EvaUnit02 on 15/12/2012 at 17:40
I'm pissed off that Resident Evil remake, Resident Evil 0 and MGS: Twin Snakes are still shackled to Nintendo consoles. Capcom and Konami really should buy themselves out of their exclusivity deals for those titles.
As for Eternal Darkness, it was a revelation in the SurHor genre because it didn't have an awful camera and combat system. I have no idea why none of the competition ever copied ED's combat system where you can target different body parts.
Guys, dethtoll is biased because he hates virtually every game that's even the slightest bit derivative of HP Lovecraft works.
june gloom on 15/12/2012 at 21:38
That's actually almost true, but as I've explained to you before (not that you paid attention, nor will you now) it's really a matter of degrees.
Lovecraftian
themes I have no problem with -- cosmic horror stories, that sort of thing. Examples would be Mass Effect's Reapers (they totally qualify,) Hellboy, (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_Odyssey_(comics)) Cosmic Odyssey, whatever.
The problem lies in hewing so close to Lovecraft that it's like something he wrote, and let's be honest, he wasn't actually that great a writer, and on top of that the dude was a xenophobic shut-in with social views that were outdated even for the time. There's more ways to do cosmic horror than Shub-Niggurath has young, so there's no reason to re-use Lovecraft's old tropes over and over. An old house in Rhode Island has been done to death, brought back from the dead with a million tentacles, killed again, and is poisoning the water table.
Aja on 15/12/2012 at 22:50
I found it to be quite atmospheric and a lot of fun. The sanity effects were mostly a gimmick, but the magic system was interesting, combat was satisfying, graphics were good, and I liked the fact that they could include such a variety of levels and still maintain a compelling story. It's been a while since I've played it, but I recall being rather engrossed in how each of the timelines interacted with one another.
EvaUnit02 on 15/12/2012 at 23:11
Quote Posted by dethtoll
That's actually almost true, but as I've explained to you before (not that you paid attention, nor will you now) it's really a matter of degrees.
Do you read Sutter Cane?
VanBurenPhilips on 15/12/2012 at 23:39
I thought Eternal Darkness was excellent, as did (
http://www.metacritic.com/game/gamecube/eternal-darkness-sanitys-requiem/critic-reviews) nearly everyone who played it. I gather Blood Omen was well liked and successful though I never got into it, and so was Twin Snakes which I never played. For me this isn't a case of "they were so great, how did this happen?" - what I found interesting about the neogaf post was seeing just how much help they had with their successful games and what terrible management they had when no such 'guiding hand' was there.
DaBeast on 16/12/2012 at 00:44
The voice acting/script in Blood Omen was very highly regarded, at least by it's fans, similar to Thief in that way.
I tried to play it a few years ago, but lost interest after only an hour.
june gloom on 16/12/2012 at 04:03
Quote Posted by Aja
I found it to be quite atmospheric and a lot of fun. The sanity effects were mostly a gimmick, but the magic system was interesting, combat was satisfying, graphics were good, and I liked the fact that they could include such a variety of levels and still maintain a compelling story. It's been a while since I've played it, but I recall being rather engrossed in how each of the timelines interacted with one another.
The magic system was underformed, combat was workmanlike, the scares were cheap but otherwise non-existent, the story itself isn't exactly anything new. ED brought very little to the table, except some decent B-list voice acting.
VanBurenPhilips on 16/12/2012 at 12:43
Quote Posted by DaBeast
The voice acting/script in Blood Omen was very highly regarded, at least by it's fans, similar to Thief in that way.
I tried to play it a few years ago, but lost interest after only an hour.
I played a bit & it didn't really grab me, loved Soul Reaver though. Reading all this stuff is tempting me to have another look at Blood Omen, or maybe SR2 (I tried the demo but quickly abandoned it due to a lengthy, unskippable, talky cutscene).
Dyack's touchy forum behaviour regarding Too Human reminded me of the guy who made a game called Battlecruiser 30000 or something like that... he had a reputation for flaming the hell out of anyone who criticised him or his games. Never seems to work out well as a PR move. I can't remember the guy's name, I keep thinking Derek Smalls but it can't be him, he's the bassist in Spinal Tap.
Sulphur on 16/12/2012 at 12:55
Derek Smart. BC 3000 A.D. He's a legend, has been since the 90s.
DaBeast on 19/12/2012 at 05:51
"Legend" is certainly one way to put it.
His latest game is still somehow inferior to Terra Nova in so many ways. I could appreciate the effort and idea of what he wants to achieve, but he really needs to sit back and let someone else handle PR, which is something he absolutely refuses to do.
Quote Posted by VanBurenPhilips
I played a bit & it didn't really grab me, loved Soul Reaver though. Reading all this stuff is tempting me to have another look at Blood Omen, or maybe SR2 (I tried the demo but quickly abandoned it due to a lengthy, unskippable, talky cutscene).
I've yet to complete a Soul Reaver game. I rented the first for a day or two, a couple of times, when I was younger, like when it was released. Ofcourse I didn't get close to finishing it. Skipped the second, then picked up Defiance a year or two ago, again, played it for 20 minutes, switched it off saying I'd go back when I get a joypad for the pc.
Im sure the atmosphere is still there, but suspect they haven't aged very well for gameplay.
