So I'm just now playing through Resident Evil 4 for the first time. I know I know, it's a classic and one of the best games ever made, shame on me, etc etc... And with good reason, I'm absolutely digging it. It's challenging, the atmosphere is tense throughout, inventory management is fun and engaging, it's just a really good game.

But yesterday I got to this jerk of a boss that gave me so much trouble. Those of you who played Resi 4 know who I'm talking about - The creature called "It". That big scorpion-like guy with the blades on his tail who's able to dig holes and attacks you from below and you have to press a button prompt to dodge those. In the first stage of the encounter with him you have to avoid him and get off the platforms which gradually fall in the abyss, but in the second stage you actually fight him.

Usually I'm pretty chill regarding difficult boss fights, but this was just bull. I was in a tough spot regarding ammo (was sorta my fault for not using multiple saves though) and I barely had enough for the fight. He just kept on kicking my butt with his unpredictable behavioral pattern...

I actually consulted the internet for this fight, and people actually say he's one of the hardest bosses in the game because the fight is fairly straightforward, you simply have to unload on him with everything you have. But that's just the thing that I had trouble with - I barely had any ammo at that point, I kept on running out of ammo fighting him, I feel it was by sheer luck that I eventually beat him. I literally almost gave up because the odds were just stacked against me, both because of my stupid fault for using one save throughout the game, but also because there is no way to back out of the fight before it happens to replenish ammo and items.

Have you experienced a boss that was so hard and frustrating it almost made you just give up?

skrt-lord : I was playing as a CEO in GTA Online recently and I was just thinking the same thing. I would love if something like that gets expanded upon in the next GTA.

It might have already come to your attention that Rockstar North is working on the next installment of the GTA series. A couple of months ago it had come to light that they started brainstorming on the setting, the story and the characters. Now, I've been playing GTA V again the last couple of weeks, and I'm just itching to find out what they'll cook up in the next game!

In this thread I want to talk about what kinds of things you want there to be in the GTA VI. There are bound to be more GTA fans on here, and I'm sure you have your own ideas about how to make the next GTA the best GTA ever. So, anything from the game's setting (PLEASE let it be Vice City!!!), to small nifty details most people won't even notice, anything. What would you like to be a thing in GTA VI?

What's on my wishlist, is an mp3-player you can turn on while on foot. It would be really cool to just take a leisurly stroll through the block of a fully realized and breathing environment with random songs of the game's radio stations.

When you hear of badass female video game characters, there's usually one that sticks out from the others. There's Alyx Vance, Samus Aran, Bayonetta, Meryl Silverburgh... But then there was this one character who started the 'women can kick butt too' like Samus did, but also revolutionised the entire action-adventure genre. This woman's name was Lara Croft. Gamers and critics were blown away by the open environments, and naturally Lara herself. Having recently acquired the Tomb Raider trilogy on the Playstation, here are my thoughts about the first Tomb Raider game, and how well it holds up.

How pretty is it?
Ooooh, this will take some getting used to. The environments might be varied, but they're anything but clean and crisp. There are often bugs to be found, such as some objects being visible through walls, some corners cutting straight out of their bounds, etc. I'm usually the person who sees past this kind of stuff willing to take it for what it is, I mean this was 1996, games were primitive back then, but the further you go, the more obvious and jarring these graphical issues seem to become. Sometimes, entire walls just disappear leaving with a view of the outside grid. If you're the kind of person who's easily put off by this stuff, this will bother you a lot. You can argue that Lara's body looks ugly because of the low polygon count, but that's easily excusable as it never becomes a problem. They had to work with what they had, plus it fits the environment well. I really like the way Lara moves around. The way she lands from a high jump, takes a swan dive into deep water, and the way she leans into each turn when she's running looks very realistic and lifelike. Kudos to the person who did the physics, it's one of the technical standouts of the game. Add Lara's animation to some cool details such as air bubbles escaping from Lara and actually abiding to the laws of physics when she's underwater and the varied environment to begin with, and the graphics more than makes up for the messy bugs.

Does the sound sound good?
Let's not beat around the bush here - Tomb Raider's sound design is incredible. One of my favourite of the Playstation era, in fact. Most of this game is completely silent. The only thing you hear is Lara's footsteps, and the occasional grunt of animals in her vicinity. This creates a feeling of eeriness, because it really gives you a feeling that you're all alone in unknown territory, and who knows what you might run into. Sometimes, this quietness goes on for like half an hour. But then you reach an important part of the level where you're treated by the game's amazing soundtrack. Really, it has to be heard to be believed. Look up some of it on YouTube, I'll wait... You did? Alright, now imagine hearing that, and walking up to a gigantic Sphinx surrounded by all kinds of climbable indents that leads to who know what you'll find! The feeling of eeriness changes into a sense of wonder and really gives you the urge to explore. It's amazing what good effective sound design can add to a game.

Is it addictive?
The short answer: Yes. The long answer: Take everything I said about the sound design, how much the music enhances the feeling that the game is going for, and how much fun it is to traverse the big, open levels with the way Lara controls and frankly, the challenging and fair puzzles you have to solve makes you keep coming back for more. I'm not very fast at completing a game, certainly not one with levels as big and long as this one, but I beat this in about a week. Which is a pretty big deal for me, a testament to how much fun this game is. It's challenging, but forgiving at the same time, so you never feel as if you NEED to stop playing.

What about the story?
Lara Croft is the daughter to a noble and wealthy family. Her plane crashed in the Himalayas leaving her as the only survivor which changed her life forever. This turned her into the adventurer we know and love. She eventually visits a group who would hire her to obtain a part of a certain treasure, which apparently gives its possessor vast power... Being the first entry in the now well-established Tomb Raider franchise, the plot is quite simplistic, but honestly that's exactly what makes it solid. Looking at this game so late in the franchise really makes you appreciate how simple it is.

How deep is the game? Is there much to it?
Tomb Raider is one of the smartest adventure games I've played in a while. It takes a theme that everyone is into: adventuring. The gameplay is, to this day, really fun. Again, Lara controls like a charm. The levels are huge, and their design take you through the entirety of them in really interesting ways. And for the real adventures out there, there are secrets to find (most of them are actually REALLY hard to find mind you). And it's actually worth it to find these secrets since finding all of them rewards you with a full health refill between levels. The game really makes use of everything the maps have, which is why I love it so much. Enemy variety is good, ranging from packs of wolves to freaky creatures fitting of a survival horror game. Also what I really like is that throughout the game, all the weapons remain usable. Lara's standard pistols are weak but have unlimited ammo, the shotgun is the most powerful weapon in the game but ammo is scarce, the magnums are more powerful than the pistols but depletes ammo and uzis are about as weaker than magnums but fire much faster. Everything as its pros and drawbacks.

Should this game be this hard?
So Tomb Raider has a lot of levels that are big and has environmental puzzles that are complicated to solve. And because the controls are so good (the training level has Lara herself neatly explain them to you) traveling through the levels never really becomes boring or frustrating. So the puzzles are a big factor on why this game is difficult, but it's not only about puzzling. There are times when you have to fight off enemies, and that's where the gameplay suffers a bit. The camera does a decent job of following Lara's movements, but at times where animals run behind you, you need to quickly turn around which becomes really hectic, especially when there's more than one animal ganging up on you. Thankfully the game mainly focuses on exploration and puzzle solving, so the combat doesn't get much more than stressful, which is how it should be.

That is, until the final levels. This is where exploration takes a backseat to action and fighting off (really fast!) monsters, and this is where the game shows that the controls aren't made for this. There will be fighting in every new room, and sometimes there will me several monsters attacking you. They shoot at you, jump at you, swipe at you, and the only thing you can do is shoot back and jump around while adjusting the camera so that you can take aim at them and shoot again. What's annoying is that while the gameplay changes drastically, the environments do not, so instead of moving carefully like the environments demand you to, it often has you jumping around like a maniac, often hoping that you don't accidentally jumping into a spike pit or lava pool. Prepare to be frustrated. However, these are the two final levels and they don't put a dent on the amazing time I had playing this last week.

So... All in all?
Oh my god, do I love this game, and that's while taking the unfair final levels into account. The controls are tight, the sound is amazing, and exploring the levels is really fun. And of course, Lara Croft is such a cool character. It's easy to see why this game received critical and commercial acclaim back in 1996. It's just that good, and definitely survived the test of time. This is a must-have for any adventure game fan.

Can people take a look at my review for The Last Guardian and see if it's worth making featured?

https://www.vizzed.com/boards/thread.php?id=97979

First thing’s first – I had been waiting on this game for forever. 9 years, in fact. Dear god, did this game go through one hell of a development period. The Last Guardian was supposed to be an early title for the Playstation 3 as a follow up to Shadow Of The Colossus. However, due to several important people leaving Team Ico, the game’s development team, the game was postponed again and again until many people feared it would never see the light of day.

And man, am I happy to see SIE Japan Studio power through to deliver what I believe is one of the greatest masterpieces I ever had the pleasure of playing.

You play as this nameless little boy who one day wakes up in a cave, next to a massive mythical beast. The creature is wounded and famished, and obviously scared. After you feed him the nearby rations you find and take care of its injuries, the creature stops seeing you as a threat and accompanies you as you travel through the caves and towers, throughout your adventure steadily turning into what is perhaps the best escort character I’ve ever seen. The characters carry the story, which isn’t a bad thing. In fact, this is one of my favourite examples of storytelling I’ve seen in a game. The premise is very simple; you tame and befriend this massive savage animal, who needs to go back to his home. You, not knowing where you are in the first place, decide to help the beast get there on your way back to your home. Of course, there’s a lot more to it than that, and honestly I don’t think it would’ve been so special if the creature’s character arc wasn’t handled so well. But that’s why these writers are geniuses.

The way Trico’s (the beast’s name) AI is programmed is incredible. Its design looks to be a cross between a dog and a bird, and the behaviour of a cat, although you would almost say that the beast is actually real, ready to jump through the screen and into your living room (which I assume won’t be pretty). Any pet owner will testify how scarily lifelike Trico is in its mannerisms. It’s a little slow on the uptake, which I read annoyed a lot of players. During gameplay, you need to command Trico to do certain things, which can sometimes take a couple of repeated tries before the creature actually decides to do something. From a strict gameplay point of view, I can definitely understand that that can become irritating before long. But think – how often do you tell an untrained dog to sit, before it’ll actually do as you say? As the game progresses, the beast becomes more and more accustomed to your company and start listening to you better, and you can give it more advanced commands such as to jump, to hold still, etc.

The little details added to Trico’s antics such as fiddling around with dangling chains, sniffing out new environments, scratching his ears with his hind leg, rolling around in shallow water in order to clean itself… And then it wants to follow you through a doorway that only you can go through, and its head gets stuck in the opening… Really, it has to be seen to be believed. Everyone needs a Trico in their life.

That’s not to say that they made the entire game revolve around Trico. There are more than one way in order to take obstacles. One involves have the massive beast simply jump over them. But it can’t take you anywhere you need to go. Sometimes, you need to progress on foot. In fact, the environment is filled with ivy that can be climbed as well as spots for Trico to jump on. This means that many obstacles that can be jumped over with Trico can alse be traversed for the boy. And doing so is a very viable option, as it allows you to pay extra attention to the game’s epic and gorgeous environments.

Like Shadow of the Colossus before it, this game does a thing with scope like no other game does. It really makes you feel how small you are compared to the environment, and choosing to not travel on the beast’s back all the time makes you appreciate that even more. I can’t remember a time where I had been so enthralled by a game’s setting alone. Take the gorgeous (slightly dated but works very well in the game’s favour) voice and combine them with the subtle use of music ranging from quiet melody to epic orchestras and the authentic sound design and you’re in a world so vast and unbelievable it simply can’t be explained well enough if you haven’t played it for yourself.

It’s a good thing The Last Guardian took until the Playstation 4 to come out, because I don’t think it would’ve become as special as it would have been in the last generation. And without exaggerating, The Last Guardian is just as good as its predecessor, Shadow of the Colossus. Everything it offers reels you in, and never lets you go. Buy The Last Guardian. Really, you won’t regret it.

Everyone has at least one - A game that gets so much flak it's unbelievable. A game like Silent Hill Downpour, for example! As a fan of the series, I've played through the majority of Silent Hill games, and I cannot for the life of me understand why that game is seen as the black sheep of the family when there's games like Origins and Homecoming. It has some technical issues while nothing major, but the story and characters were once again amazing. I felt really invested and the soundtrack was great. It's such a shame the developer is now no more...

Anyway, what's your favourite game that's generally looked down upon by either critics or gamers? And why do you think it's actually better than people make it out to be?

I do pretty okay when I play against friends. I've never played against someone online, but I'm usually right in the middle or higher of my group of friends

There's a Diablo game on the PS1!? Why do I not know about this, I love my PS1 and I'm still looking for some good local mp games on it to play with friends... Thanks for the read, I like short reviews like this one.

"The right man in the wrong place can make all the difference in the world." - The G-Man, Half Life 2

Oh man, I haven't played Pokemon GO in forever. I forgot the CP, but my strongest Pokémon was Cloyster. Made everyone jealous with it, haha

Myself, I have a PS1, a PS2, a PS4, an Xbox 360, a Gameboy Color, a Nintendo DS, and a 3DS. I share a SNES with my friend, we we'll collect games for in the future.

Thanks guys! I really like the site so far, the community is great. Yea to be honest, I'm also kinda surprised this name was still availabe, lol! 

Aw man, I shoulda been here for Halloween. Anyway, same as sonicbros I love Haunter. I love his design, and he looks so much more menacing than his goofy evolution, haha. Misdreavus is a second.

I'm playing through Dying Light: The Following - Enhanced Edition at the moment, and I just got through the first night time section of the game. Mannn, that game just got a million times more scary, haha

Man, I am sooo hyped for the Nintendo Switch! It looks like it will bring the old couch multiplayer feeling back, but with a modern take on it. Plus, new Mario adventure game which is always fun, haha

Me and a friend play retro games together regularly, and right now we're busy beating Super Mario Bros. on Super Mario All-Stars. Man, did that game age badly... It's soooooo clunky, haha. We're pretty far in, both at world 6, but we hadn't played it for two weeks, so yesterday we were pretty rusty again. Needless to say, many deaths and continues occured and several bad words were thrown across the room, lol

Oh man, I have so many games in my shelf that I once started, but never finished. I guess if there are three that I regret the most and will probably return to in the future it's Sly 2, Alien Isolation and Dragon Quest 8.

Newbie here! I was browsing the internet for a cool forum about video games to join, and I happened across this one. This site has its own emulators? That is awesome, not gonna lie. I have a feeling I'm gonna love this site and its community, and I'm happy to be a part of it!