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Topic: The everything Xbox thread

Posts 5,901 to 5,920 of 11,903

NEStalgia

@BlueOcean LOL, I wouldn't even doubt that win. The industry is so hyped up for a game that doesn't even have a game, I could totally see it. The really sad thing is '76 is selling really really really well. That's just depressing.

@subpopz That really does look like the OG PS4!

@ThanosReXXX So I did a little shopping yesterday. I realized that Dark Cloud 2 on PS4 looks way prettier than I remembered it did, and discovered that Dark Cloud 1 now also is available on PS4, so I bought that. While I was doing that I discovered Rogue Galaxy on PS4 as well...another ancient gem from Level-5 I missed that looks pretty good. Which then reminded me of our conversation here, so though $20 was a bit steep I made sure to go and grab Blue Dragon. And then, while I was there, I figured...well..heck....it's only $9.99....maybe I'll just grab Black too..... So, now I bought it... Thanks...

I started it up, and it's definitely cooler in terms of content than I expected, and yeah the graphics are definitely no OG XBox graphics, it's a great 360-ish or better remaster. I'm surprised EA did that. The whole black ops theme is cooler than I imagined. Gameplay is strange....it's pretty retro, and reminds me a lot of Golden Eye 64. Not a bad thing, actually, but the classic retro shooter play isn't what I expected from what looks modern on the outside. It's kind of a non-sequitur in a good way

NEStalgia

ThanosReXXX

@NEStalgia Aaaaannnnnddd..... my work here is done.

For now....

Concerning Black: what you describe, is part of what I meant with that specific feel that the game has, which in my opinion is most definitely due to the people behind it. Too bad that the original Criterion team has largely fallen apart and that the rest have been robotized by EA. Only their earlier games were still all them, later on they became more and more EA.

How do you like the gameplay itself? And the feel of the weapons? Still holds up pretty well in my opinion.
I'd label it more of an arcade shooter than it being a good alternative for people looking for more games like COD or Battlefield. That's kind of why I called it the Forza Horizon of first person shooters. (EDIT: the wiki page labels the game as "a highly stylized, cinematic experience", and I'd agree with that. Also kind of neat to see live-action cut scenes in a game again. Kinda adds to that retro feel... )

Not because it looks amazingly beautiful, but because it's a decidedly more arcadey experience, so if people are looking for something different than COD or Battlefield, then Black is most definitely worth giving a try.

On a side note: my only pet peeve with the game is the check point system only being useful if you keep playing. Once you quit a level, because you're stuck, can't beat it or whatever, then you'll have to replay the entire level the next time you boot up the game. And there's some pretty tough levels, with hard(er) to kill enemies later on, so I'll be looking forward to your final verdict of it...

Oh, and if you're anything like me and others who own Blue Dragon, then I know you're simply going to LOVE that one...

Anyway, hope you have fun with all your purchases. At least you can rest safe in the knowledge that you'll have more fun with them than with a Buzz Lightyear pocket rocket...

Edited on by ThanosReXXX

'The console wars are like boobs: Sony and Microsoft fight over which ones look the nicest and Nintendo's are the most fun to play with.'

Nintendo Network ID: ThanosReXX

ThanosReXXX

@NEStalgia

P.S.

In some levels in Black, it pays off to kill the lights before you enter an area. Use the Y button on your rifles, to add a silencer, press directional controls up to get single shot mode and shoot all lanterns. You can practice doing that starting from the second level, although in that specific level, it isn't really of much use, since the lights are mostly located on abandoned roads.

But if you zoom in, you'll see some small pockets of enemy guards here or there, which can be more easily surprised if you sneak up on them after you've silently killed the lights.

Oh, and get rid of the hand gun asap. Once you've got a rifle/semi-auto/automatic weapon as a second option, which will automatically happen once you've picked one up, look for a shot gun in any of the levels, and be sure you have the hand gun in use, so you can swap that out/drop that, in favor of a shot gun. The shot gun is good for tougher enemies, and for one shot kills when close up, and the automatic rifle is a jack of all trades.

And in some other levels, you'll find RPG's, sniper rifles and so on, which are good for certain parts of levels, but not all, so what I always do is remember where I swapped the weapon, and go back to that location to pick my shot gun up again, or if you come across another shot gun, you can save yourself the trouble of going back. Suffice to say that the automatic gun in combination with the shot gun is the most useful for most of the levels.

And look for signature red items, which explode once you shoot at them. And tanks, cars, canisters with a yellow danger sign on them are also good targets to take out multiple enemies at once.

'The console wars are like boobs: Sony and Microsoft fight over which ones look the nicest and Nintendo's are the most fun to play with.'

Nintendo Network ID: ThanosReXX

NEStalgia

@ThanosReXXX LOL

Yeah, EA, like every studio they absorb turned Criterion into "more EA." I guess Ghost is really Criterion and Criterion is really more Dice UK now. Blech. Although the good side is, not Alex, but a lot of key staff of the "real" Criterion did move over to Playground. It's kind of a who's who studio of key people from Criterion, Slightly Mad (Project CARS), SCE Liverpool (Gran Turismo & WipeOut), and Codemasters (DiRT, F1).....assuming MS doesn't destroy them like they've also destroyed a lot of studios they've bought, it's no wonder Horizon games are so good.

It's definitely arcade shooter, bordering on retro arcade shooter. At a glance it looks like a COD/Battlefiled kind of game, but it plays much older. The weapons feel good....I still, oddly, have to give props to Titanfall 2 of having the best weapon feel in any shooter to date. I don't know why but they got it really right (Weird that a DICE game would....) Black does it pretty well though...those shotguns are fun....the AK47 is kind of bland, honestly, it feels like a belt gun somehow. But the shotgun more than makes up for it

I figured check-pointing worked like that, and that's a definite annoyance. Levels are long-ish even at the start. I get that the whole mission is the mission, with 100% kill rates etc in the arena, but yeah, I do hate it when games don't respect my time. I can forgive Black, it's, what, a 15 year old game? But it still makes for frustration.

I imagine I'll love Blue Dragon, absolutely. It's a little surprising that you like it a lot considering it's a Sakaguchi (FF creator) game I love nearly all his games (FF series, Chrono series, Bahamut, SaGa, etc.) but I know you're not an FF fan. Which this also made me discover Lost Odyssey as an XB exclusive, also on BC....ugh, $25....I think that's a must have though. Also ties nicely with the rumors of Last Story port for Switch that popped up in the Switch thread today. He was also highly involved with that. I still have no idea how I missed both Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey in the actual 360 era though when I was starved for JRPGs, especially after initial disappointment in FFXIII. Maybe by that point I was onto 3DS and WiiU as my mains.

I'll leave Buzz Goodman for others......

NEStalgia

NEStalgia

@ThanosReXXX Yeah, the explodey stuff was a good bit of fun while testing it out last night I didn't know about the lights though, that's cool! Stealth.....wasn't my strong suit in that second mission, I admit....

NEStalgia

Banjo-

@NEStalgia I am happy that you still like me in spite of Thanos and Darth insinuating that I am evil and you needed to be saved.

Now serious stuff. Crash Team Racing remake is the biggest rumour related to the Games Awards at the moment, I hope that it's true and 60 fps. I would prefer Diddy Kong Racing but I really wanted the only good Crash racing game to be remade. Are you guys excited about it?

Gameplay is strange....it's pretty retro, and reminds me a lot of Golden Eye 64.

Thay was exactly my reply when Thanos posted the trailer. I used the term "cinematographic" but I was actually thinking of Rare's Goldeneye 007.

Edited on by Banjo-

Banjo-

ThanosReXXX

@NEStalgia Perhaps needless to say, but I forgot to mention that when sneaking up on people, you need to be crouching.

Nice find on that PS classic Rogue Galaxy. I remember having seen it on a friend's PS2 back in the day, and wanting it, except I obviously wasn't going to buy a Sony console for that game, so I kinda hoped it was either coming to PC or to the GameCube, but that never happened, far as I know.

Those Dark Cloud games also look kinda interesting. But still not enough to pull me to the Dark Side...
Also kinda disappointing that there isn't any voice acting in there. You'd think that would be included in a Sony RPG...

P.S.

If you really get stuck in Black, or if you're simply a sucker for spoilers/cheats/tips, then here are some:
https://www.ign.com/wikis/black/Secrets
https://www.ign.com/wikis/black/Xbox_360_Cheats

'The console wars are like boobs: Sony and Microsoft fight over which ones look the nicest and Nintendo's are the most fun to play with.'

Nintendo Network ID: ThanosReXX

ThanosReXXX

@BlueOcean Wait, what?

'The console wars are like boobs: Sony and Microsoft fight over which ones look the nicest and Nintendo's are the most fun to play with.'

Nintendo Network ID: ThanosReXX

ThanosReXXX

@NEStalgia About me liking Blue Dragon: I don't necessarily look who has created any game, so I'm not really one of those "developer groupies", and the aesthetics and the story of Blue Dragon are SO vastly different to anything FF, that it wasn't that hard to get into it.

The main protagonist actually reminded me a bit of Dragon Ball's Goku, looks-wise.

@DarthNocturnal Damn, yet another free game that I missed. It seems to be the story of my life, what with being a late adopter of practically any and all consoles and handhelds that I own...

'The console wars are like boobs: Sony and Microsoft fight over which ones look the nicest and Nintendo's are the most fun to play with.'

Nintendo Network ID: ThanosReXX

Banjo-

@DarthNocturnal Was more addressed to Thanos but I'm kidding. Answer the rumour.

EDIT: I am also considering Blue Dragon and Black but I want to know if levels are that loooong @NEStalgia.

Edited on by Banjo-

Banjo-

ThanosReXXX

@BlueOcean I'll make a mental note of not calling you out on "coming across as angry" again, might bite me in the backside in a semi-funny way several pages later...

'The console wars are like boobs: Sony and Microsoft fight over which ones look the nicest and Nintendo's are the most fun to play with.'

Nintendo Network ID: ThanosReXX

ThanosReXXX

@BlueOcean Levels are 6 - 10 minutes on average, depending on your play style and if you're one of those OCD-ish "have-to-find-any-and-every-item-in-a-level" kinda person...

'The console wars are like boobs: Sony and Microsoft fight over which ones look the nicest and Nintendo's are the most fun to play with.'

Nintendo Network ID: ThanosReXX

Banjo-

@ThanosReXXX LOL You were so insistent and I am not browsing NL 24/7 like you . I don't have time to read all the comments right away.

Edited on by Banjo-

Banjo-

ThanosReXXX

@DarthNocturnal Well that explains a lot. The game's cover image is what immediately grabbed me back then,
so I bought it. Was also a MASSIVE Dragon Ball fan in those days, so the image must almost certainly have triggered me to pick the game up.

Edited on by ThanosReXXX

'The console wars are like boobs: Sony and Microsoft fight over which ones look the nicest and Nintendo's are the most fun to play with.'

Nintendo Network ID: ThanosReXX

Banjo-

So nobody cares about the Crash Team Racing remake rumour?

Banjo-

ThanosReXXX

@BlueOcean Me neither (browsing 24/7. More like two or three times a day, to check on updates). But insistent? Man, I'm the most social person you'll never meet. People that know me in real life always feel that there's some kind of disconnect going on, when I communicate online, because in real life, I'm hardly ever misunderstood, let alone get myself caught in heated arguments, intended or not.

Edited on by ThanosReXXX

'The console wars are like boobs: Sony and Microsoft fight over which ones look the nicest and Nintendo's are the most fun to play with.'

Nintendo Network ID: ThanosReXX

ThanosReXXX

@BlueOcean Well, caring is a big word, but I liked the game on GameCube, so if a remake is anything like that, then I'd welcome it to whatever console it's coming to.

'The console wars are like boobs: Sony and Microsoft fight over which ones look the nicest and Nintendo's are the most fun to play with.'

Nintendo Network ID: ThanosReXX

NEStalgia

@BlueOcean Haha, glad you're glad!

I haven't played any of the Crash racers. At first when I read that I got a mental image of Jak X Combat Racing and gagged a bit. Anything that isn't that has to be something better than terrible It could be fun, especially if it's in the new Crash engine....at better frame rate.

@ThanosReXXX Not sure about Rogue Galaxy or Dark Cloud 1, but Dark Cloud 2 does have voice acting. Level 5 often doesn't use voice acting though, even in current games, so it wouldn't be so weird if the others don't have it. I actually had Dark Cloud 1 in the stack of PS2 games I wanted to catch up on when I bought a battered PS2 to go with my 3 (because I bought the PS3 model that first stripped out PS2 back compat..... not to justify your anti-Sony thinking but, only Sony would stealth REMOVE launch features from console revisions.... The PS3 era was a really painful time to be a PS fan.) But I only played the first area. It was kind of a Zelda-meets-RPG kind of thing with that Level 5 charm. 2 is a lot more refined in presentation. That stuff is definitely the holdovers of back when Playstation was special and not just an XBox clone. I'm surprised Level 5 hasn't ported it to Nintendo yet, though. Not XBox, Level 5 is too Japanese for that. But even Blue Dragon apparently got DS spinoffs. Dark Cloud and Rogue were published by SCE so I don't know what rights they had behind the scenes. FF is now out, but apparently Sony was a partial stakeholder in Square until sometime this year which explains the situation a bit. I think Level 5 has realigned behind their "multimedia franchise" stuff too much to care about those older series, or even Fantasy Life

@DarthNocturnal Ahh, Duke Nukem Forever.....I always found it funny that "DNF" is the value given to ski racers who crash/miss gates and never get to the end......(Did Not Finish)

Titanfall2 is from one of the CoD creators, huh? Interesting. That's weird because it's actually good.....

Ahh, I probably wasn't an XBL subscriber back then. I last paid sometime in 2011, until this year. And I didn't grab free games because my internet at the time couldn't handle it anyway. I guess $25 is a smaller fee to pay than $60 though...

If "find all the things" breaks you, you must hate Fable and Elder Scrolls, huh?

@ThanosReXXX Yeah, you actually hit the nail on the head! The art style is Toriyama (Dragon Ball creator, and main artist of Dragon Quest series, and Chrono Trigger), so it's pretty different than Nomura's art style you'd associate with FF (also, Torna, and KH) and explains similarities to Goku - same artist. FF has a few main artists, Amano and Itahana are more subdued, but Nomura's the one you'd associate the most with FF (and anything with a belt/zipper/leather fetish in that series, as well as KH including KH3, as you can tell from the abundance of zippers demoed at XO18 )

@BlueOcean Thanos is right, use more emoji

So far from what I've seen of Black...yeah...levels are pretty darned long. It was the style of the time in shooters, to have to complete these huge missions in one go. Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter drove me crazy with that. It had checkpoints, like once an hour. On one hand you can say it encourages you to be efficient and breeze through, but the sheer number of hidden items that you get credit for finding all of means it encourages taking tons of time. Golden Eye definitely kept the mission lengths down comparatively.

I haven't started up Blue Dragon yet, so I'm curious how far apart save points are as well. JRPGs are usually forgiving with that.

Edited on by NEStalgia

NEStalgia

Banjo-

@ThanosReXXX Fair enough.

@DarthNocturnal
I have played the Crash kart games on GameCube but they aren't very good. The original one developed by ND for PS is considered much better. Similarly, the original Crash trilogy is considered better than the GameCube/PS2/XB games developed by other studios.

I didn't know that games were announced at the Games Awards, people are talking about Crash Team Racing, The Last Story II, Metroid Prime Trilogy, Mortal Kombat... From now on E3 has no business, everything is leaked by retailers or announced elsewhere. Spoilers everywhere.

Banjo-

NEStalgia

BTW, it's a good Deals with Gold week.

The newly BC Duke Nukem Forever is $3.99 @DarthNocturnal

And for anyone that has yet to pick it up, Forza Motorsport 6 + Horizon 3 bundle is 60% off, and the Horizon 3 Platinum Plus is 70% off.

NEStalgia

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