Lurker > Axl_Rose_85

6

This is not the pro wrestling industry

1

95% filler. Shenmue III advanced the story of the series by probably around 5% in the grand scheme of things. Bottom line is Yu Suzuki fumbled the second chance he got. He completely wasted the lifeline given to him by the dedicated fans of Shenmue to do the series justice and to finish the story of Ryo Hazuki's quest of vengeance.

No matter what his initial vision for how many games he wanted for the series was, when Shenmue 1 was made, it is inexcusable what he did with the third game that released nearly two decades after the second game. Gameplay has its own set of major issues but the story is where the game really suffers because everybody who crowdfunded the game wanted to see all the loose ends being tied up and hopefully the conclusion to the story. Instead what we got was a wild goose chase that does nothing for the overall plot of the series which finally ended up with a tease of a confrontation against Lan Di. By the time the game drew its credits and it said "The story goes on...", I knew I was completely done with the series and have absolutely zero anticipation for another sequel that is likely to never see the light of day.

1

The most unnecessary Kingdom Hearts story

7

6

hylianknight3 posted...

Toy Story 2 and Tarzan were pretty good iirc

I second this. Two of my favorite Disney games from that gen.

3.5

The Mummy (PS1)

My friends and I would take turns in trying to get past the levels which were janky and very clumsily designed by today's standards. Progressing the game felt very rewarding because we were kids and absolutely sucked at the game.

I went back to it when I was older and even though it was a badly made game, I was hit with nostalgia and I had a blast playing through it till the end.

9.5

Excellent lore, dialogue, character development and world building. Really hyped for the sequel.

Elden Ring

6.5

Gets the benefit of being the first Fire Emblem game I played. The story is the standard fare of series' plot or at least for me it is the one that started all the FE tropes and cliches but it is done well. There was a genuinely shocking moment that has still stuck with me over the years and I liked the characters for the most part in the game.

3

Trico (the beast) and the boy's relationship is the main draw of the plot which is presented in the subtle storytelling style of ICO. I'm a huge fan of SotC but I found ICO to be lacking and The Last Guardian is a spiritual successor to ICO more so than SotC. Infact it has very little similarities to SotC other than aesthetics and tone.

Now with that said the game goes all in on the boy and Trico's gradually developing relationship as far as the plot is concerned with little else to spare for anything else. Which is why the plot reflects on your experience rather than what is actually there or what is presented.

Personally for me, this was a very unpleasant experience. In a game riddled with puzzles which greatly rely on Trico, he is seldom responsive and sometimes outright ends up doing things that literally set you back. I played the base version on launch so I dunno whether this was patched later. This led to a frustrating overall experience and skewed the narrative against its favor. The bond between boy and Trico didn't exactly resonate as well as it evidently did with some other players. Ending was nice but the fact that I cared more about Agro than Trico speaks volumes about the impact the game had on me.

Leonhart4 posted...

I've often passed up on taking shots at your general negativity. I hadn't said anything to you since your little fit, and believe me, it wasn't for lack of opportunity.

The frequency may have decreased since I called you out on it but you picked your spot here. And why does my negativity irk you so much. I have said plenty of positive things as well. I don't expect a pat in the back for that as much as I don't expect a jab for the negatives.

For what it's worth, I respected you a lot back then because of your contributions around here and I genuinely thought you were one of the nicest guys in this board. And I promise you this is not just because of your agenda with me these days but honestly you have become somewhat of an unlikeable ass in past few years and sorry TC, this isn't name calling, this is just honesty.

And you may exaggerate it as a fit when I simply said I'm getting weary of your cheapshots. I simply decided to finally take a stand for myself out of principle which is what I do in life but over here I've been ignoring it because I'm talking with people on the internet. And I realized that the internet can get on your skin too if you let it.

Whether it corresponds to his opinion or not, I was giving mine and I'm entitled to it. And if someone's barometer for trying out a game is based loosely from one individual's say, then it is their issue.

I didn't just come in and say something vague like Hey don't play DS2. That game sucks balls. I gave my reasoning for it. Hell I praised the gameplay of the game and explained the reason why I didn't like the story.

Anyways, I'll try to remain civil but sometimes these jabs get to you on a bad day despite how much you keep telling yourself this is just the internet. I didn't mean to derail these topics TC so, apologies from my part.

MariaTaylor posted...

Gwyn has presentation and style on his side but I think he's considered to be relatively easy

On New game+ and above, Gwyn is the only boss in Dark Souls 1 that doesn't give you a clear window to heal. He's relentless with his attacks, his fire eats through shield stamina and your health and the HP buff he gets from 2nd playthrough makes him more tanky so he's not very easy. At least not easy by base Dark Souls 1 standards. I'd actually call him one of the hardest boss in the game outright if he didn't stagger from heavy attacks.

My taste doesn't have to correspond to anyone else's nor should anyone's tastes correspond to the majority. The reason why a lot of people on this board have such shallow taste in video games is because of their inability to go against the norm and most people just forming bandwagon opinions that goes pro majority. That would also all be fine if they weren't so razor thin skinned about any controversial opinions.

No sooner does someone say something negative about a cult classic that is beloved on the board than the resident board 8ers lead by the white knight Mr. Leonhart and his bootlickers like Mr. Macaroni will be up and about with their pitchforks.

If you have a problem with a particular opinion of mine about a particular game then I'm more than open for discussion. And I believe I have been giving some contexts to the low or high scores I've been giving even if somedays I just don't feel like typing.

Mac Arrowny posted...

uh, no, that's you rating the gameplay instead of rating the story

You must be a real joy in life.

He's explained his reasons clearly enough to give whatever reasoning for his score which honestly is a lot more than what you have contributed so I really do recommend you pull that stick outta your ass.

Leonhart4 posted...

This from the guy who got offended that I said he goes out of his way to dump on games lawl

@Leonhart4
I didn't see this last time so let me clarify. I didn't get offended that you called me out on that. I got offended that whenever I'd give a negative opinion on something, you'd never fail to take a jab at me ever since that Hades topic where I changed my rating. And that went on for a while with me ignoring your shots which believe me, went on for a quite a while.

Mac Arrowny posted...

Please don't ever trust Axl's taste in game stories.

Lol. And here comes the secondary cheap shot artist who is probably a loser in life because why would somebody be this angry and bitter all the time. Please why don't you clarify about my taste in video game stories.

1

Definition of a slogfest of a game with an unremarkable, unmemorable story and characters with the charisma of a wooden board.

Didn't vote because I can't decide between Dark Souls and Elden Ring. Might need to replay Elden Ring a few more times before I settle into which one is better.

Should that review even be counted on open and meta?

ninkendo posted...

NME - 2/10
Stranger of Paradise is mostly just a mess. When the gameplay works, it works surprisingly well, but that wasnt often enough to make it fun for its entire runtime. Its hard to make a judgement on the story, mostly because there isnt much of a narrative, but its even more disappointing because I wanted to spend more time with the characters, because theyre far from unlikeable. A grand ode to Final Fantasy it is not, and it fails to appeal to the JRPG lover in me on most counts

I'm getting the game for sure because Nioh but Jesus Christ what the fuck is this review?

Can't say I'm surprised but that doesn't make this any less sad.

Elden Ring is a masterpiece of a video game but we are talking about contest strength here.

This is literally Elden Ring vs. the three strongest games on the site when we don't even know if Elden Ring can beat Dark Souls right now. No brainer that it isn't in the same league as those three games.... yet.

I can see Elden Ring beating BotW2 (which will likely not be anywhere close to BotW1 in strength) in GotY 2022 though if everything pans out.

5

I love TLOU's story but I felt this was a little bit on the unnecessary side and the only thing it really established was Ellie's sexuality.

Demon's Souls and the definitive way to play Elden Ring

4

2

7

I really like the minimalistic approach to story telling here. It works well for the kind of game it is. The flashbacks are done really well and they absolutely nailed it with Zelda's VA.

plasmabeam posted...

I'm almost at the end of Devil Survivor Overclocked. Bummer to hear DS2's story is THAT bad.

I really didn't like DS1's story that much either which the SMT fans seem to revere so much. It was a very standard fare SMT plot and maybe it is my fault for going in expecting something different. However, after playing DS2, I'm looking more fondly upon DS1's story because goddamn is the story such a drag in 2.

I'm in day 6 of Devil Survivor 2 and while I commend Atlus for trying something different (a mixture of SMT and Persona) it was a very half baked attempt. The plot feels like 70% filler and while they really tried with the characters, the presentation of the plot and dialogue falls really flat. There is way more humor and light-hearted dialogue in what is a post-apocalyptic when it should have embodied a darker tone to raise the stakes of the situation the party is in. Instead more than half the time you have to contend with juvenile comedy and script that feels like it is taken out of a poor Visual Novel.

Plot aside I am really enjoying the game though. I think Atlus struck gold with their strategy turn based battle hybrid with the series. DS2 has a lot of improvements over DS1 in gameplay and QoL but if you're playing Overclocked I don't think you'd notice.

From the 8 hours or so that I've played, it was a 1/10 story but this shouldn't count. I played the base version which was riddled with bugs. I might give this a proper chance in the future now that I've been going back to games that I've quit in the past.

Nominate Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2

So that I can give it a 1

2.5

The two best games of 2021 deservedly makes the final. Also identical percentage results to the GotY poll between the two.

7.5

Standard fare Fire Emblem story that is produced and done very well. Classic case of a generic story presented in a way that is entertaining and engaging. Chrom and Lucina are standout characters in the series alongside Ike, Zelgius, Edelgard, Dimitri, Lyndis and Ephraim (jk on this one).

The Dark Knight > Batman Begins > The Dark Knight Rises > Batman Returns > Batman (1989) > Batman vs. Superman > Batman Forever > Batman & Robin

Haven't watched Adam West Batman and the new one yet.

Expect stuffer to carry Batman & Robin to the finals

Statlander
Hook
House of Black
Sting, Darby, Sammy
Keith Lee
Eddie Kingston
Jon Moxley
CM Punk
Jade Cargill
Jurassic Express
Britt Baker
Hangman Page

AEW matches are usually very easy to predict. Let's see.

Retro vote for

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor

3

Finished this last night (Amane's route). Played the original DS version. The game starts off very interesting but then completely falls apart after a while. A lot of the interactions are very boring and by the end turns into standard fare SMT Law, Neutral, Chaos type choices that are not handled very well. I expected great things from the story after everyone here rated it so highly but it was such a whatever experience considering there was no character that really left an impression on me and most of the dialogue was written quite badly.

I will give DS2 a shot because I enjoyed the gameplay of DS1 somewhat but I've heard the story is worse in that one. How can it possibly be worse than this is a good question.

2

No

Resident Evil Village

5

Persona 5

Resident Evil Village

plasmabeam posted...

0/10

Just kidding. Haven't played.

Nominate Vagrant Story

I do wish 0/10s were allowed though because stuff like FF Tactics Advance doesn't even deserve the 1s I gave them.

4

Playing all three stories of Aqua, Ven and Terra was quite tedious because it made the game feel like 3 mini-RPGs in one. The story is better than the other spin-offs but really feels like a budget version of the mainline games and is admittedly not very good.

Speaking of BBS though, did anyone here beat the Mysterious Figure on the PSP version on Proud or higher? I beat him on Normal once but my god was it like the most BS superboss fight ever. They made him less broken on the 2.5 HD versions so that doesn't count.

Metroid Dread

This is a tough one because I usually finish games I like.

Oh yeah, it has to be racing games like Gran Turismo and Forza. I don't think I've ever actually 'finished' any of those.

8

While the story doesn't match the world building and scope of the first game, it ties up things very nicely for the series. I marked out hard when finally getting to fight Gwyn's unnamed son after all the build up from Dark Souls 1 and all the speculation surrounding who it could be. The Ringed City DLC had amazing lore as well and it was especially nice to see them acknowledge Dark Souls II.