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Demon Front; a clone game as good as the source material! and other instances of that

VGEsoterica

Member
People always look down on games that were 100% inspired by other properties / genres...like someone the fact that they are hyper similar to another game somehow diminishes their quality or fun! I mean if devs stopped making games similar to other games that were successful...gaming would have died FOREVER ago.

IMO Demon Front is wholly inspired by Metal Slug...yet it's a game that is AS GOOD as the best Metal Slug had to offer. It feels more like a spin off game than it's own property. But it legit has all the run and gun action you'd come to expect from the genre and damn is it a near perfect game. Plus the music is legit and the graphics are some of the best the 16-bit era had to offer. The devs had the same talent as SNK's best had at the same period in time.

But that got me thinking...what are OTHER great instances of games that clearly copied and pasted the concept of another game...and managed to make it as good if not slightly better than the game they were wholly using for inspiration?

 
Not exactly what your talking about, but I’d put Windjammers 2 in this category. Sure, it’s technically a sequel but it was made by different developers and has a different art style. I thought it was going to be terrible just because of how much I love the original. I never thought they’d be able to get the feel down.


But they did a fantastic job and nailed it.
 

VGEsoterica

Member
Not exactly what your talking about, but I’d put Windjammers 2 in this category. Sure, it’s technically a sequel but it was made by different developers and has a different art style. I thought it was going to be terrible just because of how much I love the original. I never thought they’d be able to get the feel down.


But they did a fantastic job and nailed it.
I am thinking how Axiom Verge is a clone of Metroid basically, or how SoR is aping Final Fight
 

Hugare

Member
I had more fun with Immortal Fenyx Rising than with BOTW

I wouldnt say that its better than BOTW, but it has some really huge QOL improvements that for me made all the difference: no breakable weapons, you can call your horse from anywhere, combat is better (imo), and the "temples" are better designed (again, imo)

It's BOTW without all the shit that bothered me so much, but it also didnt have a good story, the dialogue was cringy and etc.

Has tons of room for improvement, but they got a lot of things right
 

GymWolf

Member
Surge series.

It takes a lot of what it works on from games and then it add his spin with the dismember system.

Obviously not as good as from games (although the level design is extremely close) but after nioh series, i think surge is the third best soulsborne series out there.

P.s. that thing in the op doesn't look as good as metal slug tbh.
 

VGEsoterica

Member
I had more fun with Immortal Fenyx Rising than with BOTW

I wouldnt say that its better than BOTW, but it has some really huge QOL improvements that for me made all the difference: no breakable weapons, you can call your horse from anywhere, combat is better (imo), and the "temples" are better designed (again, imo)

It's BOTW without all the shit that bothered me so much, but it also didnt have a good story, the dialogue was cringy and etc.

Has tons of room for improvement, but they got a lot of things right
perfect example!
 

01011001

Banned
I had more fun with Immortal Fenyx Rising than with BOTW

I wouldnt say that its better than BOTW, but it has some really huge QOL improvements that for me made all the difference: no breakable weapons, you can call your horse from anywhere, combat is better (imo), and the "temples" are better designed (again, imo)

It's BOTW without all the shit that bothered me so much, but it also didnt have a good story, the dialogue was cringy and etc.

Has tons of room for improvement, but they got a lot of things right

what made it decidedly worse for me was that they just couldn't keep themselves from implementing the usual Ubisoft, the whole map is full of shit, issue.

if the exploration was more akin to BotW it would be way closer for me, but as it is, I really liked it, but it's far from BotW.
especially in terms of world interactivity, which was barely even a thing in Immortals.
because what makes BotW the game it is is the open world, that is the defining factor. how rain and thunderstorms influence the gameplay drastically, how you can use nature against your enemies or combine physics and your equipment to solve puzzles and beat harder enemies.
heat, cold, rain, fire, water, physics objects all work together and make the world so special

Immortals was a way more traditional and simple game in terms of gameplay. it had a Great fighting system, but it wasn't special... it had cool dungeons and puzzles, but they were mostly very old school... it had an open world that was fun to traverse and explore, but it had little to no dynamic interactivity with the world.

I get why one might like it more than BotW but for me it's not even close to BotW's quality.
but it's a great game nonetheless and people really shouldn't sleep on it!
 
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MC68000

Member
This is an excellent game. I have been playing it on MAME. I am searching for a reasonably priced Demon Front cart so I can throw it in my cabinet. Thank you VGEsoterica VGEsoterica for showing us the PGM and Demon Front. I never knew either existed until I saw your PGM video.
 
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Hugare

Member
what made it decidedly worse for me was that they just couldn't keep themselves from implementing the usual Ubisoft, the whole map is full of shit, issue.

if the exploration was more akin to BotW it would be way closer for me, but as it is, I really liked it, but it's far from BotW.
especially in terms of world interactivity, which was barely even a thing in Immortals.
because what makes BotW the game it is is the open world, that is the defining factor. how rain and thunderstorms influence the gameplay drastically, how you can use nature against your enemies or combine physics and your equipment to solve puzzles and beat harder enemies.
heat, cold, rain, fire, water, physics objects all work together and make the world so special

Immortals was a way more traditional and simple game in terms of gameplay. it had a Great fighting system, but it wasn't special... it had cool dungeons and puzzles, but they were mostly very old school... it had an open world that was fun to traverse and explore, but it had little to no dynamic interactivity with the world.

I get why one might like it more than BotW but for me it's not even close to BotW's quality.
but it's a great game nonetheless and people really shouldn't sleep on it!
I dont agree at all.

I've probably complained about BOTW in 10 different threads at this point lol , but I have to vent everytime:

Exploration in BOTW isn't rewarding at all. In terms of interactivity, Fenyx did almost the same thing with gravity powers and etc.

You could levitate rocks and throw at enemies and etc. It's an almost exact copy from BOTW.

There are soo many puzzles that require stuff like you mentioned.

The "Ubisoft, whole map full of shit" kind of thing. Well, in BOTW you have how many Korok seeds to collect? Repetitive shrines to go? Towers to climb?

You are right, combat wasnt anything special, but it was still better than BOTW. "Old school" dungeons and puzzles that many times were better than BOTW dungeons and puzzles.

I dont know, everytime that someone praises BOTW they do it so vaguely.

"Exploration is amazing", but what is the reward? Korok seeds? Some chest with a weapon that ou are going to break after 3 hits?

Not saying that Fenyx is better in those regards, but it isnt worse, I would say
 
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01011001

Banned
I dont agree at all.

I've probably complained about BOTW in 10 different threads at this point lol , but I have to vent everytime:

Exploration in BOTW isn't rewarding at all. In terms of interactivity, Fenyx did almost the same thing with gravity powers and etc.

You could levitate rocks and throw at enemies and etc. It's an almost exact copy from BOTW.

There are soo many puzzles that require stuff like you mentioned.

The "Ubisoft, whole map full of shit" kind of thing. Well, in BOTW you have how many Korok seeds to collect? Repetitive shrines to go? Towers to climb?

You are right, combat wasnt anything special, but it was still better than BOTW. "Old school" dungeons and puzzles that many times were better than BOTW dungeons and puzzles.

I dont know, everytime that someone praises BOTW they do it so vaguely.

"Exploration is amazing", but what is the reward? Korok seeds? Some chest with a weapon that ou are going to break after 3 hits?

Not saying that Fenyx is better in those regards, but it isnt worse, I would say

Ubisoft map means icons everywhere of things you didn't visit yet. these are either on there by getting close to them or by scanning around.
the issue there being that the map design is often directly influences map design and therefore makes natural discovery way less of a thing because designers use these features as a crutch.

also the abilities in BotW are way more tied to the world as I said. it feels more dynamic due to that because almost anything is interactive, from trees to rocks to metal objects
 

UnNamed

Banned
I had more fun with Immortal Fenyx Rising than with BOTW

I wouldnt say that its better than BOTW, but it has some really huge QOL improvements that for me made all the difference: no breakable weapons, you can call your horse from anywhere, combat is better (imo), and the "temples" are better designed (again, imo)

It's BOTW without all the shit that bothered me so much, but it also didnt have a good story, the dialogue was cringy and etc.
Totally agree with you.

The only problem with the game is it's ultimately the usual Ubisoft game: tons and tons of recycled missions.

But at least Ubisoft has copied well this time.
 

SF Kosmo

Al Jazeera Special Reporter
Gunstar Heroes certainly out Contra'd Contra. It wasn't a straight rip off or anything but given the lineage I think it counts.
 

VGEsoterica

Member
I dont agree at all.

I've probably complained about BOTW in 10 different threads at this point lol , but I have to vent everytime:

Exploration in BOTW isn't rewarding at all. In terms of interactivity, Fenyx did almost the same thing with gravity powers and etc.

You could levitate rocks and throw at enemies and etc. It's an almost exact copy from BOTW.

There are soo many puzzles that require stuff like you mentioned.

The "Ubisoft, whole map full of shit" kind of thing. Well, in BOTW you have how many Korok seeds to collect? Repetitive shrines to go? Towers to climb?

You are right, combat wasnt anything special, but it was still better than BOTW. "Old school" dungeons and puzzles that many times were better than BOTW dungeons and puzzles.

I dont know, everytime that someone praises BOTW they do it so vaguely.

"Exploration is amazing", but what is the reward? Korok seeds? Some chest with a weapon that ou are going to break after 3 hits?

Not saying that Fenyx is better in those regards, but it isnt worse, I would say
BotW exploration wasn’t rewarding!?!? Now there’s one opinion I can’t get behind LOL
 

Hugare

Member
BotW exploration wasn’t rewarding!?!? Now there’s one opinion I can’t get behind LOL
I would rather discover an entire new area from a hidden shortcut like in Elden Ring or an amazingly written quest like in The Witcher 3 than a Korok Seed or some chest with yet another one of the same sword that I've been collecting for more than 20h

But different opinions and all that

Saying that exploration in BOTW is not rewarding is hardly a hot take
 
BotW exploration wasn’t rewarding!?!? Now there’s one opinion I can’t get behind LOL
Why not? BotW's exploration layout was great, but it ultimately felt empty and pointless as you quickly realize all you're ever going to get are items to upgrade either your health or stamina. And you'll only see the same handful of enemies and shrines that all look basically identical.
 

Azurro

Banned
I think that new Record of Lodoss War is a really great SOTN type. I enjoyed it probably around the same.

I bought it on release for the PS5 and didn't regret it at all, it should have been longer though and a bit more difficult, it's also too easy to break the game with the betting mini game. Still, an amazing game and incredible pixel artwork.
 
I bought it on release for the PS5 and didn't regret it at all, it should have been longer though and a bit more difficult, it's also too easy to break the game with the betting mini game. Still, an amazing game and incredible pixel artwork.
I agree, it definitely wasn’t as long as I was hoping but it really clicked with me personally the way that most others in the genre don’t.

I’d kill it if had a really difficult mode though.

Also, what a weird series. I never thought I’d be talking about Lodoss War games again, especially with how different the other games are.
 
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VGEsoterica

Member
Why not? BotW's exploration layout was great, but it ultimately felt empty and pointless as you quickly realize all you're ever going to get are items to upgrade either your health or stamina. And you'll only see the same handful of enemies and shrines that all look basically identical.
I guess I just didn’t get those vibes. Everything was so unique and different I really scoured every inch of the map
 
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