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This is pretty much the original PC port, with new DX rendering, a few video options (use the external dxcfg.exe) and redefinable keys, and I honestly don't mind. I've long waited to replay the original games on PC, and this release offers the same awesome experience as back in the day. Oh, and here's a lockpick. It might be handy if you, the master of unlocking, take it with you.
And then finally... *wipes away a tear*... We saw them again!
Legend goes that every time one mentions, Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines, there's at least one person out there that will reinstall it. The first time I have played this game was back in 2004 when it was released. It was by far one of the most buggiest gaming experiences I was ever graced with. It had abysmal performance, tons of bugs, including game breaking ones; it took around 10-15 min to load the larger levels on my 256 MB RAM rig. But, it was all worth it, to be able to: - listen to The Deb of Night - take a leisurely stroll through the Ocean House Hotel and experience one of the best horror segments in video game history - have a conversation with my TV - have an argument with a STOP sign - joke around with Smiling Jack - try to reconcile 2 former assassins and friends, who now want to kill each other - listen to Alistair Grout's journal, a paranoid Malkavian with the eloquence of Oliver Goldsmith - experience some amazing quests with top-notch writing and stellar voice acting - and most importantly, Play one of the BEST RPGs of All Time And these days, it's even better, with the Unofficial Patch by Wesp5, which has been a labor of love for almost 20 years.
The year is 2003. A new KOF tournament is on the horizon. Ash Crimson lays the foundation for his schemes, and enrolls the aid of his friends, Shen Woo and Duo Lon. He doesn't really tell them anything, but he does enroll them into KOF without their consent. In a quaint coffee shop, Joe is aggravated that Terry is late again, and that he's forced to keep Griffon Mask company. He gets even more aggravated when Terry tells him that Andy won't make it, nor will he be joining KOF this year, as he's looking after his ailing disciple. To top it off, Joe never gets the alligator steak that he ordered. Takuma Sakazaki kneads some celebratory buckwheat noodles, after his plan to have his disciples back out of the tournament backfires, and he's the one who ends up on the sidelines. In one of the innermost rooms of the Kagura estate, Kusanagi is stunned at the seeming absurdity of his host's plan. What's more surprising is that Yagami has already accepted her proposal. He can barely imagine fighting alongside his longtime enemy. The words 'It's a trap' reverberate inside his mind, in a fishlike voice. But, he can't very well refuse a request from Lady Kagura. And more importantly, it's a way to relieve the boredom. Thus, The Three Sacred Treasures Team entered this year's KOF. And now we can enjoy a pretty good PC build by Code Mystics with fluid gameplay, responsive controls (which can be redefined), a few graphic options, and local versus. No online play, sadly. The biggest change from the previous iterations is that now there's a single 3v3 round, where you can switch characters in and out during the fight. There's also a leader, which gets access to a leader desperation move. All in all, it's a great entry in the series, and a solid fighting game.
The remaster is a bit of a mixed bag, but worth getting for fans. You can seamlessly switch between the 3 games from the main menu. During gameplay, you can switch on the fly between the original and the remastered graphics, by pressing F1; you can also switch between the modern and tank controls while playing as well. One downside is that there are no graphics options; you can play the game in borderless fullscreen, or switch to windowed mode. The remastered FMVs are not that great; they are too blurry, and some of them are too dark, to the point where you cannot really see much of anything. Modders have actually done better jobs at upscaling the original ones. The new visuals are pretty nice, though they are nothing special; there are new textures, new models, new foliage, new lightning, and the old environmental sprites have been replaced by 3D models. Some level art has been slightly changed, but not by much and the layout of the levels has been preserved (for example, in some cases you'll see an open ceiling with light coming through instead of a closed one). Graphic mods for the original games will net you similar or better results. In addition, if you use an RTX remix mod as well (only if you have a supported Nvidia GPU), you will also get superior lightning, which can result in a vastly improved visual experience. The modern controls are fairly bad. They don't work well at all with the game's grid based system. You cannot jump back by tapping backwards; you cannot do a back flip (technically, you can if keep a button pressed to have your weapons drawn, but it still prevents you from doing more complex platforming). Positioning Lara in front of objects is also a pain, because she automatically turns to her side when she reaches a wall. She also has a habit of getting stuck in environments after interacting with objects, like levers. Thankfully, all is right in the world when you're using the original (tank) controls, and Lara controls like a dream.
The kid notices that Quake2 has been updated with improved visuals and a new expansion. The kid also notices that they have made the update free to current owners. The kid downs a few beers, to get in the mood for some Q2, downloads the game, and boots it up. The kid is greeted with the accessibility options, all turned on by default. He disables all of them. He also chuckles at the aim assist option for gamepads. After a quick look through the options, the kid jumps straight into multiplayer. He checks the lobby, and all servers are running "The Edge". 'Good', he thinks to himself. Time to party like a LAN party in '98. The kid spawns, and dashes for the railgun. Frags a few opponents with relative ease, until he meets an unceremonious demise. He hasn't gone completely rusty, he thinks to himself. Next, he has a blast with the rocket and grenade launchers, because nothing says 'Welcome home' like a rocket to the face. The kid is pleased that the fast pace, high skill mechanics have not been messed with. After that match, the kid start the original campaign on Nightmare. Completes the 1st map in a few minutes, while finding all secrets. Before continuing on to the next level, the kid looks over to the fallen corpses of his enemies; flies are using them as airports. 'Good', he thinks to himself. The single player has not been messed with.
I've played this back in '99 or something similar, and enjoyed it. The game is heavily inspired by Tokimeki Memorial - Densetsu no Ki no Shita de (Heartthrob Memorial), only this one is an eroge. Simply put, it's a visual novel with stats and activity management. Many events are triggered on specific times of day during specific days, while also depending on your stats. There are different endings, depending on which girl you chose (or, are able to chose, to be exact). The visuals are pretty good, and have aged rather nicely, form my standpoint. What stayed with me for a long time is the music; it's simply awesome. I've casually listened to many of the tracks over the years. The original game uses MIDI files for music. Nowadays, most people don't have MIDI capable hardware anymore, and thus MIDI synthesis is done entirely through software, using the MS GS Wavetable Synth. But at the end of the day, it's pretty rudimentary and reproduces a lower quality audio than a decent MIDI capable soundcard; and since the CPU handles all of this, in many cases, it introduces an element of lag (which plagues the initial release when played on modern systems). The current version of the game has been remade in RenPy and doesn't suffer from any lag when the music changes, as it doesn't use MIDIs anymore; though you can switch between a modern and a classic rendition in the options. They are both different from the original MIDI music, which is the one that I prefer, but the new versions are faithful and pretty good nonetheless. The story and the writing aren't particularity good, but overall, it's an enjoyable little gem.