From Newsgroup: uk.games.video.misc


Ooh, Steve Jackson (no, not that one) is doing an RPG sourcebook based
on the 1632 fiction series. That should be batty in all the good ways.

Play:
--=--

Phantasy Star Online 1+2 Plus (GC) - And nothing else. Two decades of
Monster Hunter and God Eater has made me more comfortable with the
unloved Ranger class, which I spent a good two hours on this Sunday.
Weirdly it's the Force spellcaster class that has to worry about
consumables in having to replenish spell points all the time, whereas
the Ranger can just merrily lob ammunition into every enemy without
worrying about running out. I do have to admit to gaming it a little bit
by giving the Ranger character equipment that my Force can't use, which
is a leg up that I think I've earned after all this time.

The Ranger is just past the Dragon in Normal difficulty, whereas the
Force has unlocked the Ruins and is in the home stretch towards the
final boss. Hoping to have Ultimate difficulty unlocked before too long.

Want:
--=--

House of the Dead 2 Remake (PS5) - There appears to be no PS4 version on
the horizon. This is a disappointment because the remake of the first
HOTD game supported PS Move controllers, which is about as close to
light guns as we're ever going to get again. I even set up the PS4
camera permanently atop the TV so that I could have the option to get that going whenever I wanted to, which is to say not at all since I set it
up. To add insult to injury, HOTD2 Remake probably is a digital release
only with no disc, which is a guarantee that I won't buy it.

Bin:
-==-

Nothing gaming-related.

-KKC, who should have tracked expenditures this year just to see.
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From Newsgroup: uk.games.video.misc

Kendrick Kerwin Chua <kendrick@nospam.io-nyc> wrote:

Play:

Lego City Undercover (PC) - more stuff in the sandbox, the free runs
and so on. There's one random item on top of a floating crocodile
balloon (that most standard of sandbox tropes) which is remarkably
awkward to get to - and having tried to get that and failed, I got
oddly fixated on getting the thing. In the end I managed to do the
fiddliest jump required to reach the balloon only by switching outfits
in midair while holding the jump button, so I could bounce to full
height on another nearby balloon while also being able to use the
spacesuit jetpack from there to get an extra boost to make the jump
work, squeaking across the finish line almost as if Jeb had defected
from Kerbal Space Program.

Want:

Some sort of trophy for making it through that last sentence, I was
beginning to wonder if it would ever end.

House of the Dead 2 Remake (PS5) - There appears to be no PS4 version on
the horizon. This is a disappointment because the remake of the first
HOTD game supported PS Move controllers, which is about as close to
light guns as we're ever going to get again. I even set up the PS4
camera permanently atop the TV so that I could have the option to get that going whenever I wanted to, which is to say not at all since I set it
up. To add insult to injury, HOTD2 Remake probably is a digital release
only with no disc, which is a guarantee that I won't buy it.

It's so nice to have remakes which are unequivocally superior to the
original. Or at least, I imagine it would be.

Bin:

Having to ignore my spellchecker and N dictionaries in order to keep incorrectly writing "jetpack". One day they will finally convince me.
One day. But not today.

My PC/Linux games menu completely disappearing without warning (which
turned out to be related to $PATH, easily fixed but it was a bit of a
pain to track down the cause). No doubt this is a sign that I should
just run the games from a typical launcher like a sane person. :-)

-Rus.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.games.video.misc

In article <AyxfQ.156447$Pp0d.77259@usenetxs.com>,
Russell Marks <zgedneil@spam^H^H^H^Hgmail.com> wrote:

Kendrick Kerwin Chua <kendrick@nospam.io-nyc> wrote:

Want:

House of the Dead 2 Remake (PS5) - There appears to be no PS4 version on
the horizon. This is a disappointment because the remake of the first
HOTD game supported PS Move controllers, which is about as close to
light guns as we're ever going to get again. I even set up the PS4
camera permanently atop the TV so that I could have the option to get that >> going whenever I wanted to, which is to say not at all since I set it
up. To add insult to injury, HOTD2 Remake probably is a digital release
only with no disc, which is a guarantee that I won't buy it.

It's so nice to have remakes which are unequivocally superior to the >original. Or at least, I imagine it would be.

You joke, but I zealously guard and maintain the CRTs remaining in my
house strictly for the purpose of supporting the old game systems where
one might still play light gun games. I'm always disappointed to see a
CRT out in the wild that's inexplicably for sale, but is otherwise
unusable for anything apart from becoming an elaborate stage prop. I'm probably going to be buried with my 32-inch Sony Trinitron. I could be
buried *in* my 45-inch Sharp with component input though.

-KKC, who spells it 'Chet Pacque'.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.games.video.misc

Kendrick Kerwin Chua the Monkey was never naughty:

Ooh, Steve Jackson (no, not that one) is doing an RPG sourcebook based
on the 1632 fiction series. That should be batty in all the good ways.

Play:
--=--

Phantasy Star Online 1+2 Plus (GC) - And nothing else. Two decades of Monster Hunter and God Eater has made me more comfortable with the
unloved Ranger class, which I spent a good two hours on this Sunday.
Weirdly it's the Force spellcaster class that has to worry about
consumables in having to replenish spell points all the time, whereas
the Ranger can just merrily lob ammunition into every enemy without
worrying about running out. I do have to admit to gaming it a little bit
by giving the Ranger character equipment that my Force can't use, which
is a leg up that I think I've earned after all this time.

Hrm - in all the <lots and lots> of hours I've put into PS[O|P|U], I don't think I've ever played anything other than hunter. I just like the
swishy sword sounds too much, I guess. I had a play of PSP2 relatively
recently and I just don't get why it isn't being seriously
re[mastered|booted] as the main dopamine loop is still rock-solid.

J
--
Sir Chewbury Gubbins <choobs@chewbury.net.invalid>
... Blog & Game Diary : http://www.nelefa.org
/|\ Constructed using SLRN and Vi.
/ | \ Zomoniac is Wrong. Fact.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.games.video.misc

Kendrick Kerwin Chua the Monkey was never naughty:

Ooh, Steve Jackson (no, not that one) is doing an RPG sourcebook based
on the 1632 fiction series. That should be batty in all the good ways.

Play:
--=--

Baldur's Gate 3 (PC) - just over a hundred hours into my first
playthrough. I'm in Act 3 and, if anything, the game is just getting
bigger. There's some talk of us doing a PMG of it, but I'm not sure we
could get it finished in our lifetimes.

Donkey Kong Bananza (NS2) - it's lovely and smashy and satisfying and, probably, ultimately shallow and forgettable but lots of fun in the now.

Want:
--=--

Tales of the Shire (PC) - partly to wind up all of the anti-woke types
who are frothing at the mouth over it but also because if it turns out
to be rubbish I can refer to it as "Tales of the Shite".

Bin:
-==-

Nazi countries sending their Orange-fleshed dictators over here at our
expense. Keep your fascists to yourselves :)

J
--
Sir Chewbury Gubbins <choobs@chewbury.net.invalid>
... Blog & Game Diary : http://www.nelefa.org
/|\ Constructed using SLRN and Vi.
/ | \ Zomoniac is Wrong. Fact.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.games.video.misc

In article <105t3nt$m1t9$1@dont-email.me>,
Sir Chewbury Gubbins <chewbury.gubbins@nelefa.org.invalid> wrote:

Kendrick Kerwin Chua the Monkey was never naughty:

Play:
--=--

Phantasy Star Online 1+2 Plus (GC) - And nothing else. Two decades of
Monster Hunter and God Eater has made me more comfortable with the
unloved Ranger class, which I spent a good two hours on this Sunday.
Weirdly it's the Force spellcaster class that has to worry about
consumables in having to replenish spell points all the time, whereas
the Ranger can just merrily lob ammunition into every enemy without
worrying about running out. I do have to admit to gaming it a little bit
by giving the Ranger character equipment that my Force can't use, which
is a leg up that I think I've earned after all this time.

Hrm - in all the <lots and lots> of hours I've put into PS[O|P|U], I don't >think I've ever played anything other than hunter. I just like the
swishy sword sounds too much, I guess. I had a play of PSP2 relatively >recently and I just don't get why it isn't being seriously >re[mastered|booted] as the main dopamine loop is still rock-solid.

So the big draw of the Force characters is that once you get properly
powered up, one spell can hit every enemy in the room with the potential
to freeze, paralyze, or kill outright in one hit. It's also really
satisfying to rush over to the other side of a room, get all your
enemies lined up in a neat row and fling one destructive spell that
knocks over the lot of them. That's more important in solo plan than not though, where a spellcaster is expected to heal and buff and weather complaints about not healing or buffing.

On paper a Ranger is also supposed to be more support than not, standing
off to one side and picking off enemies before they become urgent
hazards. I'm sure that the intent was always that blade-swinging Hunters
would be the default solo class, but it's kind of less inspiring to me
as a result.

To your other question, I think that the Phantasy Star Universe-adjacent properties (Phantasy Star Portable and anything that thrived on Sony's platforms) has had a neat bow tied over the top of it now that PSO2 is
what Sega is pushing. There's a theory that I completely buy into, that
Sonic Team was largely responsible for the secret sauce of making an
online Phantasy Star work, and that their utter lack of involvement in
PSO2 is both a misstep and deliberate choice so as not to get in the way
of microtransactions and other monetisation. It means something that I'm
still playing PSO after all this time but that I harbour absolutely no
desire to get back into PSO2, no matter how many product placement
crossovers they cram into the loading screens.

-KKC, who needs a full hour to himself to get this last mission done.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2