Discuss games you've been playing

[Mr. Airplane]

I started playing Jak II again. I appreciate that the game gets started really fast, but Jak does go from being tortured for 2 years in an alternate dimension straight to joining a resistance jarringly quick.

[Solid Snix]

The Jak games are pretty interesting historically. The first was a more standard collection sort of title, and it doesn't quite carve out an identity. It was the era of GTA, so for the sequels, that was the influence they took. Vehicles, guns, light swearing, Jak saying the damn-word and the hell-word.

The later games don't quite come together, 3 especially. IIRC it was rushed? One way or the other, their an interesting relic of the era that could have only really existed in that era. And they definitely obtained a stronger identity abandoning the style and tone of the original. I thought they were pretty okay growing up, but I was more of a Sly guy.

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[Mr/Sir Norris]

Working my way deeper into Spelunky 2. It has been tough going but last night I was losing runs due to getting relaxed and making simple mistakes. Excited to explore more of the end game secrets.

[The Colonel]

jak ii and 3 are fascinating because, they are the big budget equivalents of all those janky b tier 3d platformers in the ps2 era that weren't good enough to be notable for any one thing so they tried to be like a billion things at once instead. and you can tell jak ii had a lot of mid-development shifts because some parts of it are randomly tonally way more like jak & daxter and consist purely of slapstick silent physical comedy. they've also got all the same bizarre difficulty spikes b-tier 3d platformers of the era usually had, though most of it is in jak ii where there are effectively no checkpoints and a lot of missions have one random segment that can completely screw you over.

jak ii and 3 aren't as, good, as the ratchet or sly games, but, they're unique in a way you will never see a company ever even try and make again because naughty dog's gotten much more settles into cinematic third person shooters and, isn't really as funny as they were when they made jak ii and 3. the most ironic thing about jak ii and 3 is that they aren't really nearly as dark and gloomy as they present themselves as and even when they try going deeper into that they just can't stop making really bizarre wacky jokes and having jak swing from "im so ****ed up. i may even punch a baby" to "i will Save this world"

[Solid Snix]

jak jid what shadow shidn't

[The Colonel]

do not disrespect shadow the hedgehog in my presence

[Zondekel]

I legitimately do enjoy the Shadow the Hedgehog game.

[Solid Snix]

I enjoy it because it’s legitimately one of the funniest ****ing things I’ve seen. The photo on the president’s desk is incredible. And then the hedgehog man can assassinate the President of the United States.

I think the game’s way too messy to really enjoy gameplay wise, though.

But I do kind of enjoy playing sonic ‘06 to an extent. I thought the silver segments were cool, as slow and jank as they were. That project making it into a technically sound game looks badass.

I don’t think it’s as funny as shadow, until sonic ****ing dies and then gets revived by the human-hedgehog kiss.

[Zondekel]

I legitimately do enjoy the Sonic 06 game.

It's definitely broken and glitchy in a lot of places and the human x hedgehog thing is weird as shit, but oftentimes when it worked it really felt like, "okay, this is more Sonic Adventure, I'm enjoying this." And also there's a level where you're Shadow on a motorcycle with guns attached trying to shoot down Robotnik on a train while this absolute jam plays and it's great.

That fixed PC project looks so good though.

The Shadow game has enough going for it that music and unnecessarily edgy aesthetic that I don't mind most of the objectives, but some of them like the one where you have to find and defeat like 32 Artificial Chaos or something and the level is massive is terrible.

[Solid Snix]

That was my main issue with Shadow. I somehow kept getting lost in these linear ass levels. And because they’re so linear, If you miss something you essentially had to go all the way back through the stage.

[The Colonel]

that level was the first route of the game i played and the reason i decided i wasn't going to get the true ending

[Pstriple]

I'd take both Shadow the Edgehog and Sonic 06 any day over Sonic and the Secret Rings.

[Zondekel]

I legitimately do enjoy the Sonic and the Secret Rings game

Actually, it's okay. Being an onrails runner with motion controls where backing up takes effort is kind of a pain, but the first mission in each level, where it's just to run through the full level and not side quests or objectives can be a good time, especially trying to do it as smoothly and efficiently as possible

Music's a bop.

DINO
IT'S A JUNGLE
DINO
THE WICKED WILD

[DementedSun]

Just got to the part in Skyward Sword HD where you have to revisit every area for the ... THIRD... time. I see why this is everyone's most disliked Zelda game. I had never even gotten around to the second revisits on the original Wii release because I hated the controls. At least I assume I am nearing the end, having just first went back to the woods and sealed the toe guy for the third time...

[The Colonel]

skyward sword has some decent ideas but it really hits the late stage wind waker syndrome of just kind of wasting your time with things that aren't very interesting and, the twilight princess syndrome of introducing a big recurring cast of people who don't actually do anything outside of like one guy