crispy4000

There's also a Q&A with Geoff summarized on Resetera: https://www.resetera.com/threads/cliff-notes-of-geoff-keighleys-twitch-q-a-lots-of-what-wont-be-at-the-show.887817/?post=123844770#post-123844770 Basically says expect more updates on existing games, and highlighting stuff that's out there that you might not know about. No one more thing moment, lots of devs talking, etc.

They’re no better now. His shoulders look so stiff when he swings something.

Booted up Paper Mario and the Origami King again, I think just after I beat the first temple. I know it’s not supposed to be as good as the first two games, but I’m still quite enjoying returning to it. The vibes are good.

Its pretty clear that big game was supposed to be Astro Bot. Worked for me and a lot of people it seems. It addresses a major release gap between Sony single player stuff in a year that was speculated to have nothing. They managed to keep the lid on it pretty tight too, with rumors only circulating a little bit before the show. Not even a teaser trailer at a prior showcase. (Which last year could have really used tbh) I still would have liked to see something more from their studios for next year. September is still pretty early too, so they are still missing a marquee holiday release.

Time Spent: 20 minutes Rating: ** By far the weakest of the Konami Rebirth series. All Gradius games seem to start similarly with the opening level, but there's a midboss part way through that seems to demand pixel perfect precision of your ship. No thanks, I noped out after give it a few tries. Watching videos of later levels makes me think I made the right decision. This looks stupidly difficult, even for a SHUMP.

Just watched it. Concord - The gameplay is the best looking thing about it, even though it's just one of those again. Would it be one of those I'd be willing to try? Eh, probably not. The Guardians of the Galaxy vibes are way too heavy handed, although I prefer it to whatever Blizzard's style is these days. Where Winds Meet - Always nice to see more Chinese games get a spotlight from Sony. It actually looks like a real game, unlike that one game they showed off last year. I distrust it being open world though. And where is Lost Soul Aside already? It’s been ages. Ballad of Antara - Astrobot aside, the most refreshing game of the show. But why the hell is this F2P? Learning that just killed all my hype. I don't want to have to grind the thing out just to see more. Infiniti Niki - Still looks absolutely insane visually, even better than Visions of Mana. But I'm not playing a dress up game unless somehow its good. Previous gameplay looked pretty ho hum. Dynasty Warriors: Origins- I could get down with it if commanding squads actually meant something, like an RTS-lite or something. Monster Hunter Wilds - Starting to remind me of those claymation monster movies from the 70's and 80's. Gotta be 30fps. Silent Hill 2 - No history with the first game, but the character models are looking a little iffy. Horror elements look better. Astro Bot - Yes. I thought the show was entertaining on the whole, even if it still wasn't what I want from a Sony showcase. They've done worse in recent years, and goodness Astro Bot looks great. But it still feels like they're waiting for a Sucker Punch to make a display or something. Also, I find it hilarious that Fairgame$ is a no show. Long and overdone CG trailer one year, disappears into a fog of nothingness the next. Meanwhile the game with the few second cg trailer of a burger materializes.

That’s basically what they did the year they showed off the TLoU remake from what I recall. Gave it to Geoff.

Weaker than that one where they showed only 3rd party games? Haven’t watched it yet.

I question the slowdown, especially in Snowboard Kids. But if we're thinking more in terms of what a recompilation effort could look like, sure. Snowboard Kids 2 is a more impressive game than the first. I'd be really curious to see how the three 3D Bomberman games on N64 hold up with recompilation. I never beat Hero, but 64 and Second Attack are fantastic games with some slight quirks. There's not much out there like them.

It's the same game remixed with different, shorter and harder (but not that much harder) levels. I still finished the game with a stock of 75 lives. Luigi controls with even less friction than Mario, but that's actually a good thing. He jumps higher, can slightly extend his jump by holding the button, and can still do that twirl manuver to extend your distance slightly. It works, so much so that the levels still feel like a cakewalk mostly. I liked the brevity here, its an ideal Mario game for short bursts, almost designed as a handheld game in spite of debuting on console. It's pretty forgettable on the whole, but definitely is fun. 8.5/10 2024 Games Final Fantasy XVI - 8.5/10 Tinykin - 8/10 Evan's Remains - 7.5/10 Crisis Core Final Fantasy VII: Reunion - 7/10 Castle of Illusion Remake - 7.5/10 FF7R Episode Intermission - 8.5/10 Telsagrad 2 - 7.5/10 Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth - 9.5/10 New Super Mario Bros U - 8.5/10 New Super Luigi U - 8.5/10

Updated the list.

Even Dreamcast feels a bit too late to me. There was enough oomph in that system to make early 3D games run smooth without too many compromises. Spyro games on the PS1 are probably the best example of 3D on the system. Those and the Crash games hold up well. All got faithful remakes though.

Another obvious N64 answer is Diddy Kong Racing. Perfect aesthetic, little slowdown, fun controls, open area exploration, etc. The bosses can be a little crude, but that’s the only overt blemish. It’s aged much better than Mario Kart 64.

Star Fox 64 the thread. Even its slowdown feels like it was intended for as stuff gets crazy. Banjo 1 fits the bill too.

Nintendo probably should have released Switch 2 by now. Kind of dire looking for their first spot on the charts in a summer month to be #15.

I wonder what happens when they wake up and realize PC gamers won’t migrate to console. Wait, I know, a PC storefront.

Time Spent: 30 minutes Rating: **** It can't still be this good, can it? Oh yes it is. Better than Blazing Chrome. Quite possibly the best Contra game ever made, surely the one that leaves the strongest first impression. There's subtle bloom on shots, crazy rotation effects everywhere, Gunstar Hero level explosions, homing missile barrages that fill the screen, physics-based particle effects, a similar smooth pixel art style as Castlevania Rebirth ... this game feels sooo far ahead of its time, and beyond most other pixel art games today, it's wild. Even the checkpointing is a lot more fair than you'd expect from Contra. What a travesty that this still hasn't left the Wii. And that M2 hasn't made more games like it.

Time Spent: 30 minutes Rating: **½ It's a slightly better version of Virgo and the Zodiac. Graphics are similarly simplistic, which works out better in battles scenes than walking around. There's a grid based system in battles that have a timing component, but I can already see how much of a pain battles will be lengthwise. Timing isn't strict, but you're judged under a 3-tier timing window system, which ends up making you feel bad for not being quite perfect. Music is okay, but sounds too low stakes in battles. Then there's the semi-randomized movements of enemies in battle, which gets kind of dumb when bosses spawn exploding minions.

12 Minutes might belong here

Time Spent: 30 minutes Rating: ***½ I thought I'd revisit the Konami Rebirth series for fun, to see how they compare to modern pixel art games. Other than the aspect ratio, this game holds up quite nicely. I've never been much of a fan of traditional Castlevania, with its stiff movement and frequent enemy spawning, but I can't deny how polished this game looks. Its a pixel art game fully aware that it may be played off CRTs, and the visual style is constructed accordingly. More modern games could stand to learn a thing or two. There's also multiple pathways through levels, which helps it not feel too much like a regression from Metroidvania. It's still pretty great, such a shame it can't be bought anymore.

Time Spent: 20 minutes Rating: * An updated version of a MS-DOS roguelike. The developers must have spent a lot of time trying to get it up to modern standards, but every bit of this game still ends up feeling like inside baseball. The tutorial is poorly presented, constantly asking you to memorize what specific keys on your keyboard do. I think at one point it literally told me to hold down control and hit two letter keys simultaneously. The UI shifts between graphical visuals to MS-DOS menus in your inventory screen. This seem emulated or something, whatever it does, going to your inventory absolutely kills the framerate and mouse responsiveness. At the start, you explore caves with endlessly respawning monsters who do practically damage to you. Once you level up, there's ~20 different stat upgrade options, none of them explained to you. There could be something kind of great here if you dig in I suppose. But I can't be bothered.

Time Spent: 30 minutes Rating: **½ Completely serviceable puzzle platformer where your goal is to kill yourself in each level. It's an interesting twist that occasionally leads to some creative endings to stages. Problem I have with is mainly is that it's still glorified push block puzzles most of the time. And in spite of your character movement feeling okay, there's often a lot of real estate to cover. A run button would have helped this a lot, and maybe led to some more interesting challenges.

I keep getting this game and Replaced mixed up in my head.

Time Spent: 10 minutes Rating: *½ Not much of a game here to be had. You thumb through tabs in your browser, taking requests for organs which you buy and resell. It's a lot of combing through green text to see what people want, scrolling through lists to find a match. Stylish presentation, but that's about all that's here. It functions, it’s a time waster.

Time Spent: 30 minutes Rating: **½ You're a cop patrolling your assigned street, writing tickets, cuffing crinimals, wheeling and dealing. There's tasks assigned each day, in addition to semi-random events and story beats that drop as each new day passes. And those limits tend to be the most problematic part. You need to pick and choose from what objectives and events to tend to, since there's never enough time in the day unless you figure out how to speed run it or something. Pixel art looks pretty okay from a distance, but this is another game where it goes for extreme close ups as you enter buildings and the like. Story isn't great either, dilogue has excessive cussing, etc. But I can't say I've played anything quite like it before, so it's probably worth checking out if you already own it. (was a Prime giveaway for GoG)