash mobs is outdated. At least outside a tutorial, but one could argue that in a tutorial they're not trash, because the player won't be competent enough to view them as such.

I really liked Ground Zeroes. There's no story (well unless you pay attention to it, but it's a bit weird, so I didn't) but the gameplay is top notch. The missions are also in nice little bite sized chunks, so you don't have to worry about investing a load of time in something that you might not like. I remember liking 4, but I don't remember caring about the narrative because I hadn't played any of the others. MGS2 has made me care, which I didn't think would happen after 1. Hell, I even skipped the ending cutscene of 1 because it was boring me to tears. The ending of MGS2 has a weird Matrix vibe going on. It's a good video game.

That's exactly where I started hating the game. MGS2 ends on a high. I really want to play MGS4 again, knowing more of the story, but that'll never happen until it comes to PS Now, in the UK. So like 20 years.

It's full of the worst best anime bullshit there is. There's so much genetics jargon that makes no sense The Metal Gears screech like giant dinosaurs. Wtf?! WHY?! IT'S SO AWESOME. I'm so happy something as crazy as MGS2 exists and it's a mainstream game.

I bet this is the reason why. When I play Bayonetta, I constantly feel stressed because every single encounter is challenging. Even if you're good at the game, there's still an incentive to do better than you did last time thanks to to scoring system. Having some trash mobs would help with the overwhelming tension. I actually like that. In Dark Souls when you see the Capra Demons made me shit my pants. I then proceeded to slice them up with my 9+ Uchi and all the points I'd dumped into DEX. Felt like a god. Your point about feeling like you're not getting anything may be a good reason, that I'd never notice unless I played a game without it. Souls do a good job. Platinum series like Bayonetta and W101 do a good job. Monster Hunter does a good job. None of those games have trash mobs, every encounter has a challenge. They're some of the best games I've ever played.

I tried EOIV on 3DS, but I couldn't get into it. Not sure what it was about it that I didn't enjoy. It just felt...bare.

I beat Strider (PS4) last night. I was pleasantly surprised. I tried it when it was free on PS+ and I thought it was a crock of shit. Then I went away for about a year, came back having played a bunch of classic 2D games (Metroid mainly) and now I can see that it's a competent game. I enjoyed it, but I didn't care enough to get all the collectibles. Also I finished Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. I hated this at the start. It felt like it didn't realise it was meant for PS2, but was an up-rezed PS1 game. The controls are utter shit. But, it's an amazing game. Loved it. Not every minute, I could have easily stopped after the first 2 hours because I was so tired of fighting the controls, but I didn't, and I'm glad. The story is crazy and amazing. It's also way better than MGS1.

Well, I finished MGS2. Unlike 1, which had me going from loving to hating by the end, I went from hating to loving. It's a damn good game, and I think it's significantly better than the original. Fuck y'all! My issues: control. It controls like shit. Even when you get used to it, it still controls like shit. I ran into a hole in a certain boss fight way too many times. Shooting people is hard! That might be because I was playing on a vita though. Not the best control method for FPS stuff, still jumping between third and first person very quickly in some sections was incredibly jarring. I don't think it works well. I'll use spoilers even though it's a 10 year old game... Yeah I loved it. If it played better, I'd start another play through immediately. Unfortunately I don't want to put myself through the pain of the controls again. Next up MGS3.

I've always wondered why trash items exist. Why when I open a chest, is there 20 coins, a piece of armor and a plate worth 20 coins that does nothing, other than let you sell it? Some games even streamline it so that you can click "sell all junk" at a vendor. What?! Why even bother with the junk, just give me the monies. It's a layer of pointless interaction that does nothing. There's no risk vs reward, there's no more reward in selling a goblet or plate for 20 monies than just receiving 20 monies. It feels like shitty design based on something that's existed for a long time. Golly, I'm making an RPG, better put in useless items that can be sold. On the trash mobs: I agree, fuck trash mobs. They don't teach you anything, if a boss is just a trash mob with more health, then that's a boring fucking boss. I want all bosses, or at least all challenging encounters. There's a reason Souls and Platinum games are some of my favourite. They ignore the idea of trash enemies that don't challenge you.

lol no. Just lamenting the fact I wasn't allowed to play games until I was 11ish, meaning I missed out on a lot of classics.

That just cracks me up no matter how many times I see it.

Another game I never played that was formative for pretty much all my friends. Damn parents making me use my imagination.

Oh god I'm dying. You stunned. I did not alert her husband. I clever.

I try to beat Champion's Road fortnightly. I still die at the American Football players.

Platformers are for babies.

Ugh, I feel the same. Mario's jump feels weird and floaty, and his run doesn't stop immediately so it feels like he's on ice.