I Had a Random Thought (About Video Games)

[Mawd]

I've only recently tried out 2-d metroidvania style games. Dipped my toes into 4 or 5 and now it's just a matter of waiting for Mighty No 9, BRotN, and Slain! to come out.

Of the ones I have tried I think Stryder is the fave. Setting about it theme and aesthetic is just too fun.

But what I'm really looking forward to is Hyper Light Drifter but I've heard more comparisons to Zelda than M-Vania which'll be neat since I've never Zelda'd due to a decided lack of Nintendo growing up.

[Twig]

I don't have opinions, just observations!

[syntheticgerbil]

Oh I should probably note I was trolling. I missed out on the Hyper Light Drifter Kickstarter, was bummed about that, it looks good. I suppose I will get to play it later but I missed out on the goodies.

[Griddlelol]

Weirdly enough I didn't like Shovel Knight that much. It's just too difficult to be precise thanks to the animations.

[Sno]

Rogue Legacy might not be a good at what it's trying to emulate, but as someone with limited experience of those things, it felt great. It could be a bad game, but it was really one of the first of that type that I tired and enjoyed. It is good enough at what it does that it pulled me in.

I'm sure there are better versions of that, which I haven't found yet though.

 

Have you played any of the GBA/DS Casltevania games yet? Or SOTN? Given how much of an influence they are on Rogue Legacy, it seems like you should.

 

 

Weirdly enough I didn't like Shovel Knight that much. It's just too difficult to be precise thanks to the animations.

 

I don't quite follow, the control response in that game is basically immediate in every circumstance, there aren't really any animations that should ever cause any issue. Or are you asserting that there's some hitbox/sprite dissonance?

[Griddlelol]

Have you played any of the GBA/DS Casltevania games yet? Or SOTN? Given how much of an influence they are on Rogue Legacy, it seems like you should.

 

 

 

I don't quite follow, the control response in that game is basically immediate in every circumstance, there aren't really any animations that should ever cause any issue. Or are you asserting that there's some hitbox/sprite dissonance?

 

I just bought SotN, but I've not jumped in far, only put 10 minutes before I fired up MGS2 which took over my vita.

 

It's nothing like that with Shovel Knight. The knight's jump lacks any...momentum to the animation. It's more like a weird thing in my head that means I struggle to land where I want because I expect it to be too far/not far enough.

I might be explaining that incorrectly because I don't really understand it. Just when I play Rogue Legacy or Spelunky I know where I'm going to land. I know I've fucked up or done it correctly before the character hits the ground (or the spikes). In SK I jump and I never know if I've made it until I actually land (or fall into the bottomless pit). The pogoing with the shovel doesn't help either.

[Sno]

You're making it sound like you're used to newer platformers with more restrictive and natural physics models and aren't used to continued and immediate response throughout the full arc of the jump.

 

Is that in the ballpark?

[Griddlelol]

Yes. 

[eot]

Kind of but not really relevant: I've tried playing Super Mario World three or four times but I just don't like the jumping physics in that game and I like yoshi even less. I'll probably force myself to play a bit more than a few levels of it at some point, but I'm wondering if nostaliga has inflated the reputation of that game.

[Griddlelol]

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. 

[BobbyBesar]

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. 

 

I recently re-played the original Super Mario Bros for the first time in ages, and the movement felt pretty terrible to me, too. I think one thing about esp the first game is that it's really about continuous movement in a way that a lot of later games that took cues from Castlevania, etc are not.

 

A good example of that is Hudson's Adventure island, which (IIRC) is more explicitly about constant movement, the movement is tuned similarly to if mario was always running (holding down the B button), and one of the power ups is actually just an auto-run item (skateboard).

[Twig]

Lots of people bad at platformers in this thread geez!

[Griddlelol]

Platformers are for babies. 

[Twig]

If only, then maybe I could convince people who are bad at video games that they're actually the best games.

[Bjorn]

Badass babies.

[BobbyBesar]

I think I 100%'d New SMB (not with Luigi though), so I'm not a terrible platform guy in general. But going back to the original SMB was weird.

 

For comparison, I beat hard mode Shovel Knight and I replay Mega Man 2 constantly (and it's still fun and great), which is why I think there's a fundamental philosophical difference to the way those games handle their movement.

[Griddlelol]

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

[Trip Hazard]

Mario World handles like a dream, when you get used to it. Just the right amount of "slide" when stopping or changing direction, and a good degree of vertical control based on tapping or holding the button. I love it. The cape is sweet, too

The original SMB I can never get to grips with, however. Haven't been able to articulate why so it's a good thing CLWheeljack already did that a few posts ago

[Trip Hazard]

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.

The opposite of Shovel Knight, which you also don't like! FUSSY

Edited so it makes sense

[osmosisch]

Sonic 1 is still pretty much gold standard for me.

[Patrick R]

Are there other genres where people's preference for specific movement paradigms gets so solidified? Like, if were all to count to 3 and say which FPS feels the best to move around in, would we all name drastically different games?

[osmosisch]

Dishonored.

 

I think the only other option would be Mirror's Edge. No other FP "S" is about movement.

[Twig]

Mirror's Edge! Except I guess there's no shooting there.

 

EDIT: Okay well osmo beat me to it! Dishonored does feel great, too.

[BobbyBesar]

Some people may disagree, but I don't think there's nearly as much variance in FPS movement, and most of the issues I can think of involved things like FOV or head bob, which aren't as integral to the physics of the movement model.

 

Arcade vs. Sim racing games probably has a similar divide though.

[Twig]

Quake vs. Red Orchestra is a pretty huge divide.