#jazz plays mgs mobile

[majjiktricks]

did yall know there was a game set between mgs1 and mgs2 for nokia phones

edit: i wrote a summary of the game if anyone's interested !!

[godtier]

Xbox showcase thoughts summary thingy, several hours later:

COD BOPS 6: one day I'll play these games (i've heard from multiple ppl that the storylines in black ops specifically are rly good) but no opinion rn tbqh

doom: the dark ages: very weird pivot??? kinda curious about it. of all the settings they could have chosen to toss the doomguy in, medieval fantasy wasn't the one I was expecting...! art direction looked good, but still kinda gave me "this is the Christmas episode" vibes, like jazz the jackrabbit having a holiday reskin... except instead of a holiday reskin, it's medieval times... hopefully that makes sense lmao

state of decay 3: not very familiar with this series so meh... looked like any other generic zambie shooter to me, but inb4 ppl holler at me about the games bein rly good

dragon age: the veilguard: no real opinion. i played the original dragon age for like, an hour when it was newish, never finished it lol

starfield DLC: that's nice ig

fallout 76 expac/updates: that's nice ig

clair obscur: expedition 33: looks interesting? but idk if this would be a game i'd be into. it appears to be a turn-based RPG and it's based off of la belle époque era of french art/architecture, so the art design looks baller? and the monster designs look interesting. i'll have to keep an eye out.

south of midnight: now this? this one looks hella interesting. the art style is kinda weird; the cutscenes seemed to be at a lower FPS so it almost looks like stop-motion? but i couldn't tell if that was uh... purposefully or not LMAO. but other than that, the setting is really weird and interesting! almost like bayou horror combined with fantasy nonsense monsters and stuff... and i liked the dynamic of the lead character and the monster guy who was ferrying her around. gameplay looks okay, but hopefully it handles well. i might very well get this one when it comes out.

WOW: the war within: no interest in this tbh

metal gear solid: snake eater remake: looks fine? never rly got into MGS myself, but it looks nice

sea of thieves expac: that's nice ig

flintlock: the siege of dawn: simultaneously looks interesting and generic so idk how they managed that. i like the idea of the little companion thing expanding your moveset options, but i feel like this isn't doing anything new per se. meh

age of mythology retold: was not expecting this asspull tbh LMAO. for those who aren't aware, this was a game microsoft developed and released in 2002, so it's basically a remaster. but idk who was asking for it... not that it's a bad game, but it was released in a sea of other similar games at the time. maybe that's why? i feel like there's a bit of a dearth of these games for console/PC, maybe? tho tbh i feel like this style of game is way more prolific on mobile devices... at least it's not a mobile port!

perfect dark: this one was really weird... like, microsoft owns rare, but crystal dynamics is developing this? idk if this is a soft reboot or a sequel to the last game, but it looked fine? i was never into perfect dark (either on n64 or xbox) but it looks like a solid stealth action game... just not one i have much interest in atm

diablo IV: vessel of hatred: okay, so real talk: i haven't played diablo since i was a kid on a windows 95 machine lmao so i'm so far removed from Current Day diablo. but that being said, the opening trailer was pretty dope. it was nasty, uncanny body horror and it certainly held my attention. this is an expac to a game i've never played, and iirc diablo IV is online-only crap, which blows. but the art direction in this trailer was probs my favorite, just removed from the fact it's for a video game expac lmao

fable: sure looks like a fable game. i never rly got into them (this is a running theme can you tell lmao) but the trailer was charming enough, i guess.

fragpunk: now this is ANOTHER team-based FPS (or "hero shooter"), but the gimmick looked intriguing. changing the game's rules at the start of each round definitely sounds like it would keep things interesting, but i wonder how it would suss out with multiple people using abilities at once? idk, the art direct looked nice, gameplay footage looked As Expected. we'll see

winter burrow: mouse game

mixtape: ???? i have no idea what this game is LMAO it appears to be set in the 80s, and they touted how the game's soundtrack would have a bunch of music from bands n shit from the era... but one of the bands they listed was the smashing pumpkins...??? huh??? like idk what they were smoking, but they're off by a decade there LMAO. but other than that, it just looked like nothing. a life sim?? idk what the story is? idk anything other than "music from the 80s is good, also look at this choppy animation because it's aesthetic ig" and that's all i got from it

microsoft flight simulator 2024: looks fun! the ability to explore the areas you're flying by after landing sounds like it could be fun and cozy. this series is ancient and i never rly got into it, but this entry might tempt me just bc it looks fun

elder scrolls online: this was an ad LMAO

life is strange: double exposure: okay, again, never had any real interest in this series but i might check this one out. i like murder mysteries and the flipping back and forth between the realities looks fun

indiana jones and the great circle: it exists

mechabreak: saw this at the SGF, it's a mecha game

wuchang: fallen feathers: i was starting to check out by this point, but rewatching the trailer, it's yet another game that has nice art direction and that's all i can really say about it

avowed: same as above: nice art direction and character designs, but not much else to say right now

atomfall: british fallout

asscreed: shadows: asscreed

s.t.a.l.k.e.r. 2: heart of chornobyl: was not expecting to see another entry in this series, but it looks intriguing. i like these types of settings, so i may check it out

gears of war: e-day: it's a gears game. i tried gears of war ages ago, it didn't really grab me so i never went back to it

so all in all? there wasn't a lot of hype for me personally because a lot of these series are either ones i've tried and didn't get into, ones i haven't played since i was a kid, or ones that i never even bothered to try. in all honesty, the newer titles were more interesting to me than most of the established franchise stuff they showed off.

however, i think there's a lot for people to get excited about if they already like some of these franchises. lots of updates to stuff, so i'm sure that there's excitement to be had for that.

the titles that ended up catching my attention/interest the most ended up being doom: the dark ages, south of midnight, s.t.a.l.k.e.r. 2, microsoft flight simulator 2024, fragpunk (morbid curiosity more than anything else tbh) and maaaaybe clair obscur.

not a total waste of time, but nothing too hype-inducing for me.

[archworks-gaming]

Some words about the Dark Souls Remaster.

Man, oh man. I did not want to make a thing about this, but I think it���s worth voicing an opinion on.

Let’s get it out of the way, I’m excited about it... Well that’s a bit strong, I’m cautiously optimistic about it. I’ve got no real expectations or any wants or desires about the kind of mechanics or graphical overall that’s going into it.

If it just plays like the original and I can play it on my PS4, then that’s fine by me. I’ll take that.

I don’t have the resources to play it on my PC with graphical mods and 60 frames and presumably a dedicated multiplayer user-base.

Hell I’m lucky if my PC lets me get 5-10 frames on any game, let alone Dark Souls. For context, my computer is a work tool. It’s good enough to do the things I NEED it to do, not necessarily the things I would LIKE it to do.

So, on that grounds alone, the remaster is definitely something that I would like, as a console gamer by necessity, as well as someone who first played the original Dark Souls two years after release on the Xbox 360. I never had the “release experience”. I didn’t have too much issue with invasions or much luck joining others in Jolly Cooperation.

So again, the remaster looks to potentially bring me another experience I would like to get.

And I genuinely can’t wait to start SunBroing Gargoyles again.

By this point I would hope that I’ve indicated that those with the means, shouldn’t be getting excited about the remaster. Because for those people, it’s not really bringing anything new to the table and believe me, I understand that.

But what I don’t understand is all the whiny children getting their huff on because the game wasn’t completely remade from scratch in Unreal 4, whilst paradoxically being made in Dark Souls 3′s engine (Which one guys? You get Havoc or Unreal 4, you can’t have both...) with bloom obscuring every minute detail, four ring slots and omni-directional rolling and Dark Souls 2′s PvP...

That’s not Dark Souls by that point, you... You do know what a remaster is, right?

A graphical overhaul is all you’re really entitled to in this instance.

And that’s not even touching on how ridiculous it is that these people are requesting all of these things in the first place.

You know that just including omni-directional rolling would drastically affect how the game is played and the overall challenge would take a massive dip as a result?

You don’t agree?

Well then plainly, you’re fucking stupid. Probably well-intentioned. But still stupid.

Dark Souls was originally developed with cardinal rolling (4-directional) in mind when creating combat and boss encounters.

Bosses were specifically built to combat a players ability to dodge in the 4 directions allowed. You throw in the ability to roll in any direction you want, then you run the risk of having to re-work bosses’ moves to account for these new directions the player can avoid damage with. Or you could just leave the bosses alone and risk them becoming antiquated doormats that can’t even begin to retaliate against a more nimble and mobile player.

Also, you can roll in any direction you want. You just have to not be locked on to do it. Which brings it’s own challenge or manually keeping track of your target, but that’s the price you pay for freedom of movement and I wouldn’t change that.

A similar but admittedly more manageable problem would arise with two additional ring slots.

Now, I fully agree that if a character has 10 fingers they should use them Heck, if I lived in the Souls universe you can bet that I would be wearing rings on my toes.

The fact of the matter is that Dark Souls was made with the players ability to wear only two rings in mind.

Rings in Dark Souls are specifically balanced (to varying degrees of success) to fit the two slot structure.

For example

Havel’s Ring in DS1 gave you a 50% increase to equip burden.

Fast forward to DS3 where Havel’s Ring+3 only gives you 19%...

(I know this is percentage increases, so it’s more about the base values you attribute them to, but DS1 Havels just gives you more, flat out.)

But what does DS3 also have? More than two ring slots and more rings that increase equip burden and also an unbreakable FAP ring.

Things were re-balanced to suit an updated system.

And throwing that retroactively onto Dark Souls would justifiably anger the community more than if it wasn’t included.

I know that people don’t often think about what would need to be changed to implement the things they want in their game that they claim to love and never want to change, whilst citing all of it’s flaws and shortcomings in the same breath. But I think it’s a worthwhile exercise to maybe just actually try doing exactly that?

I’m going to break focus for a second to bring up, what I personally believe to be one of the most classic examples of a remake built with the fans in mind before anything else.

Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes.

The original Metal Gear Solid is, by today's standards, not a looker. I won’t argue against that.

And while on paper a re-imagining of the classic game in the Metal Gear Solid 2 engine is a great idea. the implementation was disastrous.

For one, they made no attempt at keeping true to the design of the original game. while the birds-eye camera angle and lack of first person aiming might seem a little antiquated and clumsy now. The original game was built around these limitations.

Level design and obstacles were put in place to keep the player on their toes, security cameras and enemy patrol routes would often be hidden just outside of frame and in the case of security cameras there was specific tools set aside to specifically deal with them.

Mastery of the enemy AI gradually became more necessary as a skill than the stealth action that the game was made for.

But then you throw that all into MGS 2′s engine, without altering any part of the layout, enemy routines, or obstacles whilst also bringing over mechanics built into the new engine, the first person aiming, the tranquilliser pistol...

These two things made Twin Snakes a cake walk.

Security camera about to potentially spot you? No issue, just shoot them in first person to permanently put them out of commission.

Guard standing in the way of your objective? Tranq ‘em and move past them.

Certain bosses were made into complete jokes because you could aim at them manually. Vulcan Raven’s second boss fight is nothing on Twin Snakes.

The fight with Revolver Ocelot loses all of it’s tactical flare because you can literally just aim at him from the door and shoot him a couple of times to win.

You don’t even have to move to beat Psycho Mantis in Twin Snakes, thermal goggles + first person pistol = win boss fight.

And I hope it’s this kind of negligence of a games fundamental design that’s helping to illustrate my point about why you shouldn’t put too much stock in someone implementing all the neat ideas that weren’t in the game previous when attempting a remaster.

The guys handling the Dark Souls Remaster are so far doing a decent job, as far as I’m concerned.

Does the game look drastically different? No, not really, but it’s got just that little bit of extra effort and hardware it needed to make what was already a pretty decent looking game (even by today’s standard) look a few steps better and run a damn sight smoother.

And as long as they keep the already shown quality of life changes, like the ability to use multiple items at once and a option at bonfires to change (and potentially manage) your covenants as well as integrated UI scaling, optional button remapping and password multiplayer functionality.

That’s good enough for me. I’m buying the remaster for a classic experience with a few less stressful oversights and limitations in place and potentially a release-like mulitplayer experience. Maybe I’ll finally start to see the appeal of PvP now that I’ll likely get to do it more often while playing.

And also so I can play it on my sofa with my PS4 controller that I openly prefer using over any other controller.

And if what I’ve heard is correct the company out-sourced for the remake is the same team that remastered Dragon’s Dogma Dark Arisen. So I know that they have relatively decent experience with these kinds of games.

To summarise, If you already have access to Dark Souls on PC and mods that allow you to upscale the resolution to 4K with HD texture mods and a consistent 60fps. Then yes, as I’ve seen plenty of people saying, the remaster is not for you. Congratulations on being a sensible consumer.

If you were one of the hopeless dreamers who somehow misread “Remaster” as “Remake” and was expecting this grand, full-effort re-imagining of a modern classic in an entirely different engine to it’s predecessors with all the bells and whistles, despite how much that would actively ruin the challenge and overall experience. Then certainly yes, you will be disappointed. But then again, I think you’re probably used to that by now...

However, if you’re like me and you just want to be able to play one of your favourite games with a jazzed up, new look and some of the creases ironed out with a re-energised community of players to cooperate with in a jolly kind of way. Then I look forward to playing alongside you.

And for those of you on the Switch. Have fun chaining back stabs on the toilet.

Praise the Sun.

[tinymixtapes]

Music Review: The Necks - Unfold

The Necks Unfold [Ideologic Organ; 2017] Rating: 4/5 Unfold, Australian trio The Necks’ 19th release, is a challenging but eerily beautiful free-improv record doubling up as a critique of the album-form. Each of the four pieces — among the shortest the band have ever released — is the length of a side of vinyl, maintaining a constant state of tension without exploding into noise or virtuoso soloing. Since none of the tracks are given numbers, the album allows you to develop your own listening strategy. It’s less a playlist to be put on shuffle (your music streaming service of choice places them in order of ascending length) than a Choose Your Own Adventure with a potentially infinite number of in-built listening experiences. It would be a mistake to take the title at face value. These pieces do not “unfold” by starting in one position and elaborating on a theme in a linear way. They do not reach a point that has been determined in advance (beginning at point A and reaching point C after a detour at point B) by offering variations on their individual moments. They instead gradually expose the possibilities that were there at the start by showing all the working out, handing over all the evidence. Each piece is organized around a theme, favoring atmosphere and texture over melody, groove, or fireworks, leaving us unable to fetishize any individual element as if it could be detached from the whole and turned into a hummable key hook. As ever with free-improv records, the level of control is remarkable. Even if there is a bit of studio trickery here and there (overdubbing, reverb, synths), what you have to listen out for is how each individual plays in the absolute present — it’s not about some silly New Age idea about “living in the moment,” it’s about producing something that can never be repeated. “Rise” begins with a typical Chris Abrahams piano flourish and a retro sci-fi synth pad. Lloyd Swanton’s bass gurgles, snoring like a satisfied beast, before he starts using the bow to make a more conventional double-bass sound as if he were playing in a string quartet. Tony Buck’s drums are impossible to make sense of, their incomprehensibility acting as the element that makes Unfold comprehensible as a whole. His drumming is as expressive as it is rhythmic, as if he’s playing “prepared” drums rather than in a jazz setup; here, the snare drum — and the absent bass-drum and toms — take a backseat to clattering hi-hats and churning arrhythmic shaker sounds (which may well even be tied to the hi-hats). At this point, the percussion sounds like someone dipping their hand into a box of Legos. If the bass-drum and toms are there at all, they’re either filtered to within an inch of their lives or concealed by Swanton’s bass. The last third descends into chaos. “Overhear” begins with a moaning bowed bass sound, drums that sound like someone shaking a bag of broken teeth, and an organ, which here acts as the lead instrument. It sounds like Terry Riley playing covers of The Doors in a keyboard shop haunted by the ghosts of Booker T & the MG’s (or something like that). The organ figure circles around and around, draining dry any possibility of uniting everything under a groove, despite the instrument’s usual associations with funk, soul, and praising the lord. “Blue Mountain” is the most engaging and unashamedly beautiful piece here. You might need to sit in silence for a little while after listening to it. The band begin as an ensemble — rolling snares, a driving hollowed out organ synth, piano, bass — and they never let up. Abrahams plays something amounting to a hummable melody, offering a whole series of meditations on its basic figure throughout. The percussion here sounds like the symbolic death rattles of some orientalising cult, but it’s paired with wind-chimes that add a dimension of randomness to the proceedings. There’s a peculiar moment of calm half way through, where you’re left with just the piano, organ, wind-chimes, and what is probably Swanton scraping his bass. After about 13 minutes, the tension starts to ramp up. Buck’s bass drum starts working like a techno kick smothered in cymbals, the spaces in Abrahams’ figures become ever smaller, and that scraping sound becomes increasingly anxious. It finishes in jets of noise, each sound blurring into one mass, almost indistinguishable from one another but still driving forward into oblivion. “Timepiece” owes much more to unpredictability than it does the even ticking of a clock. This is time to think — time for the vaulting ambitions of the imagination — and not the rationalized time of the factory or the office. It begins with unsteady drumming. The snare sounds like it has delay on it, but it is most likely the work of Buck’s all too human hands, occasionally backed up by a buzzing sound. It could be the sound of hurrying through the undergrowth being laughed at by arrogant birds of paradise, or it could be a fire-bell breaking the lazy office worker out of their dreamy reverie. Or it could be the impending doom of the real world breaking into the gentle world of the nursery interior, given that Abraham’s sparse piano work is paired to an organ that sounds as much like a music box as it does a vibraphone, glockenspiel, xylophone, whatever. They intertwine, coming in waves without ever mobilizing a full-frontal attack. Swanton’s bass takes the role we would usually associate with the prepared piano. It plays a single note ever so often, like an on-the-one bass tone more familiar from drum & bass or dubstep. It’s ominous, brooding, and a fitting end. http://j.mp/2n8zlls

[majjiktricks]

metal gear solid mobile (nokia n-gage 2.0)

for anyone who doesnt want to go through what was a harrowing ordeal of setting up the fucking. nokia emulator.

this is a non-canon game set between mgs1 and mgs2, made specifically for the nokia n-gage gaming platform.

basically the game goes:

you are solid snake, infiltrating the base of a sketchy military organization that has gotten their hands on metal gear plans and is in the process of building one. otacon has a contact on the inside, someone who apparently works for the organization realizing their work is being used for destructive purposes and wants to stop it (sound familiar?).

so it starts pretty normal. but the game gets fucky from there.

you sneak through various parts of the base, avoiding or knocking out or killing guards as you go, and you have to access computer terminals to upgrade your security level. you receive a message from the inside contact, and she identifies herself as dr victoria reed, a nuclear scientist. she gives you her story about the metal gear project and her involvement in it. something about her story is suspicious, however, and otacon starts looking into her. (the player, not snake, is instantly aware of her damsel-in-distress act, and she flirts with snake and plays the "oh i'm so scared" card to get him to act on her behalf faster.)

you continue.

the scientist wants you to meet her in a specific part of the base, where she has... barricaded? herself? it's unclear if she's hiding from her coworkers or not. you eventually make it close to this area, but she calls you again and says she had to move because security in the area was increased.

you arrive in the room you were supposed to meet her. there is no security.

you continue exploring the base and try to get to the next area to meet her. meanwhile, otacon has been digging. there is no record of a victoria reed working for any known scientific organization that he can find. snake dismisses this as she is working on a black-ops project, and it's unlikely that her name would appear in any easily accessible database.

multiple times during your exploration you receive codec calls from an unnamed individual who gives you rather cryptic hints and advice on frequency 111.11.

you arrive in the next area the scientist told you to go. there is little of interest in the room, and there is no scientist.

the doors close, and you are locked inside. otacon messes with the security system and is able to disable most things. except for the doors to the room you are in. this is a conundrum.

you receive a call from a new individual, a man wearing a mask. he is identified as "the commander." he explains the situation to you as this: philanthropy was lured into this facility by dr reed so that you would disable the security and take out some of the guards so that the group the commander leads would be able to more easily sweep the place and take over. while you are trapped in this room, his group has been going floor by floor and killing every one of the guards they find. he also tells you that dr victoria reed is not real. that she is an ai construct designed to appeal to you and otacon, to lead you here.

he guarantees your safety, respecting the reputation of solid snake, as long as you stay in that room. he even sends a guard to "protect" you.

you escape the room by hiding under the furniture from the guard, who then opens the door to look for you.

after dealing with the guard, you leave, and following otacon's instructions you get to the last computer that will fully upgrade your security clearance. nearby is an observation computer where you can view various parts of the base you have entered. otacon shows you the metal gear hangar.

where there was supposed to only be a prototype metal gear is a nearly completed replica of metal gear REX, and you make it your mission to destroy it.

on the way through the base, a second time now, the pathways have been filled with explosives and gun cameras by the commander's soldiers. you avoid these and make your way down to the hangar for metal gear REX. there is a security mechanic where you have to be wearing the same color uniform as the people who have clearance for the area. the game has a camera where you can take pictures of either your real surroundings (with the console camera) or the in-game surroundings (where there are conveniently placed posters that have the right colors in the areas you need them). you traverse multiple of these color-coded areas, and at one point you need to take a picture of a dead body so you can take the color of the former guard's uniforms.

you eventually come to an area that appears to be a dead end, as all the doors except the one you came through are non-functional. however, there is a crack in a nearby wall and you are able to blow your way through with some explosives of your own. once inside this new area, the surroundings start to change.

at first, it looks like a drug trip. snake comments on this. you call otacon and he dismisses what you say about the surroundings, acting like everything is normal. the flashes of color happen again and you receive multiple strange calls from otacon, the commander, and victoria reed. these calls are very similar to those received by raiden inside arsenal gear from colonel campbell and rose. one even tells you to turn off your device.

you receive another call from 111.11. the voice informs you that you have been kidnapped, drugged, and placed into a simulation. he claims to be the real otacon, and he has been trying to hack in to get you out and to identify the people who have kidnapped you. so far he has been mostly unsuccessful due to the complexity of the simulation.

snake, of course, questions all of this, and asks otacon something only he would know: what did he do when they first met? and the otacon you have been speaking to is unable to answer. but the one calling over 111.11 knows. when they first met, he peed his pants after being found in a locker.

this convinces you to cut off the other otacon, and listen to this real one. he advises you to simply finish the simulation, since you are already near the end, as that would likely end it or at least create a window where otacon could hack in and shut it down. he warns you that if you die in the simulation, you will die in the real world as well.

you enter the metal gear hangar where you find the masked man. he tries to kill you with a minigun, but he is not very good with the weapon. it frequently overheats and jams, and this gives you a good opportunity to attack. during this fight, the surroundings often change colors and glitch out, losing textures or inverting or becoming skeletal models of themselves. it is unpleasant to look at.

once you defeat the masked man, the simulation halts and you are ejected. the final cutscene is snake awakening, staring into blurry bright lights while unknown voices talk over him. they say snake did not give them the information they needed, and would not be able to continue as a test subject. they say they will wipe snake's memory and release him.

they already have another test subject lined up: jack.

a lot of the above summary was written from memory so it may not be entirely in order or 100% accurate. the wiki is much less detailed so it didnt really help me put it in order LOL

even though the game was only a few hours long i did find it interesting. it could lead to a lot of new scenarios if someone decided to incorporate it into their timeline for fan material 🤔 the game heavily implies the people who have kidnapped snake are the patriots. it also puts full-body immersive simulation technology at a much earlier point in the timeline than it was previously shown: before 2007 vs 2018 where its shown in mgr, unless i missed something in the games between mgs2 and mgr.

while absolutely not canon and never brought up by any other game, i just thought it was neat :)

edit: before mgs2 DOES have VR simulations as raiden was trained on them, but we dont learn exactly HOW immersive they are. i dont know what they put him through... but if they put snake through this one i bet raiden's training was harrowing...

[majjiktricks]

this sure looks a way.

[majjiktricks]

heeheehoohoo hes upside down ^u^

[majjiktricks]

some SAO bullshit right here

[majjiktricks]

PEENK !!!!!!

[majjiktricks]

the resolution on these texture is so low i can barely tell what anything is supposed to say 😂

[majjiktricks]

suddenly i feel bad for using the tranq gun on people

[majjiktricks]

this gets mind fucky :)

[majjiktricks]

heh. fingers in your business huh 😏

[majjiktricks]

the graphics are. interesting

[majjiktricks]

okay i played through all of mgs mobile, only took a few hours

it was definitely neat :)

not a whole lot to write home about tho but it was a good time, ill probably write up a summary and give my silly screenshots 🤔

[majjiktricks]

thats what she said