Cheerful Ghost: An Awesome Community For Gamers

BioShock Playthrough: Are All The Important People In Rapture Insane?

I'm noticing a trend as I play BioShock. Enter a new area to find out about a new person in charge that at first seems a bit goofy. Find out more backstory to realize they are a psychotic murderer. Spend more time and find out they are so much worse than that. Also note that every "normal person" either doesn't really notice the writing on the wall (sometimes literally in blood) or doesn't seem to care. Then again if you lived underwater that might make leaving very hard or impossible such that you had to make working with your boss work even if they seemed to enjoy being a horrible person.

Even though at this point BioShock seems like a game that can't stop making it... Read All

Chex Quest HD is Free On Steam!

Chex Quest is a non-violent breakfast cereal game released in 1996 that was a conversion of The Ultimate Doom. I had a copy of this and really rather enjoyed it in 96 but as with some things, I got rid of it not knowing it would achieve cult status later on. The legendary status of Chex Quest is still very strong and it so much so that recently got an HD remake and came to Steam last month. Since I enjoyed playing the original and it's currently free on Steam I downloaded it and gave it a go.

Firstly Chex Quest HD is free and that means that it shouldn't really be held up to the same light as a game you paid for. With that is Chex Quest good? I think that depends on... Read All Chex Quest is a non-violent breakfast cereal game released in 1996 that was a conversion of The Ultimate Doom. I had a copy of this and really rather enjoyed it in 96 but as with some things, I got rid of it not knowing it would achieve cult status later on. The legendary status of Chex Quest is still very strong and it so much so that recently got an HD remake and came to Steam last month. Since I enjoyed playing the original and it's currently free on Steam I downloaded it and gave it a go.

Firstly Chex Quest HD is free and that means that it shouldn't really be held up to the same light as a game you paid for. With that is Chex Quest good? I think that depends on what you like but for a free game it's well worth your time and if you never played the original this could be fun to try.

All that said, I'm not sure as a remake this does much more than bring the original namesake back into the light for a time. Reason being is the game is aimed at recreating the levels and gameplay of the original but doesn't really improve anything. The graphics are in HD and entirely remade here which is interesting but the gameplay is so stiff and uninviting i'd argue the original Chex Quest is a far better game. Chex Quest HD is based on the Unreal Engine 4 but the gameplay doesn't feel like it is. The original Doom and Chex Quest by association were on the same engine and those games are bound to the limitations of 90's era control schemes and what DOS was capable of. One improvement i'd have made to Chex Quest HD is that since you are on a modern shooter engine, make the game feel like a modern shooter. The original Chex Quest was awesome because it was on the DOOM engine which was an entirely modern shooter engine back in the 90's. Sad that the HD remake didn't take take advantage of the modern Unreal Engine it was built within to feel more like Unreal or any other modern shooter made with it.

I absolutely love that Chex Quest is getting the attention it deserves. It's a fun classic campy game that should be more widely played. That said, I wonder if simply porting the classic game to modern systems and making it work in widescreen with a modern Doom engine port would have be better? The developers could have made a feature to switch between two WAD files one being the original and the other being a touched up version. In the end remaking a classic game with an entirely new codebase and art isn't bad and we've seen it done to incredible levels with the recent Link's Awakening remake. One reason why the modern Link's Awakening remake shines is because it improves on the original game in various ways that create a new fresh experience that builds on the classic game. I appreciate the love that the developers put into the Chex Quest HD remake I'm just not sure it hits quite the same notes as the original.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/804270/Chex_Quest_HD/

The Remarkable Story Behind Command & Conquer's Remastering

YouTube documentary great Noclip dropped a timely look at the recent Command and Conquer + Red Alert remastering. I knew the remastering was made with a lot of attention and care but I didn't know they got the original developers back to work on it. Clocking in at 40 minutes this look at how EA remastered one of the best games of all time is a must watch.

"Featuring interviews with Jim Vessella, Petroglyph Games and Lemon Sky, we explore how Command & Conquer Remastered Collection came together, and how the international team remastered FMV, graphics, audio, music, gameplay and more."

LGR Reviews Yoot Tower The Lesser Known Sim Tower Sequel

I

Sim Tower so when I heard there was a sequel a few years back I was surprised. Sim Tower gets some love in retro circles but seems like a forgotten gem. Lazy Gamer Clint Basinger is back doing his review magic on a game that I feel holds up well even if some of the games simplicity doesn't fare well for longer play sessions.

"There was a Sim Tower 2? In all but name, yes! Let's take a look at Yoot Tower, aka The Tower II, developed by OPeNBooK9003 and published by Sega in 1998 for Macintosh and Windows PCs. Along with the Towerkit maps and other plugins from Japan!"

Donkey Kong Country Classified Information!

I've played a lot of Donkey Kong Country but I wouldn't consider myself a pro. When I was in my prime I could be the whole game start to finish without dying, which is quite difficult. To celebrate the game coming to Switch Online on July 15th Nintendo released a fun Classified Information video showcasing some Donkey Kong Country secrets. One features infinite lives you can get while Diddy Kong and also a trick to getting 101% which is just what all the Donkey Kong Country completionists out there needed.

The full list of games Nintendo is adding on July 15th is Donkey Kong Country, Natsume Championship Wrestling on SNES and The Immortal on NES.

Cheerful Ghost Radio Episode 79: The Rise of Skywalker Blu Ray Review

In this episode of Star Wars Radio... ahem, Cheerful Ghost Radio, we're here to talk all about the home release of The Rise of Skywalker and see if our opinions have changed since December.

You may notice we are a bit late with this one, and as you listen you might notice from date cues that we recorded this a while back. With people across the world protesting for a great cause, our podcast seemed less important, and we didn't feel the timing was great for releasing new episodes. We hope listening to this can give you a fun reprieve from reality, but please don't let us, or anything, distract you from the importance of what's going on around us.

I Might Have a Problem and Borderlands on Switch Is Also Very Good

2K Games dropped a raft of games on Switch recently with Bioshock The Collection, The Borderlands Legendary Collection and X-Com 2. Last week I happily opened The Borderlands Legendary Collection on Father's Day and was able to play it enough to note that's it's another solid Switch port worthy of the games strong legacy.

I know this might not be a popular opinion but I think the first Borderlands game is the best in the series(I have yet to play Borderlands 3). And now that the original Borderlands was remastered with a ton of updates and quality of life improvements (auto pickup, etc) it really is the best looter shooter around. 2K took this remastered version and... Read All 2K Games dropped a raft of games on Switch recently with Bioshock The Collection, The Borderlands Legendary Collection and X-Com 2. Last week I happily opened The Borderlands Legendary Collection on Father's Day and was able to play it enough to note that's it's another solid Switch port worthy of the games strong legacy.

I know this might not be a popular opinion but I think the first Borderlands game is the best in the series(I have yet to play Borderlands 3). And now that the original Borderlands was remastered with a ton of updates and quality of life improvements (auto pickup, etc) it really is the best looter shooter around. 2K took this remastered version and perfectly ported it to Switch such that I honestly can't tell if they had to compromise anything in the way of visuals or gameplay.

If you are interested in buying the physical version of Borderlands on Switch there is something to keep in mind. 2K was able to put the original Borderlands on the game cart but if you want to play Borderlands 2 and the Pre-Sequel there is an included code to download them. As someone that enjoys buying a physical copy and loaning it to friends this is a bummer but on the other hand, there is no cart switching required to play Borderlands 2 or the Pre-Sequel. Plus if you just wanted to play those two games, one could buy the game snag the codes and loan out the game cart to someone that has yet to play the original.

Earlier on I picked up The Bioshock Collection and 2K put a bit of each game on the cart and required complete downloads of all with the game cart. I appreciate that they included a sample of all three games I think I prefer what they did with The Borderlands Legendary Collection.

Borderlands is already a classic game and it's good to see it continue to be relevant and come to an even wider audience on Switch. If you have Borderlands remastered on PC already and prefer that platform i'd recommend playing it that way but if you have a Switch and have yet to try it out this is a great way to do that.

I also wanted to note that I played Borderlands on Switch co-op with a friend recently and if your Switch is online it requires you friends account to be connected to a Switch online account. This makes some sense as Borderlands co-op can interact with public online as well but it was a major hassle to figure out how to get around this. To get around Switch Borderlands requirement for a friend account to link online you simply turn wifi off on your Switch. It's a strange hack but it worked and hope it helps anyone that runs into that problem.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 06/29/2020 at 07:44am

Wow, you haven't played Borderlands 3? Well, I think you'll like it once you do play it. I thought it was the best of them all. Although, the prequel wasn't really bad, but it I seem to recall that it was significantly shorter. I can't seem to recall Borderlands 2 very well. I didn't think the first game was all that impressive, but I seem to remember my appeal for the series grew w/ each newer game in the series. I have the GOTY Enhanced version on Steam, I think it's pretty much the same as what you're talking about. I just don't think I've played that version of the game yet. I have Borderlands 4 on my wish list. It debuted on Steam at 50% off and is now 55% off there or elsewhere, but I have my eyes set on something else. Still, it's good to know that the Switch got another good port. I've only played the game once and I did so as Roland. What about you?

Travis Admin wrote on 06/30/2020 at 02:21pm

Greg I'm not sure you're talking about the right games here. Borderlands 4 hasn't even been announced or discussed yet, Borderlands 3 just released recently. So when you say BL3 is you're favorite, maybe you're talking about 2?

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 06/30/2020 at 08:35pm

LOL Yeah, I got a little ahead of myself some how. Now it all makes sense. Thanks for the correction. I haven't played BL3 yet either and it did debut at 50% off on Steam and is still on sale, I believe.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 07/01/2020 at 02:31am

I should have read Travis comment sooner I just bought Borderlands 4 on Steam. And yeah, so far it's way better than the original Borderlands. I think the coolest feature is that they brought back every class playable in one game.

The Ninja cats are a fun addition.

😍

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Digital Foundry Analyzes the new Cyberpunk 4k Trailer

Cyberpunk 2077 is the follow up to the Witcher III by developer CD Projekt Red. Recently they released some 30fps 4K footage of Cyberpunk and Digital Foundry did a really interesting analysis. Digital Foundry updated their video notes to say that the 4K footage is in fact using Ray Tracing to get those incredible lighting effects. So if you want to play Cyberpunk to the fullest it looks like you should play with RTX on the PC until the PS5 and XBox Series X have released.

I know there are many people on Cheerful Ghost that played The Witcher III and I'm wondering how many are excited about Cyberpunk?

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, Both Games Reviewed

Azurephile gives this a solid "Rad" on the Ghost Scale

This is fun, with very few issues, and is well worth your time.

Azurephile gives this a "Rad" on the Ghost Scale

This is fun, with very few issues, and is well worth your time.

I recently finished Star Wars: The Force Unleashed I and II and thought it was time to give them a proper Cheerful Ghost review. The second game is a sequel to the first However, the first game isn’t very great, especially compared to the second. I wouldn’t say it’s horrible, but one thing I absolutely hated was that it uses quick time events. These were often buttons you had to press at a certain time to do a certain finishing move. The second game has these, too, but does a much better job by having fewer of them and making them not as seemingly random. They weren’t as annoying in the second game as the first, though I still don’t like this game mechanic.

I was able... Read All I recently finished Star Wars: The Force Unleashed I and II and thought it was time to give them a proper Cheerful Ghost review. The second game is a sequel to the first However, the first game isn’t very great, especially compared to the second. I wouldn’t say it’s horrible, but one thing I absolutely hated was that it uses quick time events. These were often buttons you had to press at a certain time to do a certain finishing move. The second game has these, too, but does a much better job by having fewer of them and making them not as seemingly random. They weren’t as annoying in the second game as the first, though I still don’t like this game mechanic.

I was able to play both games via Steam on Windows 10 and with an Xbox One controller. I didn’t have to do any special configuration, though the second game included some graphical detail options, which weren’t automatically set to the highest, so I set them that way. It didn’t seem to have a 1920x1200 resolution, but 1600xsomething instead, which I don’t think was really noticeable anyway. In the second game, subtitles were automatically turned on and I turned them off.

You’ll start out in the first game as Darth Vader death marching your way through a Wookie village. One could say that Vader (and Anakin Skywalker) is the most iconic character in all of Star Wars, so it’s fun getting to play as him. It was also great to see him in the game, hear him, and watch him act. He was presented very well in both games. Eventually, you’ll change to controlling a character who is Vader’s apprentice. I didn’t know he had one. He said he wanted you to help him overthrow the Emperor. He’s helping you complete your training by sending you on some missions, which will have you fighting some Jedi. There aren’t a lot of characters here, there’s a droid which is used as a communication device to speak to Vader. He’s also funny in that his goal is to try to kill you and he keeps apologizing for failing. You also have a female pilot, which you needed after Vader killed your previous pilots.

This is an action game, you’ll be attacking enemies using Force powers such as Force Lighting, Force Grip, and more. When you get to the tutorial part in the beginning, I recommend getting comfortable and familiar with the controls before moving on, it can feel a little difficult to get used to. The second game doesn’t have a tutorial in the same way, but it will tell you things you can do, while you play, when they become available or relevant. As you progress in the game, more abilities will unlock. You’ll also earn points, which are used to increase your rank of each ability. Higher ranked abilities are more powerful than lower ones, so you’ll want to manage those points. There are Jedi and Sith Holocrons hidden throughout the first game. The Jedi Holocrons unlock special things like a Lightsaber Crystal, costume, or some other special extra. Sith Holocrons give you a temporary ability such as invincibility or health restoration, for example. This is different in the second game as there are four different kinds of Holocrons each with a different color and each will give different things, such as permanent health increase.

Lightsaber Crystals can be changed, in game in a menu. You may find these hidden throughout the games. They not only change the color of your lightsaber(s), but also have their own abilities, such as stronger lightsaber attacks.

There are “extras” in each game you can unlock, though I’m not sure exactly how to unlock everything as I didn’t look for a guide for that. I do know that you unlock cinematics when you see them as you progress in the games. However, I noticed that the second game still had some that I hadn’t unlocked. You can also unlock costumes and databank entries, which will tell you about something in the Star Wars universe. These entries are rather lengthy, at least in the first game, I didn’t look at them in the second game.

Over the course of the game, you’ll run into familiar Star Wars characters and locations. You’ll notice that almost none of the characters sound the way you’re used to, though Vader’s voice was done very well. I was pleasantly surprised to hear the voice of one character other than Vader. His is the voice of the clones in The Clone Wars, the same voice actor. It's fitting, in my opinion, that this is that character's voice. The one problem I had with the locations in the first game is that you go back to them a second time. There are a few different difficulty levels and I played on easy. I noticed the “unleashed” difficulty unlocked in the second game after I completed it. The first game had some instances of confusion, where it was difficult to know what to do or how exactly to do it. There’s one in particular that seems like it will take forever and does seem difficult to get right. The second game wasn’t like that.

So, if you’re interested in playing a Star Wars game and seeing a story about Vader with an apprentice, check out The Force Unleashed and it’s sequel. The second is definitely an improvement over the first.

I'd also like to point out that both games are short. Steam says I've spent 8 hours on the first, even though I restarted at least once, and 4 on the second. Higher difficulty would probably change these numbers. Also, really hunting down those Holocrons and such would certainly add some time, though I didn't do that.

This is funny, you should check it out, Honest Game Trailers for The Force Awakens: https://youtu.be/0ATGmaVwrIw

Travis Admin wrote on 06/22/2020 at 01:41pm

> However, the first game isn’t very great, especially compared to the second.

O_O

Hottest take about these games I've ever seen lol

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 06/22/2020 at 06:48pm

LOL I gave up playing the first one at least once, because of the stupid quick time events. I even uninstalled both games, but then reinstalled them almost immediately. The first wasn't really bad, but the second was really awesome compared to the second. I was so pleased with the improvements they made.

Travis Admin wrote on 06/22/2020 at 09:06pm

See I didn't even see any improvements. It just seemed like a few levels they didn't have time to put in the first game, strung together with a thin and weird plot. And if I'd been unlucky enough to pay $60 for it I would have really hated it, but since I got it for like $10 on a Steam sale it was fun, but it should have just been DLC, calling it a full game was a joke.

Travis Admin wrote on 06/22/2020 at 09:07pm

For what it's worth I ADORED the first game, I feel like it achieved making the player feel like a badass in ways that no other game had before it. The second game did the same but it felt very samey.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 06/22/2020 at 09:42pm

Yeah, I see your point of view, though I feel differently. LOL I'm sure I picked them up in a Star Wars bundle from Humble Bundle, so I didn't pay too much for them either. I did enjoy being a badass with Force powers, but I really hated those quick time events, especially in the first. As I think I said, they seemed to be more random in the first. In the second game, taking out a particular enemy would require you to usually press the same buttons initially, but then possibly change the last one. This made it easier to input them as I could predict more easily what to expect. Although, the first game put those in the center of the screen, while the second put them on the edges. I feel a couple of ways about that. It's easier to see if it's in the center, but it's kind of easier to interpret if they're on the edges. So, you see one on the right-hand side, you'll know you'll have to press the right-most button on the controller (B in the case of the XBox One).

Additionally, I was impressed when I saw the credits for the voice actors. The guy who plays Darth Maul in The Clone Wars does very many of the voices in the games. He did a good job, I think, at least I think his performance was done well.

Travis Admin wrote on 06/23/2020 at 04:02am

I do get the QTE thing. I don’t have any issue with completing them but I don’t enjoy them, they just kinda pull you out of the game. It’s kinda... lazy isn’t the right word. Just not what I’m into. But yeah the changes they made there didn’t really affect me but I could imagine if they frustrated you enough that might be a major point for you.

The only thing kinda like that when I played it was one big set piece moment in the first game where you had to turn the sticks a certain way, and the on-screen prompts had them backwards. I had to look it up and found a lot of people with the same issue. This was at launch, though, and I think they’ve fixed it since.

And yeah, Sam Witwer is amazing. TFU was the first time I saw him, but I recognized him from his likeness/mo-cap when I saw him in Battlestar Galactica a bit later. And I was thrilled to have him back to play Maul in the Clone Wars, Rebels, and Solo. And the emperor in the Clone Wars too!

Travis Admin wrote on 06/23/2020 at 04:02am

Er... in Rebels. He played the emperor in Rebels.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 06/23/2020 at 05:13am

Looking him up on IMDB shows who he was and yeah, I think I remember that episode he was in, but I didn't know about him then. It wasn't until maybe a few years later that I watched Clone Wars (for the first time). Looking at the credits of Phantom Menace and Solo, it seems that Ray Park was physically Maul, but Sam was the voice of Maul. I wonder why that is. Sam is a muscular guy. Anyway, this is still relevant to the conversation, because (you may remember) Maul does make an appearance in one of the games. Again, I think he did a great job as Starkiller, but I wasn't as impressed w/ his Emperor voice. I also see he's done other Star Wars voices in other games, which I have not yet played.

BTW, did you notice the voice of Boba? It's Dee Bradley Baker. I was surprised and delighted.

And...HOLY CRAP!!!! In all these years of being here on Cheerful Ghost I just now learned that you can resize the comment window!!!!!!! That makes things so much easier, especially copying, cutting, and pasting. Wow, mind blown, I feel stupid, LOL.

Travis Admin wrote on 06/23/2020 at 02:49pm

Yeah Witwer was the voice in Solo, Peter Serafinowicz (I may have butchered his name) was the voice in Phantom Menace. Apparently he recorded lines for Solo as well but they decided to go with Witwer since he had more screen time with the character.

And on modern browsers, unless you put forth the effort to limit resizability, you can do that anywhere with text boxes (not one-line input controls, but text areas)

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The Humble Fight for Racial Justice Bundle is Another Great Way to Grow Your Backlog and Support Racial Justice

The itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice has just finished up, raising over $8.1 million, and now Humble is out with their version of this.

There are currently 50 games and 25 books, too many to list out here, but a few highlights are in the image above.

This is a starting price of $30 if you want to get the goods, but it's well worth it. Head over to Humble and support a very worthy cause!

https://www.humblebundle.com/fight-for-racial-justice-bundle