SGS Man

I swear this thread will be a thing of beauty if someone decides to necro it a few years from now. Unless of course, someone decides to delete or lock this thread.

@cyan0s1s I agree. The characterization and plot of DmC is a hot mess. That being said, even with the changes, I still consider it to be an outright better game than DMC4.

Which PWAD was that? I don't seem to recall. Also OP, E3M2, E3M6, and E3M7 are fantastic levels.

@Phobus DmC is polarising game. For people who associate strongly with the original characters, DmC is a bastardization of the original cast. And even when viewed as its own entity, it is very inconsistent in story and characters. Gameplay-wise it is mechanically inferior to DMC 3 and DMC 4 (albeit only barely). However, DmC excels at level design, downtime between combat, and locational variety. The Vergil DLC is remarkable though. I find DmC Vergil to be the best character gameplay-wise after DMC4 Dante and DMC3 Dante. (Plus he gets his own levels and boss)

Unfortunately that statement is demonstrably untrue. The fact that every discussion on Doom 1 vs. Doom 2 boils down to semi-flame-wars indicates that there is no Doom 2 circlejerk (although a significant portion of these forums prefers Doom 2). With that said, I'll share my thoughts as a person who considers Doom 1 to be a far superior game to Doom 2. Doom 2's maps were successful due to both experimentation and refinement. The gameplay sections of Doom 2 are more interesting than Doom 1, and Doom 2's gimmicks are only rivaled by Doom 1 E3. However, Doom 2 falls short since none of these two aspects were well-executed. Most maps attempt mixing gimmicks and interesting gameplay, but end up with a poor mishmash of both. Doom 1 succeeds in this regard since the tools were limited and demanded focus on one aspect primarily. This resulted in better introduction/weapon progression (E1), better build-up (E2), better gimmicks (E3), and harder maps (E4). Effectively, Doom 2 struggles since the potential of the bestiary and mechanics could not be explored during the limited development time. In this vein, Doom 2's maps are successful because of the ideas presented. Better mapmakers use the tools and ideas in Doom 2 as a foundation to improve upon. Final Doom is an excellent example. TNT is a WAD inspired by the gimmicks of Doom 2, and Plutonia is a WAD inspired by the gameplay. Both do the respective ideas better than Doom 2 (although this is the only way TNT can be considered 'better' than Doom 2 according to me). Doom 2's toolkit is versatile and Doom 2's maps are inspirational. I was disappointed by the immense amounts of missed potential in Doom 2 but it did serve as the second step towards realizing the full depth of the game. So yeah, I think Doom 2 is interesting but not great. Thankfully, people improved the things it did to make modern Doom both interesting and great.

Prey (2017) is excellent. It’s more akin to the System Shock games than the earlier Prey games.

Oh lord the Ninja Gaiden games. They don't make games like them anymore. Add Ninja Gaiden 2 and Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 to that list and you have some of the best and most challenging action games ever made. They're good enough to warrant buying a used XBox 360 and PS3. Also OP, with your restrictions, you may be able to run Dark Souls smoothly using DSFix. It's quite hard (for newcomers) but it's extremely well-crafted as a game and experience. It's a more grandiose version of Severance: Blade of Darkness with better level design and more interesting bosses (but with slightly less nuanced combat). I believe 2 GB of RAM may be sufficient for Dark Souls 2 as well. Souls games are Action-RPGs, with a massive focus on the Action (and Adventure part).

The Prince of Persia games. Especially the Sands of Time trilogy (+ Forgotten Sands). They are more akin to platformers than anything but they do have a robust fighting system and boast some decent level design and weapon variety. Pretty fun bosses as well.

I guess that's sort of true. I just remembered another thing the newer DMCs have forgotten- "Easy Mode is now Selectable" The sheer condescension of that quote is pure comedic gold to me.

I'm cycling between all 4 original Devil May Cry games. There's something to like about each of them (yes, even 2), but replaying them has cemented DMC3 as one of my favorite games outright. I honestly think 1 holds up pretty well, while 4 is a disappointment as a game. 1 has great atmosphere, level design, bosses and paces itself remarkably well. It still is one of the best introductions to the Character Action genre. 2 exists. It does a great job reminding you of how the other games are far superior. 3 is a masterpiece of gameplay depth. It has the best level design in the series, the best story (although that's not saying much), the most weapon and style variety, and the best bosses by far (although Credo from DMC4 and Vergil / Hollow Vergil from DmC:DMC are comparable in terms of overall quality). I would recommend this game to anyone, even non-fans of Character Action. 4's Dante is arguably the deepest character in the Character Action genre, but every other aspect of 4 disappoints. Nero is good but is relatively easy to master. The Special Edition messes gameplay balance to an outright comical level. Seriously, DMC4SE's balance is so broken it makes DmC:DMC's Style meter look well-crafted by comparison. Vergil, Trish, and Lady obliterate the already paper-thin enemies due to their sheer damage output. 4's Vergil is a flashy combination of DMC3SE Vergil and DmC:DMC Vergil without an understanding of the design choices in the respective games. Trish and Lady have no originality in their move-set whatsoever as they are merely combinations of the move-sets of Dante, Nero, and Vergil. The icing on the cake is that you can play through the campaign 3 times to use all characters, but the campaign involves repeating the same levels twice, and the same bosses (with no changes) thrice. Yeah, I'd rank the games as :- 3 >= 1 > 4 > 2 With the reboot :- 3 >= 1 > Reboot > 4 > 2 Anyway, I've been considering 'Ori and the Blind Forest' and 'Wings of Vi' recently. Both seem pretty fun.

I do caffeine. Usually in the form of coffee or carbonated drinks.

More DMC: BONUS: My reactions when information of DMC5 was leaked

Undertale is one of the most unique games I've played in a while. By sheer virtue of concept and execution, I wouldn't hesitate calling it one of the best games I've played. However, I don't find earnest and legitimate criticism of the game as much as I want to. Good analysis of Undertale has been replaced with a counter-culture that "hates" the game to act cool, or with people who distance themselves from the awful fanbase. This really places a negative mark on Undertale, when its ideas can grow into newer things. I found this rather unfortunate since I want to see more games like Undertale in the future (Lisa doesn't count; that stuff's messed up). I'd recommend everyone play the game if you haven't by now, and judge it on its own merits, rather than on the fanbase or the expectations set by them.

It's pretty painful when an idol of yours passes away. Reading "A Brief History of Time" all those years ago was probably the push I needed to pursue research in Mathematics and Science. His greatest contribution was not his research, but his mere existence. He represents success against all odds. Even when he was condemned with a disease that placed a limit on his life, he still survived for decades after his predicted demise. Furthermore, he managed to make notable contributions to modern physics, something several researchers never accomplish. His prominence in science publicity definitely affected his work, but he still used his fame to inspire people to pursue research. He was a fantastic individual and world is lesser without him. Truly the Carl Sagan of modern times. However, due to the time-consuming nature of scientific publicity, he will only go down as a footnote in the annals of scientific history. Research ultimately cares about the progress made and not popularity. This is why I choose to remember him as an inspirational person rather than an inspirational scientist.

Just got the DMC HD Collection on Steam. I've played some of the missions of DMC 1 and DMC 3: SE, and while they were enjoyable, I feel as if this port is almost a cashgrab. Very few QoL changes have been made, although the games are still really fun. Regardless, it's great to finally have a competent port of DMC 1, 2, and 3 on the PC.

E3M8 is fun from a pistol start. On continuous, it turns into a joke if you have a few cells on you. E4M8 has an enjoyable build up. Although by then, people realized that the SMM is extremely weak without ammo starvation or back-up. So you get a showdown with a bunch of other demons thrown in for good measure. MAP30 is a cool concept poorly executed. That's all it is...

I've spent some time revisiting DmC: Devil May Cry and comparing it to DMC4 Special Edition and DMC3 Special Edition in terms of combo potential and gameplay depth. Looking at Dante, it is easy to see that DMC4 SE's Dante is leagues above the DmC: DMC counterpart. There are more weapons, more moves with each weapon, and more styles (5 > 0) in DMC4 SE. While DMC3 SE has more weapons, moves, and styles compared to DMC4 SE, it still lags behind in terms of combo potential because styles cannot be switched mid-combat. There is a rather finicky style-switcher mod for DMC3 SE, and mastery of that mod will boost the depth of DMC3 SE to unmatched levels in action games surpassing even Godhand, but in terms of vanilla games, DMC4 SE's Dante is the pinnacle of combo potential (Combos are still discovered to this day, a decade after DMC4's initial release). So, for Dante : DMC3 SE (Style-Switcher Mod) > DMC4 SE > DMC3 SE > DmC: DMC Vergil however, is a very interesting case. In DMC3 SE and DMC4 SE, he has only 3 weapons but he has more moves in DMC4 SE. This really increases the depth and combo potential of DMC4 SE Vergil. However, both cases have no styles. Also, there are several weird design decisions made in DMC4 SE that curb some of Vergil's depth such as spammable animation cancels, awkward inertia, and horribly high damage. Like seriously, DMC4 SE already had enemies made of paper. These mobs have so little health, that the only way to make them challenging is to play on the higher non-gimmick difficulties (Dante Must Die / Gods Must Die / Legendary Dark Knight). But even on these difficulties, Vergil shreds through enemies like butter. Interestingly enough, DmC: DMC's Vergil has 1 style (kinda), and 3 weapons to use and there aren't as many design decisions that weaken combo potential thankfully. So, for Vergil : DmC: DMC > DMC4 SE > DMC3 SE For all the vitriol poured on DmC: DMC, it is quite remarkable that DMC4 SE ripped moves straight out of it and somehow messed up. In terms of depth and combo potential, DmC: DMC boasts a decent Dante and a remarkable Vergil. It is extremely unfortunate that we'll probably never get a sequel to this game, even though it had so much potential to grow.

Enjoyment is quite subjective. A person could just easily find modern SP in Doom to be masochistic or cheap or unfair, but find Doom's MP to be fantastic. However, both modern SP and MP in Doom are extremely well-designed. Community and/or sub-community standards are remarkably high and the best players in the specific sub-communities of Doom often end up mapping for said sub-communities. Consider deathmatch. Doom deathmatch maps are made by players who love the mode. They simply create maps that cater to a specific taste. It's a taste you either acquire or not. Similar things apply to slaughtermaps, GZDoom mods, and other forms of Doom SP and MP. Almost every aspect of modern Doom has a sub-community forming around it, and these sub-communities cater to their own interests. The best part about all of this is that the high standards of Doom map-making and modding ensure that an inquisitive player can end up finding a well-realized aspect of Doom they absolutely enjoy.

More DMC is always good!

Where is he? I can't seem to find him. I'll see myself out...

BURN THE HERETIC!!!

Um... I assume this is sarcasm. Battletoads is notorious for being batshit hard.