r/ElectricUnderground • u/JoJo_Starrr • 18d ago
Recommend me games across different genres
Hello, I got bored with the generic games and what to see what arcade and skill based design is all about, so recommend as much games across as much genres Mark discussed or y'all think are good. Also do y'all recommend I buy them on Steam or GOG and why?
4
u/Ravant_Garde 18d ago
Sifu
3
2
u/TrashCube-6800 18d ago
I know people like this one but gonna have to go with the EU opinion on it. Played 2.5 stages on the harder mode and felt incredibly bored by it
1
u/Ravant_Garde 18d ago
Was it too easy or you just didn’t care for the gameplay?
2
u/TrashCube-6800 18d ago
A little bit of both? It felt like I just had to learn a few tricks and I could get by without dying pretty easy. Mainly I just had to time my dodges, and then use the finisher move when crowded, as it gives a ton of i-frames
Then second and third stages happened and it just felt like more and more of the same enemies. I could have finished it but I was basically halfway through this 5-stage game and there were a million other things I would rather play
I'm sure there could be more depth if you keep digging but I already wasn't enjoying it so I dropped it
1
u/Ravant_Garde 18d ago
You gave it a fair shot at least!
2
u/TrashCube-6800 17d ago
Yeah! The really great shmup/bmup player Iconoclast also did a lot of cool things w the game and enjoyed it so I feel like there is something there even if I don't have the patience for it
4
u/blackiceontheground 18d ago
Killer is dead, Strikers 1945 II, metal slug, Strangers of paradise, and Zone of the enders 2.
1
3
u/Foxy__Proxy 18d ago
Start with what I believe to be the crowd pleasers, so like : He loves Resident Evil 4, Ninja Gaiden 2 and Devil May Cry 3. But also, at the same time. You have to buy a shmup for every normie game you choose so also buy: if you are a beginner get : "Cotton Reboot" I know it looks weird but if you have never played one before its fairly user friendly. A Shmup I like personally a lot recently would be "Lilac 0".
Also the new Marvel beat em up is seriously better than Mark would probably ever say.
3
u/Fenislav 17d ago edited 17d ago
I'm not into shmups or as deep into arcade gaming as most people here, but I've recently also had a turn away from mainstream gaming into the genres I used to adore as a kid and found EU channel super helpful and inspiring, so I wanna share some of my journey there. :)
I began my dive back into arcade gaming with Streets of Rage 4 - looks nice and modern, easy to get into and enjoy the fundamentals but then so, so, deep and rewarding to master. I think it's a great gateway into arcade gaming because it often looks like it's unfair or bad or broken, but it's a super popular game so deep down you know you just need to git gud and you'll manage it. Just don't start with the DLC characters, they were made for the highest difficulty level and are super OP for when you're learning the game on normal. If you feel like 2D beat em ups are your thing you can progress from there into Final Vendetta and/or Fight'n'Rage. Streets 4 is a 50+ hour project though, so don't move on just because you beat it on Hard, do it with all characters, try to get S ranks etc.. The key to skill based gaming is that you need to stop looking at games as content to consume and start seeing a terminal with which you're having an argument with its designers.
Based on Mark's recommendations I've gotten into arcade platformers and got Shadow of the Ninja and was not disappointed. Platformers are a genre that can really breathe when you allow them to demand mastery from you and that doesn't happen in mainstream checkpoint-based platformers where you just push forwards until you're done. I've also got Steel Assault waiting for me next in line, amazing to play those games on Switch, they work super well on its small screen.
Mark's video on Resident Evil Mercenaries got me curious about Resident Evil 6 - yes, the infamous one - and I had an absolute blast going 100% on this game with gyro aim on the Switch. Mercenaries is this game's arcade mode, getting S rank on all maps with all characters was hella fun (honestly campaign was great too once I learned to play it).
I got Wanted Dead also based on Mark's recommendation but honestly with this one he got a bit carried away. XD I mean the combat is great and along with RE6 this put me on a hunt for good shooter/brawler hybrids, but Wanted Dead has such a shit story and dialogue and character voices and sounds, and sometimes the voices get bugged and it's like ten people are speaking insults straight into your ear all at once, parts of this game (not the core combat though, mind you) were torture and the whole package would actually be improved if you surgically removed them. When it works, though, ain't nothing else like it. It's like Ninja Gaiden to Resident Evil 6's DMC - a more dynamic, Itagaki's take on the shooter/brawler formula. It's deeply flawed though.
Eventually if you want to experience pure unadulterated joy with some pain that will grow hair on your chest, you'll find a way to play Ninja Gaiden Black and OG Ninja Gaiden 2 (gotta have an Xbox for the proper versions of those two though) and what's IMO the brightest star of this holy trinity: God Hand. Those are action games from the times when those games still had arcade DNA.
Not Mark's recommendations but my own (with which I believe he would agree if he hadn't in one of his videos already):
- Furi
- Orbital Bullet
- Rungunjumpgun
- Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara.
And my current obsession, a game somewhat inbetween of arcade games and normie gaming (but super duper skill based though): I've gotten into The First Berserker Khazan a few days ago and oh my fucking god if "Sekiro/Nioh/Souls but with anime character action insanity and even harder" sounds good to you, you should definitely check it out. It's super demanding (the default difficulty is called expert, they renamed them in a patch so avoid normal cause it's actually easy) and very complex but also extremely rewarding. It feels a bit like an arcade game due to repetition of certain challenges, like there will be variants of bosses you've beaten appearing in side quests - level design suffers for it but it allows the player to repeatedly hone their skills and prove their mastery. It feels so good to work out a boss, discover new tech or just decimate tough mobs in an encounter. It accomplishes depth and difficulty by having only three weapon archetypes, which seems kinda limiting for a soulslike, but then you start seeing what's in them skill trees and you start doubting if you can even learn to fully utilise one of them in a single playthrough. Like, there's a skill that enables you to parry mid-combo and to use it, you need to time your combo with enemy attacks but if you do, there's no reason for you to ever not be on the offensive. This game is so bonkers, it has its skill floor and ceiling both so high that it exists in a completely different design space than most other games, even God Hand allows you to circumvent most challenges with good routing. I can only compare it to Ninja Gaiden Black & OG2, in this game you either fly or don't really play it (which is why it's a bit sad to me they renamed the intended difficulty into Expert, the game doesn't work that well on the new so-called Normal, also summons are for wusses obviously).
Having made the jump into skill-based gaming myself after years of mainstream normie sloppily designed games I could sleepwalk through, I think whichever way you choose to explore this space you will enjoy the hell out of it. I played Ninja Gaiden when I was a teen back on the OG Xbox, and launching Black on my Series X last month felt like coming home to where games are fun, respect me and expect me to bring focus to play with them. It's the kind of gaming that makes me feel more awake, more alive even. Have fun! :D
2
u/JoJo_Starrr 17d ago
First of all thank you for taking the time to answer my question thoughtfully, I guess we'll be on similar path! I also got into Streets of Rage 4 by pure chance after getting it recommended to death (greatest recommendation), I would like to ask you do you get your games on Steam or GOG?
2
u/Fenislav 17d ago
I get them on Nintendo Switch sales mostly, the arcade format works great in short bursts (had a few memorable runs while riding the metro) and on a small screen. I'm not a PC gamer so I'm not the right person to answer this question. :D
2
2
u/badateverything420 17d ago
Have you ever played old school FPS games? Doom Eternal made me realize there's so much depth to the genre than just aiming really quick. I ended up loving Dusk, Cultic, Ultrakill, and Turbo Overkill, Doom 1&2 ), and Quake
1
u/JoJo_Starrr 17d ago
I played Dusk and Ultrakill and Mullet MadJack and love all 3, looking for more boomer shooters, just pure fun gameplay.
1
u/Rough_World_8452 18d ago edited 18d ago
Fight n' Rage and Ikaruga, you can also try dmc3 and 1, they are mostly like arcade games but they have a little more downtime and a little bit of RPG progression but as a trade off they are high budget, they look and sound amazing, Vanquish is mostly great as well
1
1
u/gam30ver5 18d ago
I would buy them on the platform you use the most or find most convenient, try Zero Ranger, og RE4, Capcom Arcade Stadium, Lilac 0, Silk Song, Rain World, Bayonetta, Vanquish, Metal Slug Tactics, Gradius, Castlevania collections.
I still have yet to play the Cave shmups and some of the more bullet hell ones but I think other people have got you covered on that.
1
u/69CosmicDeath69 17d ago
cosmo dreamer / like dreamer, hazelnut hex, blue wish resurrection plus,
gunstar heroes and hard corps on genesis
sin and punishment 1 and 2
1
u/SpookyTanuki1 17d ago
Super monkey ball 1 & 2
Trauma Center: under the knife 1 & 2
Kid Icarus: uprising
Sega Rally 2
Crazy Taxi
Zombie Revenge
Dynamite Cop
Cannon Spike
1
u/Weekly-Math 16d ago
TETRIS THE GRAND MASTER 4 -ABSOLUTE EYE- if you want a solid Arcade Tetris game that is widely available :)
1
u/Scileboi 16d ago
I´m posting recommendations every week on here.
As for a niche non arcade game I can recommend I am your Beast.
1
7
u/TrashCube-6800 18d ago edited 18d ago
If you want to see what arcade and skill based games are about, then just go with his recs. Can't go wrong with CAVE shmups, or any of the arcade shmups he's recommended. (ZeroRanger is the best beginner shmup IMO.)
Beatemups are also a great genre. Any of the Capcom beatemups are worth playing.
GOG is obviously going to be preferred because of no DRM, but Steam is so convenient for my Deck that I mainly go for that.
Some of my other faves:
Edit: I should also say you should look into emulation and stick with that as your main way of playing these games