/vr/ - Retro Games

[Anonymous No.1492817]

Started playing Soul Reaver yesterday and I really enjoy it. Zelda-like old 3D games seem like such a rarity, but they're my favorite type of game. Do any others exist?

But other than that, what's /vr/'s opinion on Soul Reaver? Is the sequel worth playing?

[Anonymous No.1492841]

The whole series is worth playing.

Nor vr but Darksiders is a 3d zelda like game.

[Anonymous No.1492852]

>>1492841
darksiders sucked from what I played I didn't get too far into it but it just seemed way too linear for me.

[Anonymous No.1492854]

>>1492852
I mean it's no more linear than OoT, it's also kinda fun to see how many game mechanics they can steal from other games

[Anonymous No.1493058]

>>1492854
I know what you mean but at least Zelda gave you a world to run around in. darksiders seemed so point a to point b and you'll never walk back to point a again. as I said I didn't play that much though I couldn't really get into it.

[Anonymous No.1493073]

>>1493058
Have you tried the sequel, then? It's a LOT better than the first one when it comes to exploration.
Gonna stop talking about modern games now.

[Anonymous No.1493084]

Did you play Blood Omen first?

All the games are amazing story wise, except Blood Omen 2

[Anonymous No.1493157]

>>1493073
I've heard that but I never bothered. the only reason I have the first one cause it was a preorder bonus for warhammer 40k space marine.

on topic though I love the blood omen games really cool vampire and demon lore sure beats the fuck out of twilight

[Anonymous No.1493310]

>>1492817
My uncle used to play The Grinch on Dreamcast.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gv1PrIK0N3U

I only remember it being dreamy, something mutual between it and OoT.

[Anonymous No.1493383]

Shadowman is a lot like Soul Reaver

[Boco !sCZ24qY6KY No.1493421]

Blood Omen 2 started like as a new Chakan game, so theres the Genesis original.

But its really hard.

[Anonymous No.1493498]

I was actually looking into playing this. Can anyone give a recommendation as wether to play the PC or Dreamcast version?

[Anonymous No.1493516]

>>1493498
How about you try reading the thread first?

[Anonymous No.1493530]

All Soul Reaver games have mediocre gameplay but excellent cutscenes.
those VAs man

[Anonymous No.1493798]

>>1493498
From what I've read the DC version got a visuals upgrade the PC version never did and the PC version has a stunted soundtrack

[Anonymous No.1495152]

>>1493798
I ended up finding out bout the upgraded models, but heard nothing of a stunted OST. But the fact of the matter is that it's probably gonna be pretty hard to tell the difference on a CRT screen, compared to playing the PC version at high res.

[Anonymous No.1495239]

Sequel is great though it's much more story-based. Great series, I think it has one of the best stories in video games.

[Anonymous No.1495248]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LulD2kar9I

>CONSCIENCE?! YOU DARE SPEAK TO ME OF CONSCIENCE! ONLY WHEN YOU HAVE FELT THE FULL GRAVITY OF CHOICE MAY YOU QUESTION MY JUDGMENT!

>tfw

[Anonymous No.1495272]

>>1495239
Aside from being unfinished with little hope of a proper ending, it's ok.

[Anonymous No.1495284]

>>1495152
The PC version is just a shit port of the PS1 game. PS1 at native res would look better on account of obscuring the shitty models and textures, and being able to use a controller. DC version is noticeably better looking, especially with a VGA box.

[Anonymous No.1496248]

>>1495284
The GOG release has controller support, f I remember correctly.

[Anonymous No.1497826]

>>1492817
everything in soul reaver 2 was supposed to be in the first one but was kept out due to time limits

[Anonymous No.1497849]

>>1493498
>>1493798
I know there is a retexture mod for the PC version, but do those sound/visual issues extend to the GOG release as well?

For this game I would hunt down a dreamcast, but I'ld rather use my PC controller. DC is a wonderful system, but I'm not a fan of that boxy control pad.

[Anonymous No.1497938]

>>1497849
>but do those sound/visual issues extend to the GOG release as well?
Yes. The audio is fucking horrendous. The PC version doesn't have the dynamic soundtrack (i.e. it doesn't change when you're fighting/in spectral realm), playing on modern systems makes the sound constantly glitch out with snapping/popping noises and after playing for long enough the audio will start to desync and the music will being to fuck up.

[Anonymous No.1498447]

Story time, I guess

[Anonymous No.1498449]

[Anonymous No.1498450]

[Anonymous No.1498453]

[Anonymous No.1498456]

[Anonymous No.1498460]

[Anonymous No.1498463]

[Anonymous No.1498467]

[Anonymous No.1498470]

[Anonymous No.1498474]

[Anonymous No.1498478]

[Anonymous No.1498481]

[Anonymous No.1498484]

[Anonymous No.1498486]

[Anonymous No.1498489]

dats it

[Anonymous No.1498487]

>>1492817
>But other than that, what's /vr/'s opinion on Soul Reaver? Is the sequel worth playing?

Wasn't that guy behind Blood Omen complaining about how Soul Reaver was an abomination or something?

[Anonymous No.1498490]

>>1492852
Darksiders is the closest thing to a LoK spiritual successor, but they never went with insane complex story.

[Anonymous No.1498505]

>>1498487
I think Denis Dyack did but he made Too Human so, y'know

[Anonymous No.1498527]

Just play Dark Souls 2 already, Faggot.

"Zelda-like 3D" is a pretty hard genre to tack down for you. I guess you want to look at action RPG lists. In the retro vein I usually prefer 2D ones to 3D ones though so I can't help you beyond that suggestion.

[Anonymous No.1499005]

>>1492817
>But other than that, what's /vr/'s opinion on Soul Reaver? Is the sequel worth playing?
I played the game a bit as a kid, really appealed how dark it was and seemed really cool to me back then. Finally got myself to play it again like, 2 months ago. Loved the first game, it had amazing atmosphere. I decided to play 2nd game as well since the story intrigued me greatly, especially with how the first one ended. Sadly, sequel was pretty shit, didn't have as much freedom in terms of exploration and had way too fucking much enemies all over the place, and battle system being only slightly improved didn't help. Most importantly though, the atmosphere of the first game was gone, mostly because of enemies you encountered every two steps but also with how music went from great to barely noticeable. After about and hour I was only playing it for the story, but it was at least something new. Halfway though it became a chore to get through levels, especially with so much backtracking.

[Anonymous No.1499123]

The entire series is great and worth playing. Some installments are worse than others (looking at you, Blood Omen 2), but just for the story and voice acting alone, it's worth playing the entire series.

[Anonymous No.1499197]

>>1492817
Zelda's evil twin

[Anonymous No.1499347]

>>1498527
Labeling it 'action RPG' is annoying because RPG usually implies some sort of visible number stat or leveling up mechanic, which isn't Zelda-like at all.

[Anonymous No.1499592]

>>1499347
RPG implies you play the role of a character you've created, based on the personality and terms you've given it. In other words, the standard for RPG has been lost ever since jRPG's were called jRPG's. Zelda can be whatever it wants, because 99% of the RPG's out there aren't RPG's at all.

[Anonymous No.1499946]

>>1499347
It's arguably more rnjoyable when the numbers aren't visible.

[Anonymous No.1500002]

>>1499592
Oh don't blame JRPGs for that. Western games plot railroad which isn't very traditional RPG, which is a product of gaming limitation and even that aside a lot the actual DnD video games hand you a character to play.

For that matter most of the first RPGs the most you can pick is your class, you don't create who you are very much, but pen and paper just has more options.

Its more that RPG in video games is more of a synonym Fantasy. Seriously everytime you see a game labeled RPG use the word Fantasy instead and suddenly fits.

[Anonymous No.1500014]

My biggest problem with Soul Reaver 2 was they got rid of the bosses and some of the more conventional puzzles from the first game because they were listening too much to critic nit-picks. (Also the game was so fucking dark you couldn't see where you're going.)

Defiance tries to make up for it, but the powers you get in defiance aren't as good as the older games.

Also, Pro-tip you should know in advance. In Blood Omen 1, Tony Jay plays the Sion of Death, Mortanius. This guy is not directly related to the Elder god Tony Jay plays in the other games, but he plays the same role as being an omnipotent voice guiding the players every move.

It does not help that Mortanius is never addressed by name in the story.
It's a silicon knights game that they made without Nintendo at the crop, so what can you expect.

[Anonymous No.1500030]

I had the demo at one point. But I heard the demo was a lot different from the finished product. I do remember it being kind of buggy though. But it was a demo. I never played an actual game in this series besides Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain.

[Anonymous No.1500046]

>>1500030
>I never played an actual game in this series besides Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain.
My nigga. Now play Blood Omen 2 and forget about faggot Raziel ever being a thing.

[Anonymous No.1500042]

>>1500014
>My biggest problem with Soul Reaver 2 was they got rid of the bosses and some of the more conventional puzzles from the first game because they were listening too much to critic nit-picks

My biggest problem is that it's not retro.

[Anonymous No.1500076]

>>1500042
Are you saying that my complaints boil down to "Wa wa wa, the sequel wasn't exactly like the original" or that I shouldn't say anything about the game at all because the dreamcast version was cancelled at the last minute?

[Anonymous No.1500087]

>>1500076
The latter.

[Anonymous No.1500336]

I didn't play through Blood Omen, yet, I tried a few times but it just seems much less fun. Story is cool but eh.

[Anonymous No.1500342]

>>1500336
It's only really bad if you try to get all of the secrets. Otherwise it's about as annoying as Soul Reaver.

[Anonymous No.1501452]

>>1493530
>those VAs man
Even back then, when I could only understand maybe half, two-thirds of what was said I still loved to listen to them.

Also pretty fun to watch the outtakes for SR2.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgnLO7iJZaA

[Anonymous No.1501463]

>>1493530
Probably the only western work that actually made me think "Man, those VAs are good". SR2 only had VAs for it's defence.

[Anonymous No.1501489]

Potentially one of the best games ever made, if only the devs had more time and money to fulfil their vision. But then, the storyline wouldn't be half as amazing though

I see alot of hate here for Soul Reaver 2. I thought it was flat-out the best of the series when it comes to story, voice-overs and atmosphere. Still, gameplay did kinda suck

[Anonymous No.1501498]

>>1501489
>That final "boss battle" against Sarafan Raziel
>Literally impossible to lose

[Anonymous No.1502614]

i tried this soul reaver for the first time a couple weeks ago. the opening was well-done and indicated a refreshing plot and gameplay. but then came the clunky controls and typical 3p-camera frustrations, which made for bleh platforming and combat. i was going to press on, but then came the block-pushing. i can't push a block over a six-inch ledge so instead i have to push it over a forty-foot cliff and back up four ten-foot walls? when i finished that and immediately found more block-pushing, i said no, enough nonsensical time-wasting.

seems like the game would make for a cool watch though if you strung all the fmv sequences together. not exactly a game at that point, but at least it'd be decent.

[Anonymous No.1502616]

>>1493498

>PC Gaming

[Anonymous No.1502829]

>>1502616
>playing inferior versions of games

[Anonymous No.1502839]

>>1502614

my most hated platforming in the original soul reaver was when you had to fly between tiny rafters above insta death water in the drowned abbey

[Anonymous No.1502861]

>>1492817
you need to play blood omen, soul reaver 2, blood omen 2 and defiance to understand story

[Anonymous No.1502898]

>>1502861
N..no. Just no. You must be autistic in a way so far undiscovered by science.

Soul Reaver 2, Blood Omen 2 and Defiance resolve absolutely nothing to do with Soul Reaver's storyline. They only introduce new, bizzare, unrelated concepts that actually cause major plot holes to appear in Soul Reaver.

Blood Omen is a must-play for the Legacy of Kain context, but you really should stop there. LoK: Defiance, ostensibly the "latest" chapter in Raziel's storyline, ends on a "TO BE CONTINUED..." that only opens up MORE questions about Raziel's now-convoluted "true nature" and the ultimate fate of the Soul Reaver sword, and the studio has since imploded with no hope of a sequel.

[Anonymous No.1502934]

>>1502898
oh, and SR doesn't end on "to be continued"?

[Anonymous No.1502939]

>>1502934
I'm not saying it doesn't. I'm saying that the "sequels" don't lead to any kind of resolution, either, and instead only create additional unresolved plot threads.

[Anonymous No.1502943]

>>1502939
well tony died, amy left and money ran out
still worth playing
who knows maybe that whole Nosgoth deal might bring enough money to bring amy back to finish story
[spoliler]or they will ruin it dmc way[/spoiler]

[Anonymous No.1502946]

>>1502943
Totally agree. Definitely still worth playing, all of the Legacy of Kain games.

If a non-reboot Nosgoth game is ever announced again I'll be busy trying to cram money directly into my screen.

[Anonymous No.1503073]

>>1502939
I bet you hate The Sopeanos

[Anonymous No.1504213]

>>1499946
It's still not a RPG though

[Anonymous No.1504219]

>>1502898
>LoK: Defiance, ostensibly the "latest" chapter in Raziel's storyline, ends on a "TO BE CONTINUED..."

For Kain and the series, but Raziel's role is finished.

[Anonymous No.1504734]

>>1500087
>>1500042
It's one thing if someone starts a thread about a <15-year-old game/system, but when the topic of discussion is a 20-year-old, ongoing game series, it stands to reason that post-1999 entries would be relevant to the discussion. If a thread about a Dreamcast game that came out last year is okay, and threads about emulators on modern PCs and current consoles are okay, and threads about game-unrelated nerd nostalgia are okay, and threads about user content made in 2014 for old computer games are okay, it really shouldn't bother anyone that someone shared an opinion on the direction an unarguably /vr/ series took after 1999.

>captcha: SNOBS dundsnn

[Anonymous No.1504758]

>>1493498
Dreamcast or PSX. PC didn't have dynamic music (same tune plays but changes tone or arrangement based on what's happening). The Dreamcast has A FEW higher quality models/textures, but it's mostly identical, and I honestly prefer the original designs over the DC versions where they differ. The DC version also has a further draw distance, but again I prefer the hazy look of the PSX version.

The DC version also has more awkward controls if you're playing on the real thing. You can map it like the PSX controls in an emulator, but it's kind of weird without 4 shoulders. The physics are slightly different, too, which causes one time-sensitive puzzle to be more difficult. (You can't make it where you need to be in time as easily because you don't run/glide as fast. The gimped camera control doesn't help, either.)

tl;dr The DC version is cleaner-looking, but I prefer the PSX version. PC version is Penn Jilette-tier.

[Anonymous No.1504780]

>>1504734
>it stands to reason that post-1999 entries would be relevant to the discussion

That's wrong. Stop interpreting the rules and follow them exactly as written.

[Anonymous No.1504810]

>>1501498
>You are a righteous fiend
>apparently I am

Realizing Kain manipulates Raziel into killing the lieutenants so he can resurrect them is salt in the fucking wounds.

[Anonymous No.1504819]

>>1504810
Kain could do that whether or not Raziel personally killed them.

[Anonymous No.1504830]

>>1504819
Its the fact that he chose Raziel specifically.

[Anonymous No.1504831]

>>1504830
But he didn't. You do realize that in the original timeline, they weren't killed by Raziel, right?

[Anonymous No.1504837]

>>1504831
I'll be honest, I don't understand how a predestination paradox gets its start.

[Anonymous No.1504856]

>>1504837
Actually, I might be mistaken. Raziel might have killed them originally, but Kain had nothing to do with it since he'd be dead at that point in the original timeline.

[Anonymous No.1504885]

>>1504856
Legacy of Kain (while a great series and a wonderful story about how good guys aren't always good and bad guys aren't always bad) is a clusterfuck of timelines at this point, WHO KNOWS!

[Anonymous No.1504896]

>>1504885
It'd be great if we could get a Hyrule Historia style book for LoK. Even if the only way to get it was to buy some fucking $200 collectors edition of that shit tier new Nosgoth game I'd still pay out for it.

[Anonymous No.1505047]

>>1504856
But the Sarafan would never have existed if Kain hadn't changed the timeline by killing Prince William the Just. Janos never would have had his heart cut out by the Sarafan, and it could not have been used to resurrect Kain. Raziel would never have been resurrected by the Elder God if Kain had died and restored the balance pillar.

Or am I missing something? The Hylden and Janos/Raziel race thing is a huge blur for me; I only played through Defiance once, back when it was new.

[Anonymous No.1505065]

>>1505047
Also, was Kain born the guardian of balance when Ariel died, or did he become the guardian of balance when he was resurrected as a vampire? If a new guardian is born upon the previous guardian's death, why was a new balance guardian not born between Kain's human death and vampire resurrection?

[Anonymous No.1505087]

>>1505047
>>1505065
And what was Vorador's motive in killing members of the Cirlce, if not the genocide of vampires that began when Kain slew Prince William before Kain would have been born. Kain never would have risen to power if he had not slain the guardians whose minds were tainted by Nupraptor after Vorador killed Ariel.

[Anonymous No.1505096]

>>1505047
You're confusing the Sarafan with Moebius' mob of vampire hunters. There's a few thousand years between the two.

[Anonymous No.1505168]

>>1504780
>Stop interpreting the rules and follow them exactly as written.
That would be a first.

[Anonymous No.1505176]

>>1505168
>off-topic replies

So anything about the series after Soul Reaver.

Thanks for that.

[Anonymous No.1505178]

>>1493084
Blood Omen 2 was originally going to be a sequel to Chakan: The Forever Man.

[Anonymous No.1505183]

Soul Reaver is a God-Tier adventure game. Enormous world, mesmerizing scenery, challenging puzzles, exciting and interesting boss battles.

Soul Reaver 2 has... some different-colored reavers. And an okay twist ending.

So much disappointment.

[Anonymous No.1505184]

I own most of these games on Steam for whatever reason. I now know that the PC versions are the worst versions but are they still at least worth playing or are they ruined?

[Anonymous No.1505185]

>>1505184
Soul Reaver definitely is. The PC port apparently had major problems with the dynamic soundtrack.

[Anonymous No.1506231]

>>1505184
The PC version of Blood Omen is actually better than the PSX; it runs at a higher resolution and has more of those excellent voice overs, but you'll need to jump through a few hoops to make it run properly on a modern PC.

Soul Reaver is really best appreciated through its PSX and DC versions; the music in those versions will change based on what's happening. Like, a place will have a music track, but whether you're safe, fighting, or in the physical or spiritual realms will affect the arrangement. The PC version just has one music track for each place, period.

After SR, I don't know how different they are. They're probably all just direct ports; I've never heard any complaints.

[Anonymous No.1506284]

>>1493498
DC version. If you have a VGA box, you're in for a treat.

[Anonymous No.1506573]

>>1505184
Can't say I noticed much of a difference in any port besides Soul Reaver.