danyell54
2001
"Looks like we have a winner." "Jackpot."
It's well known that Devil May Cry started development as Resident Evil 4, (in fact it started as Resi3 even), and that lineage is obvious when you play. Fixed camera angles. Take items from one part of the castle to another to solve puzzles. Yeah, I see it. But on this playthrough, I noticed some Resi DNA that I hadn't before. That this game is actually kind of terrifying in its own right.
It all comes down to the music for me. You step into the castle, greeted only by piano notes being slammed down in what is almost a rhythm if you squint hard enough. And occasionally there's an actual nice song being played, but it sounds like it's far off. No matter where you are, that nice music is somewhere else. Even the shop music is creepy! C'mon man, this is supposed to be a happy screen! This is where I get all my powers! How are you gonna do me like this? And then of course you encounter your first bad guy and the game goes from very scary to downright horrify... wait hang on. This song is banging actually. Oh, that's right. I'm playing as Dante. Let's rock. And you proceed to wipe the floor with the dumb puppet.
Or you get kinda owned, like I did lmao. This game is tough, but not overbearingly so. The Devil Trigger mechanic helps immensely. Of course it feels great to go into that state and decimate the demons, but the real beauty of it is when you aren't in your DT form. The gauges fill up so wonderfully fast, which made me play more aggressively than I would have otherwise. Even when things looked bleak, it never felt like a comeback was out of reach. "Just gotta hit the guy a couple more times, then I can activate DT, get some health back, and can turn this around aaaand I died. Aw well, let's go again."
And no matter whether you're styling on the enemies or not the combat just feels and looks great. (Though some parts taking getting used to, like how dodging in certain directions sends you 50 feet in the air, instead of just doing a simple roll). I never got tired of watching Dante just unload an endless amount of bullets into the demons. Infinite ammo baby, and he doesn't even need a bandana. Dante himself is just rad as hell, and his cockiness is always well earned. You bet I was feeling just as smug as he was every time a boss went down.
Devil May Cry is all about empowerment. It throws this dense atmosphere and freakish, unforgiving enemies at you, but it knows you can come out on top. And you're gonna do it with style.
Now go beat it again on hard mode.
It's well known that Devil May Cry started development as Resident Evil 4, (in fact it started as Resi3 even), and that lineage is obvious when you play. Fixed camera angles. Take items from one part of the castle to another to solve puzzles. Yeah, I see it. But on this playthrough, I noticed some Resi DNA that I hadn't before. That this game is actually kind of terrifying in its own right.
It all comes down to the music for me. You step into the castle, greeted only by piano notes being slammed down in what is almost a rhythm if you squint hard enough. And occasionally there's an actual nice song being played, but it sounds like it's far off. No matter where you are, that nice music is somewhere else. Even the shop music is creepy! C'mon man, this is supposed to be a happy screen! This is where I get all my powers! How are you gonna do me like this? And then of course you encounter your first bad guy and the game goes from very scary to downright horrify... wait hang on. This song is banging actually. Oh, that's right. I'm playing as Dante. Let's rock. And you proceed to wipe the floor with the dumb puppet.
Or you get kinda owned, like I did lmao. This game is tough, but not overbearingly so. The Devil Trigger mechanic helps immensely. Of course it feels great to go into that state and decimate the demons, but the real beauty of it is when you aren't in your DT form. The gauges fill up so wonderfully fast, which made me play more aggressively than I would have otherwise. Even when things looked bleak, it never felt like a comeback was out of reach. "Just gotta hit the guy a couple more times, then I can activate DT, get some health back, and can turn this around aaaand I died. Aw well, let's go again."
And no matter whether you're styling on the enemies or not the combat just feels and looks great. (Though some parts taking getting used to, like how dodging in certain directions sends you 50 feet in the air, instead of just doing a simple roll). I never got tired of watching Dante just unload an endless amount of bullets into the demons. Infinite ammo baby, and he doesn't even need a bandana. Dante himself is just rad as hell, and his cockiness is always well earned. You bet I was feeling just as smug as he was every time a boss went down.
Devil May Cry is all about empowerment. It throws this dense atmosphere and freakish, unforgiving enemies at you, but it knows you can come out on top. And you're gonna do it with style.
Now go beat it again on hard mode.
2004
Ah, the RPG in its purest form. A dragon is searing my flesh with its fiery roar? No matter! I dost have the perfect stratagem to slay the fell beast!
decimates the local slime population for an hour
What sayest thou now, green dragon? Mine numbers are higher than thine own! Who'm'st've else could have come up with so bold, so daring, so wonderfully thought out of a plan to rend thy scales from thy wretched hide? Wouldst you flee in terror at my superior level? Wouldst you not fight to the bitter end? But thou must!
Seriously though, despite every fight in this game being a one-on-one slugfest, (and, I know I could put the bad guys to sleep but like, when it doesn't work the first time I'm not too inclined to try it again lmao) it's still a fun game! Alefgard is a charming little kingdom, thanks in large part to its inhabitants. The townsfolk might not say anything particularly interesting, but they speak with such charm. I couldn't help but want to see their kingdom saved.
Unfortunately, this was my third go at saving their kingdom, and this game really suffers on repeat playthroughs. The way the game is structured requires that no real story triggers be hit; if you know which items need to be taken where you can just go do it without talking to anybody. And the bonk-or-get-bonked nature of the combat means the only thing stopping you from having full run of the map is that you'll quickly die if you go too far out. So the only thing left for it is to grind until you can successfully Not Die.
Now all of that is fine on a first playthrough, because there isn't much time spent actually grinding. At least, that's how it feels to me when I'm exploring and just happen to be killing every slime I see along the way. It isn't grinding, it's just a fortunate coincidence of my wanderings! Grinding is only grinding when it feels like a grind. And a second or third playthrough of this game definitely feels like a grind.
But it's one of the first JRPGs ever. So, ya know, can't be too hard on it lol
(One last side note: your mileage may vary depending on which version of the game you play. This Switch port that I played gives you more gold and experience compared to the NES original, which speeds things up tremendously. But it does give you a map that shows you exactly where all the towns and caves are, which could cause similar issues to doing a second playthrough. And it's missing a pleasant graphical effect when you build a bridge near the end of the game. There's always gotta be tradeoffs with these things.)
decimates the local slime population for an hour
What sayest thou now, green dragon? Mine numbers are higher than thine own! Who'm'st've else could have come up with so bold, so daring, so wonderfully thought out of a plan to rend thy scales from thy wretched hide? Wouldst you flee in terror at my superior level? Wouldst you not fight to the bitter end? But thou must!
Seriously though, despite every fight in this game being a one-on-one slugfest, (and, I know I could put the bad guys to sleep but like, when it doesn't work the first time I'm not too inclined to try it again lmao) it's still a fun game! Alefgard is a charming little kingdom, thanks in large part to its inhabitants. The townsfolk might not say anything particularly interesting, but they speak with such charm. I couldn't help but want to see their kingdom saved.
Unfortunately, this was my third go at saving their kingdom, and this game really suffers on repeat playthroughs. The way the game is structured requires that no real story triggers be hit; if you know which items need to be taken where you can just go do it without talking to anybody. And the bonk-or-get-bonked nature of the combat means the only thing stopping you from having full run of the map is that you'll quickly die if you go too far out. So the only thing left for it is to grind until you can successfully Not Die.
Now all of that is fine on a first playthrough, because there isn't much time spent actually grinding. At least, that's how it feels to me when I'm exploring and just happen to be killing every slime I see along the way. It isn't grinding, it's just a fortunate coincidence of my wanderings! Grinding is only grinding when it feels like a grind. And a second or third playthrough of this game definitely feels like a grind.
But it's one of the first JRPGs ever. So, ya know, can't be too hard on it lol
(One last side note: your mileage may vary depending on which version of the game you play. This Switch port that I played gives you more gold and experience compared to the NES original, which speeds things up tremendously. But it does give you a map that shows you exactly where all the towns and caves are, which could cause similar issues to doing a second playthrough. And it's missing a pleasant graphical effect when you build a bridge near the end of the game. There's always gotta be tradeoffs with these things.)
2012
This review contains spoilers
When I was a kid first getting into video games, I was enamored with strategy guides just as much as the games themselves. Which is to say, I spoiled the living heck out of games for myself. This continued in my teen years, when I first found myself on the internet. Through let's plays and reviews I was discovering all sorts of games, both contemporary and from before my time. And more often than not, I'd just let myself be spoiled rather than going and playing the games myself.
I think it was around 2015 when I watched a video essay about Spec Ops: The Line. I remember learning that it was one of those weird games that messes with your head, and had something sophisticated to say. The game's reputation preceded itself. I thought to myself, "Oooo that sounds like an interesting time. And oh look a Steam sale. I think I'll get this game."
It sat unplayed in my Steam library for nearly ten years.
Not for any particular reason though. You know how it goes. You buy a bunch of games on sale, promise yourself you'll get to them SoonTM and it just doesn't happen. But with the news that the game would be delisted from Steam I decided to finally give it a go.
All I could think about the entire time was how I knew that eventually it would get weird. I knew there would be some hard hitting emotional moments. I knew the game would talk to me about my choices. I couldn't tell you which video on the game I watched all those years ago, but I still remember it talking about the part where you have to choose between shooting the hanged men or the enemies. When I reached that spot in the game I wasn't thinking about what to choose. I was thinking, "Oh hey! It's that part I know."
Not to say there weren't still some surprises for me. I hadn't been totally spoiled. And I liked what the game was going for. But how would I have reacted if I hadn't known anything going in? Would I have been more impressed? Or less? Or just felt the same? Or anywhere in between? I can guess, but I can't ever know for sure. A first impression can only be had once, and I believe it can drastically affect how you feel about a work.
And I have to wonder, now that the game is gone from Steam for good, will anybody who plays it for the first time from now on not already know that the game has some tricks up it's sleeve? Even if it's just to a minimal degree? I would imagine that anybody now who would go out of their way to either emulate it or find an old physical copy would do so because of it's reputation. It might never be a surprise to anyone again.
I think it's great fun to play old games and think about not just why I personally enjoy it now, but also why people enjoyed it during it's original release, and the impact it had. But, despite how close we can get, we can never truly, 100% feel the impact a piece of art had unless we were its original audience.
Ya just had to be there.
I think it was around 2015 when I watched a video essay about Spec Ops: The Line. I remember learning that it was one of those weird games that messes with your head, and had something sophisticated to say. The game's reputation preceded itself. I thought to myself, "Oooo that sounds like an interesting time. And oh look a Steam sale. I think I'll get this game."
It sat unplayed in my Steam library for nearly ten years.
Not for any particular reason though. You know how it goes. You buy a bunch of games on sale, promise yourself you'll get to them SoonTM and it just doesn't happen. But with the news that the game would be delisted from Steam I decided to finally give it a go.
All I could think about the entire time was how I knew that eventually it would get weird. I knew there would be some hard hitting emotional moments. I knew the game would talk to me about my choices. I couldn't tell you which video on the game I watched all those years ago, but I still remember it talking about the part where you have to choose between shooting the hanged men or the enemies. When I reached that spot in the game I wasn't thinking about what to choose. I was thinking, "Oh hey! It's that part I know."
Not to say there weren't still some surprises for me. I hadn't been totally spoiled. And I liked what the game was going for. But how would I have reacted if I hadn't known anything going in? Would I have been more impressed? Or less? Or just felt the same? Or anywhere in between? I can guess, but I can't ever know for sure. A first impression can only be had once, and I believe it can drastically affect how you feel about a work.
And I have to wonder, now that the game is gone from Steam for good, will anybody who plays it for the first time from now on not already know that the game has some tricks up it's sleeve? Even if it's just to a minimal degree? I would imagine that anybody now who would go out of their way to either emulate it or find an old physical copy would do so because of it's reputation. It might never be a surprise to anyone again.
I think it's great fun to play old games and think about not just why I personally enjoy it now, but also why people enjoyed it during it's original release, and the impact it had. But, despite how close we can get, we can never truly, 100% feel the impact a piece of art had unless we were its original audience.
Ya just had to be there.
1991
As someone who's only experience with fighting games is the Smash Bros series, (and a little bit of Mortal Kombat (2011) back when that first came out), I've always felt like I've been missing a big gap in my gaming knowledge base. So I figured, what better game to start filling that gap with than Street Fighter II! Which is why I started with Street Fighter 1. And Street Fighter 1 is just... very bad.
But Street Fighter II is great! Playing through the arcade mode, I felt like I was getting a microcosm of fighting game experiences. I'd get super excited whenever my opponent would bust out some insane special move I'd never seen before, like Chun-Li's spinning kick. Fighting Guile made me face what it's like to fight someone who just sits in the corner and spams projectiles. Fighting E. Honda made me face the reality that sometimes *I* was the guy sitting in the corner spamming projectiles. When facing off against Ken, I felt the thrill of planning what my next move should be and then successfully executing on it all within a split second. And then going up against M. Bison I realized that sometimes pure button mashing might be the only chance at victory.
But what's a fighting game if you're only playing by yourself? I knew I had to try my skills against real life, honest-to-goodness gamers. So I got four of my friends and we had our own tiny tournament. Now only one of them had any real experience with the game prior to this, so I was expecting the whole thing to be a bit of a mess. But it turned out to be insane. At our skill level, this had no business being as exciting as it was. There were constant close calls, several upsets, nearly every match went into game three. A grand finals that, with a bracket reset, lasted for ten whole games. It was glorious. Shoutouts to @SewerGoblin for nearly knocking me out in round one, @BaddaBoomie for causing a serious upset, LavaViper for nearly going all the way, and @Donjitsu for winning the whole thing.
This game is a ton of fun, and I'm excited to keep exploring the genre!
But Street Fighter II is great! Playing through the arcade mode, I felt like I was getting a microcosm of fighting game experiences. I'd get super excited whenever my opponent would bust out some insane special move I'd never seen before, like Chun-Li's spinning kick. Fighting Guile made me face what it's like to fight someone who just sits in the corner and spams projectiles. Fighting E. Honda made me face the reality that sometimes *I* was the guy sitting in the corner spamming projectiles. When facing off against Ken, I felt the thrill of planning what my next move should be and then successfully executing on it all within a split second. And then going up against M. Bison I realized that sometimes pure button mashing might be the only chance at victory.
But what's a fighting game if you're only playing by yourself? I knew I had to try my skills against real life, honest-to-goodness gamers. So I got four of my friends and we had our own tiny tournament. Now only one of them had any real experience with the game prior to this, so I was expecting the whole thing to be a bit of a mess. But it turned out to be insane. At our skill level, this had no business being as exciting as it was. There were constant close calls, several upsets, nearly every match went into game three. A grand finals that, with a bracket reset, lasted for ten whole games. It was glorious. Shoutouts to @SewerGoblin for nearly knocking me out in round one, @BaddaBoomie for causing a serious upset, LavaViper for nearly going all the way, and @Donjitsu for winning the whole thing.
This game is a ton of fun, and I'm excited to keep exploring the genre!