We have a Steam curator now. You should be following it. https://store.steampowered.com/curator/44994899-RPGHQ/
Soul
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Oyster Sauce
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Soul
This is where we gather to discuss the cherished little bits of extra effort that developers put in just to make a game more special. Like the Master Chief carving his number into his bullet casings which you can only really see if you zoom in on a replay, or Shepard petting his alien gun in Opposing Force. Those are pretty well known, but did you know that the TV in Cuckold Simulator is actually a real live feed of Amouranth's Twitch stream? Very cool!
Last edited by Oyster Sauce on December 30th, 2025, 22:18, edited 1 time in total.
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logincrash
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I like how in one of the later Assassin's Creed games the button to attract enemies in stealth has the character whistle the exact same tune Sam Fisher whistles to attract enemies in Splinter Cell.
"Oh, it all makes sense now, brother."
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Val the Moofia Boss
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Ys II: If you go up and interact with the tree right in front of Lilia's house, you will get a textbox showing lines Lilia scribbled into the tree when she was a little kid measuring her height as she grew.
Sakura Wars: You can hold the cursor over a character's portrait to trigger internal monologues and responses from the characters. One timed dialogue that pops up during a battle forces you to recall the color a ribbon a girl was wearing earlier in the morning; failure to do so makes her demoralized and lowers her stats during the battle.
Final Fantasy VIII: If you acquire the summon Odin, he has a chance of appearing at the start of every battle and bisecting the enemy. If you have Odin by the time of the Seifer fight, he will appear and then Seifer will parry Odin's attack and bisect him.
Shenmue: The tactile feel of being able to open closets and drawers in Ryo's home and pick up items and inspect them, or look behind the items. You literally push the button on the vending machine for the coke you want.
Final Fantasy IX: During certain segments of disc 1, you can see other airships flying around the world, makes it feel more alive. Wish that extended to the rest of the game. Also, friendly monsters: there is a small chance that you might get a random battle... but then the battle music doesn't play. Instead, comedic music plays, and a cute little monster asks you to give it some ore. You give it some ore... and then it says thanks, and the "battle" ends, and you get a crap ton of EXP. Spruces up the experience.
Sakura Wars 3: The player can angle the anlog stick to determine the intensity of their dialogue option. In instance, the player can angle their response to be loud enough to be overheard outside the room, or only heard by the character they are speaking to. Characters might get mad if you start yelling in their face, or if you are speaking too low; depends on the situation and character you are talking to.
Animal Crossing: Tom Nook's shop is closed at night, but you can bang his house with a shovel three times and it will set off the alarm and wake him up, and then you can buy/sell from his shop but he will charge 20% more. If you shut off the console without saving, then the next time you boot up the game you get a funny skit with Mr. Resetti yelling at you.
Final Fantasy X: If you use the steal command on Machina, it is an insta kill (ripping out powercords, motherboards, circuits, etc).
Zwei the Arges Adventure: You play as a pair of protagonists who you can swap between at will. In the towns, there are many objects that can be interacted with, such as tables, beds, strings of laundry, barrels, plates of food on a table, statues, etc. When you interact with an object, your current character will give their view on the object, and both characters have different thoughts about every object in the game. For example, when interacting with laundry, Pokkle remembers that he needs to fold the laundry, while Pipiro comments on how she likes the clothes. In another instance, when interacting with sacred idols in a shrine, Piprio simply states what it is, expressing her reverence, while Pokkle cracks a joke about each idol. When mousing over items in your inventory, the game doesn't give you a single, objective description of the item. Instead, your current character gives you their view on the item.
Suikoden 3: This game rotates POVs between three different protagonists. The noble knight Chris won't loot skeletons, while Geddoe and Hugo will.
Fire Emblem The Sacred Stone: Trainee characters have combat animations depicting them as amateurs. When they promote to a upgraded class, their animation set changes to show them as more proficient in combat. Final Fantasy X also started off with Tidus swinging his sword wildly but then getting a different animation later.
Sakura Wars V: Every once in a while, you (as the main character, Shinjiro) will be asked to take a picture for another character. You have to get the camera zoomed in and adjust the focus just right, but while this is happening the characters are waiting for you, and if you take too long they will start becoming impatient, so you have to be quick. It's a timed minigame that doesn't feel like an arbitrary minigame, and feels quite natural.
Valkyria Chronicles: There are named enemy aces who will appear from one mission to the next. However, if you manage to kill a named ace, they will stay dead and will not show up again.
The Last Remnant: dynamic final boss difficulty. In many JRPGs, the final boss is never the hardest boss in the game, because he has to be beatable by everyone who wants to see the story. So the optional superbosses are usually the hardest. If you're a hardcore player, then it can be anticlimatic to work so hard to kill the optional superbossess... and then when completing the game, the final boss is a pushover. In TLR, the final boss becomes more powerful the more of the game you have completed. If you rush through the game and only do the story, then you can pretty easily beat him. But if you do every quest (and there are A LOT of quests and you can easily miss some, so if you completed them all you're probably a hardcore completionist), and you beat the optional superbosses, then the final boss will be far and away the hardest boss fight in the game.
Steins;Gate: When you open the menu, you are in universe whipping out your phone. If you do so during a conversation with a character, they will complain about it.
Pokemon Black and White: N speaks (his text advances) super fast in contrast to the other characters.
Ao no Kiseki: There is a scene where a character tells you to observe a train passing by. The camera pans over the interiors of the three passenger cars populated by NPCs, and then the character asks you to recount how many passengers were on the train. Makes you pay more attention to what's going on.
Trails of Cold Steel: Rean's notebook recording which quests he has accepted and the progress he had made on them have funny remarks written down by Rean that provide comedy.
Pokemon XY: If you ride a taxi without enough money to pay the fare, the driver will battle you.
Trails of Cold Steel II: The main menu screen depicts a scene depending on where your last loaded save was at in the story. If your last loaded save was at Rean and Toval setting out from Ymir, then when you load into the main menu scene, it will show them on the snowy mountain path. You can meet one of the antagonists as a seemingly random NPC eating in an inn before that NPC is formally introduced as a villain to fight.
StarCraft II Legacy of the Void: The game is structured around characters talking to each other on the bridge -> mission -> repeat. When you begin the final mission, the big bad immediately invades the bridge the moment you click. Neat surprise.
The Banner Saga 2: Late in the story, Juno enchants your map and you can open it to see the expanding apocalypse sphere consuming every place you had been to.
Overwatch: every character has distinct footsteps which you can identify them by before they come into view or speak.
Pokemon Sun and Moon: You can sniff people's beds and get a textbox describing it.
Final Fantasy XIV Shadowbringers: NPC Trust party member quirks. Thancred can't cast magic, so he has to use a gunblade that uses magical powder charges. Occasionally, during battle, he will run out of ammo. If Ryne is in your party, she will toss him ammo charges. In one dungeon, there is a chasm that must be crossed. Thancred will leap across the chasm. Urianger will cast a teleportation spell to port to the other side. Ryne will slowly walk across the planks it trying to maintain her balance. Alisae will sprint across the planks to the other side. In the Elpis dungeon, when the second boss turns invisible, Alpinaud will look for footprints in the snow while Alisae uses magic to blast everywhere, and Urianger teleports from the AoE at the last second.
Kuro no Kiseki: you can find the big bad as a seemingly random/minor NPC in a bar before he is he formally introduced as a villain in the plot.
Sakura Wars: You can hold the cursor over a character's portrait to trigger internal monologues and responses from the characters. One timed dialogue that pops up during a battle forces you to recall the color a ribbon a girl was wearing earlier in the morning; failure to do so makes her demoralized and lowers her stats during the battle.
Final Fantasy VIII: If you acquire the summon Odin, he has a chance of appearing at the start of every battle and bisecting the enemy. If you have Odin by the time of the Seifer fight, he will appear and then Seifer will parry Odin's attack and bisect him.
Shenmue: The tactile feel of being able to open closets and drawers in Ryo's home and pick up items and inspect them, or look behind the items. You literally push the button on the vending machine for the coke you want.
Final Fantasy IX: During certain segments of disc 1, you can see other airships flying around the world, makes it feel more alive. Wish that extended to the rest of the game. Also, friendly monsters: there is a small chance that you might get a random battle... but then the battle music doesn't play. Instead, comedic music plays, and a cute little monster asks you to give it some ore. You give it some ore... and then it says thanks, and the "battle" ends, and you get a crap ton of EXP. Spruces up the experience.
Sakura Wars 3: The player can angle the anlog stick to determine the intensity of their dialogue option. In instance, the player can angle their response to be loud enough to be overheard outside the room, or only heard by the character they are speaking to. Characters might get mad if you start yelling in their face, or if you are speaking too low; depends on the situation and character you are talking to.
Animal Crossing: Tom Nook's shop is closed at night, but you can bang his house with a shovel three times and it will set off the alarm and wake him up, and then you can buy/sell from his shop but he will charge 20% more. If you shut off the console without saving, then the next time you boot up the game you get a funny skit with Mr. Resetti yelling at you.
Final Fantasy X: If you use the steal command on Machina, it is an insta kill (ripping out powercords, motherboards, circuits, etc).
Zwei the Arges Adventure: You play as a pair of protagonists who you can swap between at will. In the towns, there are many objects that can be interacted with, such as tables, beds, strings of laundry, barrels, plates of food on a table, statues, etc. When you interact with an object, your current character will give their view on the object, and both characters have different thoughts about every object in the game. For example, when interacting with laundry, Pokkle remembers that he needs to fold the laundry, while Pipiro comments on how she likes the clothes. In another instance, when interacting with sacred idols in a shrine, Piprio simply states what it is, expressing her reverence, while Pokkle cracks a joke about each idol. When mousing over items in your inventory, the game doesn't give you a single, objective description of the item. Instead, your current character gives you their view on the item.
Suikoden 3: This game rotates POVs between three different protagonists. The noble knight Chris won't loot skeletons, while Geddoe and Hugo will.
Fire Emblem The Sacred Stone: Trainee characters have combat animations depicting them as amateurs. When they promote to a upgraded class, their animation set changes to show them as more proficient in combat. Final Fantasy X also started off with Tidus swinging his sword wildly but then getting a different animation later.
Sakura Wars V: Every once in a while, you (as the main character, Shinjiro) will be asked to take a picture for another character. You have to get the camera zoomed in and adjust the focus just right, but while this is happening the characters are waiting for you, and if you take too long they will start becoming impatient, so you have to be quick. It's a timed minigame that doesn't feel like an arbitrary minigame, and feels quite natural.
Valkyria Chronicles: There are named enemy aces who will appear from one mission to the next. However, if you manage to kill a named ace, they will stay dead and will not show up again.
The Last Remnant: dynamic final boss difficulty. In many JRPGs, the final boss is never the hardest boss in the game, because he has to be beatable by everyone who wants to see the story. So the optional superbosses are usually the hardest. If you're a hardcore player, then it can be anticlimatic to work so hard to kill the optional superbossess... and then when completing the game, the final boss is a pushover. In TLR, the final boss becomes more powerful the more of the game you have completed. If you rush through the game and only do the story, then you can pretty easily beat him. But if you do every quest (and there are A LOT of quests and you can easily miss some, so if you completed them all you're probably a hardcore completionist), and you beat the optional superbosses, then the final boss will be far and away the hardest boss fight in the game.
Steins;Gate: When you open the menu, you are in universe whipping out your phone. If you do so during a conversation with a character, they will complain about it.
Pokemon Black and White: N speaks (his text advances) super fast in contrast to the other characters.
Ao no Kiseki: There is a scene where a character tells you to observe a train passing by. The camera pans over the interiors of the three passenger cars populated by NPCs, and then the character asks you to recount how many passengers were on the train. Makes you pay more attention to what's going on.
Trails of Cold Steel: Rean's notebook recording which quests he has accepted and the progress he had made on them have funny remarks written down by Rean that provide comedy.
Pokemon XY: If you ride a taxi without enough money to pay the fare, the driver will battle you.
Trails of Cold Steel II: The main menu screen depicts a scene depending on where your last loaded save was at in the story. If your last loaded save was at Rean and Toval setting out from Ymir, then when you load into the main menu scene, it will show them on the snowy mountain path. You can meet one of the antagonists as a seemingly random NPC eating in an inn before that NPC is formally introduced as a villain to fight.
StarCraft II Legacy of the Void: The game is structured around characters talking to each other on the bridge -> mission -> repeat. When you begin the final mission, the big bad immediately invades the bridge the moment you click. Neat surprise.
The Banner Saga 2: Late in the story, Juno enchants your map and you can open it to see the expanding apocalypse sphere consuming every place you had been to.
Overwatch: every character has distinct footsteps which you can identify them by before they come into view or speak.
Pokemon Sun and Moon: You can sniff people's beds and get a textbox describing it.
Final Fantasy XIV Shadowbringers: NPC Trust party member quirks. Thancred can't cast magic, so he has to use a gunblade that uses magical powder charges. Occasionally, during battle, he will run out of ammo. If Ryne is in your party, she will toss him ammo charges. In one dungeon, there is a chasm that must be crossed. Thancred will leap across the chasm. Urianger will cast a teleportation spell to port to the other side. Ryne will slowly walk across the planks it trying to maintain her balance. Alisae will sprint across the planks to the other side. In the Elpis dungeon, when the second boss turns invisible, Alpinaud will look for footprints in the snow while Alisae uses magic to blast everywhere, and Urianger teleports from the AoE at the last second.
Kuro no Kiseki: you can find the big bad as a seemingly random/minor NPC in a bar before he is he formally introduced as a villain in the plot.
Last edited by Val the Moofia Boss on October 3rd, 2024, 17:33, edited 1 time in total.
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Vergil
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This could just be filled with stuff from the Metal Gear Solid games but I'm particularly fond of MGS3 where if you go to the area with vultures, kill a guard, let the vultures start eating him, kill the vulture, and then eat it, later when you're going down the ghost river the guard will appear and say "You ATE me!"
I'm just stating the facts.
Question is are you going to gargle the truth or swallow?
Question is are you going to gargle the truth or swallow?
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Tweed
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The Avatar's clock in the Ultima VI intro is set to the time of your system clock.
You can paint pictures, cut cloth into bandages, and fish in Ultima VII. Note: your companions will comment on your lack of artistic skills.
The summoning room where the Manakin accidently summon the Mara Slime in SMT: Nocturne is an exact replica of the summoning room in Shin Megami Tensei 2.
The intro section of Symphony of the Night with Richter uses a title card identical to the ones used in Rondo of Blood.
In Chrono Trigger if you fight Queen Zeal with Magus in your party his theme will play instead of the boss theme.
In Morrowind you can skip the drunken bounty hunter quest if you're an Argonian because you already know Haj-Ei translates to Hides His Eyes and you get a special journal entry for it.
If you've completed the thieves guild arc in Skyrim, Maven Black-Briar will recognize you at the Thalmor Embassy and she won't be happy. A rare example of reactivity.
In QfG2 someone tries to drug your drink, if you're strong enough you might be able to resist it without help, otherwise you can take an antidote pill ahead of time to resist the effects
You can paint pictures, cut cloth into bandages, and fish in Ultima VII. Note: your companions will comment on your lack of artistic skills.
The summoning room where the Manakin accidently summon the Mara Slime in SMT: Nocturne is an exact replica of the summoning room in Shin Megami Tensei 2.
The intro section of Symphony of the Night with Richter uses a title card identical to the ones used in Rondo of Blood.
In Chrono Trigger if you fight Queen Zeal with Magus in your party his theme will play instead of the boss theme.
In Morrowind you can skip the drunken bounty hunter quest if you're an Argonian because you already know Haj-Ei translates to Hides His Eyes and you get a special journal entry for it.
If you've completed the thieves guild arc in Skyrim, Maven Black-Briar will recognize you at the Thalmor Embassy and she won't be happy. A rare example of reactivity.
In QfG2 someone tries to drug your drink, if you're strong enough you might be able to resist it without help, otherwise you can take an antidote pill ahead of time to resist the effects
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Vergil
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Not a game on it's own but the paper map mod for Skyrim has little bit where you can see it's been laid on top of the old Cyrodiil map from Oblivion
I'm just stating the facts.
Question is are you going to gargle the truth or swallow?
Question is are you going to gargle the truth or swallow?
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Oyster Sauce
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Vergil
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Who was the ******** ****** who was whining about bg3 not have "REAL" reactivity again?
I'm just stating the facts.
Question is are you going to gargle the truth or swallow?
Question is are you going to gargle the truth or swallow?
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Oyster Sauce
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To be fair it does have a main quest which makes it not an RPGVergil wrote: ↑ October 3rd, 2024, 21:08Who was the ******** ****** who was whining about bg3 not have "REAL" reactivity again?
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gerey
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Half-Life 1 had distinct AI behavior for all the various critters, even the cockroaches. Also, on Xen, if you kill the two alien grunts near those "pumps", it will not trigger a fight. There's also the marine's chatter, that is dynamic and reflects what is happening around them.
I feel it's somewhat superfluous to mention it, considering the crowd, but the Malkavians have lots and lots and lots of unique interactions in Bloodlines.
In Project Wingman you can take a two-seater on missions, and in some of them your WSO will have unique commentary.
Dead Space games, how the developers went the whole extra mile to implement a diegetic interface that is acknowledged by the characters in-game.
Manhunt let you play with a microphone on, and if you talked/breathed too loudly the enemies could actually hear you.
Front Mission 3 had a whole in-game internet, with sites you could visit and interact with, some even letting you download wallpapers and the like.
I feel it's somewhat superfluous to mention it, considering the crowd, but the Malkavians have lots and lots and lots of unique interactions in Bloodlines.
In Project Wingman you can take a two-seater on missions, and in some of them your WSO will have unique commentary.
Dead Space games, how the developers went the whole extra mile to implement a diegetic interface that is acknowledged by the characters in-game.
Manhunt let you play with a microphone on, and if you talked/breathed too loudly the enemies could actually hear you.
Front Mission 3 had a whole in-game internet, with sites you could visit and interact with, some even letting you download wallpapers and the like.
Last edited by gerey on October 3rd, 2024, 22:40, edited 1 time in total.
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Vergil
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KOTOR has a bunch of unique dialog for Korriban if you do it last after the twist is revealed including an alternate ending to the primary questline where you can declare both Uthar and Yuthura unworthy to be Sith.
I'm just stating the facts.
Question is are you going to gargle the truth or swallow?
Question is are you going to gargle the truth or swallow?
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wndrbr
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Hate these superfluous details. Especially MGS ones. Imagine how much time and resources went into implementing this useless ********? No wonder Konami kicked Hideous Kokujin out.
Reminds me of RDR2's horse balls that shrink in cold water.
Reminds me of RDR2's horse balls that shrink in cold water.
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rusty_shackleford
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in witcher 1 npcs seek cover when it starts raining
Thank you for your attention to this matter!
Steam friend code: 40552640 https://steamcommunity.com/friends/add | email: [email protected]
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Steam friend code: 40552640 https://steamcommunity.com/friends/add | email: [email protected]
Having trouble running an old Windows game?
Rusty's Stuff Collection
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Tweed
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wndrbr wrote: ↑ October 4th, 2024, 01:36Hate these superfluous details. Especially MGS ones. Imagine how much time and resources went into implementing this useless ********? No wonder Konami kicked Hideous Kokujin out.
Reminds me of RDR2's horse balls that shrink in cold water.
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rusty_shackleford
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Thank you for your attention to this matter!
Steam friend code: 40552640 https://steamcommunity.com/friends/add | email: [email protected]
Having trouble running an old Windows game?
Rusty's Stuff Collection
Steam friend code: 40552640 https://steamcommunity.com/friends/add | email: [email protected]
Having trouble running an old Windows game?
Rusty's Stuff Collection
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DDC
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The GTA San Andreas "Hot Coffee" sex minigame easter egg.
Deadly Premonition had a bunch of cool details and easter eggs. All of the characters had routines within the confines of the relatively small open world, and I remember "solving" the murder mystery myself several twists before it was actually solved in-game just based on some things I noticed about where certain characters went on the map at certain times.
Deadly Premonition had a bunch of cool details and easter eggs. All of the characters had routines within the confines of the relatively small open world, and I remember "solving" the murder mystery myself several twists before it was actually solved in-game just based on some things I noticed about where certain characters went on the map at certain times.
Solidus Snake Did Nothing Wrong
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Cipher
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And for Project Wingman being an indie game, it really shows the love that they actually implemented a feature that is missing in the AC games which is having Prez, the WSO, actually there with the player character providing some lines. Not having her doesn't really affect the game in any way but many people went out of their way to play every mission with a two-seater so they could have Prez chime in.gerey wrote: ↑ October 3rd, 2024, 22:23.
In Project Wingman you can take a two-seater on missions, and in some of them your WSO will have unique commentary.
Front Mission 3 had a whole in-game internet, with sites you could visit and interact with, some even letting you download wallpapers and the like.
Front Mission 3 also has an entire 2nd route depending on a seemingly meaningless choice at the very beginning of the game. Just one route would be enough as the game is rock solid. The 2nd route also being somewhat "hidden" means that you could very well have some playthroughs under your belt without realizing and then on a lark making that choice and BOOM, new unique character with a unique storyline.
Another game that did this was Vanguard Bandits, also on the PSX and also a tactical grid turn based mech game, but this time with a fantasy twist. It has 3 routes with multiple endings. Granted that game is not that long but it has a LOT of replay value for the time investment and it shows the devs really had a passion for the project.
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gerey
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Maybe not a soulful detail, but Ace Combat 3 was the most ambitious title in the whole franchise. Production I.G doing the cutscenes, multiple separate routes and missions you can play through depending on your choices in the game, and different endings.
Doom 3 had a bunch of neat details, especially the receptionist sending a report because you were being rude and looking at what he was doing on his screen.
Second Sight is full of neat details - all PCs you can use have a Windows-like environment, with applications and documents you can interact with. There's one scene where, if you kill a guard and log onto his PC, you can see his chat log with his girlfriend, and also her slowly realizing that something is wrong and panicking.
NOLF1 had a lot of neat stuff too, but the one guard that goes on 3 minute long rant, which is completely optional.
In Deus Ex the random debris that is found across the levels can trigger the laser alarms if blow into the beam.
Doom 3 had a bunch of neat details, especially the receptionist sending a report because you were being rude and looking at what he was doing on his screen.
Second Sight is full of neat details - all PCs you can use have a Windows-like environment, with applications and documents you can interact with. There's one scene where, if you kill a guard and log onto his PC, you can see his chat log with his girlfriend, and also her slowly realizing that something is wrong and panicking.
NOLF1 had a lot of neat stuff too, but the one guard that goes on 3 minute long rant, which is completely optional.
In Deus Ex the random debris that is found across the levels can trigger the laser alarms if blow into the beam.
Last edited by gerey on October 4th, 2024, 09:35, edited 1 time in total.
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Lord of Riva
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In der Langrisser when you are on the Independent path your love interest in the game leaves your side because you do not share her views on how the conflict should be resolved, you will also combat the Godess of light they serve. If you do not kill them but, for example teleport behind them, everyone of your former Allies has something to say about you killing a god while sparing them. In the case of this love interest, while they never make up, the now crowned emperor supports a orphanage she has founded in secret, thus changing the ending.
Resident Anti-feminist MRA, Race-mixer and no I'm not woke and not gay. Married with children, My writing style is shit, live with it or ignore me.
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DDC
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Also on the topic of Project Wingman -- made by one guy, has great VR support. Ace Combat has a massive team behind it and no VR on PC. And VR is literally the most important feature for that genre behind only HOTAS support.Cipher wrote: ↑ October 4th, 2024, 09:16And for Project Wingman being an indie game, it really shows the love that they actually implemented a feature that is missing in the AC games which is having Prez, the WSO, actually there with the player character providing some lines. Not having her doesn't really affect the game in any way but many people went out of their way to play every mission with a two-seater so they could have Prez chime in.gerey wrote: ↑ October 3rd, 2024, 22:23.
In Project Wingman you can take a two-seater on missions, and in some of them your WSO will have unique commentary.
Front Mission 3 had a whole in-game internet, with sites you could visit and interact with, some even letting you download wallpapers and the like.
Front Mission 3 also has an entire 2nd route depending on a seemingly meaningless choice at the very beginning of the game. Just one route would be enough as the game is rock solid. The 2nd route also being somewhat "hidden" means that you could very well have some playthroughs under your belt without realizing and then on a lark making that choice and BOOM, new unique character with a unique storyline.
Another game that did this was Vanguard Bandits, also on the PSX and also a tactical grid turn based mech game, but this time with a fantasy twist. It has 3 routes with multiple endings. Granted that game is not that long but it has a LOT of replay value for the time investment and it shows the devs really had a passion for the project.
Solidus Snake Did Nothing Wrong
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Tweed
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Adventurer's Guild
Baldur's Gate: Having a high charisma on your party leader gives slightly better rewards for some quests.
Baldur's Gate 2: The Cowled Wizards don't like unsanctioned magic within the city of Amn. The first time you use a spell they'll warn you. After that they start attacking you every time you use a spell which culminates in a battle with the head of their order. If you win, they'll stop bothering you and you can save money on having to buy a permit.
The Journeyman Project (Turbo): During one segment of the game you have to navigate a maze with an upper limit on your oxygen. As you run out of oxygen the music slows down and eventually dies away to the sound of panicked breathing.
The Journeyman Project 2: After you pick up Arthur as your plucky AI sidekick you can revisit the space station where you found him to hear amusing commentary, but as you get closer to his room he'll get irritated and jump you out before you can cause a paradox by meeting him a second time.
Rain World: If you're near Looks to the Moon which is one of the huge supercomputers responsible for the downpours when the rains are about to start you'll hear a warning siren go off. This is the only place you can hear one.
Rain World: If you're on The Wall when the rain starts you'll see steam emit from the structure since it's also one of the supercomputers causing the downpours.
Everquest 2: Low level enemies will cringe and cower when you get close to them.
Wing Commander: If your systems take a beating your screens will flicker and stop responding. It may take multiple tries before they display information. Your dashboard will also display physical damage.
Wing Commander: Failing a mission isn't the end. If you lose enough points for a sector you will be put into the losing path of the game which consists of harder missions and inferior resources, but there are bridges between the losing and winning paths where you can switch. (Almost everyone loses Kurasawa)
Wing Commander: Any Kilrathi Ace you didn't shoot down will show up in the final mission to make your life more difficult.
The Goonies 2: Whether or not you hit Konami Man gets saved in the password data and he won't heal you anymore if you did, be nice.
Mass Effect: Rescuing Liara last gives her different lines, making her question if you're real or an hallucination.
Gothic Series: When you pay for training you don't just spend the money and skill points. The NPC explains how to do whatever it is you've paid for.
Chronicles of Myrtana: Archolos: If you ignore every side quest you can find your brother alive. If you still have the potion the alchemist gave you you can save his life and trigger a hidden ending where you both leave the island together.
Chronicles of Myrtana: Archolos: At one point you'll met a friend of yours and have a chance to teach him some pointers. You gain skill points for this and explain things to him the way instructors have done for you in the past.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Anomaly: Wishing for The Zone to disappear causes the game to crash with a bugtrap report: "Wish Granted"
Voidspire Tactics: You'll meet the main antagonist somewhere before the middle of the game and in usual villain fashion he'll tell you to get out of his way after a short conversation. You can refuse, starting a fight. In most games this is a game over, but here you can defeat him for some nice items and a chance to watch him sulk if you're skilled enough.
Dungeon Keeper: In the original DOS version of the game most monsters have their own special views when posessed. Flies have compound vision, dragon's eyesight is obscured by smoke, hellhounds see in black and white and so on.
Super Metroid: You can see bubbles escape from Samus's helmet while she's underwater.
Super Metroid: Samus's visor glows in dark environments.
Super Metroid: During the space station encounter with Ridley If you shoot him enough times he will drop the hatchling container.
Super Metroid: If you use the x-ray scope in Ridley's chamber, you can see him before he appears.
Metroid Prime: You can see Samus's reflection in her visor during certain explosions.
Metroid Prime: Samus's gun barrel will become iced over if you charge the freeze beam.
Metroid Prime: You can see Samus's skeleton with the x-ray visor if she lifts up her arm to shield herself.
Metroid Prime: Certain enemies can cause the visor to crash, causing junk data and frame skipping.
Baldur's Gate 2: The Cowled Wizards don't like unsanctioned magic within the city of Amn. The first time you use a spell they'll warn you. After that they start attacking you every time you use a spell which culminates in a battle with the head of their order. If you win, they'll stop bothering you and you can save money on having to buy a permit.
The Journeyman Project (Turbo): During one segment of the game you have to navigate a maze with an upper limit on your oxygen. As you run out of oxygen the music slows down and eventually dies away to the sound of panicked breathing.
The Journeyman Project 2: After you pick up Arthur as your plucky AI sidekick you can revisit the space station where you found him to hear amusing commentary, but as you get closer to his room he'll get irritated and jump you out before you can cause a paradox by meeting him a second time.
Rain World: If you're near Looks to the Moon which is one of the huge supercomputers responsible for the downpours when the rains are about to start you'll hear a warning siren go off. This is the only place you can hear one.
Rain World: If you're on The Wall when the rain starts you'll see steam emit from the structure since it's also one of the supercomputers causing the downpours.
Everquest 2: Low level enemies will cringe and cower when you get close to them.
Wing Commander: If your systems take a beating your screens will flicker and stop responding. It may take multiple tries before they display information. Your dashboard will also display physical damage.
Wing Commander: Failing a mission isn't the end. If you lose enough points for a sector you will be put into the losing path of the game which consists of harder missions and inferior resources, but there are bridges between the losing and winning paths where you can switch. (Almost everyone loses Kurasawa)
Wing Commander: Any Kilrathi Ace you didn't shoot down will show up in the final mission to make your life more difficult.
The Goonies 2: Whether or not you hit Konami Man gets saved in the password data and he won't heal you anymore if you did, be nice.
Mass Effect: Rescuing Liara last gives her different lines, making her question if you're real or an hallucination.
Gothic Series: When you pay for training you don't just spend the money and skill points. The NPC explains how to do whatever it is you've paid for.
Chronicles of Myrtana: Archolos: If you ignore every side quest you can find your brother alive. If you still have the potion the alchemist gave you you can save his life and trigger a hidden ending where you both leave the island together.
Chronicles of Myrtana: Archolos: At one point you'll met a friend of yours and have a chance to teach him some pointers. You gain skill points for this and explain things to him the way instructors have done for you in the past.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Anomaly: Wishing for The Zone to disappear causes the game to crash with a bugtrap report: "Wish Granted"
Voidspire Tactics: You'll meet the main antagonist somewhere before the middle of the game and in usual villain fashion he'll tell you to get out of his way after a short conversation. You can refuse, starting a fight. In most games this is a game over, but here you can defeat him for some nice items and a chance to watch him sulk if you're skilled enough.
Dungeon Keeper: In the original DOS version of the game most monsters have their own special views when posessed. Flies have compound vision, dragon's eyesight is obscured by smoke, hellhounds see in black and white and so on.
Super Metroid: You can see bubbles escape from Samus's helmet while she's underwater.
Super Metroid: Samus's visor glows in dark environments.
Super Metroid: During the space station encounter with Ridley If you shoot him enough times he will drop the hatchling container.
Super Metroid: If you use the x-ray scope in Ridley's chamber, you can see him before he appears.
Metroid Prime: You can see Samus's reflection in her visor during certain explosions.
Metroid Prime: Samus's gun barrel will become iced over if you charge the freeze beam.
Metroid Prime: You can see Samus's skeleton with the x-ray visor if she lifts up her arm to shield herself.
Metroid Prime: Certain enemies can cause the visor to crash, causing junk data and frame skipping.
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rusty_shackleford
- Site Admin
- Posts: 45443
- Joined: Feb 2, '23
- Gender: Watermelon
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Geolocation
Adventurer's Guild
Essentially every NPC has charm dialogue ranging from giving you gifts to flat out telling you the plot of the story tens of hours before you'd have found out otherwise.Tweed wrote: ↑ October 5th, 2024, 23:37Baldur's Gate: Having a high charisma on your party leader gives slightly better rewards for some quests.
This is, sadly, missing in BG2. And apparently most people were never aware of it.
NPCs shout in gibberish unless you know their language.Tweed wrote: ↑ October 5th, 2024, 23:37Everquest 2: Low level enemies will cringe and cower when you get close to them.
If you're a ratonga you can bypass a lengthy quest because you find out the language you need to learn is just a dialect of the ratonga language implying the creatures are closely related
Last edited by rusty_shackleford on October 5th, 2024, 23:48, edited 2 times in total.
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gerey
- Turtle
- Posts: 3200
- Joined: Feb 2, '23
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Geolocation
Adventurer's Guild
Nier: Automata
Your HUD elements are actual chips that you have to slot in, and since you only have a limited RAM capacity, you can forego certain interface elements in favor of better attack/defense/support skills. Taking out your OS chip results in an immediate game over (and unlocking one of the many "joke" endings).
The game treats the interface and menus as part of the setting, the prologue even has an NPC guide you through the options menu as part of booting up the protagonist. Much later on, if you hack a certain boss enough times, you can view its main menu. There's even a self-destruct option you can initiate with for the character you are controlling.
Detailing what the game does with the various endings/routes, and especially the "true ending" would spoil too much, but suffice to say is that I've yet to see another game do something similar to this, especially with the epilogue, and it does a really good job of tying together the overarching message of the narrative with the gameplay.
Additionally, much like in Bungie's Oni, every enemy you encounter has its own unique moveset, and much like in Oni, if you find a way to control one of said enemies, you can utilize all their abilities for yourself, or "stealth" your way through a level, since enemies won't attack you while possessing one of their own unless you attack first.
The game also regularly plays with the camera, switching from 3D free-roam, to 2.5D linear stages, to a top-down perspective, and incorporates danmaku mechanics into many of the boss fights.
There's even a hidden boss fight in the game where you battle the CEOs of Square-Enix and Platinum - apparently they had their IRL counterparts actually voicing them.
Ace Combat: Zero
The narrative is framed as a reporter filming a documentary about the protagonist's exploits during the Belkan war, and in-between most missions there will be an interview with someone you encountered, usually an ace you fought against. The neat part is that the interview changes depending on what you did during the mission, since you can either play as a soldier (doing exactly as ordered and nothing else), a knight (showing mercy to the defeated) or a mercenary (killing everyone and everything for profit).
The game also ties together the two other PS2 Ace Combat games, since many of the characters you encounter in those games participated in the Belkan war.
Your HUD elements are actual chips that you have to slot in, and since you only have a limited RAM capacity, you can forego certain interface elements in favor of better attack/defense/support skills. Taking out your OS chip results in an immediate game over (and unlocking one of the many "joke" endings).
The game treats the interface and menus as part of the setting, the prologue even has an NPC guide you through the options menu as part of booting up the protagonist. Much later on, if you hack a certain boss enough times, you can view its main menu. There's even a self-destruct option you can initiate with for the character you are controlling.
Detailing what the game does with the various endings/routes, and especially the "true ending" would spoil too much, but suffice to say is that I've yet to see another game do something similar to this, especially with the epilogue, and it does a really good job of tying together the overarching message of the narrative with the gameplay.
Additionally, much like in Bungie's Oni, every enemy you encounter has its own unique moveset, and much like in Oni, if you find a way to control one of said enemies, you can utilize all their abilities for yourself, or "stealth" your way through a level, since enemies won't attack you while possessing one of their own unless you attack first.
The game also regularly plays with the camera, switching from 3D free-roam, to 2.5D linear stages, to a top-down perspective, and incorporates danmaku mechanics into many of the boss fights.
There's even a hidden boss fight in the game where you battle the CEOs of Square-Enix and Platinum - apparently they had their IRL counterparts actually voicing them.
Ace Combat: Zero
The narrative is framed as a reporter filming a documentary about the protagonist's exploits during the Belkan war, and in-between most missions there will be an interview with someone you encountered, usually an ace you fought against. The neat part is that the interview changes depending on what you did during the mission, since you can either play as a soldier (doing exactly as ordered and nothing else), a knight (showing mercy to the defeated) or a mercenary (killing everyone and everything for profit).
The game also ties together the two other PS2 Ace Combat games, since many of the characters you encounter in those games participated in the Belkan war.
Last edited by gerey on October 6th, 2024, 21:35, edited 2 times in total.
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gerey
- Turtle
- Posts: 3200
- Joined: Feb 2, '23
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Geolocation
Adventurer's Guild
Remembered a few more:
Star Trek: Elite Force 1 allowed you to explore almost the whole Voyager, and had a Holodeck to play in, plus the honest attempt by Raven to make a Star Trek FPS and largely succeeding. Also, the game featured a bit of "nonlinearity", depending on how you performed during certain parts of the game, you could actually prevent some of your fellow redshirts from dying.
SiN, which was channeling a lot of Build Engine energy back in the day, with levels featuring a lot of interactivity, from DOS-styled prompts to operate PCs you find on the levels, to all manner of useful and not-so-useful interactivity you could engage in. Some levels felt very imsimmy even, with a variety of approaches you could take. Sadly, it was also very buggy and rough around the edges, but really ambitious. IIRC enemies also supposedly had different AI behaviors, and could even target parts of your body that had the least armor, though it was always difficult to tell if that was actually happening.
And on that note, Build Engine games, and specifically Duke Nuke and Shadow Warrior, and Blood to a lesser degree. Though, of all of them, Shadow Warrior is the one that took the interactivity furthest.
I'd also like to use this opportunity to shill Hedon and the Ashes games. Hedon has big, detailed levels that each tend to have some gimmick or "side quest" - in the starting level you'll hunt around for clues and components to finish a magical ritual, which nets you a powerful potion, while in another you'll get the opportunity to mine metal ores, and then use them in the forge to make different types of ammo.
In Ashes Afterglow you can get the opportunity to play an arcade game, which is always a neat detail that I can appreciate and love when other games do. Some choices are actually "hidden" - as an example, in the starting hub area you can opt to knock an NPC out instead of killing him, though the game does not openly tell you can do this.
Expanding on "games within games", System Shock 1 had a scaled down Wing Commander "clone" you could play, while System Shock 2 had a "fully-featured" RPG in the style of Ultima.
Star Trek: Elite Force 1 allowed you to explore almost the whole Voyager, and had a Holodeck to play in, plus the honest attempt by Raven to make a Star Trek FPS and largely succeeding. Also, the game featured a bit of "nonlinearity", depending on how you performed during certain parts of the game, you could actually prevent some of your fellow redshirts from dying.
SiN, which was channeling a lot of Build Engine energy back in the day, with levels featuring a lot of interactivity, from DOS-styled prompts to operate PCs you find on the levels, to all manner of useful and not-so-useful interactivity you could engage in. Some levels felt very imsimmy even, with a variety of approaches you could take. Sadly, it was also very buggy and rough around the edges, but really ambitious. IIRC enemies also supposedly had different AI behaviors, and could even target parts of your body that had the least armor, though it was always difficult to tell if that was actually happening.
And on that note, Build Engine games, and specifically Duke Nuke and Shadow Warrior, and Blood to a lesser degree. Though, of all of them, Shadow Warrior is the one that took the interactivity furthest.
I'd also like to use this opportunity to shill Hedon and the Ashes games. Hedon has big, detailed levels that each tend to have some gimmick or "side quest" - in the starting level you'll hunt around for clues and components to finish a magical ritual, which nets you a powerful potion, while in another you'll get the opportunity to mine metal ores, and then use them in the forge to make different types of ammo.
In Ashes Afterglow you can get the opportunity to play an arcade game, which is always a neat detail that I can appreciate and love when other games do. Some choices are actually "hidden" - as an example, in the starting hub area you can opt to knock an NPC out instead of killing him, though the game does not openly tell you can do this.
Expanding on "games within games", System Shock 1 had a scaled down Wing Commander "clone" you could play, while System Shock 2 had a "fully-featured" RPG in the style of Ultima.
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Tweed
- Turtle
- Posts: 6837
- Joined: Feb 2, '23
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Geolocation
Adventurer's Guild
It's got big detailed something alright.
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Tweed
- Turtle
- Posts: 6837
- Joined: Feb 2, '23
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Geolocation
Adventurer's Guild
Did the lead dev finally manage to memory hole all the futa art of the main character?
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gerey
- Turtle
- Posts: 3200
- Joined: Feb 2, '23
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Geolocation
Adventurer's Guild
It's a sad state of affairs when the futafag is one of the more professional and stable members of the Doom modding community, while the vast majority are ****** that have been caught covering up the grooming by one of the forum jannies.Tweed wrote: ↑ October 7th, 2024, 22:10Did the lead dev finally manage to memory hole all the futa art of the main character?
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wndrbr
- Turtle
- Posts: 3572
- Joined: Feb 4, '23
- Location: Siberia
- Gender: Dinosaur
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Geolocation
Adventurer's Guild
why would he try memory-hole it? I thought the guy was proud of his kink.Tweed wrote: ↑ October 7th, 2024, 22:10Did the lead dev finally manage to memory hole all the futa art of the main character?
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Kronus
- Posts: 216
- Joined: Sep 19, '24
- Location: IGN Headquarters
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Geolocation
Carmageddon 1 & Splat Pack
-Some drivers' pictures would make faces/warp/change after a few seconds idle.
-Some of the early levels of C1 would take place in "wall street", filled with the "yuppie" type of pedestrians to run over. Some of those would return in one of Splat Pack's final levels, in which you visit "hell".
-Several different exit messages would appear when trying to quit the game, like DooM or Quake such as "Return to a life where you don't get internal organs in your hair?"
Dungeon Keeper
-Ending cinematic gets the final knight boss (the Avatar) transformed into an troll girl, who is "treated accordingly" by the rest of your trolls afterward.
Fallout Tactics
-In the final level, you have to destroy several "genius" brains in order to finish. Some were from the bodies of professionals like medics, who when interacted with, parrot lines like "I can't speak with you unless you have medical insurance."
C&C: Red Alert
-Both in the original and in the remaster, there are hidden missions in which you fight against ants and dinosaurs. B-movies had an interesting influence on Westwood's two main C&C series.
Tropico 3 & 4
-Some of the options for acquiring foreign funds went from "leasing a distant part of the your territory for nuclear testing" to "establish chinese investments". You could then turn some of that extra money to your "swiss bank account".
Twisted Metal: Black
-Many of the drivers bios (almost all) present varied psychiatric issues, including heavy schizophrenia.
-Ending cutscenes are awesomely grotesque, and they're slightly 'censored' in comparison with the unreleased ones.
-Some drivers' pictures would make faces/warp/change after a few seconds idle.
-Some of the early levels of C1 would take place in "wall street", filled with the "yuppie" type of pedestrians to run over. Some of those would return in one of Splat Pack's final levels, in which you visit "hell".
-Several different exit messages would appear when trying to quit the game, like DooM or Quake such as "Return to a life where you don't get internal organs in your hair?"
Dungeon Keeper
-Ending cinematic gets the final knight boss (the Avatar) transformed into an troll girl, who is "treated accordingly" by the rest of your trolls afterward.
Fallout Tactics
-In the final level, you have to destroy several "genius" brains in order to finish. Some were from the bodies of professionals like medics, who when interacted with, parrot lines like "I can't speak with you unless you have medical insurance."
C&C: Red Alert
-Both in the original and in the remaster, there are hidden missions in which you fight against ants and dinosaurs. B-movies had an interesting influence on Westwood's two main C&C series.
Tropico 3 & 4
-Some of the options for acquiring foreign funds went from "leasing a distant part of the your territory for nuclear testing" to "establish chinese investments". You could then turn some of that extra money to your "swiss bank account".
Twisted Metal: Black
-Many of the drivers bios (almost all) present varied psychiatric issues, including heavy schizophrenia.
-Ending cutscenes are awesomely grotesque, and they're slightly 'censored' in comparison with the unreleased ones.
Last edited by Kronus on October 8th, 2024, 18:08, edited 2 times in total.
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+++ An open mind is like a fortress with its gates unbarred and unguarded +++
+++ An open mind is like a fortress with its gates unbarred and unguarded +++
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Luckmann
- Hamster
- Posts: 544
- Joined: Feb 6, '23
- Location: Scanian Lowlands, National Republic of Scandinavia
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Geolocation
Adventurer's Guild
What I love the most about this is how absolutely brutal the escalating fight is. You're clearly not intended to win it, but just in case you do, there's dialogue and meaningful effects, without ever breaking the verisimilitudious facade of the game itself. That's the core of soulful detail, I think; that extra mile that they could not have bothered with but still did.Tweed wrote: ↑ October 5th, 2024, 23:37Baldur's Gate 2: The Cowled Wizards don't like unsanctioned magic within the city of Amn. The first time you use a spell they'll warn you. After that they start attacking you every time you use a spell which culminates in a battle with the head of their order. If you win, they'll stop bothering you and you can save money on having to buy a permit.
Hi, my name is Tovi.
All journos must hang.
Join the RPG Codex Official™ Discord Server
MCA, much like Adolf Hitler, did nothing wrong.
All journos must hang.
Join the RPG Codex Official™ Discord Server
MCA, much like Adolf Hitler, did nothing wrong.