Shinobi: Art of Vengeance
Azure Striker Gunvolt
Trails beyond the Horizon
We Love Katamari
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Resident Evil: Requiem
Resident Evil (1998)
Final Fantasy X
Space Marine 2
As a big fan of the first game, which wasn't perfect but a damn good 8/10 if there was one, I'm so disappointed in this game. As a 40k experience I guess it's a step up, if you want to larp as a SPESS MEHREEN you can do that, shout platitudes and zealous chants for the Emperor as you ram a Tyranid mandible through it's face…
As a game I disliked almost every change they made: the new armour system is awful because your armour is straight ass and depletes very quickly, often almost instantly after the execution that gave it to you in the first place, so the main loop of melee-execute-armour was extremely frustrating, terrible change from the health regen in 1. I hated that Titus is on a 2 weapon loadout now because of the co-op campaign stuff, meaning I have to choose between a sidearm and swapping my bolter out for a sniper with much less rounds, thankfully almost every weapon in this feels completely ineffectual in the sense that you'll mulch the little guys but anything else feels like it's being tickled even if you are actually doing damage because the feedback is bad. There really wasn't anything as satisfying as the 'pop' from exploding an Ork skull with a bolter in the first game. :(
There's a ton of co-op gameplay here, with classes and customisation and exclusive missions based alternate routes from side characters in the campaign and it really does feel like the quality of the main campaign suffered for this, both in terms of me thinking that 2 AI buddies would have made firing at the incoming tsunami of Tyranids much more fun and also because it feels like the main meat of the game. I'm happy if this gave the game some longevity but I'm not sure I want to do any of this with randos, or solo if you even can.
Ah well, there's always Rogue Trader next for more 40k fun, played it for 5ish hours last year and I think I can safely say I prefer it to this, but both are definitely better than Boltgun are that's for sure!
Not really feeling Space Marine 2 in the way that I thought, I know I'm terrible at the game but some parts of the game just feel like they were designed with co-op in mind, as do the hordes in general, you can definitely manage I'm just not sure it's fun. There's a bit where you encounter these small Tyranids called Rippers which are basically giantworm/maggots that swarm like rats but hate fire and you get given the shortest range flamethrower I've ever used in a game that doesn't actually feel like it's burning anything, as you go through this sea of dark purple/black spreading it apart you have to contend with being jumped by the bigger Tyranids, something that feelsl ike it'd be actually fun in co-op, although not for the guy using the flamethrower.
There's a later section on an elevator where you have to fight Tyranids as the flying ones eat at the chains, the character I was playing would shout nonstop that they're eating the chains because the AI didn't seem at all interested in shooting them, and fighting both fronts was a bit annoying.
As a Space Marine power fantasy, it works just like the first game, and it's even deeper in the lore I think since you get to see more characters in the universe, as a game…I think it might be worse, maybe I should replay the new edition of the first they just put out.
Lacking direction at the moment so I've decided to try and beat Space Marine 2 on the Series S so I can cancel Game Pass and probably not touch the console ever again, at least for a fucklong time (Did anyone see the partner showcase? Felt like they were showcasing a shared multiverse with some of those designs and quirky scripts). If you liked SM1 you'll probably like this, it's an absolutely insane visual glow up in the sense that the first was kinda' corridoor-ey and budget Gears in places, here they've got much more organic looking level design it does that thing where you see countless swarms of enemies in the unreachable background as level noise/filler…except here those ARE part of the level and they come right at you…
After an hour or so I have to confess I'm already kind of missing the Orks, the Tyranids so far have not much ranged capabilities and just kind of swarm you in sheer numbers with one of two enemy types, fodder and slightly bigger fodder you have to actually fight, other than that your firing a machinegun into a big amorphous blob until they get close then you're spamming melee which is kind of…limited. Also I know it's the lore but the Tyranid hive don't have the same funny personality as the Orks, who all sound like British football hooligans and are thick as shit.
While on my PTO I decided to play more Phoenix Wright and I'm on the bloody Circus trial for Justice For All, usually considered the worst trial in the first trilogy, I'd certainly say so. As a whole it's just not as good as the first game, the music in particular for the second game is pretty tragic after the first game's and that's a big hit. I know some people think the final trial is better than the final trial in PW3, I remember disagreeing but maybe I can appreciate it more now
I also got Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound in the Steam Sale and so far I love it, pretty much what I wanted from Shinobi, more focused levels and action and what it lacks in Shinobi's fun, fluid combat it makes up for with a semblance of difficulty and a more purposeful approach to what you're doing, really can't fault it at all so far, perfect Steam Deck game.
Played the Pragmata demo, for the most part I really liked it and will probably buy it eventually, combat will be really fun if the complexity ramps up a bit it might push me to get it sooner than later. I want to struggle to navigate the grid whilst fighting the mechs because in the demo it felt like a simple minigame to do damage you get for free in other games. The boss at the end gave me hope though, with room filling aoes and being actively aggressive while you're trying to max out damage on the Grid.
Has the same satisfying feeling of blowing mechs into scrap like Vanquish did as well (An amazing game btw) or maybeeven Binary Domain.
My brother said he tried STS2 and he felt like he was using the same deck and character he was using in the first game at one point. :thinking:
Alastor