A thread discussing monthly new releases

[marurun]

I'm nervous about that new Actraiser. I have more faith in the music than the gameplay.

[Raging Justice]

I'm nervous about that new Actraiser. I have more faith in the music than the gameplay.

Yeah, it's...not great. I don't know what the original Actraiser is like. From what I've recently read this is actually more of a re-imagining than a remake, which I guess means liberties were taken. The game is...not fun. The side scrolling levels have off screen enemies throwing projectiles at you which means cheap hits galore. There's a dearth of checkpoints. The controls are...stiff, especially when trying to use magic attacks. Trying to fire off a fire ball in mid air is a nightmare.

The graphics are...kind of ugly. It's another one of those games where apparently we can't just go with the old school, 16-bit look, and have to update it...kind of like what they did with the Dracula X remake or Maverick Hunter X. I'm just kind of tired of that bland, 2.5 visual style they seem to always use for remakes and re-imaginings that is never as colorful and pleasing to the eye as the game originally looked.

The city building/tower defense stuff is repetitive and tedious. You're stuck doing the SAME, EXACT, THINGS in every new area, with the same exact quests and side quests. Instead of the game having your work keeping building on itself, it feels like every time you come to a new area you're back to starting from scratch with the city building stuff. It's not rewarding at all

I don't even really understand the concept behind the game. You're supposed to be a god, no THE God with a capital G, but you're so weak. The side scrolling levels don't make you feel like you're God. Even the miracles you can do during the tower defense portions feels weak and under powered and you're ALWAYS out of magic points for them when you really need them. Also, there are these prophesied, legendary heroes in the story, who help defend your towns, but the story conveniently always finds an excuse for why they can't fight the main villains which is why it's always YOU who has to do the side scrolling levels and the boss fights. I just find that laughable. If I was a god and I had these powerful, legendary, heroes, I don't see why I'd have to come down from the heavens to get my hands dirty. Why not just bless them with my godly power and let them get things done for me? I would be like, "My chosen hero, I gift you a portion of my divine might. Go forth and slay the foul demon and protect my children". I hate how contrived video games so often are.

[Note]

Raging Justice, you really should go back and play the original Actraiser release on SNES. It's great -- one of my favorite games on the system. For all the things the remake seemingly gets wrong (I haven't played it, as I don't have regular access to a modern console), the original got right. The sim parts in between stages are not overly long, and there is no tower defense type of mechanism. The action platform segments are also fun and I think this game is one of the better titles in the genre on that console. It's an odd mix of action platforming and sim but it's a good way to mix up the gameplay and really unique for a console game. Also, the graphics were well done for an early SNES release and the music is fantastic.

But I digress from the topic on hand, which is new releases. I'm excited that Metroid Dread is out! I probably won't have a chance to play it for quite a while, but it's awesome to see a new 2D Metroid on home console after all these years. The trailers I saw looked great, but I'm going to stay clear of reviews as I don't want to accidentally spoil it for myself.