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Lotus Prince Let’s Play – Amnesia: The Dark Descent (Parts 4-6)
Lego City Undercover is AWESOME! – Episode 4
GView : Anomaly 2 Review
Tomb Raider is AWESOME! – Conclusion
Posted By Shaun K. about 5 months, 3 weeks ago
Thumb Wars: Episode 18: The Games of 2013 – Part 2,
Episode 18: The Games of 2013 – Part 2
Welcome back to the show where we introduce the debate and you continue it. This week’s topic: Shaun & Taylor conclude their two-part examination of some of the more anticipated upcoming games of 2013.
Thumb Wars is a weekly show hosted/produced by Shaun Kronenfeld dedicated to starting and encouraging dialogue and debate on a wide variety of topics within the video game industry. Look for a new Thumbs Wars every Sunday. Comments, opinions, and thoughts are not only welcome, they are the entire point. Feel free to follow Shaun on Twitter @bigred_13 if you feel so inclined.
I want me some DEADPOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!!!!!
From the trailer it looks everything what deadpool is!!!
Crazy fun, stupid humor, and gore to the max…. And whiti coments
So please, PLEEEEASE dont be an X-man Destiny!!!
Surprised I missed this when it was posted. Oh, well.
You say you’re uncertain about Lightning Returns? I’m *NOT.* This is easily “Bargain Game of the Year” because it will not hold onto it’s MSRP. Consider this observation: XIII-2′s used price dropped over TEN TIMES faster than XIII’s, despite being received as the superior game. We’re talking about picking up a current-gen Square-Enix game for 5-10 dollars two months after launch.
Like I said; bargain game of the year. Perhaps even bargain of the decade, considering S-E also made Dissida: Duodecim, and I honestly don’t think they’ll screw Lightning Returns up. Now please, for the love of God change the name.
Please please please please please! Up the speed of the Thumb Wars videos. I’m interested in watching them, but it is incredibly annoying to have it take 30 minutes or more to watch an 18 minute video. Even allowing the video to fully load before watching it does not stop the constant pausing throughout the video. I’m not sure what kind of control each poster has over such things, but I don’t have these problems with other videos, here or on TGWTG.
I played the DmC demo, and there are problems with the gameplay. The variety of moves available to you is limited due to the control layout. This also means no lock-on. It’s better explained in this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9wth1Wk3EM
As for the look, it seems to me very…scruffy. Basically, Dante’s clothes look like they haven’t been washed in a long time.
On topic of DmC, the new interpretations on the DMC story and world are iffy, and the characters are a downgrade, but the gameplay is solid and it has the DMC feel, sure some things were dumbed down and simplified, so were a lot of games series this gen. It will be a good, fun game; will it live up to DMC 3, 1 or even 4, not likely, but it won’t be the black sheep of the series either, DMC 2 will still hold that honor.
I got to disagree with Shaun though on the originals, with the exception of 2, they don’t really have the flaws you mentioned to that degree, at least not in my experience were controls and camera much of an issue, the challenge came from the often brutal difficult of the games. There not perfect, but you come off as you think there just bad for those reasons. I feel the DMC games rarely sacrificed substance in favor of style, they had both, except 2, which, had neither.
You’re not the only one who’s “curious” about Lightning Returns, Shaun. I’m already planning to get it, too, mostly because I like the title character. She’s a badass with a heart of gold who probably needs more development than she’s been given (and more than what she probably WILL receive). It was a disappointing that she was just a secondary character in FF XIII-2, but perhaps the third game will rectify that.
for gamers who want to look at both sides of the argument, here are some arguments against the new DMC reboot. as for the arguments in defense of DMC reboot listen to the podcast.
glitches in DMC reboot demo, a simple demo with glitches!!!:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jPxeNzQ5nw
DMC reboot and DMC 3 gun damage comparison:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ccc3z-yW-U&feature=youtu.be
DMC reboot style ranking system different to previous DMC:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coevhaCP324
DMC reboot SSS ranking in 20 secs on hard difficulty:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WvXYnDdnR4&feature=g-u-u
Whats funny is that when lead developer Tameem Antoniades was asked on tweeter if this will be fixed he said it doesn’t need to be and threated another person with bodily harm with Quote “We also don’t have a fix for face-palming your face until it bleeds… ” End Quote when asked if this will be fixed.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nj2NwBpHeTQ
Oh no! A demo which may not be the finished or final product has a few glitches! Who saw THAT coming?
Oh no! I can easily get points now! Whatever will I do WITH ALL THESE POINTS! THEY HURT SO BAD!
This is such a terrible game! I can totally see what all the fuse is about now! Man, I’m going to go and play the good old devil may cry games we all love Like DMC 2 with it’s horrible drag dull grey scenery, and DMC 1 with its stupid cheesy story and barely relate-able protagonist, “I wanted to fill your dark soul with LUUUUIIIIIIGHT!”, and lets not forget DMC 3 with dialog and characters so bad that DANTE has the most character in the game, and he’s a one liner spewing corn machine! He is literally a machine made of corn! Is this what DMC is about? CORN? I THINK NOT!
Ok, I’m done laughing. It was fun to wright all that.
you obviously have no respect for gamers and the original DMC developer Hideki Kamiya who made gaming history and without a doubt God of War wouldn’t be as good or even exist. It seems you want demonize me as hater or something like that and pretend some how the fans are no way victims
so what if it is cheesy and stupid to you. If you don’t like don’t be a fucking asshole and change something you don’t want to be play. so go fuck off and play something it’s not like I’m forcing you play them. why don’t you try being a douche changing some fiction like I don’t know the whole My Little Pony series in to your own shit ideas and see how the bronies react and rape your asshole, non literally that is.
Of all of the games listed here, I am most looking forward to Watch Dogs. I’m actually more than a little interested in Aliens: Colonial Marines and Metal Gear Rising though. Some games I am looking forward to are Bioshock Infinite and Luigi’s Mansion 2.
I totally botched both Ninja Theory games xD. Heavenly sword and Enslaved: Odyssey to the West. Both amazing games! DmC will be awesome too, people. Give it a chance
So what your saying is your judgement is clouded by your own biased rose-colored glasses for Ninja Theory and there for should be taken with a grain of salt.
All I’m saying is that Ninja Theory has a great track record of fun games and to give this DmC a chance. If you like intense action games with fun combat then this will be right up your alley.
Aliens: Colonial Marines, Watch Dogs – No interest.
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance – Honestly, I know basically nothing about this game besides what you guys said here. Based on that, it may be something I try the demo for, but I don’t know how far what little interest you’ve given me goes. In part because I’m not a Metal Gear fan – I’ve played MGS3, but that’s it, and really I don’t think the overall series is one for me.
FF13: Lightning Returns – Highly unlikely I’ll touch this one. FF13′s story and characters were so bad that I was left with no desire to play 13-2, and what little chance there is of me doing that stems entirely from the fact that I’m a big JRPG fan and generally willing to try any JRPG once. Me getting to the third would be entirely dependent on me playing 13-2 and it turning out to be immensely improved in terms of writing from its predecessor, something I don’t have high hopes for given what I’ve heard from people who have played it.
DmC – Hoping that the gameplay remains good. Don’t like the new looks, don’t have high hopes for the story, so the gameplay has to be good to get me to do more than try the demo.
Also, Shaun? No rose-tinted glasses here – I didn’t play any Devil May Cry games until two years ago, because I was such a late-comer to the PS2. Yet having played them, Devil May Cry 3 is now my favorite action game of all time. Yes, 1 and 2 had camera angle issues, and it is sad that they hadn’t yet implemented player-controlled cameras by 3, but they had learned well enough to give players workable camera angles by then so that it didn’t interfere with the game. And the gameplay in that one was just brilliant all around, from the various weapons to the style system to the boss battles – hell, the final battle with Vergil is probably the most satisfying final boss in any game that I can think of.
The stories of the series have never been their strong suit, no, but they have served their purpose and had their charm in just how over-the-top Dante was and how crazy the things going on could be. The problem with the reboot’s redesign and new story angle is that it no longer bears any of that charm, has no resemblance to what made people like the character. It is in many respects the opposite of that, which is where you get the complaint of Dante looking “emo” – because it’s virtually the opposite of how he was portrayed before. And for a character like Dante that’s particularly bad, because his portrayal was all about style. Take that away and for many players, it’s just not Devil May Cry anymore.
thank god there is someone smart to understand what makes Dante and the DMC series among greatest games that require brains and quick reaction rather than simple button mashing.
Imagine if Nintendo rebooted Mario in to a sexist pervert character, with the game having 1 enemy per level and level design with no need to jump. guess what IT WOULDN’T BE A MARIO GAME!!!! it would be a pile of shit game.
FYI, trying to just button mash your way through DmC on the harder difficulty levels is an invitation to a quick and painful death. Just saying. As for you second point… Yeah that does not really work as a comparison mainly because DmC’s gameplay is very much in keeping with the series as a whole. It is not some grand departure in that sense from past title; there are differences to be sure but none to any greater degree than would be expected between titles and the passing of several years. Have you actually bothered to play the demo yet? Because from the way you are talking I have my doubts.
have you beaten any mission in DMC game with S rank at least on easy mode? because by the way your saying it seems you haven’t really played them. I never said you could button mash this game on hard difficulty. To answer your question if I had played the demo I haven’t and it’s not because I might be wrong. It’s because it is seems people don’t know much even some little history in the difference between demos and a full released game. Just because the demo looks great doesn’t mean it’s a 100% representation of the game. To give examples look at demos like Resident Evil 6 and a good worst game example is Sonic Adventures ’06. In other words you’re putting your trust in a video game publisher that is known for tricking it’s costumers and without questioning the demo being an authenticated sample of how the game will be yet your doubting me?
Except I have played more than just the demo. Actually both Taylor and I have played more than just the demo thanks to our attending E3. Indeed, I have gotten multiple chances at hands-on experience and all of them have left me feeling very positive about the game. That is no guarantee that the final product will be a superior title but it certainly is a good sign and enough for me not to make the condemn the game flat out like you are doing.
As I have said before, I am least basing my opinion on something concrete as opposed to an opinion formed by someone who apparently refuses to even play the demo. Play the demo and then see what you think. At least you will then have some sort of basis for your hate of the game beyond supposition and obvious personal bias. I have no reason to defend the game beyond actually enjoying my hands-on time with it. Can you honestly say the same about your condemnation?
Oh and your examples? I found the demo for Sonic 06 to be awful back in the day and I knew right away the game was likely going to be trouble. And since the demo was a regular feature in display model of the Xbox 360 we had in the Toys R Us I worked in for over year, I got to see plenty of others reach the same conclusion as well.
While I did not play the RE6 demo, I remember reading plenty of impressions from people who had mixed feelings, especially about the non-Leon segments. These impressions often highlighted what would be the major problems of the final product down to a T.
This happened in both cases because demos are generally gameplay samples taken directly from the title they are meant to represent. Now is it possible that what is fun in a five minute demo might end up dragging after 5, 10, 20, etc hours? Sure, but rarely does a demo feature actual gameplay not included in some form or another in the final game. It is unlikely, for example, that you will play a demo of a fighting game that plays out like a 2D fighter only for the game itself to actually be a 3D one.
That would make pretty much zero sense, especially since plenty of people within the industry would have had hands on time with preview builds and the like leading up t to demo’s release. So that if what the demo featured was somehow completely at odds with the real final product, they would be able to call it out as such. So I am honestly flabbergasted by the claims I think you are trying to make here.
For the record, I can clearly state that such shenanigans are not occurring as far as DmC’s demo is concerned. So even if it does happen, its not happening here.
The original Dante was a confidant, almost cocky warrior with just enough heart and humanity to not make him completely unlikable. And all of that seems intact in this new take as well. He is still a brash, arrogant, kind of a jerk/kind of heroic person. He is also younger and more vulnerable but in no way is he emo. He has still got style and he is still the kind of guy to be grinning even as the bad guys come to kill him.
First off, I want to thank Soliduz and Zevox for saving me the time it would take me to write all of my thoughts concerning DMC down in a coherent post.
Secondly, everything both of them described is a pretty significant departure in the gameplay side and I feel it’s missing the point, like saying that Diablo has always only been about the loot (completely unrelated subject, but here’s something that sums that up pretty well: youtube.com/watch?v=I22Ivb8ELzQ ).
Finally, what the new Dante lacks in any way, shape or form is charm. Completely ditching the design of a widely beloved character makes no sense from both an artistic and a business point of view. The original Dante even had some character development from a short anime series that was actually quite enjoyable. Yes, he has always been cocky and arrogant towards his enemies, but I don’t believe many people would say he came anywhere near being unlikeable, especially after seeing his interactions with other people in the series.
Um, yeah actually. While playing DMC 3 a friend of mine couldn’t watch anymore because Dante was so dang corny and stupid. Also he’s not likable in that game. He keeps spouting one liners about a party. It’s actually kind of unbearable if you’re not prepared or in the mood for such things.
But of course this outlook is totally wrong because the original games have nothing wrong with them because you and everyone else like them so much that you immediately insult anyone else with a different opinion than you.
This is hardly related to the subject at hand, but I believe your second paragraph is uncalled for. He was not insulting anyone with a different viewpoint. He was simply asserting his views on DMC, and, in this case, why he felt this new Dante wouldn’t work, and I find no offense in that.
Calm down, you’ve been acting no better then them, you keep spouting out nonsense as to why Dante’s unlikable, to you, a lot of people like him, and I’m on DmC’s side, I don’t think its crap for different interpretations on the world, story, and character, it plays fine and has the same feel, but come on, no one’s saying there perfect games, but you keep coming down on them is no better then them jumping to insulting them whenever they don’t like something about the reboot.
The “emo” thing is a matter of his design, not personality (you’ll note I specifically said that the criticism was that he “looked emo” in that first post of mine as well). His visual design definitely fits that stereotype, and did even more so when it was first released (the initial images had him looking noticeably paler than the final look does), and that is very jarring compared to the original.
It would in fact be very hard for that criticism to be founded on personality given it started circulating from the moment the new design was first revealed, before basically anything of the new writing was known.
And speaking personally, I wouldn’t presume to criticize the character’s personality based on what little I’ve seen in the trailers – only to say, as I did above, that based on what I’ve seen, I don’t have high hopes for the story. Nonetheless, I do fully agree with the criticism of the new design of the character visually: it does not fit and I would be much happier were it not being used.
I agree entirely with you on both Lightning Returns and Dante’s new design. Final Fantasy XIII was a game I just could not enjoy in several was. One of the biggest points in this was gameplay, and how it strayed from almost everything Final Fantasy. If I’m playing a Final Fantasy game, it cannot hold my hand through the entire game, and that’s what it felt like. If it weren’t a Final Fantasy title, maybe I could get past that, but the fact is it has that in the title, and so it carries a certain weight with it. I also find so few of the characters to be relatable and likeable, the only exception to this being Hope. Most of the characters are so underdeveloped and/or irrational, and most people regard Hope as a whiny bitch, pardon the language, but I immensely disagree. That being said, I can’t be convinced to play any of the sequels because XIII made me give up eventually. I hear good things about XIII-2, and maybe Lightning Returns will be good, but I just cannot play them because I can’t get through XIII. I’m not hating them without a chance, it’s just…I can’t develop any interest in them.
And as far as Dante’s new design…it really doesn’t work for his character. I suppose he “looks emo” if that’s how you want to put it, though I don’t care for using that term to describe someone. I’m not certain what it is, but there is something off-putting about his design, and it definitely doesn’t work for a character like Dante. I still intend to give DMC a try, despite that. Character design being not-very-great is not enough to get me to stay away from a game. I probably wouldn’t be a Final Fantasy fan if it were, XD
I actually don’t have a problem with the gameplay of FF 13. To the contrary, the combat was the high point of it for me, and I think it’s the best use of the ATB system to date (though note that I don’t like the ATB system and would rather the games just used normal turn-based or real-time action combat, so that’s something of a backhanded compliment).
It’s the story and characters that killed it for me. The story for being so poorly told, for how basically nothing of consequence happens until the ending, and for how the ending itself makes absolutely no sense – I actually use FF13 as my go-to example of a game with a worse ending than ME3. For the characters, it’s Hope and Snow being so unbearably annoying, most of the others being not particularly likable either (Sazh and Fang were fine most of the time at least, but still not characters I’d say I grew attached to either), and the constant, grating melodrama that comprises the vast majority of their dialogue. There was just no redeeming feature to the game’s writing for me, and for a game as heavily focused around its story as FF 13, that’s a huge problem.
now I realize why Joe Vergas left Blistered Thumbs which is a good thing. people who like pretend to be reviewers and skew things to their biased opinions. Apparently to you are saying my arguments are 100% false while yours is 100%. At least give me some respect for being skeptical with how video games publisher now days try to rip-off it’s customers for something not worth a $60 price. If you didn’t like DMC in the first why do you have to be a jerk off and ruin peoples’ beloved franchise just because you obviously complained about how bad its and you suck at it.
No, frankly Soliduz, Sean’s being pretty reasonable there. He’s simply saying you should try the game so that you can base your criticisms of it on, you know, the actual game, rather than secondhand knowledge. It’s you who seem to be jumping on him and accusing him of things he flat-out never said, which is far less reasonable.
I have said this many times before in previous posts and I will say this again. what makes us DMC fans outraged about the reboot is NOT ABOUT THE LOOKS, NOT ABOUT LOOKS AND NOT ABOUT THE LOOKS only. It almost like people are fucking close minded to say the only reason why we hate it is because Dante looks emo. WRONG! the game mechanics offer less than the DMC games even Ninja Theories Heavenly Sword. I gave reasons why so and I’ll give it again:
- the games runs at 30 FPS on consoles BUT runs 60 FPS, why? guess why? because it’s developed by a different team than Ninja Theory, no surprise! plus here is a link:
.http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-09-20-devil-may-cry-pc-port-outsourced-due-after-console-versions
- the AI enemies are slow and less aggressive than the previous DMC games. they attack you one by one which makes no different than a Dynasty Warriors game.
- the boss battles barely pose a challenge. watch any boss battle and you’ll see what I mean. here I’ll give you an example, links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sI_474EoszI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsBoVjh2SCE
- I acknowledge Ninja Theory did amazing great storytelling for Heavenly Sword and Enslaved. Yet the story, characters and dialogue of this reboot is by Ninja Theory’s standards horrible. the dialogue is all about people saying “fuck you” lines like it is written by 13 year old
- the combat style ranking is utterly pointless because it is so easy and without an effort to gain an S rank when in the previous DMC games you couldn’t even get an A rank that easy. this is important because it is the core of DMC games. otherwise this game more button mashing than hack and slash.
if you don’t like what I said here other more critical reviews of this game:
.http://reaperking.deviantart.com/art/Understanding-the-Devil-s-Cry-322469320
.http://gamerfitnation.com/2012/06/devil-may-cry-preview/
and one of the most controversial behind this game is Tameem and guess what reasons why they made this for themselves to play, read the article, link.
.http://www.ps3center.net//news/5327/dmc-dev-i-dont-care-if-it-sells-a-thousand-units-or-two-million/
Now from what I mentioned I’m not telling you you shouldn’t buy the game. But buying a low budget game for $60 is plain stupid. don’t be an idiot. this is the reasons why Capcom, Ea and other publishers keep giving low quality products, games common glitches, or DLC schemes plus with a rip-off of $60 price games. Now I have nothing against Shaun but what you said about previous DMC being flawed because they are hard and say this reboot is good I tell you go wear diapers if you don’t like hard games and don’t try encourage developers to make games easy. If you don’t like what I said then it’s probably you should go work for IGN and that way no one would criticize you for pampering bad games. you are reviewer and should act like a reviewer.
Yes, because Lord knows, stating your honest opinion and thoughts about something, is definitely not how a reviewer should act.
Seriously, listen to yourself. You’re complaining about a game that’s not even out yet. You’re entire judgment on a yet unreleased game is completely based on a couple videos and articles from OTHER PEOPLE and a demo you might not even have played.
Why not stay a little more open minded for this? Change isn’t always a bad thing.
And just because their business practices and attitude towards the fans suck, doesn’t mean the game will. I can’t really defend them if you don’t want to buy because of their business practices, but when it comes to the game itself. . .
You complain that it’s too easy (or should I say LOOKS to easy?). Just crank up the difficulty. You don’t know how good of a gamer the creators of those videos are. You don’t know what difficulty they’re playing on. You don’t know how far into the game you’ll be fighting those bosses. Heck, you don’t even know if they might have lowered the difficulty for the sake of the demo.
The writing is. . . yeah, ok, this I agree on. The amount of swearing is just ridiculous and I won’t deny that I’m worried about it.
As for the combat style ranking. Seriously, dude, you call that a major problem?
You’re not complaining about stiff or unresponsive controls, bad camera angels, bad hit detection or clunky platforming. You know, the actual major things when talking about gameplay.
No, you’re basically saying that the game is ruined for you, because you can get a high score.
Think about that for a second.
btw, Shaun wasn’t complaining that the games were too hard. He said that the original Resident Evil would be hard to sit through, not because of its difficulty, but because of how much games have changed over the years.
it seems people have short memory loss. I’m not judging the game just by a simple demo, I’m looking at the history of Capcom’s way of tricking people by hyping it’s game, dlc rip offs and rather being innovative instead exploit a franchise’s title for a different or lesser game. I wasn’t complaining about the game only I was complaining about the fact what Saun said in this podcast that the reason why people who are against this DMC reboot is because Dante’s looks. now I’m not mad because of a simple but this has been said by many reviewers who don’t do their homework and instead demonize the DMC fans. seriously he shouldn’t even considered to be a video game reviewer if he judges past games by present standards and not like opposing opinions. I never said that people should trust me completely instead I gave some examples why people should be concerned and think differently. Also I gave examples of other peoples opinion not just mine so how can you say to me I’m being self centered. I never said they shouldn’t change the DMC. In fact I was looking forward at first when I heard about a DMC reboot. However after not just hearing positive things about it I started to look at negative things then I decided to go against it. If your case for changing a game for being to rigid and hard why not change Dark souls in to an easier and more weak bosses then see how stupid and contradiction of a game it becomes. In other words why not make a different game with different controls?
*shrug* Meh. I don’t care about any of those particular games. Not that I’m saying their bad or anything, but all the franchises you mentioned are ones that I’ve never had any interest in. The only one I might have any interest in is that Watchdogs one, but even that doesn’t seem very interesting to me. Then again, I have no idea what the story of the game is, but “causing a horrific crash and rescuing one random civilian from said crash” makes the player character seem like a total asshole. I dunno, the little we’ve seen feels mean-spirited to me.
As for what I’m looking forward to: “Injustice: Gods Among Us” (my most anticipated title; became a DC convert this year, so extra hyped), “Dragon Age 3: Inquisition” (DA2 was flawed, but I still love the series), “Rome 2 Total War” (looks really good and liked the first one), “Fist of the North Star: Ken’s Rage 2″ (seems to correct all the issues I had with the original).