Firing up the Vita is weird. It was released in 1886 (?), yet remains a technical marvel. It's only stuff like the ridiculous need to scroll through and unsorted download history and peculiar UI elements that remind you it's not a modern device. I even think the OLED screen holds up (even if the resolution is low by today's standards). Going back to the Switch is always a bit of a "… we've not moved on a lot have we?" moment.
Shame we'll never get another one, it really was a short moment in time before phones overran the battlements.
It's still such a premium-feeling device, too. The look of it hasn't dated, the sticks and buttons feel nice and the screen as you say is still fantastic. Compared to the 3DS, which came out around the same time and looks like Fisher-Price made a console out of old tractor parts, it's just in a completely different league. Even the Switch feels plasticky in comparison.We won't talk about the proprietory memory card.
I'm assuming most people have the old one, but the newer model is ace. It feels like the screen dominates the whole device, and while the different screen isn't quite as good as the original's OLED one for colour depth, it's still lovely to hold and use.
it really was a short moment in time before phones overran the battlements
All the things I don't understand about the Vita are the bits where it's trying (unsuccessfully) to replicate smartphone functionality. Who the f–k wants an email client on a games device? The UI is, IIRC, a flavour of Android as well, which feels like another concession to smartphone dominance.
I'm assuming most people have the old one, but the newer model is ace. It feels like the screen dominates the whole device, and while the different screen isn't quite as good as the original's OLED one for colour depth, it's still lovely to hold and use.
I've never held the newer one in the flesh (I have two OLED models) and I'd be curious to see the difference. The depth of the black on the OLED is still great, although as it's obviously first generation tech it has some weird…. smearing?…. which can be seen in some light conditions. Absolutely pops though.
I didn't really mind the Email client and other weird little experimental things they shoved on there - it was never as convincing as Nintendo's vision for the 3DS and felt a bit like they were chucking things at the wall to see what would stick, but there were loads of great little apps with locational or proto-AR type features that were genuinely quite good. Maybe we should have a Vita appreciation thread to run over some of the old titles on it that still hold up today. Sly 3 for example. A better mobile platformer than Mario on the Switch changemymind.gif?
I had to find a Reddit link that let me buy Tactics Ogre then download it on my Vita because as Gar said, they nuked the section from orbit, but unless I'm lucky that TO is one of the few that can be still bought I think it's still possible.
I've been playing the Guilty Gear Strive Beta these last few days and…this game is leading the way for online Fighting Games in future. It's using a certain, rare type of netcode that makes Lag almost non existent called Rollback' as opposed to 'Delay' based netcode. I don't 100% understand how it works sadly but the proof is fucking out there, people are playing from like, USA to Japan and not lagging at all.
This is super significant for fighting games because we can't exactly play in packed tournaments or at a Friend's house and online is notoriously bad for the most part. I was going to buy this game to support fighting games with Rollback except playing it now it's a really fucking fun game too so that's lucky!
I'm playing a character who uses two enormous Katanas called RAMLETHAL VALENTINE and I'm having a blast.
Not even past everyone's prologue, the story is confusing as fuck at the minute (in a good way) but it looks an sounds great, only did two battles so far but they were fun so I assume when it all gets messier later I will have options and whatnot, I do kinda wish we could see the Mechs and Kaiju on the map but it's whatever.
It's sooooo stylish though, from the artstyle, to the chapter cut ins of everyone with that noise. That shot of Kurabe in his prologue where he accidentally summons his Sentinel and you look up at it from the streets of Tokyo was a godlike shot.
I feel massively offended you'd even suggest I'd play Killzone.
Killzone on the Vita is really good - miles better than the PS3 titles. It has a score attack Unit 13 vibe to it, rather than just shootymans. And not entirely sure what was going on there. I was speaking to myself or something, very odd. But probably for the best now Luscan has levelled up and is dropping post bombs on me.
It really is tremendous, although the mech battles could probably stand to be a little less hectic and a little more tactical. I never struggled to get an S-rank.
I'm a liiiiitle bit further in now and the Spoiler - click to showtimeline hopping is blowing my mind, it really does casually start different characters like 'So, yeah, in 2045 this happened' then you'll start someone else's and see a character from 2045 but the timeline will say '1985' and I'm like :thinking:
Can't remember the last time I played a game with a story this intriguing.
Some of the screenshots you can take in this game, of almost any given frame could stand as a work of art too, but then you see it in motion, especially when Sentinels suddenly appear and fill the screen (and you really do get a sense of how fuckhuge these things are every time they appear) and I think it looks better than some games I've played in 3D…[/hyperbole, but not really]
I have 13 Sentinels waiting to be played. I bought it because it was in a sale, and I wanted something quite different to what I've been recently playing.
I'm probably going to start it next week. I am hitting peak Assassin's Creed fatigue now I've finished the story for Origins, but there are a few little things I want to do before I rest it for a bit.
I'm looking forward to 13 Sentinels but also a bit apprehensive. What if I just bounce off it? Oh well…
I found it a little difficult to get into, to begin with – the investigation mechanics are a bit clunky, and the story is extremely obtuse right off the bat. But by the time I got through the prologues, I was completely on board with it.
