The evening Inbox wonders how Breath Of The Wild would’ve worked with a different IP, as one reader is disappointed by The Inpatient.
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What a start! This is just what I wanted to see!
Resident Evil 7 last year started off 2017 with a bang, and with Dragon Ball FighterZ and Monster Hunter: World both reviewing very favourably 2018 is off to great start too.
I’ve only played the beta of both games and I will most likely add Dragon Ball to my collection if there’s a game of the year edition. I’m trying to control my spending.
Whilst I was following the new Dragon Ball game I discovered that there’s a rather fantastic fan-made game called Hyper Dragon Ball Z on the Mugen engine (looks like the Street Fighter II engine to me).
From what I can tell the game has taken audio samples directly from the anime itself, which really adds to recreating the overall atmosphere. There’s also multiple unique intros for each character at the beginning of each fight, as opposed to slamming fists like they do in Dragon Ball FighterZ.
Would you review a game like this GC, that is made by fans or is there some reason you can’t?
Oni-Samurai (PSN ID)
PS: what’s your email address I use [email protected] but I’ve also seen [email protected]?
GC: Probably not, especially if it’s ripping off audio, and likely code, from other sources. We’d accept a Reader’s Feature on it though. Our email address is [email protected]. We think the other redirects to it though, if us getting your email is any indication.
The Legend of Laura
I think wishing for new properties from Nintendo is a reasonable request, but their relatively distinct philosophy in respect of development, and tying certain games to existing intellectual properties, is the main reason a lot of games don’t feature new characters and settings.
Zelda: Breath Of The Wild could easily have been called Laura Mallard And The Shadow Of The Rising Origins and been almost the exact same game to everyone but the most shallow gamer, as it’s different enough from any other Zelda games to avoid comparison. Splatoon could’ve just been Mario Paint Battle and ARMS could’ve been Punch-Out!! Stretch Attack or something and the actual games wouldn’t be much different.
It’s a double-edged sword, as if they tie different types of game to existing property, it gives that game a big – and often well deserved – publicity boost but you get the same old ignorant comments about them just remaking the same games over and over. But if they make a new IP for games that are different enough from earlier ones, it feels fresher on a superficial level but it’s more of a commercial risk (and everyone gets exasperated that there hasn’t been a new Zelda or Metroid for over a decade).
I tend to take their usual explanation at face value: if a new game ‘feels’ like it belongs in a certain existing universe, use that, otherwise make a new one. That’s the best philosophy if you ask me, because there shouldn’t be a requirement for a new game to have Mario’s stamp branded onto it or for it to instead become Shadow Of The Rising Origins in order for its real qualities to be recognised.
Panda
More to come
With the recent release of Dragon Ball FighterZ, and after seeing some story cut scenes I have now decided I will most definitely be buying this game.
There are quite a lot of surprises for Dragon Ball Z fans, and even Easter eggs, which makes this game really stand out as a fighting game. You can see that a lot of work has been put into this game and it is going to definitely win awards.
There could be newer storylines added in the future by introducing brand new fusions with the porta rings or fusion dance being used, and this could be the setting for a future DLC pack keeping the game fresh and new. Some examples are a fusion of Goku/Nappa, Nappa/Vegetta, Yamcha/Tien, Goku/Gohan, and Vegetta/Gohan. There could be other fusions as well, possibly a lot that could be done as storyline DLC.
With Dragon Ball FighterZ this is a game that could easily have many DLC upgrades for it and one that would set the standard for these types of games.
gaz be rotten (gamertag)
GC: There is a season pass, so they’ve obviously got a lot planned.
E-mail your comments to: [email protected]
Monitoring answers
I would like some advice from the readers about a new monitor. My current one is fine, but is only at 1080 at the top resolution. I want to be able to use higher resolutions but don’t know which one I should get. Should it be Freesync or Gsync? Should I go for 4K or 2K?
If it helps I’m running an AMD Ryzen 1700X with a GTX1060 graphics card and only want to spend around £150. Which is the most reliable brand? Lot of questions I know, but I thank you in advance for any advice you can pass along.
Bobwallett
PS: I have a copy of Dragon Age: Inquisition for PlayStation 4 if anyone would like to own it. Just request it in a letter in the Inbox.
The impatient
I had already pre-ordered The Inpatient before reading any reviews for the game, and needless to say I was left extremely disappointed with my experience of the game. After a reasonable start (was very impressed with the graphics for once with a PlayStation VR game) it completely loses focus and becomes a bit of a chore.
The aspect that really upsets me about PlayStation VR games in general is they represent really poor value for money. £35 for a game I completed in just short of three hours is not acceptable. The only two games with a reasonable playtime that I have played on the system are Resident Evil 7 and Skyrim (which I couldn’t play for long as the fuzzy/blocky graphics gave me eye strain).
PlayStation VR for me has been a huge disappointment, and I think the fact that Resident Evil 7 is still widely regarded as the system’s best game (any online/YouTube top 10 has it as number one) and the fact that there are so few AAA games announced for this year (I know there are a lot of indie games in development but I didn’t shell out 400 quid to play indie games) tells me that VR has run its course this gen.
The Move controllers are extremely poor and hopelessly outdated, and sometimes just don’t work (hello Skyrim). And for all these reasons I’m out!
Rob
GC: We admit we were shocked when we looked up the price for The Inpatient, it really is terrible value for money. But it seems indie games are going to continue to be the most worthwhile VR titles in the short term. Things like The Inpatient and Farpoint are obviously a useful experiment for Sony and their developers, but they’re not very satisfying experiences overall.
Lone hunter
I fear a possibly scathing reply to this, but I take it Monster Hunter: World is not worth getting if you have no interest in the multiplayer?
I did play the beta. Taking down just an ‘easy’ monster all by myself (and Lord Bumsniff – my cat) did take quite a while. Then again, I am a sucker for a good character creation mode. The combat is interesting, but could get repetitive. I’m in two minds, GC…
DMR
GC: Why would you expect a scathing reply? Monster Hunter: World is perfectly playable in single-player for at least the first 10 hours or so, but that’s really missing the point. It’s a multiplayer game at heart and if that’s not of interest it’s probably not for you.
Clan troubles
I am somewhat dubious about Sea Of Thieves. I am sure it will be ace with three mates but guaranteeing that all four of you are available at the same time is likely to be a problem. I imagine that they will have clans to help group like-minded people and also have matchmaking.
I have found clans in Destiny to be a great way to play the game but I hate playing with completely random people when co-operation is required. Shooting the same Strike boss was fine in Destiny (and hopefully fighting the same monster in Monster Hunter: World will be too). Seas Of Thieves however looks like you will need a closer degree of co-operation and communication, like a Destiny Raid, which I would hate to do with matchmaking.
Even though team play is the best bit of Destiny I still spent most of my play time with it solo and this does not seem to be an option in Sea Of Thieves, which is my main concern. Currently my only experience with full Monster Hunter games is solo, which was fine but I am looking forward to playing World with a mate. Although the beta seemed substantially harder with two of us, compared to facing the same monsters individually.
PazJohnMitch
Catch up on every previous Games Inbox here
Cash in the attic
Over the past few months I’ve sold a few of my games to fund buying a Switch and an Xbox One (the former of which is so much fun; I’m yet to spend much time with the Xbox).
As I was deciding what to keep and what to sell it occurred to me how much of a games hoarder I am! Up to that point I don’t think I had ever sold, exchanged, given away or disposed of any game I’ve ever owned! None whatsoever. In 25 years of gaming. Though I did come to the annoying realisation that the reason I couldn’t find my copy of Metal Gear Solid 3 for the PlayStation 2 was that I had lent it to a friend about 10 years ago and he had not returned it. When I challenged him about it he quite casually said ‘Oh yeah, I haven’t got that anymore’. Thanks! Anyway, I digress.
In a lot of cases I think the reason for hanging on to these games was the frankly ridiculous idea that I would go back and play them, or maybe that I would one day want to display them (despite them mostly being in the loft). While going through them there were so many games that I either didn’t remember, didn’t particularly like, or I’d finished and had no desire to play again. And yet, for some reason, it was still a bit of a wrench to part with them.
I guarantee I’m not the only one, but I wonder how many other people hold on to their games for what is realistically too long?
MeddlingMonks
Inbox also-rans
A heads-up to anybody interested in the new Arcade Edition of Street Fighter V. It’s currently on sale at ShopTo.net for £14.86, which is amazing considering all the extra content! Are you man enough to fight with me?
A_World_Of_Pain (PSN ID)
GC: That is a fantastic bargain.
Can anyone recommend any forums or such to find other UK based Monster Hunter: World players to team up with? I know Destiny had specific forums to help find players, so hoping Monster Hunter: World is the same. I’m on Xbox One.
Jag
This week’s Hot Topic
The subject for this weekend’s Inbox was suggested by reader Cranston, who asks what is your favourite ever sequel?
It can be any game for any format, but we want to know why you like it so much and what it did right to improve on its predecessor. Was the sequel very different from the original or was it just a minor improvement on an already great game? Did it fix problems in the previous games, or add much wanted new features?
How does your favourite sequel compare to other entries in the same series and do you expect it will ever be bettered?
E-mail your comments to: [email protected]
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