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sabrage wrote:Not that I would ever call it "superior", but God of War came out after Ninja Gaiden. The games that truly did surpass it - Vanquish, Devil May Cry 3, Bayonetta - all came later.

God of War 1 had combat that I will grant you was not as good as NG (despite coming after). However, later entries in that series had many more block/parry techniques that had to be used, much of it better than what I recall in NG. I'll admit I haven't spent enough time with NG as a series (2 ports of the 2004 game and the DS game) and all of that time was afer the PS2/Xbox generation was over (thus after the DMC 1-3 games and GOW 1 & 2), but it just wasn't compelling to me on any front. I am surprised to see you lump Vanquish into that list as the combat feels very removed from any of those games (though quite excellent in its own right). I thought Bayonetta was ok, but like an easy and less-complex version of a DMC title with far more embarrasing-to-be-seen-playing moments.

Haven't played too much of Golden Sun... It seems like it's one of those games that takes a while to get into, kind of like Star Ocean 2. Hopefully things pick up soon so I'll actually have the desire to play more than an hour a day.

noiseredux wrote:Does she even appear in any other SNK games? I'm not sure but she might be a Garou exclusive. Anyway, yeah. Awesome game.

Yes, actually. She's in Neo Geo Battle Coliseum and the PS2 version of King of Fighters XI.

Nionel wrote:

noiseredux wrote:Does she even appear in any other SNK games? I'm not sure but she might be a Garou exclusive. Anyway, yeah. Awesome game.

Yes, actually. She's in Neo Geo Battle Coliseum and the PS2 version of King of Fighters XI.

I was actually wondering if she had appeared in NGBC -- a game I really like a lot, but have barely familiarized myself with its huge roster. Garou might be a great excuse to get back into it.

dsheinem wrote:

sabrage wrote:Not that I would ever call it "superior", but God of War came out after Ninja Gaiden. The games that truly did surpass it - Vanquish, Devil May Cry 3, Bayonetta - all came later.

God of War 1 had combat that I will grant you was not as good as NG (despite coming after). However, later entries in that series had many more block/parry techniques that had to be used, much of it better than what I recall in NG. I'll admit I haven't spent enough time with NG as a series (2 ports of the 2004 game and the DS game) and all of that time was afer the PS2/Xbox generation was over (thus after the DMC 1-3 games and GOW 1 & 2), but it just wasn't compelling to me on any front. I am surprised to see you lump Vanquish into that list as the combat feels very removed from any of those games (though quite excellent in its own right). I thought Bayonetta was ok, but like an easy and less-complex version of a DMC title with far more embarrasing-to-be-seen-playing moments.

Maybe Sigma just doesn't live up to Black? I threw Vanquish in there because the combat required a similar balance of alternating dodging and calculated aggression - in that regard, I'd say it's more similar than God of War, which I agree is more akin to a beat-em-up (though the guns obviously distance Vanquish quite a bit in the moment-to-moment gameplay). By comparison, God of War feels absolutely mindless to me. The blocks and parries are there, but they never felt necessary. They're fun, I played them all, but I'm just not seeing the criticism you're leveling at Ninja Gaiden vs GoW. I never felt like there was any reason to use anything but your chains and the AoE lightning spell, to be honest.

Garou FTW. I love that game. Gato is badass, too.

NGBC is good, too.
I think it's cool that they even threw some Metal Slug characters in the mix.

Disc one of Panzer Dragoon Saga is complete! I'm so glad I'm finally getting around to playing this game; everything about it is beautiful.

BoneSnapDeez wrote:Haven't played too much of Golden Sun... It seems like it's one of those games that takes a while to get into, kind of like Star Ocean 2. Hopefully things pick up soon so I'll actually have the desire to play more than an hour a day.

I adored Golden Sun as a kid. It's a fun game with an engaging take on the standard turn-based battle system. The music is bold and adventurous, and never fails to put you in a good mood. Also, the graphics are gorgeous for a GBA title, especially one released so early in the system's life. Highly recommended.

sabrage wrote:

dsheinem wrote:

sabrage wrote:Not that I would ever call it "superior", but God of War came out after Ninja Gaiden. The games that truly did surpass it - Vanquish, Devil May Cry 3, Bayonetta - all came later.

God of War 1 had combat that I will grant you was not as good as NG (despite coming after). However, later entries in that series had many more block/parry techniques that had to be used, much of it better than what I recall in NG. I'll admit I haven't spent enough time with NG as a series (2 ports of the 2004 game and the DS game) and all of that time was afer the PS2/Xbox generation was over (thus after the DMC 1-3 games and GOW 1 & 2), but it just wasn't compelling to me on any front. I am surprised to see you lump Vanquish into that list as the combat feels very removed from any of those games (though quite excellent in its own right). I thought Bayonetta was ok, but like an easy and less-complex version of a DMC title with far more embarrasing-to-be-seen-playing moments.

Maybe Sigma just doesn't live up to Black? I threw Vanquish in there because the combat required a similar balance of alternating dodging and calculated aggression - in that regard, I'd say it's more similar than God of War, which I agree is more akin to a beat-em-up (though the guns obviously distance Vanquish quite a bit in the moment-to-moment gameplay). By comparison, God of War feels absolutely mindless to me. The blocks and parries are there, but they never felt necessary. They're fun, I played them all, but I'm just not seeing the criticism you're leveling at Ninja Gaiden vs GoW. I never felt like there was any reason to use anything but your chains and the AoE lightning spell, to be honest.

Nope. Sigma has more lag and had more instant-loading points throughout the levels. I couldn't believe it, Black is superior in every regard. Not to mention the extra Rachel segments were just awful, the game is completely fine without them. I hated NG2 and I'm not touching NG3, but NG1 is one of my favorites for sure and completely destroys the God of War games. I didn't like Bayonetta at all either though, too many interruptions during levels for hilariously bad cutscenes, the gameplay was solid but there was like 5 interruptions per stage every 5 minutes and I couldn't handle it. DMC had way better balance with that stuff and better humor.

That's a shame about Sigma. I actually liked NG2, but I readily accept that it's not the masterpiece that Black was.

None of these games have good stories. That's such a ridiculous argument... They're designed to be played and replayed and the cutscenes are designed to be skipped. I didn't find Bayonetta any more annoying than Kratos' grunting or Dante's 90's catchphrases.

sabrage wrote: I didn't find Bayonetta any more annoying than Kratos' grunting or Dante's 90's catchphrases.

Generally I don't get annoyed either, but still I've grown fairly tired of Kratos' screaming and passing kidney stones.