I haven’t seen anything as visually impeccable since forever. Or at least since Ripley.
Almost every frame is like a wallpaper. Partially due to very classical approach: perfect symmetry, frame-within-frame, linear camera movement, 180 degree turns and L-shaped pans. It’s like a forgotten art.
I can’t say I managed to watch the original Nosferatu from 1922. It’s a silent film, after all. But I skimmed through it to understand were the 2024 story and tone comes from. And it is pretty accurate, taking into account 100 years difference. The trip to Transilvania, the escape, the ship and the plague. My impression is that the Madman had an even larger role in the original film. And there was no Hardings hosting family storyline, which means no necrophilia either.
I’m not sure what to make of the sexual scenes, the ecstacy of your blood being sucked. Maybe it is just for the shock value.
If Witch had The Goat and Lighthouse The Seagulls, Nosferatu has The Rats. I had to check that those were real, and not some very impressive CGI. And no, they had 2000-5000 rat actors.
I model I was planning to paint for a few months, so I bought it as soon as it was back in stock.
It’s again a step up from the previous model in terms of complexity, 30 parts. But assemling it is slightly easier, because they added groves and indents on the parts you need to join.
Drybrushing it was still tiresome. I think it took me an hour just to do a layer of Dawnstone.
The amount of detail on this model is incredible. Someoen went wild. I had to create a list just to keep up with my plans for all the “characters”.
Soulcalibur was one of the first games I managed to emulate on Demul, back in 2007, and I’ve been playing it ever since ocassionally.
But I never knew that the arcade version was actually inferior to the Dreamcast one, which almost never happens:
Also, I was under the impression that every time you completed Story mode for a character, you unlocked their “twin”. Mostly those were reskins, but some of them would grow into distinct characters later. Turns out that’s incorrect. You open charactacters based on how many times you finish the arcade with distinct characters, not with which character you finish it. Yoshimitsu always opens after 2nd completion, while Cervantes requires 10.
There are different techniques to make old games look better or more authentic on modern displays. Upscaling, filters, scanlines. Idea of the BFI is that CRTs didn’t output a frame, but a line of pixels, in a snake-like pattern. So every frame was completely erased before the next started. LCDs work in a different way: one static picture is replaced by another. Which suppossedly creates some kind of a blur.
The idea of BFI is that if we take 60 frames, and add a black frame after each image, we will reproduce the fidelity of a CRT on 120Hz monitors.
The problem is, it doesn’t work for me.
I started with RetroArch. You need to set monitor to 120Hz, even if it supports 144Hz, because the technique works only with whole numbers, otherwise you’ll get flicker. It works, but the picture is twice as dark, and I don’t see any improvement in motion clarity.
Then I tried RetroTink 4K on my Samsung QLED. This was a disaster, as the best I could get was a slightly flickering image with colors that are way off. Not as dark as on a monitor, but I also didn’t enjoy the results at all.
I know I’ve been complaining about Belgian beers a lot lately. But this blonde beer is honestly very good. Feels stronger and sweeter than stated 8.5%, and doesn’t leave any heaviness behind. The closest I could think of is Delirium Tremens, and that’s a high praise from me. I wanted to stay that still, I don’t plan to buy this beer in the future, but actually, I’d buy their Triple
This week I was upgraded from MacBook Pro M1 to MacBook Pro M4. But from the outside, you couldn’t tell the difference. Interesting how Apple reached this adaptive peak in its evolution, at least for now.
Most interesting mission is where you need to chase experimental bombers above the clouds. A lot of aircrafts would stall at those altitudes, so you need something like MiG-29.
In some missions you also find named pilots, like Goose alor Razorback. Downing them brings a reward to the collection.
Again, we need to fly into a base through a tunnel to blow a reactor. With a twist that a tunnel opens only after 3 minutes of real time, and closes after another minute.
The hardest mission is probably the one where you need to destroy radars with your machine gun. Not so much because of the machine gun part, despite radars placed on buyous at sea and the need to fly through inlet to locate some of them, but because the way enemy planes spawn right behind you as soon as you try to make a pass. And unlike your missiles, those planes seem to be infinite.
Last mission, I didn’t enjoy at all. You need to chase a cruise missile with a machine gun, and that target is tiny. Good luck not getting motion sickness. Not sure if playing on a real hardware would help, but on emulator, this mission is a nightmare.
And of course there is another tunnel with a reactor you need to blow at the end. Luckily this time it’s enough to hit the reactor, you don’t need to fly out for the tunnel as well.
One bit that confused me is that I never unlocked the F22, that’s why I was playing final missions on YF23. There are also more aircrafts to unlock when you play the campaign for a second time, but after that cruise missile mission, I’ll pass.
An Estonian Imperial Stout I’ve brought from York. A wax seal is a seal of quality for me nowadays. I don’t remember yet once being disappointed by a wax sealed bottled.
This is an amazing barrel aged Imperial Stout, one of the best I’ve ever had. Like drinking a Guiness chocolate cake, with the smokiness, but also the sweetness. Funny, but I felt less drunk from its 13% ABV than from some 6% beers. Go figure.
I kind of grew to be dismissive of everything sold in the UK, and appreciating only what I bring from abroad, but this is an exception for sure.
It’s genuiniley impressive how much the game has improved over the first installement. The drawing distance is now comfortable, and I don’t need to look at the radar anymore. The speed and altitude is now also shown in the 3rd person view, so there’s no need to switch to 1st person much. The afterburners are now also visible, so you can see when you are speeding up.
The game is also more colourful. It is strange statement, considering in the first game you flew purple jets.
Of course there is a ravine mission. It looks better than in Ace Combat 1, but weirdly, it plays worse, because with potato graphics of Ace Combat 1 it was very easy to see the path, whereas in Ace Combat 2 I wasn’t sure if I’m flying into a wall.
Imperial stout from Iceland. Icelandic beers have won a few awards over the years, but that’s the only award winner I managed to find, and only by sheer luck.
Has the ABV, but surprisingly not the sweetness. First I tasted rye bread, almost kvas, then a bit of smoke, but not too much. Definitely pleasant,
Completed Resident Evil 3.
The final episode, Factory, is obtrusive. It may sound funny, but there isn’t that much backtracking in Resident Evil 3. Unless you get confused, of course. But Factory is designed is such a way that you have to go back and forth multiple times, while game throws at you enemies in rooms you already cleared, sometimes twice. Also, there are some unskippable cutscenes before the boss fights that can get pretty annoying.
I’m not sure how environmental the final two boss fights are. In the first, Nemesis is in humanoid form, and you need to shoot acid valves when he’s near. Not sure if that’s the only way to damage him, or if it just helps. Funny how at some point he loses his head, but still goes on.
Then the final fights is against Nemesis-frog. I usually say that ammo is more important than health items in Resident Evil, because you can’t heal a boss to death, you need to shoot him. But this is another environmental fight, as far as I can tell, where you need to turn on a railgun, then lure Nemesis a couple of times so it gets smashed by it.
The entire game took me around 6 hours of game time to complete. Which isn’t bad, I thought it would be shorter. I remember that Leon’s scenario in Resident Evil 2 took me around 2:30 hours.
By the end of it, I still had plenty of healing items, but not that many bullets, I must admit. So the game is more enemy heavy than Resident Evil 2 for sure.
The trolley sequence is pretty tiring. Funnily enough, that’s the only part I remember from my playthrough those 20 years ago, the huge worm in the sewers, akin to Alone in the Dark. But you have to evade Nemesis, escape from the worm, then beat Nemesis, and he is though, taking whole Magnum, and then some.
At first, I found dogs to be pretty annoying. But then I noticed that they don’t have invincibility frames on the ground anymore:
By the time I reached the clocktower, I started combining all the gunpowder I had into Magnum ammo, and got 48 of it. That’s plenty. Also, got both part of the gun from Nemesis. Despite it’s named Eagle, it’s a 9mm gun, not a Desert Eagle. But it does has a better rate of fire than the standard gun, and allows to put any spare 9mm ammo to good use.
Nemesis shots down the chopper (that’s how I understood I played this game without videos, because I would have remembered such an epic scene), the Magnum ammo comes in handy.
Then we switch to Carlos. Playing as him is a bit tricky, as you have almost no pickups. If you run out of ammo – you’re done.
After comparing Dreamcast version with all enhancements RetroTink 4K can offer with RetroArch/SwanStation, I must admit that playing on a physical console doesn’t worth it at all.
While colors might be attributed to how my capture card processes HDR signal, it’s undeniable that models and textures rendered in x5 resolution look significantly better.
The most important parameter to get this quality of picture is PGXP CPU Mode. It is supposed to be slow, but very accurate way to represent 3D models. Something that PSX was never good at. Interestingly enough, Dreamcast has some new textures, for some reason (notice the plaque has moved a bit):
Back to the game, it is interesting how you meet Carlos at different points in the game, depending on which location you visit first. On Dreamcast, I’ve met him in the restaurant. But on my PSX playthrough, I wanted to avoid Nemesis and went to the newsroom first. And here Carlos was waiting for me again, with a different cutscene.
Speaking of cutscenes, the game has QTE events, even before Shenmue! Sometimes when Nemesis appears, you are given a choice, between fighting, running away or hiding.
I’ve played and even completed Resident Evil 3, but it was some 23 years ago. And I also suspect it was a ripped version without the movies, as I don’t remember any of them. So I decided to give the game another go. The intention was actually to play Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 2 Remake, Resident Evil 3 and Resident Evil 3 Remake, but as always, I didn’t even get past the second game in a row.
In any case, I consider myself rather good in Resident Evil games. But this game is brutal. It can throw 4-5 zombies at you room after room. And even the zombie dogs takes twice as many bullets. I guess you should compensate by having the ability to create your own ammo. But it’s not exactly a fair trade.
There’s also some kind of randomization going on which I don’t remember in other games. Sometimes you would see Brad running out of the basement with the shotgun. Sometimes you need to open the door first. Once I went into the corridor in the Police Station and found there four zombies and two red herbs. Another time: two dogs, and no herbs at all.
The game does keep up with the tradition of keeping something special in STARS locker. But speaking of randomisation, once I found a Magnum there. Then after a load, same locker contained Grenade Launcher. One is better than the other, for those unfamiliar.
I haven’t played Diablo Immortal for a long time, so after checking the druid, I decided to go back to the Tempest class. And the catchup mechanic is crazy. They give you a legendary for every day you log in, and also some crazy experience boost, so my Tempest went from level 25 to 59 in a matter of two-three days 😆
Tempest class feels broken. It supposed to be “dual wield rogue” archetype. But usually, this archetype sacrifices AoE for DPS. In case of Tempest, you get it all, though: DPS, and AoE, and also almost every move is a dash.
Goose Island is something I remember from Boston as common piss beer, excuse me, I mean pale ale.
But during my last visit to California when I failed yet again to procur Russian River, I did get a bottle of this 14.7% goodness
It’s amazing. Although I don’t remember if I ever had an Imperial Stout or a barley wine that wasn’t.
Very dark, with no head whatsoever, smooth, and tastes like Madeira wine, and honey, and coffee.
I’d buy it again for sure, if I ever find it.
After success with Ace Combat 4, I decided to check the very first installment in the series, originally called Air Combat . It is still surprisingly playable. The planes are recognizable, and fly well enough. Even the control scheme stayed the same. And you also get to buy new planes between missions.
The differences are that 3rd person view in the first game is mostly useless, while on PS2 I would use it most of the time. This is because it has no information about your speed, for example. To the point I thought my gamepad was misbehaving, as you don’t really see your plane speeding up.
The main tradeoff is the viewing distance. You can’t see shit, basically, enemy planes appear only when they are about 2km away. So you have to navigate by radar most of the time, until you are almost on them.
One notable change I have to talk about is the color palette of the planes. I’m not sure if it’s arcade legacy, or 95 style, or just an attempt for the planes not to mix up with the surroundings, but… red, purple and white? Really?! There’s a real-world term “Flying Circus” coming to mind.
Of course I had to check if this also applies to F117 Nighthawk… and yes, it does.
Wingmen are an interesting concept. Before a mission you can decide if you want to spend a significant sum to have a friendly jet. And you also can choose which jet it will be, which is of course affects the price. You also set the strategy for them: defend you, or try to complete the mission.
Some missions are also quite ambitious. There’s a night bombing run, and a mission where you have to follow pipelines in the desert to locate enemy oil refineries.
You also get to choose which missions to do. And of course there is a ravine mission. The saddest ravine mission ever, I must say, as the hardware was nowhere near. But they tried nevertheless. Actually, there are two ravine missions, although second is more of a tunnel or a cave.
The game is rather short, with 17 missions in total, but because there are some branching paths you have to complete around 14 to beat the game. But it is ambitious. At one point you have to bomb a suspension bridge, and they animated parts of the bridge crashing down into the water.
And the final boss is this flying fortress with four engines that you have to chase, and each engine falls apart separately, and then the fortress begins to tilt and raise smoke. 10 years later, they would repeat this mission in full force, but the fact they already imagined that back in ’95 is impressive.
The only bit I didn’t appreciate is the “Bingo!” exclamation every time you land a hit. Guess this is from the arcade days.
Vault City specializes in “dessert beers”, and this one is no different. It’s delicious, although it doesn’t even taste like a beer. It is not just opaque, but kind of lumpy, with no head whatsoever. Definitely sour. Not sure about “dutch pancakes” or “chocolate”, but it does taste like a strawberry punch alright.
Even by adventure games remaster standards, this is atrocious. They used xBRZ filter, which turns the game graphic into unintelligble mess. But that’s only half ot he problem, as the filter can be disabled. The other half, is that the game itself is bad.
Major parts of the map are forest zones, which, while beautiful in a pixelart sense, are mostly pointless. Then, you have very vague goals (find the mage Calysto, find necromancer’s staff) and even more vague means to achieve them. There are 20+ items in my inventory, and I have not a clue when any of these items might be useful.
At one point, you meed a barbarian in the forest, and you’re given a whistle if you ever need his help. Then you meet a troll blocking a bridge, and that troll asks for goat stew. How do you get a goat stew? You don’t. How do you use the whistle? You don’t. You need to talk to the troll a second time, and then he will grab the whistle and use it himself, beconing his demise. It’s funny, but I came to this solution by chance, not through some logical process.
I ended up using a guide at Goblin Cave, because I thought that I might have softlocked my playthrough. I didn’t, but it is just that I tried to “give” bucket to the druid, instead of “using” bucket on a druid. Or maybe I tried to “use” it, but Simon walked to him instead, and I assumed it does nothing and didn’t try again.
In any case, I think I’m done with this game. The only positive bit is custom animations. Those are impressive, considering they are used only once, and they are genuinely funny. Like when Simon pops out of Iron Maiden, where he was hiding from the goblins, takes a sip of water, and in starts leaking from different places. Or when Rapunzel drops his braid on him, and he becomes this hat with shoes for a few moments.
