Comments 142

Re: Review: Project Warlock - A Fantastic Tribute To The Very Best '90s FPS Classics

DevlinMandrake

@Darlinfan
Or maybe you could just approach the conversation less stridently and try framing your own opinions in a way that others can understand.
Instead of just throwing around words like retarded and garbage.
Maybe you'd get called a bellend less often that way?
I get that you have your opinions, and that you disagree with some other commentards on here. That's cool. But if you're going to throw names around, at least make sure that you explain to people why you disagree with them, and why you're calling them names.
Personally, I find this site to be largely full of whiners and people who toss out ill-informed opinions as though they're gospel (I know, it's the internet). It does my head in. But I'd prefer to try and provide the tools to make them better informed than just slag them off.
My problem with your comments is that you just tried to diminish the people you disagree with, rather than explain to them why you disagree and present an alternative viewpoint. That's always the higher road.
I'm not sorry for calling you a bellend, because your posts warranted it. But I do slightly regret the Joe Dirt comment. For all I know that's actually what you look like, and it's unfair to tear someone down based on their appearance. It's always more fun and stimulating to take apart their words/actions.

Re: UK Retailers Guilty Of Inflating Nintendo Switch Prices As Stock Remains Elusive

DevlinMandrake

@RupeeClock
So what? Game's income is substantially higher than that of any of their customers. The moment they start raising prices above RRP due to low stock they're making it more difficult for people with lower incomes to obtain the product. They sell other products as well so their income isn't solely determined by Switch availability. Punishing poor people by jacking prices to protect their bottom line is scummy behaviour. And let's face it, this isn't about protecting their income, it's about them doing what they think they can get away with.

Re: UK Retailers Guilty Of Inflating Nintendo Switch Prices As Stock Remains Elusive

DevlinMandrake

Amazon are very good at obfuscating who you're actually purchasing from. I was looking at Ring Fit on the official Amazon Nintendo page, but the embedded item being offered was at a much higher price than the official RRP. I was surprised that Nintendo was selling it at inflated prices but when I clicked through the link to buy it the actual item was being offered by a 3rd-party scalper. Very naughty from Amazon, and Nintendo probably aren't even aware of what's being done.

Re: Feature: Best Nintendo Switch Run And Gun Games

DevlinMandrake

Huntdown is awesome. Should be much, much higher in the list.

For the record, Cuphead sucks. Why is it even on the list? It's a boss-rush game, not a run&gun. Beside being in the wrong genre aside, how is it better than something like Contra classics? Let alone the more modern variants?
I know everyone seems to love the graphics in Cuphead, and it's a great aesthetic done well, don't get me wrong, but aside from that the controls are easily on a par with a cheap ZXSpectrum game (using a Kempston joystick that's been chewed by a dog) and I just found it so meh when I actually played it. Perhaps it was overhyped. I don't know.
To me it feels like instead of just being inspired by the classic cartoons of the time they're trying to evoke, they've tried to create a game that plays as though it was an arcade cabinet built in the 50's with dogdick controls and a scheming proprietor's eye as to how many pennies you're going to have to shove into it to complete the damn thing.

What the Switch really needs is a proper, modern, spiritual successor to Rolling Thunder. That can replace Cuphead at the top, we can juggle Huntdown and Contra Classics higher, and everyone will be happy. Or at least I will, which is the everyone I care about.

Re: That 3D Crab Fighting Game Appears To Be Surfacing On Switch This August

DevlinMandrake

Can't wait to see how good (bad) his actually is when it releases.

It also reminds me of King Crab from Geoff Darrow's Shaolin Cowboy comics. Actually, that series could make for a great game. Battling huge numbers of outlandish enemies in crazy settings, tonnes of over the top violence and destruction and a sarcastic talking mule.
Sort of like a Dynasty Warriors game but with, you know, decent gameplay.

Re: Review: Synaptic Drive - A Fun But Bare-Bones Custom Robo Successor

DevlinMandrake

@commentlife
I agree it's a somewhat overused term these days, but it's also somewhat nebulous and ill-defined which is why it tends to get thrown around so much. I'd say the Souls games are more just variations on the same theme.
Golf Story is a good example of a spiritual successor. It's got the same elements as the original GBA game but not made by anyone involved in the original design.

Re: Poll: Which Remastered Mario Games Would You Pick For A 'Super Mario All-Stars 2'?

DevlinMandrake

Sunshine. Sunshine. All the Sunshine. Easily my favourite Mario game of all time. The only problem I can see with it is that I think it'll be virtually unplayable without analogue triggers (lack of proper triggers is my one complaint about the Switch).

@RickD
I'm not misremembering it, I played it again last year with my son. Absolutely fantastic game. Not sure what you think was rushed or poorly designed about it. I found the world was really well constructed, the gameplay excellent, FLUDD's controls were intuitive and a huge amount of fun to play around with, it had a huge variety of interesting challenges and it had Hawaiian shirts. What's not to love?

Re: Review: Synaptic Drive - A Fun But Bare-Bones Custom Robo Successor

DevlinMandrake

Seems like a lot of wasted potential. Custom Robo Arena was a cool little game and it would be good to get a more modern version with some more in-depth combat gameplay.
The lack of single-player content makes this seem more like a tech demo or proof-of-concept than a full game and the asking price would be steep even if it did have the full-on RPG narrative attached.

Re: Colors Live's SonarPen Is Seriously Smart, Here's How It Uses Audio To Make Pressure-Sensitive Art

DevlinMandrake

@ferryb001
If you're planning spending that much money then you should probably just get a decent Wacom or similar.

Using audio like that is an absolutely genius idea. If they've patented it then it could have many more applications than just being used on the Switch. It sounds like a much cheaper way of producing a high-quality graphics tablet than is being used currently.

Re: Review: Minecraft Dungeons - A Simple Action RPG That Relies Too Heavily On The Minecraft Name

DevlinMandrake

@SwitchVogel
Fair play. I totally get where you're coming from on that, having played proper RPGs since D&D 2nd Ed. I think part of what I'm enjoying about it (both when I'm playing with my son and when I'm on my own file) is that it forces me to step away from agonising over my build, so I'm just more into the looting and grinding and beating the snot out of stuff flow. Sometimes you get crap gear but every so often something awesome pops up and totally changes the way you play the rest of the level. It's almost the perfect balance between Diablo and Rogue, in a weirdly unexpected way. All the randomness of getting a new character every so often without having to die and lose all your progression through the overall game. Perfect for kids too, it's a great way to teach them how to deal with different builds as and when they happen. This is a like a gateway drug to a full-on Diablo addiction.

Re: Mini Review: Indiecalypse - A Deeply Unpleasant Game About Games

DevlinMandrake

The very fact that the first screenshot shows they've censored swearing in their own games points out that they want to be seen as edgy and controversial but don't have the balls to even swear properly.

Take a number 2 or get off the pot, as it were.

And I've no problem with something being controversial, if there's an actual solid point that they're trying to make. But being controversial for the sake of it is the province of early teens.
It's 2020. If you still think (not-quite) swearing in a video game is brave and edgy, I feel sorry for you.

@JimmySpades
Agree 1million%. Grammatically, the game's name is an abortion. And probably underlines the general intelligence of the numpties behind this title.

Re: Review: Minecraft Dungeons - A Simple Action RPG That Relies Too Heavily On The Minecraft Name

DevlinMandrake

Update to my earlier comment:

The performance issues aren't actually that bad. The worst level so far (I've just done Redstone Mines with my lad) is far and away the swamp filled with witches. Not only does that have the worst lag but it's also got the toughest boss fight (that cauldron!) which means you may have to spend longer on the laggy level than you want.
@SwitchVogel
That's a very cool way of putting it. Kudos to you. I'm really enjoying it myself. It reminds me a lot of Gauntlet. I think the lack of consistent character build works really strongly in the game's favour, but it does require you to get your head around the concept of having a very fluid character instead of it being like a normal action-RPG where you build yourself in a certain direction from the start.
It almost returns Diablo/Gauntlet to their Rogue roots but without requiring you to die frequently.

Re: Review: Minecraft Dungeons - A Simple Action RPG That Relies Too Heavily On The Minecraft Name

DevlinMandrake

Personally I'm really enjoying it, and my mate is too. We're both playing it with our kids though, so neither of us were expecting something as complex as Diablo.
The framerate is a bit of an issue at times and it really does chug to an infuriating level in some sections.
I quite like the enchantment system and progression though. It's not true to say that you don't have a build, it's just that your build can change focus quite rapidly within the course of a single dungeon. It's fun though, and works for younger players because they don't need to obsess over stats.
The lack of crafting is odd because of the IP, but I don't play Minecraft so I'm not really missing that.
My biggest complaint is that I don't get to wander through dungeons smashing every physical object to splinters. I've said it before, across the Diablo series I've long-since proved my natural enemy is pottery. There's just not enough stuff to interact with in levels.
It's a good game though, I'd give it a 7, or an 8 if you've got kids/friends who are into it too.
It does make me hanker for something more in depth, but I don't think it's fair to knock the game for lacking something it never promised to deliver.

Re: Review: XCOM 2 Collection - Firaxis' Stone-Cold Classic Makes The Leap To Switch Intact

DevlinMandrake

I'm very tempted to get this, but I think I'll wait for a sale. The main thing putting me off at the moment is the somewhat excruciating difficulty. I don't want to spend whatever limited time I can carve out for myself for gaming banging my head against a brick wall. While an alien shoots me in the spine, melts my legs with acid and tries to eat my face.
It does look like an amazing port of a fantastic game though.

Also, I'm not sure why people are raging over the whole touchscreen con thing. Surely it's listed as a con because it's a feature available on Switch that hasn't been utilised. If you're not interested in using the touchscreen (I'm not, I think it's a terrible way to control a game), then the point is irrelevant to you, but if you're someone who likes using a touchscreen, then the lack of that option will be a negative. Not sure why people are having a hard time getting their noodle round that. Or getting angry about it.

Re: Feature: 10 Years Later, We Return To Our Abandoned Animal Crossing: Wild World Village

DevlinMandrake

I've got a save of the original GC version (on the original memory card that came with the game) that I probably haven't touched for at least 15 years now. I assume it looks like a cross between Mad Max and Hello Kitty by now and if I load it up Tom Nook will be the head of a cannibal cult with a large rhino called Eugene in arseless leather chaps as his chief enforcer.

By the way, I sincerely hope Dibly was named after Duane Dibley and not the Vicar of.

Re: The First DLC Pack For Minecraft Dungeons Launches This July

DevlinMandrake

Loving it so far. Me and my son are slowly making our way through it. The system is really good and I love how your build can massively change in the course of a single mission.
The framerate issues are frustrating though and we've had one complete crash (the first time we started the Creeper Woods level).
My biggest gripe so far though is that there's nowhere near enough stuff to smash.
I've been playing Diablo since the original first came out and over that time my number one most-slain enemy is pottery. It doesn't feel right walking through dungeons and leaving almost everything intact. I don't even care about loot drops from it, I just want to smash finely crafted earthenware.

Re: Feature: XCOM 2's Creative Director On The Challenge Of Bringing The Series To Switch

DevlinMandrake

@Rpg-lover
Is Mutant: Year Zero really that bad? I've loved the original PnP RPG for about 25+ years, as well as Mutant Chronicles and Kult and pretty much everything in the twisted Target Games universe.
I really like the look of Mutant on Switch but I've seen some people complaining about performance issues and how bad it looks.
Is it really that terrible? I'm not too bothered about low-rez sprites but if it makes it difficult to work out what's going on in the game then I'll probably have to (reluctantly) remove it from my wishlist.

Re: Square Enix Announces Infinity Strash - Dragon Quest: The Adventure Of Dai, But Is It Coming To Switch?

DevlinMandrake

@RoyanRannedos
That's vapourware, man. Half the original Frazzmotic Cromulance dev team commited suicide during playtesting of the original and the survivors were co-opted into some mil-tek psyops unit.
I hear there are downloads available on the darkweb, but they've been known to lead to severe psychosis and there was that whole Millsport Incident where the beta players spontaneously mutated so I doubt you can play even a partial transcript safely, even with a set of Chiba-quality Holtz-baffles on your rig.

Re: Square Enix Announces Infinity Strash - Dragon Quest: The Adventure Of Dai, But Is It Coming To Switch?

DevlinMandrake

@Desrever
Another good contender for the Stupid Name Olympics. I appreciate that they've actually invented a word, rather than just hammering several random words together like Artichoke Resonance Globular: Reflux (bonus points for throwing in pointless punctuation).

I think the ideal would be a name built out of random made up words, something like:

Frazzmotic Cromulance: Contrafibularity[Instupituous:Edition]

Re: Gorgeous Gothic Metroidvania The Last Faith Is Bound For Switch

DevlinMandrake

@Smitherenez
It does look a lot like Blasphemous, but that's no bad thing. The major difference appears to be this is Italian-Gothic rather than the Spanish-Gothic of Blasphemous (probably because the devs are Italian and Spanish respectively) and this one has a slightly more traditional look to it.
I think there's room for both on Switch though, and this does look like a good game. I'll definitely keep an eye out for it.

Re: 2K Says It's Eager To Release More Games On The Nintendo Switch

DevlinMandrake

@CTMatic
Re Spec-Ops: The Line. The gameplay was servicable but nothing spectacular. For me it was the story though. It was a brilliant exploration of Conrad's Heart of Darkness and in order to complete the game and find out what happened to Kurtz you had to be prepared to morally impair yourself. That and the fantastic soundtrack were enough to hook me and the game didn't disappoint at all. It's the only game I've played that actually simulates moral choices well, in that there's no in-game reward for whatever choice you make, and at certain points you have to either commit some heinous actions, or turn the game off and walk away.

Re: Random: Hollywood's "Most Killed Man" Is About To Show Off His Animal Crossing: New Horizons Island

DevlinMandrake

Danny Trejo is a solid gold legend and all-round awesome dude. He's been in metric fluff-ton of great films (Desperado, Dusk Till Dawn, Heat, Spy Kids, Con Air, Ron Burgundy, etc) and is a genuine double-hard baftard.
He had a rough start and met Edward Bunker (serial bank robber and novelist, Mr Blue in Pulp Fiction) in San Quentin and Bunker put him in some of his books.
Aside from all that macho cool nonsense though, he's genuinely a lovely bloke. I know someone a lot like him, who spent a lot of time doing all sorts of wrong stuff but has turned into one of the most decent, cognisant humans I ever been fortunate enough to know.
Like an old warrior who's laid down his arms because he knows that constant struggle isn't the answer. He can still fsck you up but he hopes you'll understand why he doesn't want to, before he has to.

Re: Review: Huntdown - A Gloriously Gory Run 'N Gun Blaster

DevlinMandrake

@Shramm
Definitely. Escape From New York is one of my favourite films and Plissken is a legend. The first thing I thought when I saw the trailer is that Ana is based on Plissken.
There are loads of other references in the game. There's a minigun called Ol' Painless (Predator), there are film posters for Aliens, Akira and The Thing in one stage and I swear the yellow pods with robotic legs at the start of level 3 are pulled from Akira. And Bad Boy Bob on level 3 is a reference to the scene where Snake Plissken is forced to fight Ox in the wrestling ring.

Re: Feature: The Game That Starred Mickey Mouse, Ghostbusters Or Garfield, Depending On Your Region

DevlinMandrake

@sdelfin
I did not know that. My only exposure to the "other" Ghostbusters was one of those kids books that are made from stills from the cartoon with some (not very) explanatory text. I remember the ape dude (that was the scarecrow thing, thinking back on it), and a really old-style car that had a face on it.
Had no idea it was a live-action show. Must have been mental.