Topic: What (Non-PS4) game are you playing??

MGS2 is a subversive po-mo masterpiece, and its themes become more eerily relevant the further out we get from its initial release.

Never could get into MGS3 as much as the first two, unfortunately. I really missed the enemy vision cones on the radar.

@KilloWertz Whereas MGS4 is literally the only major game in the series that I haven't played at all. Almost every other notable PS3 exclusive released on something else eventually. But not that!

@Ralizah @KilloWertz Yeah, MGS4 is quite divisive. My memory of it is fond. It garnered a lot of 10/10 reviews, and then later there was a backlash against it because of the excessively long cutscenes, and now the pendulum has swung back after MGS5 whereby I hear more people praise and appreciate 4 and dump on 5.

I’m actually surprised how many cutscenes there are in MGS2, for a PS2 game. I’m
still only around the 3 or 4 hour mark, but I’m enjoying it, even with the semi-frustrating controls and older gen graphics.
But I think this game in the series shows more than any other that Kojima, for all his quirks and self-indulgence, has some creative and visionary talents. I’m not sure where MGS 2 will land in my rankings, but so far, so good. @Thrillho @LN78

@Ralizah You could have just bought a PS3 and then the problem would have been solved.

Sony kept a vise lock grip on that game, and I get it given how big it was. I got my PS3 probably slightly passed the halfway point of that generation, and it was one of (if not) the first game I played on it. That and some other of the exclusives completely changed the type of gamer I still am today (no more online gaming).

@Th3solution Like I've already said, MGS4 may be my favorite game of all time, at least partially because of what I said above about that being the first of several games to completely change the type of gamer I was. I beat it shortly before they finally implemented trophies, so I wouldn't mind going back to it someday. That was one reason why I wanted to and eventually bought another PS3 earlier this year.

I'm actually the opposite where I liked 4 a lot more than 5. If I had more time to game and it wasn't such a long game, I would love to go back to 5 and see if my opinion changed. Given how much I loved 4, it would be nice to give 5 a chance at redemption, but I'm not sure there will ever be a real opportunity.

I hope you continue to enjoy MGS2. Maybe someday I'll get the HD Collection for PS3 and actually play through the old Metal Gear and Metal Gear Solid games. It's another thing that's more of a thing that would be nice to do, but time may never make it so. We'll see.

@Th3solution MGS2 was massively divisive for the fanbase when it first came out, for reasons which will become obvious as you play further into it. As usual, hardcore fans were closed-minded about the way the game subverted expectations come from the original. Over time, though, people became fonder of it, and it's widely considered one of the best games in the series now.

@KilloWertz I would have bought a PS3 if the price hadn't been so ridiculous early in the gen when I decided on which console I wanted. I don't regret my choice to go with the 360, though. Multiplats ran much better, and, for most of the gen, it had a better selection of exclusives overall.

It's just a shame the game was never re-released. One of the few major Playstation 3 games to still be trapped on that particular console.

@KilloWertz I played MGS4 prior to trophies and then went back to replay for trophies after they were added. I wouldn’t mind a third playthrough, but like you say — the time may never present itself.

It might be recency bias, but MGS5 is my favorite of the series, closely followed by MGS3. MGS1 is such an old game that it’s hard to judge, but for it’s time it’s simply amazing. The Psycho-Mantis boss fight by itself it reason enough for it to be included in the best PS games conversation.

@Ralizah I’m excited to see how the story unfolds and I’m already at one of the controversial parts after the Tanker section ends. Over the years I’ve had that surprise spoiled, as it’s almost impossible not to have. But I’m sure there’s plenty more twists and turns, if I know Kojima.

Konami is just inexplicable in its complete neglect for its valuable IP. Castlevania notwithstanding, something should be done with the older Metal Gear Solid games. At least a remastered HD package of 1-4 onto PS4, should have been done a long time ago. It’s criminal that the PS4, the second best selling console in history, only has MGS5 and Metal Gear Survive available on it.

@Ralizah That's fair I suppose about the price, and I also really enjoyed my 360 up until I bought a PS3. There were a lot of great experiences on there with games like Oblivion, Bioshock, and the Gears of War portion of the series that was on there.

Yeah, Konami loves to sit on their IPs even though they would make plenty of money off of remakes or remasters of some of their huge classics. At least Square Enix sold off several of their IPs earlier in the year so somebody else could utilize them.

@Th3solution I think I remember you saying that before as it's not the first time several of us have discussed Metal Gear Solid.

Off topic, but I also just finished The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Overall I really enjoyed the season. I definitely didn't see the double twist that happened in the season finale. I didn't expect Sauron to be either of the characters, let alone one of them being a brother who is actually good.

@KilloWertz Glad you liked Rings of Power. I just wish we were getting season 2 sooner. That’s what I get for watching a show as it’s released.

And yeah, I think the ranking of MGS games is an oft traveled path around here, but up until now I’ve not been able to truly include MGS2 in my repertoire. I’ll drop more detailed impressions when I complete it.

@Th3solution It will only be mildly better for me since it's not likely coming out until sometime in 2024. I get it in a way since it's such a large production even though it's only 8 episodes. As long as they don't release it almost at the same time as House of the Dragon again, I'll watch it as it airs this time around.

I can't rank them really at all other than obviously saying I like 4 more can 5. The unfortunate price of not being the gamer back then that I am today. I definitely would have played them all if they had released now.

@Th3solution @KilloWertz Konami has actually been way better these last few years after a decade or more of pure, unfettered, almost malicious levels of incompetence, MGS V aside.

Multiple really good re-releases of older Castlevania games.

They're remastering and re-releasing the first two Suikoden games.

Silent Hill... look, I'm still VERY wary of Bloober Hill 2, but it at least looks like they're trying to do justice to the original work, and Silent Hill f looks like it might be an interesting, more culturally Japanese take on the mythology of the franchise. I'd have preferred they tracked down the original Team Silent members for a new game, but it seems like these games should at least be decent experiences in their own right.

Is this as good as Konami in their golden age? Absolutely not. But they're also not just endlessly squatting on a gold mine of classic IPs and doing nothing with them other than releasing themed pachinko machines.

@Ralizah Yeah, you’re actually right - they seem to be waking up from their hibernation a little bit and I hear the retro anniversary collections are well done for Castlevania and TMNT. The Castlevania anime was also a big hit. eFootball is apparently getting better and like you say the Silent Hill revival has finally arrived. It does make me wonder if MGS will resurrect also. They really fell flat on their face with MG Survive.

@Th3solution I completely forgot about the Ninja Turtles collection, but you're right, that was another high-quality offering.

I do somewhat wonder if their resistance to re-releasing guaranteed best-sellers like the older MGS games is down to continued bad blood between them and Kojima. Wouldn't surprise me if some level of personal pettiness is at work. Corpos are just as human as we are, after all. And remember, this is the same company that went out of its way to memory hole PT by completely removing access to it on PSN for everyone.

I really should replay MGS2 now that people mention it. I’d find it hard to choose between that and the first MGS for my favourite in the series.

@Th3solution It’s funny you say the older gen graphics because at the time the game was incredible from that point of view.

The opening sequence as Snake jumped onto the tanker was incredible at the time and then so much of that opening section was also unlike anything before with that battle with Olga where you can shoot the lights out etc feeling proper next gen at the time.

@Thrillho It’s amazing how we get spoiled and used to current tech. The game is on par with many games today with regards to its complexity and much of the gameplay, and the HD remaster graphics looks decent enough with the industrial portions — it’s just the human facial expressions and animations that are strikingly different. I don’t remember being put off by the graphics back on PS2, but now I have to prep myself to ignore the antiquated character interactions. 😅

This probably doesn't exactly fit here, but it's the best place I can think of.

Some screenshots from my Steam year in review infographic.

August - September were clearly my XC3 months as I didn't touch my laptop then (ignore the translucent bar on Sept, it's only there because my finger was touching the screen there).

My games this year: platformers, anime boobs, and a few indies (surprised Final Fantasy Type 0 made my top 5 played games given I dropped it I assume pretty early on. Just goes to show how quickly most platformers can be cleared, and indies tend to be short).

A graph of my gaming interests apparently, which I find highly suspect, lol.

I have no idea how "cats" is so high up given that Stray was only my 7th most played game & I can't possibly think of what else is contributing to the statistic. I think Lollipop! has a few catgirl scenarios (exceedingly NSFW game, look up at your own peril), but again it's such a short game it can't contribute much.

I'm confused at the "LGBT+" statistic as well. I can only assume the ecchi trio (Gun Gun Pixies, Senran Kagura, Samurai Maiden) are being counted as they feature yuri elements at various levels, even though they probably wouldn't generally be counted as particularly "progressive" titles (clearly intended for the "male gaze" & all that, not that I have a problem with that, lol).

Started playing the first Project Gotham Racing on the original Xbox today. I've been wanting to start up another racing game after Grid and thought it'd be fun to try out the PGR series for the first time.

At first I really liked the game. Then I hated it. Then I liked it again and I'm thinking about continuing playing it. It's fun but can be a tad bit frustrating at times.

The thing that makes this series different from other racing games is that it's not just about racing, it's about racing with style. You gain so called "kudos" for drifting, passing other racers, being in the air and so on. In order to pass a race, you'll need to not only achieve the main objective but also gain enough kudos. This can be frustrating sometimes and I didn't even realise this aspect until an hour into the career mode. A lot of the times you'll gain enough kudos automatically without needing to put in any effort. But there will be a few races where it can be fairly demanding to progress because you'll need to actively gain kudos.

It's certainly a different approach to standard racing games and I like that. Normally I'd just tune out while playing racing titles as you only need to focus on completing laps but now I have to pay attention to what I'm doing as well. It's overall a fun experience and I'm looking forward to playing more of it.

@RR529 Apparenly 93% of what I played this year on Steam was Europa Universalis IV. Seems about right!

@RogerRoger I thought I had Ac!d but maybe I had the sequel as I remember having the cardboard Solid Eye attachment

@Thrillho What the heck does that thing do? Is it just elaborate 3D glasses?

@LN78 Pretty much. It would (obviously) alter the display to give you rudimentary 3D graphics but it mostly just gave me a migraine from what I remember!