Topic: Recent Retro/Misc Gaming Purchases? (Not PS4/PS5)

@mookysam Never played the Zero Escape games before? You're in for a good time! ZTD is a bit of a mess (that I enjoyed anyway), but 999 and VLR are incredibly memorable. VLR, IMO, has the best puzzles in the series, and it's significantly meatier than the other two games.

How strange @RogerRoger as I did actually think about that the other day, wondering if you'd followed through on purchasing it! I do hope you enjoy Soul Reaver whenever you do get round to it and I'll be very interested on hearing your thoughts! Feel free to tag me when you do!

The updated Gamecube Remake for Resi 1 I played last year is still pretty darn good looking for 18 years old... the original unfortunately not. 😂 I'll look forward to seeing your thoughts on that too whenever you get round to it!

Ordered Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD for Switch yesterday. I know it has a bit of a bad reputation because it's easier than previous entries (and the motion controls of the Wii version were finicky), but I figured the relative easiness of it would make it a perfect jumping on point for a newbie.

@RogerRoger @Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Soul Reaver is awesome, the entire Legacy of Kain series is in fact, a real shame we haven't had a new entry in a while

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy REmake looks good now, but it was positively gorgeous back in the day. Probably the most visually appealing game from that generation. Those pre-rendered backdrops made it looks much nicer than it had any right to look.

I can certainly believe that it was a visual treat at the time as the PS4 "remaster" didn't seem to overhaul that much, it was already a looker to begin with I can tell!

It's amazing to think it's only six years younger then the original as they're like night and day!

...At least Rog gets to experience that so awful it's great live action intro though with the PS1 original

It's a shame in a way @Ralizah that REmake and begrudingly Resident Evil Zero (god I almost forgot about that mess) will probably be the only gamecube exclusive (Well former) games I ever play.

I played it for the first time last year @FullbringIchigo (Though I do remember the promotion and praise it had at the time). Even gave it a review in the appropriate topic which inspired Rog to try it despite my misgivings with the title.

It had promise with some truly outstanding voice acting, atmosphere, impressive coding, and graphics (for the time) but ultimately I found it to be a product of the time that hasn't aged particularly well with some bad design choices, behind the scene circumstances possibly causing it to be rushed out and a few other things that I shan't spoil for him.

I do plan on trying the sequel to Soul Reaver at some point at the very least as I did enjoy parts of the game and the parts I didn't enjoy most are no doubt made a little easier with the transition to PS2.

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Get on the Cube!!! I was weaned on Cube games from a very young age and it’s still my favourite console (although nostalgia plays a part ofc). I know it somewhat walks the plank but I made backups of my Cube games since the disks were getting a bit scratched so my Wii is a rectangular Cube now. PS2 has better graphics but Cube had better first party games imo.

@nessisonett The GameCube certainly has a strong claim to being Nintendo's finest home console (sorry SNES, I love you too). Amazing hardware for the time - particularly given the very low price point - with a damn fine library to boot. Obviously it lacks the diversity of the PS2's magnificent software catalogue but it does have Metroid Prime. So yeah, I love the Cube. Unfortunately my brother's ex-wife nicked my launch unit so my Wii now stands in for it.

@nessisonett Gamecube was more powerful than PS2 with the likes of Resident Evil 4 suffering visual downgrades when ported to the PS2

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy it seems strange by today's standards but back then there were constant huge jumps in graphical quality. I still remember the first time seeing the Dreamcast in stores and the gulf between that and the PS1, Saturn and N64 and that's probably the last time a new console has truly wowed me

@KratosMD Careful with Warhammer - it's a rabbit hole!!

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy yeah they were

@mookysam i have 2 GameCubes, i love that little system (in case anyone is wondering i have 2 because in the UK the only way to get The Legend of Zelda collection was as a pack in with a console, yes i brought a second one just to get the Zelda collection)

@RogerRoger Vampire mythology is one of my favourites so the very fact that you got to play as a "Creature of the night" was what first drew me to the series and to my pleasant surprise i found a really fun game with a interesting lead and a intriguing lore and world

i just wish Square Enix would do something with the series because the last time we got to play as Kain and Raziel was as bonus skins in Lara Croft and the Temple of Light (fun fact one of the creators of the series was Amy Hennig of Uncharted Fame so that could explain why it's world was so well thought out)

@RogerRoger the main issue is that not long after the release of Defiance the actor who played The Elder God passed away, i think that's what caused the initial pause and then the Square Enix buy out put the nail in it i think, that kind of game didn't appeal to the Japanese market back then which was the market Square was concentrating on back then and while that's changed in the recent years the Legacy of Kain series just seems to be one of those that they own that fell on the back burner which is a shame

@RogerRoger @FullbringIchigo The problem that came with the Legacy of Kain series was basically too many cooks in the kitchen syndrom. after the original developers (Silicone Knights) went bankrupt Crystal Dynamics got the IP. Soul Reaver was an original game concept created by Amy Hennig that at the last minute Crystal Dynamics executives wanted the game as part of the Legacy of Kain universe as a spin off series. Thus the Soul Reaver series was born.

However another team at Crystal Dynamics lead by Glen Schofield (who later would go on to create the Dead Space series as well as find Sledgehammer Games and create several Call of Duty games) wanted to continue the story of Kain thus Blood Oman 2 was born.

To make matters worst after Blood Oman 2 Crystal Dynamics executives thought hey let's combine both games stories into a sort of reboot of the series and combined both teams to make Defiance. However due to low sales of Defiance and with Hennig leaving for Naughty Dog and Schofield leaving for EA Visceral Crystal Dynamics decided to end the franchise.

Crystal Dynamics have teased numerous times on different occasions on bringing back the series but nothing has become of it and since they are owned by Square, Square probably doesn't see it as a huge success. Although if they went the Tomb Raider route I feel it can be successful especially with how big vampires are nowadays.

@Genrou i actually really like Defiance, yeah it was less a puzzle solving exporathon and more Devil May Cry but it was still a decent game

@FullbringIchigo I never played that one. I played the hell out of the first Legacy of Kain: Blood Oman as it was one of the first PS one games my friend got with his new PS system. Played a bit of Soul Reaver as well but always liked Kain more.

@Genrou if you can find a copy cheap it's well worth a play

Not a purchase (I wish), but this has recently turned up in my local shopping centre 🤘🏽🤘🏽

@KratosMD I just meant Warhammer in general.
I like most of it. Was in to the table top stuff as a kid and some of the games are great, and there are very, many games!